GeoMAP Antarctica, a comprehensive open-access geological database of Antarctica, was published May 18 in the journalism. Scientific Data. Understanding Antarctica’s geosphere is and has been critical to understanding the continent’s central role in global climate and therefore our future.

The development of GeoMAP was a major long-term international effort of the Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research (SCAR) in New Zealand, led by GNS Science. The project involved key collaborators from the USA, Norway, Italy, Great Britain, Australia, Russia and New Zealand, including British Antarctic Research field geologist Dr Alex Burton-Johnson.

Despite Antarctica’s reputation as an icy expanse, more than 52,000 km ² open rocks and sediments form the continent’s mountains and surfaces. Each of these areas contains important information about the geological, geomorphological and glaciological history of the continent. Simply put, rocks play an important role in the complex interaction of land, atmosphere and climate and tell us a lot. Geological knowledge of the continent’s mountains, sediments and soils helps pinpoint the location, history and movement of glaciers, and even meltwater formation. These insights provide essential information for researchers, from climatologists to biologists, ecologists and volcanologists.

Today, GeoMAP is the first detailed open-access digital database mapping all of Antarctica’s historical and current geological data. Geological surveys in Antarctica have been conducted for over a century, so it took several years to create GeoMAP to bring together the available geological information in one place. Research efforts included interpreting information from beautifully drawn 20th-century maps, digitizing hard copies of regional maps, and then integrating them with modern high-resolution datasets.

Belinda Smith Little, lead data architect, GNS Science, says: “There are many areas in Antarctica that have not yet been visited by any geologist, and there are also other areas that have not yet been mapped in detail – and are constantly being mapped. They have been discovered – hence the GeoMAP database. It’s designed to be organized and improved over time.”