A Scenario for Systems Geology
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BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY RESEARCH REPORT RR/11/05 A scenario for systems geology Keywords Knowledge systems; Suggestions concerning cyberinfrastructure; solid Earth systems model; spatial models; the emerging geoscience knowledge system morphometrics; geological framework. and the future geological map Acknowledgments T V Loudon The author wishes to thank the British Geological Survey, in particular Holger Kessler, John Laxton and Bob Scientific editor McIntosh, for help, encouragement and advice in the preparation of this J L Laxton book. It reflects the author’s views and not necessarily those of the Survey. Bibliographical reference LOUDON, T.V., 2012. A scenario for systems geology (full colour edition): Suggestions concerning the emerging geosciences knowledge system and the future geological map. British Geological Survey Research Report, RR/11/05. 374pp. ISBN 978 0 85272 710 2 Copyright in materials derived from the British Geological Survey’s work is owned by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and/or the authority that commissioned the work. You may not copy or adapt this publication without first obtaining permission. Contact the BGS Intellectual Property Rights Section, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, e-mail [email protected]. You may quote extracts of a reasonable length without prior permission, provided a full acknowledgement is given of the source of the extract. © NERC 2011. 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[email protected] Columbus House, Greenmeadow Springs, Tongwynlais, Cardiff CF15 7NE Tel 029 2052 1962 Fax 029 2052 1963 Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford OX10 8BB Tel 01491 838800 Fax 01491 692345 Geological Survey of Northern Ireland, Colby House, Stranmillis Court, Belfast BT9 5BF Tel 028 9038 8462 Fax 028 9038 8461 www.bgs.ac.uk/gsni/ Parent Body Natural Environment Research Council, Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon SN2 1EU Tel 01793 411500 Fax 01793 411501 www.nerc.ac.uk Website www.bgs.ac.uk Shop online at www.geologyshop.com Preface Κυβερνήτης, in ancient Greece, referred to a helmsman and how he steered a craft towards its intended destination. The word reappeared as cybernetics – the study of mechanisms for feedback and control – in organisms, machines, and systems in general. As we build more intricate representations of systems (sets of interacting parts that function as a whole), we need to understand and integrate their feedback, control and other mechanisms, as in financial and fiscal systems, automotive and aerospace systems, hardware and software systems, or biomedical and environment systems. This is not readily achieved. Systems can and do fail. Yet, complicated representations of systems as sets of organised, interconnected components are an essential means of exploring, depicting and living with the complexity of the real world. Cyber- (or e-) has become a prefix to identify information systems built on the ‘cyberinfrastructure’ of computing, information and communications technologies, as opposed to the conventional infrastructure based on pen, paper and printing press. E- scientists have set out a vision that is transforming the entire knowledge system. And organisations long embedded in methodical accumulation of knowledge must climb slippery slopes of innovation to redefine their role in the future system. The e-scientists’ vision provides an opportunity to include a more complete representation of geological knowledge in a more comprehensive systems model. This is considered in ‘The emerging geoscience knowledge system’. It in turn opens new possibilities, considered in ‘The future geological map’, for geologists to develop their objectives, legacy of knowledge, and ways of working, and extend the techniques of geoinformatics to build integrated systems of geological processes and their consequences. Knowing where you want to go helps to decide how to get there. But the future is unknown, and all we can do is assemble ideas and consider where they might lead. We can develop a scenario – a description of a feasible but uncertain outcome. This tentative scenario is an initial response to the challenge of the e-scientists vision and the opportunities of geoinformatics. Its objective is to stimulate discussion and criticism that can lead to its revision and improvement. A revised scenario could in due course underpin strategic planning for system design (mapping a route to the uncertain goal), its implementation (building the facilities to get there), and migration (making the journey and moving the information). Navigating ‘A Scenario for Systems Geology’ Click on red to follow links, or turn to page number Table of contents 1 Introduction 2 Overview 11 A list of the top three levels What is systems geology, An introductory summary of of section heading, with why does it matter, and how systems geology, its main links to each can a scenario help? ideas and components The emerging geoscience knowledge system 42 Improving and extending the representation of geological knowledge as a comprehensive systems model Stages of concept development Stages of concept development (geological (cyberinfrastructure) 45 thinking) 56 The solid Earth systems model (sEsm) 71 The geological cyberenvironment (gce) 85 A repository of information on the systems of the End-to-end support for operations on the solid Earth solid Earth systems model The geological business model 93 The geological investigation model 98 Determines priorities and controls quality Populates and tests the model The geological framework model 105 The geological infrastructure model 117 Structures the content, coordinates modules Maintains and provides infrastructure support The future geological map 125 How geologists view their subject, how cyber-based methods change their approach, and how it may develop in future Reasoning, models and reality 127 From map to digital model 145 How geological surveying depends on reasoning and How spatial models overcome limitations of the observation conventional map Reconfiguration 165 An object-oriented approach 178 Integrating diverse models as a single system An appropriate structure for geological surveying The geometry of the spatial model 203 Transforming space 224 Digital representation of forms and shapes An evolving stack of geological shapes Seeking shared concepts 247 Mapping geology into the knowledge system 282 Multidisciplinary approaches to spatial knowledge Bringing systems geology into a comprehensive and uncertainty knowledge system References 314 Glossary 328 Some related initiatives 341 Index 359 A scenario for systems geology SUGGESTIONS CONCERNING THE EMERGING GEOSCIENCE KNOWLEDGE SYSTEM AND THE FUTURE GEOLOGICAL MAP Table of contents A scenario for systems geology ......................................................................................... 2 A scenario for systems geology ......................................................................................... 1 Table of contents ........................................................................................................................ 1 Introduction and overview ............................................................................................... 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 2 Systems geology ..................................................................................................................... 2 This scenario ........................................................................................................................... 4 Geological survey documentation .......................................................................................... 6 This e-book .............................................................................................................................. 7 Responding to the changing infrastructure ............................................................................ 8 Costs, benefits and risks .........................................................................................................