Ocean Drilling Program: Science Services: Depth and Age Lab

Contents:

D&A Lab Working Team

D&A Working Team meetings

Supervising Scientist: Peter Blum

JOIDES Resolution Depth and Age Lab

Working Team Meetings

Meeting of 22 February 2000: Application Task List

REFERENCE:	CREATE X CONVERTER
CONTACT:	X-LWG
DATE:	9/21/99; modified 12/3/99
DATA SYSTEM:	All age or depth-referenced data
OBJECTIVE:	Provide universal, rapid access to all depth and age calculations.
RATIONALE:	At present, sample-depth-age relationships are not universally accessible even though all information resides in the database, which was designed to provide these conversions. This new application would replace the present Depth Utility program, which works reliably for a simple depth query but is slow, inflexible, part of the Janus applications we want to abandon, and does not work on Macs. Furthermore, it only returns one depth column.
TASK(S):	Implement the X-CONVERTER, effectively a calculator that handles all sample-depth-age conversion tasks scientists or ODP support staff could encounter on the ship as well as at their home institutions. The calcualtor should work for individual points (e.g., get an age or mcd during report writing) as well as large data files. Specifications of basic functionality and user interface are available from P. Blum.
RESOURCES:	Estimated 200 hr of programming.

REFERENCE:	FIX/CREATE SPLICE REPORTS
CONTACT:	X-LWG
DATE:	9/21/99; modified 12/3/99
DATA SYSTEM:	Splicer, all mcd applications
OBJECTIVE:	Provide two accurate splice table reports.
RATIONALE:	A splice table report has very recently been written. I stumbled over it and noted problems that can be fixed quickly.
TASK(S):	Name the present report "Splice tie points". Delete the "Bottom start" and "Bottom end" columns (they are not applicable). Rename the columns to avoid misunderstandings: there is not "start" or "end" to a tie point. Just use standard sample identifier headers. Then, create a second report named "Splice intervals" which can be created from the "Splice tie points" table with a few modifications. In this report each row is a splice interval and has the following fields: Hole, Core, Top section, Top interval, Top MBSF, Top MCD, Bottom section, Bottom interval, Bottom MBSF, Bottom MCD. This report should be sorted by "Top MCD".
RESOURCES:	Estimated 40 hr of programming.

REFERENCE:	SPLICE AS QUERY PARAMETER
CONTACT:	X-LWG
DATE:	9/21/99; modified 12/3/99
DATA SYSTEM:	Splicer, all mcd applications
OBJECTIVE:	Allow data retrieval with "Splice" as query parameter instead of a hole or site.
RATIONALE:	At present, spliced data cannot be obtained directly from the database even though all information resides in the database. Users have to write routines themselves or do tedious and error-prone manual cut-and-paste to prepare spliced data sets.
TASK(S):	Implement the new query parameter "Splice" on all query parameter specification windows in form of a "hole number" ("S") in the Hole pull-down list. When the user selects "Splice" for a given site, the data from the splice intervals, i.e., from multiple holes, are returned.
RESOURCES:	Estimated 200 hr of programming.

REFERENCE:	AGE-DEPTH CONTROL POINTS
CONTACT:	X-LWG
DATE:	9/21/99; modified 12/3/99
DATA SYSTEM:	Paleo, Pmag, and other applications
OBJECTIVE:	Create data model and upload and report facilities for control points from any method.
RATIONALE:	The first step in creating an age model for a site is to compile all relevant control points. These are typically provided by 1-3 micropaleontological data types and paleomagnetism, but could also originate from others sources such as glacial terminations interpreted from core logging proxy data. The age modeler should be able to plot the datums with error bars (particularly depth error due to sampling is important), with different symbols for different datum types, and create an age model.
TASK(S):	Implement a database table where paleontological control points are entered automatically from the PAL database, and other control points can be entered (and edited) manually by the shipboard scientists who analyze the data (paleomagnetists and others). The entry fields are: Code (e.g., NANNO, PMAG), Event (e.g., FO E. huxleyi acme; Brunhes/Matsuyama); Sample id for event; Sample id for upper range; Absolute error for upper range (m); Sample id for lower range; Absolute error for lower range (m); Age (Ma), Age uncertainty (Myr), Date and Time entered. The web report would return the same fields, except for replacing the error entered by sample id to absolute meters, and inserting calculated Depth (mbsf) and Depth2 (mcd, etc) after the Sample id.
RESOURCES:	Estimated 200 hr of programming.

REFERENCE:	AGE MODEL UPLOAD/REPORT
CONTACT:	X-LWG
DATE:	9/21/99; modified 12/3/99
DATA SYSTEM:	All depth or age-referenced data
OBJECTIVE:	Allow easy upload and retrieval of age models created by scientists.
RATIONALE:	Age model tables exist in the database, but the concept is not fully implemented and age models cannot be used in an integrated fashion at this time. A first crude age model report also exists. It has the following fields: Leg, Site, Hole, Age model type, Depth (mbsf), Depth2 (mcd, etc), Age, Control point comment. An interface to load age models (simple depth-age ASCII files) and an appropriate report to download the model are basic requirements for age modeling. It is important to note that the control point list (see previous task) is NOT the age model. The age model results from a critical evaluation of the control points and is a smoothed and/or interpolated set of age-depth points.
TASK(S):	Create an upload utility for files with the following header information: author and date, depth type used, and a reference or brief description of the author's approach in constructing the model. The model itself, specific for each site, author, and date/time, has three fields: Depth, Age, Comment (optional). It is necessary, as implemented at present, that multiple age models can be stored and made available to the on-line user. As for the presently existing report, the following issues need to be further discussed and specified: 1. Leg, Site, Hole, and Age model type should be query parameters rather than list items. 2. "Hole" should probably not figure there since an age model applies to a site (unless an example where this isn't the case can be produced). 3. In any case, at least the site must be specified for this report otherwise the list of alternative (site-specific) age models cannot be presented for user selection. 4. "Control point" should not be used here because that is the reference to the "raw data" accommodated in a table discribed in another task. 5. All depth-age-related reports should be presented in a new "Depth and Age" group of reports, and not in the Paleo group of reports. 6. Application of an age-depth model to a depth-data set must be compatible with the depth framework the model was created in - this needs to be considered in the entire age model context.
RESOURCES:	Estimated 40 hr of programming.

REFERENCE:	AGE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
CONTACT:	X-LWG
DATE:	9/21/99; modified 12/3/99
DATA SYSTEM:	All depth or age-referenced data
OBJECTIVE:	Allow plotting of all data by age instead of depth, using a selected age model from the database.
RATIONALE:	Janus will not be complete until data can be retrieved with age as the independent variable, calculated based on sample id, depth map, and age model, which all reside in the database already.
TASK(S):	In the "Options" window, implement an "Age" check box to make an age column appear next to the depth column(s) in any predefined data report. A pull-down menu next to the check box allows the user to select the particular age-depth model for the selected site. The model must be annotated with an author, a date, what depth was used (mbsf, mcd, corrections if applicable), and a brief description of the modeling approach. The sample ages are then calculated by linear interpolation of the age model with the sample depths.
RESOURCES:	Estimated 400 hr of programming.

REFERENCE:	BETTER INTEGRATE SPLICER
CONTACT:	X-LWG
DATE:	9/21/99; modified 12/3/99
DATA SYSTEM:	Splicer, all mcd applications
OBJECTIVE:	Make creation of composite depth and splice faster by eliminating data transfer tasks.
RATIONALE:	At present it takes a lot of time and effort to place WCMST data in the appropriate directory of Splicer for hole-to-hole correlation. This highly repetitive and tedious task should be more automated. Rapid data access and correlation are crucial on high-recovery legs because the results are needed to guide drilling in near-real time.
TASK(S):	Find out and communicate what exactly DeMenocal at LDEO is planning to do in terms of database access from Splicer, and make sure related efforts are coordinated.
RESOURCES:	Estimated 40 hr of coordination.

REFERENCE:	IMPLEMENT INTEGRATED DISPLAY (AND VCD entry)
CONTACT:	X-LWG
DATE:	9/21/99; modified 12/3/99
DATA SYSTEM:	ALL DATA
OBJECTIVE:	Provide for more powerful, flexible, and rapid creation of integrated data plots on the ship.
RATIONALE:	Programs, such as Winlog, allow shipboard scientists to prepare simple or complex hole/site summary plots of all data within hours. The power and flexibility of the program, including templates, macros, and familiar Windows interface, would save a lot of time presently spent to massage data and use a number of plotting and drafting programs. The quality of the diagrams would be far superior to everything seen so far. Winlog also includes a VCD module to acquire core description in a simple and rapid way, along with the displayed log data and images.
TASK(S):	Purchase Winlog or a similar application. Complete a few database queries for use with the display program. Write a few macros for basic display tasks. Prepare some useful templates. Define VCD classification and use. Prepare an ODP-specific short tutorial. Implement on ship. More information on Winlog is available from P. Blum.
RESOURCES:	Estimated 200 hr of programming.