EAR-0003374 New Title: "Update of Paleomagnetic Databases for the years 2001-2002".
This award will fund continued maintainance and updating of numerous paleomagnetic databases. The update of the paleomagnetic databases is in a transitional phase during this two-year period. Dr Michael McElhinny is retiring and has handed over this task to Dr Sergei Pisarevsky at the Tectonics Special Research Centre, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia. Although Dr Pisarevsky is well-versed in databases, including their design and operation, Dr McElhinny has agreed to act in a supervisory capacity during this transitional phase. At the present time the databases are set up under either MS Access 97 or MS Access 2000. This will be continued for the present, but the possibility that a more modern database system could be used is being investigated under the new Geoinformatics and other database initiatives being developed in the Geosciences. Until now the databases have been updated annually, but this will now be undertaken every six months. Updates will appear immediately on the web through the web-site at the Geological Survey of Norway as has been available for updates over the past three years. Indeed as far as the Global Paleomagnetic Database (GPMDB) is concerned this web-site is the way in which most users currently access the database. The following databases will be automatically updated: GPMDB - Global Paleomagnetic Database for directions and pole positions MAGST- World-wide Database for magnetostratigraphy. PSVRL - Paleosecular Variation from Lavas for the past 5 Myr. The following databases rely heavily on researchers sending in their data, since the details are often not given in publications. SECVR - Secular Variation from Lake sediments and Holocene deposits. These data are never published in detail (only plots of Declination and Inclination versus Time are given. At present this database has as much data as can currently be obtained. Many researchers have not responded to requests for their data. TRANS - Reversals transitions database. Reversal transitions from lava sequences are published in the literature in full, lava flow by lava flow. However, transitions observed in sedimentary sequences are not given in detail horizon by horizon and again must be obtained from authors. This database is up to date as far as has been possible to get these sedimentary records in detail. The following databases are compiled and updated by others: PINT - Global Paleointensity Database. This is compiled and updated by Dr Mireille Perrin at the University of Montpellier, France. ARCHEO - Archeomagnetic Database. This is compiled and updated by Dr Don Tarling at the University of Southampton, UK.
