43 Geoinformatics and Data Science (Posters)

Wednesday, 11 March 2026
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
RCC, Lower Level Hall

Lowering Barriers to Open Petrological Data: Assessing the Suitability of MongoDB as a Multimodal Data Repository

Paper number: 43-2
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:00 AM – 9:00 AM

Authors

Abstract

The adoption of open science principles in the geosciences is strongly advocated for, as exemplified by the recent National Science Foundation call for projects supporting the Geosciences Open Science Ecosystem (NSF OSE) program. The application of open science principles in geoscience requires the efficient management of large volumes of multimodal data. For petrographic data, existing storage solutions, such as relational databases, have cyberinfrastructure that can be too restrictive. Other database types, such as document databases, are a more flexible alternative. This study provides a low-cost assessment of the document database MongoDB. In this study, we assess the ease of data ingestion into MongoDB and its suitability for our research group’s NSF-funded project on the emplacement mechanics of the Chief Joseph Dike Swarm in the Columbia River Basalt Group. The architectural structure of MongoDB indicates a reliable storage repository comprising searchable collections and documents at the visible level. It allows easy ingestion and retrieval of multiple data types via various access methods. However, observations made during this study indicate challenges to full-scale implementation. These challenges include the need for extensive data normalization and cleaning before ingestion, the need for users to have existing coding knowledge to interact with the data, and data security risks. Additionally, the multimodal data stored in the database cannot be interacted with directly; data must be downloaded using code to view. This leaves MongoDB unsuitable as a repository for open science in petrology. Further testing of repositories is needed to meet the efficiency, transparency, and accessibility needs of open petrological data for the benefit of the geological community.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 1

doi: 10.1130/abs/2026SE-411767

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