More Like this

1. Improving discoverability of tephra data through development of data upload templates and collection tools using community-driven best practices recommendations

   https://doi.org/10.7185/gold2021.3629  

   Wallace, Kristi ; Bursik, Marcus ; Goring, Simon ; Kodama, Samuel ; Kuehn, Steve ; Kurbatov, Andrei ; Lehnert, Kerstin ; Profeta, Lucia ; Ramdeen, Sarah ; Walker, J. Douglas ( July 2021 , Goldschmidt2021)

   Tephra is a unique volcanic product that plays an unparalleled role in understanding past eruptions, the long-term behavior of volcanoes, and the effects of volcanism on climate and the environment. Tephra deposits also provide spatially widespread, extremely high-resolution time-stratigraphic markers across a range of sedimentary settings and are used by many disciplines (e.g. volcanology, seismotectonics, climate science, archaeology, ecology, public health and ash impact assessment). In the last two decades, tephra studies have become more interdisciplinary in nature but are challenged by a lack of standardization that often prevents comparison amongst various regions and across disciplines. To address this challenge, the global tephra community has come together through a series of workshops to establish best practice recommendations for tephra studies from sample collection through analysis and data reporting. This new standardized framework will facilitate consistent tephra documentation and parametrization, foster interdisciplinary communication, and improve effectiveness of data sharing among diverse communities of researchers. One specific goal is to use the best practice guidelines to inform digital tool and data repository development. Here we report on 1) a new set of templates for tephra sample documentation, geochemical method documentation and data reporting using recommended best- practice data and metadata fields, 2) a new tephra module added to StraboSpot, an open source geologic mapping and data- recording multi-platform software application, and 3) new implementations and cross-mapping of metadata requirements at SESAR (System for Earth Sample Registration) and EarthChem. Addition of tephra-specific fields to StraboSpot enables users to consistently collect and report essential tephra data in the field which is then automatically saved to an online data repository. A new tephra portal on the EarthChem website will allow users to follow simple workflows to register tephra samples at SESAR and submit microanalytical data to EarthChem. 

   more » « less
2. Community established best practice recommendations for tephra studies—from collection through analysis

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01515-y  

   Wallace, Kristi L. ; Bursik, Marcus I. ; Kuehn, Stephen ; Kurbatov, Andrei V. ; Abbott, Peter ; Bonadonna, Costanza ; Cashman, Katharine ; Davies, Siwan M. ; Jensen, Britta ; Lane, Christine ; et al ( December 2022 , Scientific Data)

   Abstract Tephra is a unique volcanic product with an unparalleled role in understanding past eruptions, long-term behavior of volcanoes, and the effects of volcanism on climate and the environment. Tephra deposits also provide spatially widespread, high-resolution time-stratigraphic markers across a range of sedimentary settings and thus are used in numerous disciplines (e.g., volcanology, climate science, archaeology). Nonetheless, the study of tephra deposits is challenged by a lack of standardization that inhibits data integration across geographic regions and disciplines. We present comprehensive recommendations for tephra data gathering and reporting that were developed by the tephra science community to guide future investigators and to ensure that sufficient data are gathered for interoperability. Recommendations include standardized field and laboratory data collection, reporting and correlation guidance. These are organized as tabulated lists of key metadata with their definition and purpose. They are system independent and usable for template, tool, and database development. This standardized framework promotes consistent documentation and archiving, fosters interdisciplinary communication, and improves effectiveness of data sharing among diverse communities of researchers. 

   more » « less
3. Implementing community best practice data and metadata capture into laboratory workflows using Sparrow

   Kuehn, S.C. ( January 2022 , EarthCube Annual Meeting 2022)

   An implementation of the Sparrow data system (https://sparrow-data.org) is currently being developed to support laboratory workflows for sample preparation, geochemical analysis, and SEM imaging in support of tephra research. Tephra, consisting of fragmental material ejected from volcanoes, has a multidisciplinary array of applications from volcanology to geochronology, archaeology, environmental change, and more. The international tephra research community has developed a comprehensive set of recommendations for data and metadata collection and reporting (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3866266) as part of a broader effort to adopt FAIR practices. Implementations of these recommendations now exist for field data via StraboSpot (https://strabospot.org/files/StraboSpotTephraHelp.pdf) and for samples, analytical methods, and geochemistry via SESAR and EarthChem (https://earthchem.org/communities/tephra/). Implementing these recommended practices in Sparrow helps to (1) cover laboratory workflows between field sample collection and project data archiving and (2) address a key researcher pain point. As re-emphasized by participants in the Tephra Fusion 2022 workshop earlier this year (Wallace et al., this meeting), the huge workload currently needed to capture and organize data and metadata in preparation for archiving in community data repositories is a major obstacle to achieving FAIR practices. By capturing this information on the fly during laboratory workflows and integrating it together in a single data system, this challenge may be overcome. We are implementing the tephra community recommendations as extensions to Sparrow’s core database schema. Data import pipelines and user interfaces to streamline metadata capture are also being developed. In the longer term, we aim to achieve interoperability with an ecosystem of tools and repositories like StraboSpot, SESAR, EarthChem, and Throughput. The results of these developments will be applicable not just to tephra but also to other research areas which utilize similar laboratory and analytical methods - e.g. sedimentology, mineralogy, and petrology. 

   more » « less
4. Tephra Fusion 2022 workshop focused on best practices in tephra data recommends innovative computer solutions to build databases

   Wallace, K.L. ( January 2022 , EarthCube Annual Meeting 2022)

   A series of international workshops held in 2014, 2017, 2019, and 2022 focused on improving tephra studies from field collection through publication and encouraging FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) data practices for tephra data and metadata. Two consensus needs for tephra studies emerged from the 2014 and 2017 workshops: (a) standardization of tephra field data collection, geochemical analysis, correlation, and data reporting, and (b) development of next generation computer tools and databases to facilitate information access across multidisciplinary communities. To achieve (a), we developed a series of recommendations for best practices in tephra studies, from sample collection through analysis and data reporting (https://zenodo.org/record/3866266). A 4-part virtual workshop series (https://tephrochronology.org/cot/Tephra2022/) was held in February and March, 2022, to update the tephra community on these developments, to get community feedback, to learn of unmet needs, and to plan a future roadmap for open and FAIR tephra data. More than 230 people from 25 nations registered for the workshop series. The community strongly emphasized the need for better computer systems, including physical infrastructure (repositories and servers), digital infrastructure (software and tools) and human infrastructure (people, training, and professional assistance), to store, manage and serve global tephra datasets. Some desired attributes of improved computer systems include: 1) user friendliness 2) ability to easily ingest multiparameter tephra data (using best practice recommended data fields); 3) interoperability with existing data repositories; 4) development of tool add-ons (plotting and statistics); 5) improved searchability 6) development of a tephra portal with access to distributed data systems, and 7) commitments to long-term support from funding agencies, publishers and the cyberinfrastructure community. 

   more » « less
5. Rhyolite volcanism in the Marie Byrd Land volcanic province, Antarctica: New evidence for pyroclastic eruptions during latest Pliocene icesheet expansion

   https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-9003  

   Iverson, Nels ; Siddoway, Christine S. ; Zimmerer, Matt ; Smellie, John ; Dunbar, Nelia ; Gohl, Karsten ; Scientists, IODP Exp379 ( April 2021 , vEGU21, the 23rd EGU General Assembly)

   IODP Expedition 379 deep-sea drilling in 2019 (Gohl et al. 2021, doi:10.14379/iodp.proc.379.2021), offered an opportunity to obtain chronostratigraphic control for seismic reflection data for Amundsen Sea shelf and slope deposits that record Miocene to Present fluctuations in volume of the West Antarctic ice sheet. Here we report the age and interpret the provenance of a volcanic ash bed recovered at/near the Plio-Pleistocene boundary at 31.51 meters below sea level in Hole U1533B and 33.94 mbsf in Hole U1533D. With distinctive geochemistry and inferred wide regional distribution, the bed may serve as a reliable age marker. In Hole 1533B, the fresh tephra forms a discrete layer interstratified within uniform brown marine mud. The layer has a sharp base and upper boundary that is gradational over 5 cm into overlying mud. Color reflectance and density data aided identification of the tephra horizon (diffuse) in Hole 1533D, ~1000m away. A possible on-land source for ash is the Miocene to Pleistocene Marie Byrd Land volcanic province, comprising 18 large alkaline volcanoes dominated by effusive lavas. Products of pyroclastic eruptions are uncommon, mainly occurring as distal englacial, and probably marine, tephra. We undertook an offshore-onshore comparison by first characterizing samples of Site U1533 tephra from a petrographic and geochemical standpoint, using thin section observations, EMPA-WDS glass compositions, and 40Ar/39Ar dating. We then identified onshore exposures with similar characteristics. The offshore tephra are composed of coarse (50-300µm) cuspate glass shards with elongated vesicles. The glass composition is rhyolite, with 75-79wt.% SiO2, ~4wt.% FeO and 0.0wt.% MgO. Single-crystal feldspar 40Ar/39Ar dates are 2.55±0.12 and 2.92±0.02 Ma for U1533B and 2.87 ±0.45 Ma for U1533D. The geochemistry, shard morphology, discrete bed expression, and lateral continuity between Holes U1533B-U1533D indicate that the rhyolite tephra formed as airfall settled to the deep seabed. The ca. 2.55 Ma age based on youngest feldspar grains differs slightly from the 2.1 to 2.2 Ma result obtained from in-progress core bio-magnetostratigraphy. Rare exposures of rhyolite are found in the Chang Peak/Mt. Waesche centers, 1080 km from Site U1533. We obtained pumice sample MB.7.3 (prior-published age of 1.6±0.2 Ma), which displays elevated FeO and F content, and MB.8.1, a specimen of porphyritic cryptocrystalline lava. Single-crystal sanidine 40Ar/39Ar dates are 1.315±0.007 Ma (MB.7.3) and 1.385±0.003 Ma (MB.8.1). Site U1533 samples share a geochemical affinity with these on-land rhyolites, expressed as similar SiO2, CaO, TiO2, MgO and FeO content, suggesting an origin for Site U1533 tephra in the Chang-Waesche volcanoes. A possible explanation for the distinctly greater age, and observed contrasts in Al2O3, Na2O and F percentages, is that Site U1533 tephra are older and erupted from a source entirely concealed beneath subsequent eruptions and the ice sheet. Our results suggest that rhyolite volcanism initiated earlier, was of longer duration than previously known (2.92 to 1.315 Ma), and dispersed tephra far offshore. The finding is significant because ash and aerosols produced by large eruptions may influence regional climate. Antarctica cooled significantly and ice sheets expanded in latest Pliocene time (McKay et al. 2012, doi:10.1073/pnas.1112248109). 

   more » « less