A global database of radiogenic Nd and Sr isotopes in marine and terrestrial samples (V. 2.0)

Cite as:

Blanchet, Cécile L. (2019): A global database of radiogenic Nd and Sr isotopes in marine and terrestrial samples (V. 2.0). GFZ Data Services. https://doi.org/10.5880/GFZ.4.3.2019.001

Status

I N R E V I E W : Blanchet, Cécile L. (2019): A global database of radiogenic Nd and Sr isotopes in marine and terrestrial samples (V. 2.0). GFZ Data Services. https://doi.org/10.5880/GFZ.4.3.2019.001

Abstract

The database presented here contains radiogenic neodymium and strontium isotope ratios measured on both terrestrial and marine sediments. It was compiled to help assessing sediment provenance and transport processes for various time intervals. This can be achieved by either mapping sediment isotopic signature and/or fingerprinting source areas using statistical tools (e.g. Blanchet, 2018b, 2018a).

The database has been built by incorporating data from the literature and the SedDB database and harmonizing the metadata, especially units and geographical coordinates. The original data were processed in three steps. Firstly, a specific attention has been devoted to provide geographical coordinates to each sample in order to be able to map the data. When available, the original geographical coordinates from the reference (generally DMS coordinates, with different precision standard) were transferred into the decimal degrees system. When coordinates were not provided, an approximate location was derived from available information in the original publication. Secondly, all samples were assigned a set of standardized criteria that help splitting the dataset in specific categories. We defined categories associated with the sample location ("Region", "Sub-region", "Location", which relate to location at continental to city/river scale) or with the sample types (terrestrial samples – “aerosols”, “soil sediments”, “river sediments”, “rocks” - or marine samples –“marine sediment” or “trap sample”). Thirdly, samples were discriminated according to their deposition age, which allowed to compute average values for specific time intervals (see attached table "Age_determination_Sediment_Cores_V2.txt"). A first version of the database was published in September 2018 and presented data for the African sector. A second version was published in April 2019, in which the dataset has been extended to reach a global extent. The dataset will be further updated bi-annually to increase the geographical resolution and/or add other type of samples.

This dataset consists of two tab separated tables: "Dataset_Nd_Sr_isotopes_V2.txt" and "Age_determination_Sediment_Cores_V2.txt". "Dataset_Nd_Sr_isotopes_V2.txt" contains the assembled dataset of marine and terrestrial Nd and/or Sr concentration and isotopes, together with sorting criteria and geographical locations. "Age_determination_Sediment_Cores_V2.txt" contains all background information concerning the determination of the isotopic signature of specific time intervals (depth interval, number of samples, mean and standard deviation). Column headers are explained in respective metadata comma-separated files. A full reference list is provided in the file “References_Database_Nd_Sr_isotopes_V2.rtf”. Finally, R code for mapping the data and running statistical analyses is also available for this dataset (Blanchet, 2018b, 2018a).