Pierre A. Zippi
7518 Twin Oaks Court
Garland, Texas 75044
Introduction
Obtaining the DSDP paleo data
New file names
New data format
DSDP-to-Spread 1.0 data conversion software
How the converted data sets were constructed
DSDP Paleo data types from CD-ROM data set
Absolute depth reference
Formula for absolute depth calculations
References
What's new!
Introduction:
All paleontology data contained on the DSDP
CD-ROM was converted to 2093 individual data sets for 21
different fossil types. See DSDP Paleo
data types from CD-ROM data set below. The data sets were defined by
hole and fossil type (For example: dinoflagellate data from hole 214 is
a separate data set from nannofossil data from hole 214).
The original DSDP paleontology data is contained in multiple file locations
on DSDP CD-ROM Vol. 1. The scattered data contained in the "PALEO".REF,
AGECODE.REF, SITESUM.DAT and "PALEO".DAT data file is assembled into
a spreadsheet of samples (rows) by categories, mainly taxa plus some sample
specific information (columns). The data portion of the spreadsheet is
preceded by several header lines that provide hole specific information,
such as location, DSDP publication, page references, etc.
Obtaining the
DSDP paleo data:
This data may be obtained in 2 different ways:
1) Freely download converted data from University
of Arizona ftp site
2) Or to convert data directly from the DSDP CD-ROM
Purchase the DSDP
CD-ROM from NGDC/NOAA and the conversion
software (Macintosh only) from PAZ Software.
Note: Data files are not directly available from me (PAZ).
New file names:
The converted data files are named for the leg, site number, hole and
author; such as,
22214 -HARRIS,W.K.
[Leg: 22, Site: 214, Hole: 1, Author: W.K. Harris]
Note: Blank hole=1
Current file names are Macintosh 31 character names.
NGDC/NOAA may rename the files (mainly remove spaces for UNIX platform).
If files need to be renamed for older DOS or Windows systems, the six
character "LegSiteHole" portion of the file name plus a file type extension
(.txt) will be unique as long as the file remains in the original fossil
type directory.
For example, C:\DINOFLAG\14144A.TXT is unique.
New data format:
The converted data was saved as a tab-delimited ASCII text file with
a SimpleText or Excel creator (Mac Finder icon):
Ý All hole and author specific data are recorded as a header
in the first lines of the data file as comment lines.
Ý Comment lines start with the "#" symbol. Comment lines may be deleted
from the spreadsheet for plotting etc.
Ý Species names are in the first row of the spreadsheet portion as
the column headers,
Ý Species codes are in the second row (if selected in options),
Ý Core depth, sample depth, age, core, section and other sample specific
references in the first 11 columns of each row.
Ý the resulting species-by-sample matrix filled out with the coded
abundance data.
The abundance code legend is contained in the header of each file.
DSDP-to-Spread 1.0data
conversion software:
DSDPtoSpread 1.0 was written by Pierre A. Zippi to convert the wealth
of under-utilized DSDP paleontology data to a format more readily useful
with range charting and stratigraphic analysis software. It is available
here.
DSDPtoSpread 1.0 converts DSDP "PALEO".DAT files to tab-delimited
ASCII TEXT files.
The resulting files may be used with spreadsheet, statistics and plotting
applications on any platform.
The data conversion software will be useful to anyone who already owns
the DSDP CD-ROM set available from NGDC.
NOTE: The entire collection of converted DSDP paleontology data
has been given to NGDC/NOAA with the understanding that it will be made
freely
available to the public via ftp transfer.
Once in spreadsheet format, the utility of the occurrence data
is greatly enhanced. Range charts may be constructed or statistical analyses
performed. Use a proven commercial spreadsheet or statistics application
to manipulate the data.
Use WellPlot 3.0 (available from
Pierre Zippi) to plot many different styles of range
charts that can be incorporated into virtually any Mac or PC graphics
document. Use Counter 3.0 for new
data acquisition directly to large spreadsheets.
How
the converted data sets were constructed:
Data was converted from multiple DSDP paleontology data files to spreadsheet
format using DSDPtoSpread 1.0.
All sample analyses for each hole are grouped into a single data set.
Many holes have analyses performed by more than one analyst (author).
The author(s) for each sample is listed in the 3rd column.
If you wish to create data sets with only one author (analyst), then
use a spreadsheet editor to sort the rows by the author column. Select
and copy the samples with the same authorship to a new file.
Initially, I grouped all samples from the same hole and analyzed by the same author as a data set. This worked fine for the earlier holes, but later holes had data "flip-flopping" between authors. This created numerous data sets for the same hole and each data set had large sample gaps. I settled on creating data sets that would be the most useful for biostratigraphy.
DSDP Paleo data types from CD-ROM data set
Fossil types (21)
File name on CD Taxa Data files
Algae
ALGAE.DAT 17
19
Ammonites
AMMONITE.DAT 3 1
Aptychi
APTYCHI.DAT 37 3
Archaeomonads
ARCHAEOM.DAT 67 13
Benthic foraminifera B_FORAMS.DAT
3246 167
Bryozoans
BRYOZOAN.DAT 190 4
Calcispherulides
CSPHERUL.DAT 26 3
Crinoids
CRINOIDS.DAT 7 3
Diatoms
DIATOMS.DAT 1748 221
Dinoflagellates
DINOFLAG.DAT 562 55
Ebridians & Actinicidians EBRI_ACT.DAT
54 39
Fish debris
FISH_DEB.DAT 22 4
Nannofossils
NANNOS.DAT 1746 558
Ostracodes
OSTRACOD.DAT 195 31
Phytolitharia
PHYLITHS.DAT 11 2
Planktonic foraminifera P_FORAMS.DAT
2062 414
Pollen and spores
POLLEN.DAT 608 32
Radiolaria
RADIOLAR.DAT 2172 340
Rhyncollites
RHYNCOLL.DAT 2 2
Silicoflagellates
SILIFLAG.DAT 692 175
Trace fossils
TRFOSSIL.DAT 3 7
Total taxa of all types in DSDP data: 13470 2093 Total files
Absolute depth
reference:
The method for recording the absolute depth reference for DSDP data
sets changed with time. For general stratigraphic study purposes, the depth
of a sample is apparent (one of the increasing depth-related values in
meters). I believe the absolute depth reference calculation is only important
for re-locating exact sample positions in cases where re-sampling the archived
core is desired. If I am wrong, please contact me at paz@pazsoftware.com.
Formula
for absolute depth calculations:
ZSL = Zero Section Length
SECT = Section Number
INT = Interval in centimeters within the section
LSL = Length of last section (cm)
TCD = Depth to top of core (M)
LS = Number of last section
If sample occurs in: Formula
used is:
======================== ======================================================
Zero section
AbsDepth = TCD + (INT/100)
Sections 1,2,3, etc.
AbsDepth = TCD + ZSL/100 +(SECT#-1)*1.5 + INT/100
Core Catcher (pre-leg47) AbsDepth = TCD + ZSL/100
+ LS*1.5 + INT/100
Core Catcher (post-leg47) AbsDepth = TCD + ZSL/100
+ (LS-1)*1.5 + LSL + INT/100
NOTE: Occasionally no explicit centimeter interval is assigned to a sample taken from within a core catcher. In these cases, a length of 10 cm is assigned.
References:
Absolute depth: EXPLAN.DOC from DSDP
CD ROM data Set, DSDP Explanatory Notes 4/87: Page 5-6.
DSDP CD-ROM Data Set: Marine Geological and Geophysical Data from the Deep Sea Drilling Project. CD-ROM Data Set. Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Inc. US Science Support Program and National Geophysical Data Center.
What's New!
A consolidated database of DSDP/ODP site summary information and
which paleontology types are available is nearly complete. This will
be made available shortly. Stayed tuned.
Pierre A. Zippi
7518 Twin Oaks Court
Garland, Texas 75044
(972)-496-3642
email: paz@pazsoftware.com
Go to: PAZ Software Homepage