Abstract
The calcimicrobial crust–cement boundstone in the Xiannüdong Formation of the Cambrian Series 2 is a distinctive reef type that reflects the evolution of late Precambrian stromatolite structures. This study provides a high-resolution dataset by segmenting large slab images of Girvanella-based reefs into 114 × 114 pixel tiles and annotating microfacies components through a point-counting-based automated labeling.The dataset includes PNG images and corresponding CSV files and can be used as training data for deep learning-based classification of carbonate microfacies. It contributes to research on the evolution of ancient marine ecosystems and the structure of early carbonate platforms.
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Data availability
All data supporting this study are available in Figshare (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.31033825)12.
Code availability
All Python scripts developed for this study are already publicly available without restrictions. The complete codebase, including scripts for automated thin-section tile generation, annotation handling and class assignment, and visualization tools for label integration and validation, is permanently hosted on GitHub (https://github.com/neobassist/girvanella-boundstone-code) under a CC-BY 4.0 license.
The released materials include:
• Python scripts for automated thin-section tile generation
• Python code for annotation handling and class assignment
• Visualization tools for label integration and validation
The full workflow, including a Jupyter Notebook (.ipynb), a Conda environment configuration file (.yml), class label mapping files (label_map.py, label_map.csv), and a detailed README.md with step-by-step instructions, is already openly accessible via GitHub and is intended to ensure long-term accessibility and reproducibility.
References
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Acknowledgements
We thank D.C. Kim and J.S. Hong for providing the original thin section image dataset and supporting the annotation process. We also acknowledge the support of B.G. Lee and J.D. Do for their initial development of the tile generation scripts. Optical microscopy imaging was conducted at the Department of Geology, Kangwon National University. We are grateful to all colleagues who provided critical feedback during the manuscript preparation. This work was supported by the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST), project number PKB0011.
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S.Y.C. led the manuscript writing and coordinated the overall revision and conversion of the original codebase into a Python-based pipeline. He was also responsible for dataset integration, label validation, and repository documentation. D.C.K. and J.S.H. provided the raw thin section data and contributed to the tile-level annotation process. B.G.L. and J.D.D. developed the original MATLAB scripts for tile generation and class assignment. C.H.K. and C.W.L. supervised the study design, provided critical revisions, and guided the research direction. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.
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Choi, S., Kim, D., Hong, J. et al. High-resolution Annotated Dataset of Girvanella Boundstone Microfacies from the Xiannüdong Formation, China. Sci Data (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-06958-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-06958-1


