[CAnet - news] Cyber-Infrastructure for Paleontology research

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[A great example of how grids, web services and networks allow creation of
new knowledge from the integration of disparate databases and instruments.
>From Science Grid this week -- BSA]

http://www.interactions.org/sgtw/2005/1026/iow_20051026.html

Most dinosaur remains from the Late Jurassic are found at low paleolatitudes
where the climate was dry and where vegetation was of relatively low
diversity, something that hadn't been considered by researchers studying
patterns of dinosaur biogeography, interactions, diversity and evolution
through time. By bringing together different databases of fossils and rocks,
and providing mapping tools and paleogeographic maps, we can address such
paleontological, paleoclimatic, and paleobiogeographic issues. In this case,
our research suggested that dinosaur preservation was favored in
environments toward the drier end of the climate spectrum, where savannas
rather than forests predominated.

My research relies on the integration and interoperability of databases from
several geoscience disciplines, including paleontology, sedimentology,
climate modeling, structural geology, geophysics and plate tectonics. The
Geosciences Network (GEON) facilitates such work by bringing together these
databases. Tools developed through GEON also enable users to seamlessly
retrieve and plot search results. This enables geoscientists to address
fundamental questions concerning the evolution of life, biodiversity through
time, and mass extinctions in the context of changing geography and climate.
At present, my databases are fully-accessible on a GEONgrid server at the
University of Arizona, and they'll also be registered and accessible through
the GEON portal very soon.

More information on the plant and dinosaur results, as well as other
paleogeography and paleoclimate maps, can be found on my Web site
http://www.geo.arizona.edu/~rees/dinosaurs.html (the databases can also be
searched there).
-Allister Rees, University of Arizona




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