Farmer This award will expand the data content and utility of a web-accessible Western North America Volcanic and Intrusive Rock Database (NAVDAT). These tools will integrate geologic information with geophysical and crustal structure data to allow visualization of complex patterns in magmatism throughout western North America. Initial funding received in 2001 was used to develop the database and web interface, as well as populate it with igneous rock information from the western U.S. This renewal will complete the compilation of geochemical data from Late Cretaceous to Holocene igneous rocks from the region and add analyses of age-equivalent rocks from western Canada and northern Mexico. It will also develop downstream IT tools including conventional petrologic tools and GIS-based tools that allow visualization of time-space patterns in igneous activity.
Intellectual Merits Future progress in geoscience requires the integration of diverse datasets. NAVDAT is aimed at such integration, will play a key role in the cyberinfrastructure for the geosciences.
Broader Impacts NAVDAT expands research infrastructure and supports collaboration of geoscientists with interests in both basic research and applied work such as volcanic hazard mitigation and natural resource exploitation. NAVDAT's development will also involve the education of postdoctoral, graduate, and undergraduate students through activities spanning the disciplines of earth science and information technology. The work will also involve international collaboration with scientists from Canada and Mexico.
