Research data in paleobotany: petrographic thin sections fossil wood dataset

Alexandre Ribas Semeler; Margot Guerra-Sommer

doi:10.5007/1518-2924.2024.e95688

Authors

Alexandre Ribas Semeler Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8036-4271
Margot Guerra-Sommer Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9517-4593

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5007/1518-2924.2024.e95688

Keywords:

Petrographic Slides, Fossil Woods, Palaeoxylology, Physical Database, Research data

Abstract

Objective: This study was aimed at analyzing and disseminating the fossil wood collection data stored in the thin slide sections of the paleobotany collection of the Department of Paleontology and Stratigraphy of the Institute of Geosciences of a university in Southern Brazil. Thin sheets of petrified wood are described. Research data used in geosciences specifically seek to develop a model for the use of this type of sheet in paleobotany, enabling visualization of its representativeness in studies published over 40 years to obtain the anatomical characteristics of fossil woods and define their systematic affinities as a specific typology of research data in geosciences.

Methods: The methodology involved interviewing a paleobotanical specialist and using different techniques applied in metric studies to map scientific production. Thus, a dataset of (20) thin slide sections of petrified fossil wood used in “Stressing environmental conditions in the “petrified forest” from the Mata Sequence in the Triassic context of the Paraná Basin,” a paper published by the Journal of South American Earth Sciences (DOI:10.1016/j.jsames.2023.104415), was used. Depending on the methodology, these thin petrified wood sheets can reveal paleoclimatic signatures based on the anatomical characteristics of the fossil wood. In addition to this case study, which represents a collection of more than (2.000) thousand blades of fossil wood and approximately 40 years of research, the paleobotanical collection of the department is reused in methodology classes. The collection comprises a database created by research physicists that provides information on anatomical features, systematic affinities, paleoclimatic conditions, and paleoenvironmental insights.

Potential for reuse: The reuse, registration, storage, identification, and preservation of thin slide sections as a type of research data used in paleobotany aims to improve the methodology associated with the organization of the physical database of the institution. The research data and blades of fossil wood are being digitized, and soon will be available under the CC BY 4.0 license in the ZENODO repository, according to the sample described here in this data paper (DOI Mendeley:10.17632/b8phfcsync.1). Furthermore, the data can be reused in optical and electronic scanning microscopy software.

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Author Biographies

Alexandre Ribas Semeler, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul

I am an independent researcher. I currently work as a data librarian at the Institute of Geosciences of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. As an independent researcher and data librarian, I have an interdisciplinary interest in data Librarianship. I believe in the fourth paradigm of sciences (e-science and digital humanities) and see the current digital data technologies as great transformation drivers in academic libraries.

Margot Guerra-Sommer, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul

Graduated in Natural History from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (1970), master's degree in Geosciences from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (1973) and PhD in Geosciences from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (1989) Structured the Paleobotany sector in the Department of Paleontology and Stratigraphy at IG/UFRGS, where she joined as a professor in 1974, and implemented the research area in Paleobotany in the Postgraduate Program in Geosciences at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, of which she was coordinator in two terms . She was vice-president of the Postgraduate Chamber of the Teaching, Research and Extension Council at UFRGS. She coordinated the FAPERGS Geosciences Advisory Committee, and was a member of the CNPq Geosciences and Physical Geography Advisory Committee. He has experience in the area of Geosciences, with an emphasis on Paleobotany, working mainly on the following topics: Dendrology and climatic determinations in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic, Paleozoic biomes, paleoecology, roof shale floras, paleophytobarometers (charcoal, fossil epidermis), calibration of paleobotanical data with ages radiometrics.

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