DESKTOP APPLICATION TO MANAGE AND STORE DETRITAL ZIRCON GEOCHRONOLOGICAL DATA IN A SQL DATABASE

Detrital zircon datasets contain vast amounts of geochronological data, and different labs, researchers, and institutions all have their own standards of formatting. Detrital zircon data are also becoming cheaper and easier to produce which increases the quantity of datasets available to researchers. This increase of data only makes the existing problem of having to organize, sort and filter the data that much more difficult. This application aims to fix this problem of organizing and managing data by importing and storing it in a personal local SQL database, similar to a reference manager for publications. When the application is unsure how to import the data, it prompts the user with a step-by-step wizard to confirm or modify the assumed data values. This is to ensure all data are accurate while still having the bulk of the behind-the-scenes processes automated. The application then remembers the specific formatting that was used and would apply that to future datasets of the same format to be imported. Users can create custom tags to classify the data. Online databases will be seamlessly integrated into importing. The data inside the local SQL database can then be used by the built-in filtering and basic plotting to allow users to quickly visualize the data based on current filtering options. Once the user is satisfied with the selected data, it can be output in varying formats for Excel, IsoplotR, DZstats, detritalPy, etc. Users can also split, merge, and share the SQL database for other researchers to merge into their own databases with little user input unless there are conflicting entries. New AI tools such as Chat GPT are intriguing, but we find it is insufficient for our needs as it is still unreliable and the results cannot be shared, merged, or stored. The application will use open-source methods of version control so that users can submit their own feedback or help contribute to the application through GitHub. Once closed alpha development is completed and the application is published, it will help assist all geochronologists in optimizing their own research methods while seamlessly integrating with existing tools.