EarthChem Library

EarthChem Library
Name	EarthChem Library
Type	Research data repository
Established	2010s
Location	United States (initial)
Focus	Geochemical, petrological, geochronological, geospatial data
Website	(not shown)

EarthChem Library

The EarthChem Library is a curated digital repository for geochemical, petrological, and geochronological datasets supporting research in the geosciences. It aggregates rock, mineral, and sediment composition records alongside metadata, provenance, and standardized analytical methods to facilitate reuse by researchers, students, and policy actors. The Library interfaces with a network of institutions and projects to integrate terrestrial, oceanographic, and planetary datasets for comparative studies and synthesis.

Overview

The Library serves as a central node connecting data producers, laboratories, curation facilities, and synthesis centers such as the Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, United States Geological Survey, Smithsonian Institution, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. It organizes datasets with links to instruments, field campaigns, and sample repositories like the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, International Ocean Discovery Program, and National Science Foundation-funded collections. The Library adopts standards promoted by bodies including the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange, Research Data Alliance, and the Committee on Data (CODATA) to promote interoperability with portals such as the EarthChem Portal, PANGEA (data publisher), and the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

Data Collections and Content

Collections include whole-rock geochemistry, mineral analyses, isotopic measurements (U–Pb, Ar–Ar, Sm–Nd, Rb–Sr), and geochronology datasets submitted by investigators from institutions like California Institute of Technology, University of Oxford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and ETH Zurich. The Library catalogs sample metadata tied to repositories such as the U.S. National Museum of Natural History and the British Geological Survey as well as expedition records from RV JOIDES Resolution cruises and field programs associated with Greenland ice sheet and Antarctic Peninsula research. Data types cover major- and trace-element geochemistry, X-ray fluorescence, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, electron microprobe analyses, and secondary ion mass spectrometry, with links to instrument facilities like Argonne National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The Library also includes curated hazard-relevant datasets from agencies such as the United States Geological Survey volcano monitoring programs and seismic-related petrology studies tied to the Southern California Earthquake Center.

Access and Tools

Access mechanisms range from web-based browsing to APIs and standardized metadata records that align with schemas endorsed by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program and the Global Geochemical Reference Database. Users discover data via search facets for rock type, tectonic setting, age, and method, integrating with visualization tools and GIS platforms like ArcGIS, QGIS, and scientific workflows executed on systems associated with XSEDE or European Grid Infrastructure. Analytical reproducibility is supported through connections to version control and computational notebooks hosted by organizations like GitHub and Zenodo, and by leveraging persistent identifiers from services such as DataCite and the Handle System to cite sample sets in publications appearing in journals published by American Geophysical Union, Nature Geoscience, and Geology (journal). Training resources and user guides are developed in collaboration with university centers including University of Washington and University of California, Berkeley.

History and Development

The Library emerged from community efforts to standardize and preserve geochemical datasets, with antecedents in archival projects at institutions such as Carnegie Institution for Science and consortium activities funded by agencies like the National Science Foundation and European Research Council. It evolved alongside initiatives for digital data stewardship exemplified by the Long Now Foundation for cultural data and the Digital Preservation Coalition for technical practices. Key development phases included metadata schema harmonization, ontology mapping to controlled vocabularies used by the Global Earth Observation System of Systems, and deployment of scalable storage solutions implemented with partners like Amazon Web Services and national supercomputing centers affiliated with NSF XSEDE.

Governance and Partnerships

Governance is typically overseen by advisory boards comprising representatives from universities, national laboratories, museums, and international bodies including the International Union of Geological Sciences and the International Geosphere–Biosphere Programme (IGBP). Funding and operational partnerships involve agencies like the National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and philanthropic organizations such as the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Collaborative agreements enable data sharing with repositories and programs including the EarthScope project, the Global Seismographic Network, and national geological surveys like the Geological Survey of Canada. Community governance practices draw on open-data policies from publishers such as Elsevier and Springer Nature as well as FAIR principles advocated by GO FAIR.

Impact and Use Cases

The Library underpins multidisciplinary research spanning mantle geochemistry, crustal evolution, tectonics, and planetary comparative studies with datasets used by research groups at Harvard University, Princeton University, California Institute of Technology, and University of Tokyo. It supports hazard assessment workflows for volcanic risk mitigation used by organizations such as the U.S. Geological Survey Volcano Hazards Program and contributes to resource assessments informing agencies like the U.S. Department of Energy. The curated collections enable meta-analyses published in venues affiliated with American Association for the Advancement of Science, drive educational modules at institutions including Columbia University and University of Cambridge, and facilitate reproducible science practices promoted by initiatives such as the Open Science Framework.

Category:Geochemistry Category:Scientific databases