A continent-wide detailed geological map dataset of Antarctica

Simon C Cox; Belinda Smith Lyttle; Samuel Elkind; Christine Smith Siddoway; Paul Morin; Giovanni Capponi; Tamer Abu-Alam; Matilda Ballinger; Lauren Bamber; Brett Kitchener; Luigi Lelli; Jasmine Mawson; Alexie Millikin; Nicola Dal Seno; Louis Whitburn; Tristan White; Alex Burton-Johnson; Laura Crispini; David Elliot; Synnøve Elvevold; John Goodge; Jacqueline Halpin; Joachim Jacobs; Adam P Martin; Eugene Mikhalsky; Fraser Morgan; Phil Scadden; John Smellie; Gary Wilson

doi:10.1038/s41597-023-02152-9

A continent-wide detailed geological map dataset of Antarctica

Sci Data. 2023 May 18;10(1):250. doi: 10.1038/s41597-023-02152-9.

Authors

Simon C Cox¹, Belinda Smith Lyttle², Samuel Elkind³, Christine Smith Siddoway³, Paul Morin⁴, Giovanni Capponi⁵, Tamer Abu-Alam^{6

7}, Matilda Ballinger⁸, Lauren Bamber^{9

10}, Brett Kitchener⁸, Luigi Lelli⁵, Jasmine Mawson¹¹, Alexie Millikin³, Nicola Dal Seno⁵, Louis Whitburn¹¹, Tristan White³, Alex Burton-Johnson¹², Laura Crispini⁵, David Elliot¹³, Synnøve Elvevold⁶, John Goodge¹⁴, Jacqueline Halpin⁸, Joachim Jacobs¹⁵, Adam P Martin², Eugene Mikhalsky¹⁶, Fraser Morgan¹⁷, Phil Scadden², John Smellie¹⁸, Gary Wilson¹⁹

Affiliations

¹ GNS Science, Private Bag 1930, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand. s.cox@gns.cri.nz.
² GNS Science, Private Bag 1930, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand.
³ Department of Geology, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, USA.
⁴ Polar Geospatial Center, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, 55108, USA.
⁵ DISTAV, Università degli Studi di Genova, Corso Europa 26-16132, Genova, Italy.
⁶ Norwegian Polar Institute, P O Box 6606 Stakkevollan, N-9296, Tromsø, Norway.
⁷ Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, P O Box 6050 Langnes, N-9037, Tromsø, Norway.
⁸ Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 129, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia.
⁹ University of Edinburgh, Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH8 9YL, UK.
¹⁰ Great Boulder Resources, 51 Colin Street, West Perth, WA, 6005, Australia.
¹¹ University of Otago, P O Box 56, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand.
¹² British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK.
¹³ Ohio State University, 125 South Oval Mall, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN, 55812, USA.
¹⁵ University of Bergen, PO Box 7803, NO-5020, Bergen, Norway.
¹⁶ Gramberg Institute for Geology and Mineral Resources of the World Ocean (VNIIOkeangeologia), Angliiskii pr. 1, St Petersburg, 190121, Russia.
¹⁷ Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, Private Bag 92170, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand.
¹⁸ University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE17RH, UK.
¹⁹ GNS Science, P O Box 30368, Lower Hutt, 5040, New Zealand.

Abstract

A dataset to describe exposed bedrock and surficial geology of Antarctica has been constructed by the GeoMAP Action Group of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and GNS Science. Our group captured existing geological map data into a geographic information system (GIS), refined its spatial reliability, harmonised classification, and improved representation of glacial sequences and geomorphology, thereby creating a comprehensive and coherent representation of Antarctic geology. A total of 99,080 polygons were unified for depicting geology at 1:250,000 scale, but locally there are some areas with higher spatial resolution. Geological unit definition is based on a mixed chronostratigraphic- and lithostratigraphic-based classification. Description of rock and moraine polygons employs the international Geoscience Markup Language (GeoSciML) data protocols to provide attribute-rich and queryable information, including bibliographic links to 589 source maps and scientific literature. GeoMAP is the first detailed geological map dataset covering all of Antarctica. It depicts 'known geology' of rock exposures rather than 'interpreted' sub-ice features and is suitable for continent-wide perspectives and cross-discipline interrogation.

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Dataset

Abstract

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