Geobiodiversity database: A comprehensive section-based integration of stratigraphic and paleontological data

The Geobiodiversity Database (GBDB - www.geobiodiversity.com), an integrated system for the management and analysis of stratigraphic and paleontological information, was started in 2006 and became available online in 2007. Its goal is to facilitate regional and global scientific collaborations focused on regional and global correlation, quantitative stratigraphy, systematics, biodiversity dynamics, paleogeography and paleoecology. It is unique among global, public access databases in that it is a section-based online database system, incorporating data from a wide range of disciplines of stratigraphy and paleontology, with inherent interrelationship between different kinds of data sets. It provides the capability of completely digitizing raw data, as well as integrating of different interpretations to the same paleontological and stratigraphic content. Several Windows-based visualization and analysis applications, either fully integrated with the database or supported by subset-export functions, have been developed to make the database more useful as a scientific and educational tool. The GBDB became the formal database of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) in August 2012 at the 34^th International Geological Congress in Brisbane, and will produce comprehensive and authoritative web-based stratigraphic information service for global geoscientists, educators and the public.