Online Databases of Geologic Formations of China, Indian Plate and Indochina, With Display onto Plate Reconstructions of the Asian Region for Any Phanerozoic Time Horizon

Building paleogeographic maps onto tectonic plate reconstruction models requires team efforts to compile databases of regional sedimentary and volcanic facies, data sharing standards, and computer projection methods. Two goals of the Paleogeography Working Group of the Deep-Time Digital Earth (DDE) program of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) are: (1) to interconnect online national databases for all geologic formations, and to compile these online "lexicons" for countries that currently lack these; (2) to display the merged paleogeographic output for any time interval of these distributed databases onto appropriate plate tectonic reconstructions.

Therefore, we have worked with regional experts to compile new cloud-based lexicons for Asian regions and developed new user-interfaces and interactive visualization techniques. Independent online lexicons with map-based and stratigraphic-column navigation are currently completed for the Proterozoic through Phanerozoic of the Indian Plate (ca. 800 formations), China (ca. 2000 as of July 2022), Vietnam (over 200) and Thailand (ca. 200 formations). A multi-database search system (age, region, lithology keywords, etc.) enables all returned entries be displayed by-age or in alphabetical order. Then, if a geologic age had been specified, a user with a single click can plot the original extent of the corresponding regional formations (filled with their appropriate lithologic facies patterns) onto any of three different proposed plate reconstruction models. Essentially, the goal is to create a view of the sediments and volcanics that were accumulating onto the Earth's surface at any past time. Our team is currently working with the Macrostrat and eODP teams at Univ. Wisconsin (Madison) and the One-Stratigraphy (DDE, IUGS) to interlink to their regional facies-time compilations for the Americas, the ocean basins and other regions.