MACROSTRAT: A PLATFORM FOR AGGREGATING, RELATING, AND USING GEOLOGICAL DATA AND INFORMATION

Characterizing the lithology, age, and physical-chemical properties of rocks and sediments in the Earth’s upper crust is necessary to fully assess energy, water, and mineral resources and to address many fundamental research questions in the geo- and paleobiosciences. Although a large number of geological maps, regional geological syntheses, and sample-based measurements have been produced, there is no openly available system that integrates all such rock record-derived data, while also facilitating large-scale, quantitative characterization of the volume, age, and material properties of the upper crust. Here, we describe Macrostrat, a relational geospatial database and supporting cyberinfrastructure that is designed to power geo-applications and to enable quantitative spatial and geochronological analyses of the entire assemblage of surface and subsurface sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks. Macrostrat contains general, comprehensive summaries of the age and properties of over 34,000 lithologically and chronologically-defined geological units distributed across nearly 1,500 regions in the Americas, the Caribbean, New Zealand, and the deep sea. Sample-derived data, including fossil occurrences in the Paleobiology Database, more than 3M geochemical and outcrop-derived measurements, and more than 2.3 million bedrock geologic map units from over 200 map sources, are linked to Macrostrat units and/or lithologies. The database has generated numerous quantitative results and is used as a data platform in several independently developed applications, but it is necessary to expand geographic coverage and to continuously refine age models and material properties to arrive at a more precise and accurate characterization of the upper crust.