Data Management of Proxy Parameters with PANGAEA
M. Diepenbroek\ H. Grobe 2 *, M. Reinke 2 , R. Schlitzer and R. Sieger
I MARUM Zentrum for Marine Umweltwissenschaften, Universitat Bremen,
Postfach 33 0440, D-28334 Bremen, Germany
2 Alfred-Wegener-Institutfor Polar- und Meeresforschung, Postfach I2 0161,
D-27515 Bremerhaven, Germany
*corresponding author (e-mail) . . info@pangaea.de
Abstract: Specific parameters detennined from marine sediments can be used as proxy data to
calculate fonner ocean properties. To use this scientific resource effectively an infonnation system
is needed which guarantees consistent longtime storage of the proxy data and provides easy access
for the scientific community. An infonnation system to archive proxy data ofpaleociimatic relevance,
together with the related meta-infonnation, raw data and evaluated paleoclimatic data, is presented
here. The system provides standardized import and export routines, easy access with unifonn retrieval
functions, and tools for the visualization of data. The network is designed as a client/server system
providing access through the Internet.
Introduction
Paleoclimate data are important because they extend the baseline of environmental and climatic
observations back into the geological past. The library of natural climatic archives is the best means
of determining how the climatic system operated
under boundary conditions substantially different
from today. An understanding of the past is essential in modeling future climate development and
environmental changes.
Data relating to previous environmental conditions are available from instrumental records and
documentary history, in addition to various natural
paleoclimatic archives. These include continental
ice, marine, lakustrine and terrestrial sediments,
cave spelaeothems, tree rings and corals. The archives provide records of time spans ranging from
years to millions of years, and resolutions ranging
between months and thousands of years.
The oceans playa key part in understanding climate as they are the major sink for carbon dioxide. Reconstructing the oceanography of the past
- namely, the field of 'paleoceanography' - is one
major step in understanding the processes related
to climatic change. The development of a technique
to measure the isotopic composition of fossil plankton shells and to use these data for the reconstruction of the ice age climate (Emiliani 1955) started
this fast-growing branch of marine geology. Five
decades of research on marine sediments have
clearly shown that this paleoclimatic archive contains a wealth of information about the most important parts of the climatic system: the hydrosphere
and the kryosphere. Sediments provide a record
covering about 140 million years. Since the invention of piston coring by Kullenberg, sediment cores
have been recovered by various means to sample
the uppermost layers « 50 m) of the ocean floor.
Conventional drilling to recover long sediment sequences of up to several hundred of meters is being undertaken in the Deep Sea Drilling Project
(DSDP) and the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP).
The samples taken from these cores are
analyzed to reconstruct paleoceanographic conditions. A number of analytical parameters can be
From FISCHER G, WEFER G (eds), 1999, Use 0/ Proxies in Paleoceanography: Examples/rom the South Atlantic. Springer-Verlag
Berlin Heidelberg, pp 715-727
M. Diepenbroek\ H. Grobe 2 *, M. Reinke 2 , R. Schlitzer and R. Sieger
I MARUM Zentrum for Marine Umweltwissenschaften, Universitat Bremen,
Postfach 33 0440, D-28334 Bremen, Germany
2 Alfred-Wegener-Institutfor Polar- und Meeresforschung, Postfach I2 0161,
D-27515 Bremerhaven, Germany
*corresponding author (e-mail) . . info@pangaea.de
Abstract: Specific parameters detennined from marine sediments can be used as proxy data to
calculate fonner ocean properties. To use this scientific resource effectively an infonnation system
is needed which guarantees consistent longtime storage of the proxy data and provides easy access
for the scientific community. An infonnation system to archive proxy data ofpaleociimatic relevance,
together with the related meta-infonnation, raw data and evaluated paleoclimatic data, is presented
here. The system provides standardized import and export routines, easy access with unifonn retrieval
functions, and tools for the visualization of data. The network is designed as a client/server system
providing access through the Internet.
Introduction
Paleoclimate data are important because they extend the baseline of environmental and climatic
observations back into the geological past. The library of natural climatic archives is the best means
of determining how the climatic system operated
under boundary conditions substantially different
from today. An understanding of the past is essential in modeling future climate development and
environmental changes.
Data relating to previous environmental conditions are available from instrumental records and
documentary history, in addition to various natural
paleoclimatic archives. These include continental
ice, marine, lakustrine and terrestrial sediments,
cave spelaeothems, tree rings and corals. The archives provide records of time spans ranging from
years to millions of years, and resolutions ranging
between months and thousands of years.
The oceans playa key part in understanding climate as they are the major sink for carbon dioxide. Reconstructing the oceanography of the past
- namely, the field of 'paleoceanography' - is one
major step in understanding the processes related
to climatic change. The development of a technique
to measure the isotopic composition of fossil plankton shells and to use these data for the reconstruction of the ice age climate (Emiliani 1955) started
this fast-growing branch of marine geology. Five
decades of research on marine sediments have
clearly shown that this paleoclimatic archive contains a wealth of information about the most important parts of the climatic system: the hydrosphere
and the kryosphere. Sediments provide a record
covering about 140 million years. Since the invention of piston coring by Kullenberg, sediment cores
have been recovered by various means to sample
the uppermost layers « 50 m) of the ocean floor.
Conventional drilling to recover long sediment sequences of up to several hundred of meters is being undertaken in the Deep Sea Drilling Project
(DSDP) and the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP).
The samples taken from these cores are
analyzed to reconstruct paleoceanographic conditions. A number of analytical parameters can be
From FISCHER G, WEFER G (eds), 1999, Use 0/ Proxies in Paleoceanography: Examples/rom the South Atlantic. Springer-Verlag
Berlin Heidelberg, pp 715-727