A major European GIS project: the 1:5 Million International Geological Map of Europe and Adjacent... more A major European GIS project: the 1:5 Million International Geological Map of Europe and Adjacent Areas (IGME 5000) is being managed and implemented by the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR). The project involves over 40 European and adjacent countries The aims of the project are to develop a GIS underpinned by a geological database and a printed map providing upto-date and consistent geological information. A CD-ROM will be produced with a subset of the GIS and the related database. While the main theme of the GIS is the pre-Quaternary geology of both the land and offshore areas of Europe, it is planned to include additional themes, such as Quaternary geology-a key factor influencing the natural landscape.
Data and information on the ocean floor is hardly findable scattered, rarely compatible, often in... more Data and information on the ocean floor is hardly findable scattered, rarely compatible, often inaccessible, and often usable only by insiders. The main reason for this situation is the inaccessibility of the ocean floor and the need to use and rely on mostly geophysical methods in order to create a geological map. Therefore, the ocean floor is by far not as thoroughly explored as on-shore areas: “we have better maps of the surface of Mars and the Moon than we do of the bottom of the ocean.” [Gene Feldmann, NASA, 2009: https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/oceans-the-great-unknown-58.html].Thus, in 2009 the European Commission established the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) programme, subdivided into seven thematic projects, one of which is EMODnet Geology. It aims to build digitally available map layers of the European Seas to be interoperable and generally and freely available. Within the EMODnet Geology the workpackage “Seafloor geology” (lead by BGR) compiles and harmonizes marine geological and geomorphological data from the EMODnet partners all over Europe and adjacent areas, to be made available on the EMODnet Geology portal [https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/en/geology] and the BGR portal [https://geoportal.bgr.de].These data contain information on geomorphology, age, lithology and genesis (process, environment) of each unit and encompass two relevant aspects of extreme environmental mapping:a) they are often mapped in extreme environments such as mid-oceanic ridges, rift propagation zone, and subsea volcanic centres, e.g. the Grimsey lineament rift propagation zone located north-of Iceland; b) they contain information on past extreme environments, e.g. subglacial, volcanic or deep sea environments.Underpinned by examples, this poster will present and discuss both aspects and outline the benefits of mapping in extreme environments also for general mapping projects such as EMODnet geology.
Data and information on the ocean floor is hardly findable scattered, rarely compatible, often in... more Data and information on the ocean floor is hardly findable scattered, rarely compatible, often inaccessible, and often usable only by insiders. The main reason for this situation is the inaccessibility of the ocean floor and the need to use and rely on mostly geophysical methods in order to create a geological map. Therefore, the ocean floor is by far not as thoroughly explored as on-shore areas: “we have better maps of the surface of Mars and the Moon than we do of the bottom of the ocean.” [Gene Feldmann, NASA, 2009: https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/oceans-the-great-unknown-58.html].Thus, in 2009 the European Commission established the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) programme, subdivided into seven thematic projects, one of which is EMODnet Geology. It aims to build digitally available map layers of the European Seas to be interoperable and generally and freely available. Within the EMODnet Geology the workpackage “Seafloor geology” (l...
Arenas (2) (1) Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), (2) Bureau de Rechè... more Arenas (2) (1) Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), (2) Bureau de Rechèrches and Minières (BRGM) OneGeology-Europe is making geological spatial data held by the geological surveys of Europe more easily discoverable and accessible via the internet. This will provide a fundamental scientific layer to the European Plate Observation System Rich geological data assets exist in the geological survey of each individual EC Member State, but they are difficult to discover and are not interoperable. For those outside the geological surveys they are not easy to obtain, to understand or to use. Geological spatial data is essential to the prediction and mitigation of landslides, subsidence, earthquakes, flooding and pollution. These issues are global in nature and their profile has also been raised by the OneGeology global initiative for the International Year of Planet Earth 2008.
Dieses Werk ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Die dadurch begründeten Rechte. insbesondele die der ... more Dieses Werk ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Die dadurch begründeten Rechte. insbesondele die der Übersetzung. des Nachdrucks. des Vortrags. der Entnahme von Abbildungen und Tabellen. der Funksendung. der Mikroverfilmung oder der Vervielfältigung auf anderen Wegen und der Speicherung in Datenverarbeitungsanlagen. bleiben. auch bei nur auszugsweiser Verwertung. vorbehalten. Eine Vervielfältigung dieses Werkes oder von Teilen dieses Werkes ist auch im Einzelfall nur in den Grenzen der gesetzlichen Bestimmungen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes der Bundesrepublik Deutschland vom 9. September 1965 in der jeweils geltenden Fassung zulässig. Sie ist grundsätzlich vergütungspflichtig. Zuwiderhandlungen unterliegen den Strafbestimmungen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes.
Information in general and digital information in particular, underpins all of the IUGS strategic... more Information in general and digital information in particular, underpins all of the IUGS strategic objectives. CGI is helping to address a growing need to improve the quality and range of both information content and the applications that are used to acquire, analyse, process and disseminate geoscience data. It will do this by the exchange of knowledge and best practice and the support for standards. CGI is a new (strictly speaking, reactivated) Commission, founded by the IUGS in late 2002 following the demise of an earlier information Commission, COGEOINFO. Early tasks for CGI were to establish its objectives, set up its structure and modus operandi, elect its Council and establish a web presence. The new Commission was formally ratified by the IUGS at the IGC in Florence in 2004 and also held its first full Open Meeting there. For this meeting new Statutes were produced and agreed, elections were held for the Council, the CGI web site was completely overhauled and refreshed, flyers were designed and distributed, and invitations to the Open Meeting were mailed to over 1500 people worldwide-the aim being to make sure that as many people as possible would be aware of our existence.
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, Nov 26, 2021
Our paper presents the first draft of a geomorphological map of the German North Sea and Baltic S... more Our paper presents the first draft of a geomorphological map of the German North Sea and Baltic Sea. The inspiration for this map comes from the international collaboration of marine researchers within the European EMODnet Geology Project ( https://www.emodnet-geology.eu/ ). The current climate change intensifies the natural processes of change in nature. Within the framework of various nature conservation projects, the importance of marine sediment structures on marine fauna and their reproductive cycles, sedimentation conditions, currents, etc. has been investigated. In order to be able to make statements for the German seas and document changes, the current state must first be recorded.
<p>The planetary community has access to a wealth of raw research data by using central dat... more <p>The planetary community has access to a wealth of raw research data by using central data distribution platforms such as the Planetary Data System (PDS) [1], the Planetary Science Archive (PSA) [2] or specific mission archives.&#160; This research data becomes usable through its contents, i.e., the measurement, but also through the definition of extensive metadata descriptions without which raw data would be incomplete or even useless.</p> <p>Beyond these archives, the International Planetary Data Alliance (IPDA) is responsible for the maintenance of the quality and performance of data from space instruments [3].&#160; Established by NASA and the planetary science community in 2014 the Mapping and Planetary Spatial Infrastructure Team (MAPSIT), originally named the Cartography Research Assessment Group (CRAG), takes care of the American objectives in space by ensuring the usage of planetary data for scientific and engineering communities [4]. Beside these, further efforts focus on e.g. data access system [e.g. 5], on interoperability [e.g. 6] and infrastructure topics [e.g. 7] related to mission data.</p> <p>When it comes to data products derived from these raw data, such as processed image products, terrain models, modelled spectral information, maps, diagrams, data tables etc., there is a considerable lack of central archives allowing the research community to store and find derived research-data products. To enable a healthy planetary research-product life cycle (cf. [8]), questions on re-usability of planetary research products need to be addressed and a coordination of organizational processes is required. This involves questions regarding individual entities dealing with the modification, review, or dissemination of data. In order to facilitate such processes, concepts and initiatives such as OPEN data principles [9] and FAIR data [10] have been developed, and infrastructure frameworks have been conceptualized and implemented. Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) have spawned in the 1990s due to growing amount of data and the need to make decisions based on reliably maintained data [11].&#160;</p> <p>The SDI Directive INSPIRE of the European Commission represents one of the largest SDIs and was established 2007 on the European level, to enable sharing of environmental spatial information [12]. It builds on established standards such as the OGC [13] and ISO [14] for metadata and services, and serves with data models, vocabularies and other mainly technical specifications [15]. In the Earth sciences infrastructures have been developing organically over the years and adapted to ever growing needs.&#160; This approach differs from developments in the planetary sciences that we are currently witnessing, but yet it presents an extremely valuable base of knowledge and experience in order to avoid facing similar problems and deal with challenges right from the beginning.</p> <p>In order to learn from experiences in Earth observations and mapping, to be able to adopt structures into a provision and reuse of planetary research products, we aim to streamline the discussion within the planetary community. We here discuss the common planetary research-data life cycle and highlight, how the existing life cycle could be positively affected and enriched from a user- and process-centric view, by translating established SDI experience and workflows of INSPIRE into the planetary domain. We will discuss this process from using a discrete research data product: the map, due to its high level of abstraction and complexity.&#160; We will subsequently abstract this research product and transfer its characteristics to a wider range of different research product types.</p> <p>References:</p> <p>[1] Planetary Data System (PDS), 2020, https://pds.nasa.gov/</p> <p>[2] Planetary Science Archive (PSA), 2020, https://archives.esac.esa.int/psa/#!Home%20View</p> <p>[3] International Planetary Data Alliance<strong>, </strong>IPDA, 2020, https://planetarydata.org/</p> <p>[4] Mapping and Planetary Spatial Infrastructure Team (MAPSIT), 2020 https://www.lpi.usra.edu/mapsit/</p> <p>[5] Erard, S. et al, 2018, VESPA: A community-driven Virtual Observatory in Planetary Science. PSS 150, doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2017.05.013 &#160;</p> <p>[6] Hare, T. et al, 2018, Interoperability in planetary research for geospatial data analysis, PSS 150, doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2017.04.004</p> <p>[7] Laura, J. et al. 2017, Towards a Planetary Spatial Data Infrastructure, ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 6, 181, doi:10.3390/ijgi6060181 &#160;</p> <p>[8] Office of Information, Knowledge and Library Services, 2020, Research data life cycle, https://blogs.ntu.edu.sg/lib-datamanagement/data-lifecycle/</p> <p>[9] OPEN Knowledge Foundation, 2020, Open Data Handbook. http://opendatahandbook.org/guide/en/</p> <p>[10] Wilkinson, M. et al., 2016, The FAIR Guiding principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Scientific Data, doi:10.1038/sdata.2016.18 &#160;</p> <p>[11]…
ABSTRACT The Antarctic Ice Sheet comprises the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and the much larger East ... more ABSTRACT The Antarctic Ice Sheet comprises the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and the much larger East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Fast flowing ice streams and outlet glaciers are important dynamic components of the ice sheet system, and a grid resolution of at least 20 km ...
A major geological GIS project: the 1:5 Million International Geological Map of Europe and Adjace... more A major geological GIS project: the 1:5 Million International Geological Map of Europe and Adjacent Areas (IGME 5000) is being managed and implemented by the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR). The aims of the project are to develop for the whole of Europe a GIS underpinned by a geological database, a printed map depicting up-to-date and consistent geological information and a CD-ROM with a subset of the GIS. However, consistent geological information in digital form requires standards and guidance far more stringent and extensive than those for the production of a paper map and it became apparent that few, if any, such standards existed (recent research across European geological survey organisations has now confirmed this definitively). Thus the geological standards and protocols that are an essential prerequisite for the project to achieve the integration of the knowledge from the many countries had to be constructed pragmatically.
This Commission was promoted by the Council of the International Union of Geological Sciences 201... more This Commission was promoted by the Council of the International Union of Geological Sciences 2016 in Cape Town from a successful Task Group. The aims for the Commission remained to: 1) Prepare a global geochemical database and its representation in map form 2) Document the concentration and distribution of chemical elements and species in the Earth's near-surface environment. The Task Group TGGGB has been operating successfully since 1998. 2016 it became a Commission and the cooperation with the UNESCO International Centre on Global-scale Geochemistry in Langfang was established and joint endeavours in sampling procedures, sample preparation, analytics and data curation should have been established and continued. Three years after establishment of the Commission the main focus remained promotion and facilitation of geochemical data including harmonization of sampling, preparation and interpretation, a new ARC was due. As specified in the Statutes and Byelaws of the Union, the IUGS EC is required to undertake a formal review of all Commissions and other bodies funded by the Union on an approximate 4-year cycle. These reports provide accountability for the expenditures incurred by the Union as well as an opportunity for the Union to interact with its constituents. Consequently, during the Annual Meeting of the IUGS Executive Committee in February 2019 a decision was made that the Commission on Global Geochemical Baselines (CGGB) should be reviewed before the advent of the 35 t h
A major European GIS project: the 1:5 Million International Geological Map of Europe and Adjacent... more A major European GIS project: the 1:5 Million International Geological Map of Europe and Adjacent Areas (IGME 5000) is being managed and implemented by the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR). The project involves over 40 European and adjacent countries The aims of the project are to develop a GIS underpinned by a geological database and a printed map providing upto-date and consistent geological information. A CD-ROM will be produced with a subset of the GIS and the related database. While the main theme of the GIS is the pre-Quaternary geology of both the land and offshore areas of Europe, it is planned to include additional themes, such as Quaternary geology-a key factor influencing the natural landscape.
Data and information on the ocean floor is hardly findable scattered, rarely compatible, often in... more Data and information on the ocean floor is hardly findable scattered, rarely compatible, often inaccessible, and often usable only by insiders. The main reason for this situation is the inaccessibility of the ocean floor and the need to use and rely on mostly geophysical methods in order to create a geological map. Therefore, the ocean floor is by far not as thoroughly explored as on-shore areas: “we have better maps of the surface of Mars and the Moon than we do of the bottom of the ocean.” [Gene Feldmann, NASA, 2009: https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/oceans-the-great-unknown-58.html].Thus, in 2009 the European Commission established the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) programme, subdivided into seven thematic projects, one of which is EMODnet Geology. It aims to build digitally available map layers of the European Seas to be interoperable and generally and freely available. Within the EMODnet Geology the workpackage “Seafloor geology” (lead by BGR) compiles and harmonizes marine geological and geomorphological data from the EMODnet partners all over Europe and adjacent areas, to be made available on the EMODnet Geology portal [https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/en/geology] and the BGR portal [https://geoportal.bgr.de].These data contain information on geomorphology, age, lithology and genesis (process, environment) of each unit and encompass two relevant aspects of extreme environmental mapping:a) they are often mapped in extreme environments such as mid-oceanic ridges, rift propagation zone, and subsea volcanic centres, e.g. the Grimsey lineament rift propagation zone located north-of Iceland; b) they contain information on past extreme environments, e.g. subglacial, volcanic or deep sea environments.Underpinned by examples, this poster will present and discuss both aspects and outline the benefits of mapping in extreme environments also for general mapping projects such as EMODnet geology.
Data and information on the ocean floor is hardly findable scattered, rarely compatible, often in... more Data and information on the ocean floor is hardly findable scattered, rarely compatible, often inaccessible, and often usable only by insiders. The main reason for this situation is the inaccessibility of the ocean floor and the need to use and rely on mostly geophysical methods in order to create a geological map. Therefore, the ocean floor is by far not as thoroughly explored as on-shore areas: “we have better maps of the surface of Mars and the Moon than we do of the bottom of the ocean.” [Gene Feldmann, NASA, 2009: https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/oceans-the-great-unknown-58.html].Thus, in 2009 the European Commission established the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) programme, subdivided into seven thematic projects, one of which is EMODnet Geology. It aims to build digitally available map layers of the European Seas to be interoperable and generally and freely available. Within the EMODnet Geology the workpackage “Seafloor geology” (l...
Arenas (2) (1) Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), (2) Bureau de Rechè... more Arenas (2) (1) Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), (2) Bureau de Rechèrches and Minières (BRGM) OneGeology-Europe is making geological spatial data held by the geological surveys of Europe more easily discoverable and accessible via the internet. This will provide a fundamental scientific layer to the European Plate Observation System Rich geological data assets exist in the geological survey of each individual EC Member State, but they are difficult to discover and are not interoperable. For those outside the geological surveys they are not easy to obtain, to understand or to use. Geological spatial data is essential to the prediction and mitigation of landslides, subsidence, earthquakes, flooding and pollution. These issues are global in nature and their profile has also been raised by the OneGeology global initiative for the International Year of Planet Earth 2008.
Dieses Werk ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Die dadurch begründeten Rechte. insbesondele die der ... more Dieses Werk ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Die dadurch begründeten Rechte. insbesondele die der Übersetzung. des Nachdrucks. des Vortrags. der Entnahme von Abbildungen und Tabellen. der Funksendung. der Mikroverfilmung oder der Vervielfältigung auf anderen Wegen und der Speicherung in Datenverarbeitungsanlagen. bleiben. auch bei nur auszugsweiser Verwertung. vorbehalten. Eine Vervielfältigung dieses Werkes oder von Teilen dieses Werkes ist auch im Einzelfall nur in den Grenzen der gesetzlichen Bestimmungen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes der Bundesrepublik Deutschland vom 9. September 1965 in der jeweils geltenden Fassung zulässig. Sie ist grundsätzlich vergütungspflichtig. Zuwiderhandlungen unterliegen den Strafbestimmungen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes.
Information in general and digital information in particular, underpins all of the IUGS strategic... more Information in general and digital information in particular, underpins all of the IUGS strategic objectives. CGI is helping to address a growing need to improve the quality and range of both information content and the applications that are used to acquire, analyse, process and disseminate geoscience data. It will do this by the exchange of knowledge and best practice and the support for standards. CGI is a new (strictly speaking, reactivated) Commission, founded by the IUGS in late 2002 following the demise of an earlier information Commission, COGEOINFO. Early tasks for CGI were to establish its objectives, set up its structure and modus operandi, elect its Council and establish a web presence. The new Commission was formally ratified by the IUGS at the IGC in Florence in 2004 and also held its first full Open Meeting there. For this meeting new Statutes were produced and agreed, elections were held for the Council, the CGI web site was completely overhauled and refreshed, flyers were designed and distributed, and invitations to the Open Meeting were mailed to over 1500 people worldwide-the aim being to make sure that as many people as possible would be aware of our existence.
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, Nov 26, 2021
Our paper presents the first draft of a geomorphological map of the German North Sea and Baltic S... more Our paper presents the first draft of a geomorphological map of the German North Sea and Baltic Sea. The inspiration for this map comes from the international collaboration of marine researchers within the European EMODnet Geology Project ( https://www.emodnet-geology.eu/ ). The current climate change intensifies the natural processes of change in nature. Within the framework of various nature conservation projects, the importance of marine sediment structures on marine fauna and their reproductive cycles, sedimentation conditions, currents, etc. has been investigated. In order to be able to make statements for the German seas and document changes, the current state must first be recorded.
<p>The planetary community has access to a wealth of raw research data by using central dat... more <p>The planetary community has access to a wealth of raw research data by using central data distribution platforms such as the Planetary Data System (PDS) [1], the Planetary Science Archive (PSA) [2] or specific mission archives.&#160; This research data becomes usable through its contents, i.e., the measurement, but also through the definition of extensive metadata descriptions without which raw data would be incomplete or even useless.</p> <p>Beyond these archives, the International Planetary Data Alliance (IPDA) is responsible for the maintenance of the quality and performance of data from space instruments [3].&#160; Established by NASA and the planetary science community in 2014 the Mapping and Planetary Spatial Infrastructure Team (MAPSIT), originally named the Cartography Research Assessment Group (CRAG), takes care of the American objectives in space by ensuring the usage of planetary data for scientific and engineering communities [4]. Beside these, further efforts focus on e.g. data access system [e.g. 5], on interoperability [e.g. 6] and infrastructure topics [e.g. 7] related to mission data.</p> <p>When it comes to data products derived from these raw data, such as processed image products, terrain models, modelled spectral information, maps, diagrams, data tables etc., there is a considerable lack of central archives allowing the research community to store and find derived research-data products. To enable a healthy planetary research-product life cycle (cf. [8]), questions on re-usability of planetary research products need to be addressed and a coordination of organizational processes is required. This involves questions regarding individual entities dealing with the modification, review, or dissemination of data. In order to facilitate such processes, concepts and initiatives such as OPEN data principles [9] and FAIR data [10] have been developed, and infrastructure frameworks have been conceptualized and implemented. Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) have spawned in the 1990s due to growing amount of data and the need to make decisions based on reliably maintained data [11].&#160;</p> <p>The SDI Directive INSPIRE of the European Commission represents one of the largest SDIs and was established 2007 on the European level, to enable sharing of environmental spatial information [12]. It builds on established standards such as the OGC [13] and ISO [14] for metadata and services, and serves with data models, vocabularies and other mainly technical specifications [15]. In the Earth sciences infrastructures have been developing organically over the years and adapted to ever growing needs.&#160; This approach differs from developments in the planetary sciences that we are currently witnessing, but yet it presents an extremely valuable base of knowledge and experience in order to avoid facing similar problems and deal with challenges right from the beginning.</p> <p>In order to learn from experiences in Earth observations and mapping, to be able to adopt structures into a provision and reuse of planetary research products, we aim to streamline the discussion within the planetary community. We here discuss the common planetary research-data life cycle and highlight, how the existing life cycle could be positively affected and enriched from a user- and process-centric view, by translating established SDI experience and workflows of INSPIRE into the planetary domain. We will discuss this process from using a discrete research data product: the map, due to its high level of abstraction and complexity.&#160; We will subsequently abstract this research product and transfer its characteristics to a wider range of different research product types.</p> <p>References:</p> <p>[1] Planetary Data System (PDS), 2020, https://pds.nasa.gov/</p> <p>[2] Planetary Science Archive (PSA), 2020, https://archives.esac.esa.int/psa/#!Home%20View</p> <p>[3] International Planetary Data Alliance<strong>, </strong>IPDA, 2020, https://planetarydata.org/</p> <p>[4] Mapping and Planetary Spatial Infrastructure Team (MAPSIT), 2020 https://www.lpi.usra.edu/mapsit/</p> <p>[5] Erard, S. et al, 2018, VESPA: A community-driven Virtual Observatory in Planetary Science. PSS 150, doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2017.05.013 &#160;</p> <p>[6] Hare, T. et al, 2018, Interoperability in planetary research for geospatial data analysis, PSS 150, doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2017.04.004</p> <p>[7] Laura, J. et al. 2017, Towards a Planetary Spatial Data Infrastructure, ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 6, 181, doi:10.3390/ijgi6060181 &#160;</p> <p>[8] Office of Information, Knowledge and Library Services, 2020, Research data life cycle, https://blogs.ntu.edu.sg/lib-datamanagement/data-lifecycle/</p> <p>[9] OPEN Knowledge Foundation, 2020, Open Data Handbook. http://opendatahandbook.org/guide/en/</p> <p>[10] Wilkinson, M. et al., 2016, The FAIR Guiding principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Scientific Data, doi:10.1038/sdata.2016.18 &#160;</p> <p>[11]…
ABSTRACT The Antarctic Ice Sheet comprises the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and the much larger East ... more ABSTRACT The Antarctic Ice Sheet comprises the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and the much larger East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Fast flowing ice streams and outlet glaciers are important dynamic components of the ice sheet system, and a grid resolution of at least 20 km ...
A major geological GIS project: the 1:5 Million International Geological Map of Europe and Adjace... more A major geological GIS project: the 1:5 Million International Geological Map of Europe and Adjacent Areas (IGME 5000) is being managed and implemented by the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR). The aims of the project are to develop for the whole of Europe a GIS underpinned by a geological database, a printed map depicting up-to-date and consistent geological information and a CD-ROM with a subset of the GIS. However, consistent geological information in digital form requires standards and guidance far more stringent and extensive than those for the production of a paper map and it became apparent that few, if any, such standards existed (recent research across European geological survey organisations has now confirmed this definitively). Thus the geological standards and protocols that are an essential prerequisite for the project to achieve the integration of the knowledge from the many countries had to be constructed pragmatically.
This Commission was promoted by the Council of the International Union of Geological Sciences 201... more This Commission was promoted by the Council of the International Union of Geological Sciences 2016 in Cape Town from a successful Task Group. The aims for the Commission remained to: 1) Prepare a global geochemical database and its representation in map form 2) Document the concentration and distribution of chemical elements and species in the Earth's near-surface environment. The Task Group TGGGB has been operating successfully since 1998. 2016 it became a Commission and the cooperation with the UNESCO International Centre on Global-scale Geochemistry in Langfang was established and joint endeavours in sampling procedures, sample preparation, analytics and data curation should have been established and continued. Three years after establishment of the Commission the main focus remained promotion and facilitation of geochemical data including harmonization of sampling, preparation and interpretation, a new ARC was due. As specified in the Statutes and Byelaws of the Union, the IUGS EC is required to undertake a formal review of all Commissions and other bodies funded by the Union on an approximate 4-year cycle. These reports provide accountability for the expenditures incurred by the Union as well as an opportunity for the Union to interact with its constituents. Consequently, during the Annual Meeting of the IUGS Executive Committee in February 2019 a decision was made that the Commission on Global Geochemical Baselines (CGGB) should be reviewed before the advent of the 35 t h
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Papers by Kristine Asch