DEVELOPING CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE U-SERIES GEOCHRONOLOGY COMMUNITY

The EARTHTIME initiative has addressed many issues within the U-Pb, Ar-Ar, and astrochronologic dating communities, including inter-laboratory calibration, standardization of data reporting, and software tools for data reduction and uncertainty propagation. This program has also been successful in organizing the community in a way that has improved the accuracy and interpretation of geochronological ages, in part by designing and supporting online data archiving to improve the long-term value of both new and legacy data for the wider community. On the heels of the initial phase of EARTHTIME, we are now undertaking similar measures for the U-series geochronology community. Our initial efforts have focused on development of data-reporting standards and development of cyberinfrastructure that supports online archiving of legacy (and eventually new) data, construction of interactive, publication-quality evolution diagrams and data tables, interactive tools for data screening, and calculation of ages using standard or isochron methods. In tandem, there is a sister project that is working to improve inter-laboratory calibrations. Here we provide an update of our progress, and seek feedback from the geochronological community during continued development.