Table 1 Descriptions of Elements in Database

From: Global database of paleocurrent trends through the Phanerozoic and Precambrian

Column

Element

Type

Description

1

Continental Area

text

Geographic area containing dataset

2

Stratigraphic Level

text

Stratigraphic position of dataset

3

Record Number

integer

A unique descriptor for each data source

4

Author

text

List of source authors*

5

Title

text

Publication title*

6

Date

integer

Year of publication*

7

Journal

text

Source of publication*

8

Volume

integer

Volume number of publication*

9

Page

integer

Starting page*

10

to Page

integer

Ending page*

11

# records

integer

Number of datasets from this source*

12

Period

integer

Stratigraphic position of sediments in this dataset (Table 2)

13

Longitude

float

Longitude in decimal degrees

14

Latitude

float

Latitude in decimal degrees

15

Direction

integer

Direction current was moving toward in degrees

16

# Data

integer

Number of measurements in this dataset

17

Area sq km

integer

Number of sq km over which data were gathered

18

Dispersion

integer

Relative tightness of data

19

Continent

integer

Plate carrying data in this dataset (Table 3)

20

Environment

integer

Depositional environment assigned by author (Table 4 (available online only))

21

Indicator

integer

Type of measurements used to determine direction (Table 5 (available online only))

22

Lithology

integer

Type of sediment yielding paleocurrent data (Table 6 (available online only))

23

Formation

text

Sedimentological unit yielding paleocurrent data †

  1. Continental Area—The geographic position of the dataset. The primary sort of the database.
  2. Stratigraphic Level—The stratigraphic position of the dataset. This is the secondary sort of the database.
  3. Reference number—This is a chronologically assigned number that identifies each data source. Where multiple datasets were obtained from a given reference, subsequent datasets are identified to the same reference number. The following seven categories, that identify the publication, are included only once in the database for each reference source, even if several datasets are obtained from the reference.
  4. Author—The names of the author(s) of the cited work.
  5. Title—The title of the paper from which the data were derived.
  6. Year—The year of publication.
  7. Source—The journal title, or thesis institution, or other indicator of the source of the report.
  8. Volume—The volume of the periodical.
  9. Page—starting page.
  10. To page—ending page.
  11. # records—tally of number of datasets obtained from this source.
  12. Period—Stratigraphic position is given by a five digit numeric code used to allow approximate placing of sedimentary units in a proper stratigraphic context. The values are unique for a given formation. Thus data from diverse sources derived from a given formation will plot to a single number. The scheme is as follows (see Table 2).
  13. When a new formation is encountered that is not registered in the database, its name is recorded in one data entry in the Formation column of the database (see below). From information given in the paper, a five digit number corresponding to the Period is obtained, in which the first digit is the Era, the second is the Period (or Stage of the Cenozoic), the third digit is the Stage, and the last two are assigned so as to approximate the position of this unit relative to other units of that particular stage. The number 21001 would be Paleozoic (2), Cambrian (1) entire Cambrian represented (0), first formation (01). The number 44559 would be Cenozoic (4), Miocene (4), middle (5), formation 59. The number 11933 would be Precambrian (1), Proterozoic (1), bridging over to Cambrian (9), formation 33. The last two digits make certain that the name of the formation can be reassociated with the data within our Paleocurrent program (see under Usage Notes below)
  14. * Given once for each data source
  15. †Given once for each unique unit.
Back to article page