The growing availability of advanced analytical techniques has led to a rapid increase in published geochemical data, much of which is now accessible through curated, domain-specific synthesis databases. These resources offer significant opportunities for innovative research in geochemistry and related fields through the analysis of compositional data from rocks, minerals, and other natural materials. However, integrating and evaluating data that were collected over several decades using widely different analytical methods is a challenge.

The rare earth elements (REEs) are widely used in geochemistry as tracers of chemical transport, differentiation, and broader Earth system processes. To address common issues in REE data usability, we developed an automated method to identify scattered, anomalous, or potentially erroneous REE patterns. Our approach draws on the expected geochemical behaviour of REEs, focusing on the “smoothness” of normalised REE patterns, the detection of single or multiple outliers, and various forms of scatter.

We validated our method using large datasets from the GEOROC (n=176,611) and PetDB (n=30,659) databases. Distinct types of anomalous REE patterns are related to potential artefacts and data quality issues. Additionally, we test the application of our REE screening method on individual published data sets from various sources and dare to give some recommendations.

The GEOROC database (Geochemistry of Rocks of the Oceans and Continents) was born in 1999 at the Max Planck Institute in Mainz (Germany) under the leadership of A. W. Hofmann and B. Sarbas. For 25 years, GEOROC has served the geochemical community and now has more than 685000+ sample records for whole rock, glass and mineral analyses. Since 2021 the database has been curated and further developed as part of the DIGIS project from its new home at the University of Göttingen, and now also offers a data repository service.

In the era of AI, chatbots and scraping algorithms, geochemical data can be scraped from the internet into un-curated piles and fed to generalized data analysis models. In this context, the greatest strength of our well-curated expert reviewed data products that can give users the necessary critical metadata to scrutinize analytical data and their quality for tracing geochemical transport processes on global to micron scales. In this talk, we dive deep into the lessons we have learned and the tools we are developing using GEOROC as a case study: Where do errors occur during compositional data publication, how we can identify the type and source of errors? Quality control of long-tail analytical data is of general concern, and our approaches may be applicable to other fields of Earth System Science as well.

Keywords: Database management, quality assessment, geochemistry, metadata, Machine Learning and AI.

The LIAG Institute for Applied Geophysics operates the Geothermal Information System for Germany (GeotIS) since its inception in 2006. A significant nationwide expansion of geothermal energy requires a systematic enhancement of the available research data infrastructure with data on thermal waters, including chemical constituents and physico-chemical properties. To address these challenges, the THC-Prognos project aims to augment GeotIS by incorporating comprehensive fluid data. This expansion will involve collecting and standardizing thermal water analyses from various publications and datasets from various sources, ensuring their integration into a cohesive and accessible database. Enhanced functionality will be introduced to GeotIS, including the visualization of measurement locations, interactive query capabilities, and time series analysis of thermal water compositions. This will significantly aid both scientific research and operational planning by providing crucial insights into the hydrochemical properties of geothermal fluids, ultimately supporting the sustainable management and development of geothermal resources in Germany.

GeoReM, the database for geological and environmental reference materials, was established in 2005 by Klaus Peter Jochum (1944–2024) and maintained by him and dedicated colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz. His commitment to metrology and reference material quality made GeoReM a cornerstone in geoanalytical research. To ensure its long-term sustainability, the International Association of Geoanalysts (IAG) and the DIGIS team at the University of Göttingen have initiated the integration of GeoReM into the DIGIS|GEOROC database infrastructure. This contribution describes our roadmap towards establishung a new and updated IT infrastructure for restoring full interoperability between GeoReM and GEOROC, provided that funding will be provided.

This integration secures the preservation and continued curation of existing data while laying the groundwork for substantial technical and scientific enhancements. Planned developments include an expert user interface via API access, automated monitoring of data quality, and advanced filtering and screening capabilities based on analytical criteria. Statistical modules will enable method-specific outlier detection and robust interpretation of analytical data.

Restoring interoperability eventually also with other geoscientific and environmental databases, is a central goal. In parallel, quality-controlled datasets of recommended values for a wide range of reference materials will be provided for seamless integration into laboratory software via API. Another innovation will be a metadata-driven ‘expert quality control index’ for published data sets using GeoReM standards.

These efforts will ensure GeoReM remains a dynamic, quality-assured resource for future geoanalytical applications.

Geochemists today can look back on 25 years of online access to large-scale, global geochemical databases that have inspired and supported hundreds of scientific studies, generating new knowledge, and even leading to entirely new methods of geochemical data analytics that were not possible in times when individual researchers needed to spend years to compile their comprehensive syntheses of literature data. Geochemical databases provide easy access to millions of geochemical measurements for the global research community, but they do not come for free. They require dedicated, stable funding that supports the human and technical infrastructure to operate reliable, trusted data services in the long term. Currently, these databases are funded through research grants from federal agencies. Grants needs to be recompeted every 3 to 5 years and may not be renewed. Funding gaps are possible (and have happened), generating substantial challenges for uninterrupted maintenance and access of the geochemical databases

Long-term sustainability of databases such as PetDB/EarthChem and GEOROC/DIGIS is a problem that the geochemistry community needs to address jointly and on a global scale to ensure future availability of what has become a fundamental research infrastructure. An alliance of international geochemical data providers and members of the OneGeochemistry initiative (https://onegeochemistry.org) recently issued a Call to Action to engage the community broadly – researchers, scientific societies, research institutions, data providers – to develop a shared vision and agree on a roadmap for sustainable access to geochemical data. This presentation will provide an overview and updates the campaign to ensure access to geochemical data.

The GEOROC and PetDB databases have compiled peer-reviewed literature data on geochemical compositions of igneous rocks and minerals for >25 years (https://georoc.eu/; https://search.earthchem.org/). While initially the focus lay on ocean island and mid-oceanic ridge basalts, respectively, both databases have widened their scope and now include the complete compositional range of igneous rock types as well as mantle xenoliths and minerals, comprising: 22 geological settings; 351 lithologies; 533 mineral species; and all common major, trace and rare earth elements, isotopic ratios as well as analytical ages. Today, the two databases contain >47 million single data values from ~27,000 publications, with 28,942,143 in situ and 18,330,454 bulk data points. Continued data curation of PetDB and GEOROC ensures that the databases continue to grow. The EarthChem Portal enables harmonized access, filtering and download from the combined databases (http://portal.earthchem.org/).

The comprehensive data collections offered by PetDB and GEOROC present a unique opportunity to the research community to undertake advanced analysis of large-scale regional and global datasets. New research questions have been tackled, making PetDB and GEOROC an essential tool for digital geochemistry. Both databases have accumulated more than 4000 citations ranging from highly detailed, regional comparative research to machine learning studies using thousands of data points. We present a detailed analysis of the usage of GEOROC and PetDB data products to highlight the wide range of research topics that GEOROC and PetDB have supported, and the impact of global geochemical data compilations on past, present, and future trends in the Earth System Sciences.

The GEOROC (Geochemistry of Rocks of the Oceans and Continents) and GeoReM (Geological and Environmental Reference Materials) databases were established approximately 25 and 20 years ago, respectively, at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz as complementary geochemical resources. GEOROC aggregates geochemical data from primarily igneous and metamorphic rocks and minerals, while GeoReM focuses on geological, biological, and environmental reference materials. Initially, the two databases were cross-linked, allowing for the transfer of published reference materials from GEOROC datasets to GeoReM, however, this connection has lapsed for several years.

In 2021, GEOROC was transferred to the University of Göttingen under the Digital Geochemical Data Infrastructure (DIGIS) project, where its IT and data systems were significantly upgraded. In contrast, GeoReM continues to operate on an aging and vulnerable platform, which restricts automated data exchange and poses significant risks to its long-term availability. The potential loss of GeoReM would adversely affect global data acquisition and calibration in geoanalytical laboratories, leading to severe consequences for both the geochemical research and industry communities.

To address this, the DIGIS team and the International Association of Geoanalysts (IAG) have formed a partnership to redevelop GeoReM’s IT infrastructure and integrate it into the DIGIS/GEOROC framework. Standardizing technical elements such as controlled vocabularies across both platforms will further enhance consistency and interoperability. This collaboration will restore the connection between GEOROC and GeoReM, ensuring their continued role as vital, interconnected resources for the international geochemical community.