HR: 0800h
AN: IN51A-0312    [Abstracts]
TI: Introduction to TETHYS - an Interdisciplinary GIS Database for Studying Continental Plate Collisions
AU: * Sultan, M
EM: mohamed.sultan@wmich.edu
AF: Department of Geosciences, Western Michigan University, 1903 W. Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo, MI 49008 United States
AU: Sandvol, E
EM: sandvole@missouri.edu
AF: Department of Geologic Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, 101 Geology Building, Columbia, MO 65211 United States
AU: Khan, S D
EM: sdkhan@uh.edu
AF: Department of Geosciences, University of Houston, 304 S&R Building 1, Houston, TX 77204 United States
AU: Flower, M
EM: flower@uic.edu
AF: Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois-Chicago, Science and Engineering South Building (MC 186) 845 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60607 United States
AU: Manocha, N
EM: nakul.manocha@wmich.edu
AF: Department of Geosciences, Western Michigan University, 1903 W. Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo, MI 49008 United States
AU: Markondiah Jayaprakash, S
EM: s4markon@wmich.edu
AF: Computer Science Department, Western Michigan University, 1903 W. Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo, MI 49008 United States
AU: Becker, R
EM: richard.becker@wmich.edu
AF: Department of Geosciences, Western Michigan University, 1903 W. Michigan Avenue, Kalamazoo, MI 49008 United States
AB: The TETHYS GIS database has been developed to integrate, visualize, and analyze geologic, geophysical, geochemical, geochronologic, and remote sensing data sets bearing on Tethyan continental plate collisions. The project is predicated on a need for actualistic model 'templates' for interpreting the Earth's geologic record. The Tethyan belt extends from the western Mediterranean through Asia Minor and Central Eurasia, to east and Southeast Asia and marks successive closure of the Tethyan oceans. Because of their time-transgressive character, Tethyan collisions offer natural laboratories for examining features such as continental `escape', collision-induced upper mantle flow magmatism, and marginal basin opening, associated with modern convergent plate margins. Large integrated geochemical and geophysical databases allow for such models to be tested against the geologic record, leading to a better understanding of continental accretion throughout Earth history. The TETHYS database combines digital topographic and geologic information, remote sensing images, sample-based geochemical, geochronologic, and isotopic data (for pre- and post-collision igneous activity), and data for seismic tomography, shear-wave splitting, space geodesy, and information for plate tectonics reconstructions. For the GIS, Oracle 9i is being used as a database engine. The database system is integrated with ArcGIS and ArcIMS (ARC Internet Map Server) using ArcSDE (ARC Spatial Database Engine). Analysis of data is aided by a suite of interactive custom tools and graphic objects including pixel ID, stretching, profiles, histograms, focal mechanisms, x-y plots, and 3-D visualization tools. The latter is enabling interactive visualization of seismic tomography data for the solid earth. We are currently working on expanding our database and on adding additional tools for data analysis and visualization. Interim partial access to the data and metadata is available at: http://www.esrs.wmich.edu/tethys/ http://geoinfo.geosc.uh.edu/Tethys/
DE: 0933 Remote sensing
DE: 9399 General or miscellaneous
DE: 9805 Instruments useful in three or more fields
SC: Earth and Space Science Informatics [IN]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005