SpeleoFAIR: Adding SISAL to Neotoma

The Speleothem Isotope and Analysis Database SISAL was established in 2017 as a working group within the Past Global Changes (PAGES) network. Led by researchers Laia Comas-Bru and Sandy Harrison, SISAL aimed to provide quality-controlled versions of the vast number of published speleothem records for climate reconstruction and model evaluation.

The latest iteration, SISALv3, is the most comprehensive speleothem database to date, containing 892 oxygen, 620 carbon, and 14 isotope records, along with 95 Mg/Ca, 85 Sr/Ca, 52 Ba/Ca, 25 U/Ca, and 29 P/Ca trace element records from 365 sites worldwide. The dataset adheres to high-quality standards, featuring a consistent format enriched with metadata and reviewed by SISAL regional coordinators and data stewards.

As SISAL nears the conclusion of its life cycle within the PAGES network, the need for greater visibility, long-term maintenance, and continued updates has become a priority. In response, SISAL has partnered with the Neotoma Paleoecology Database and Community (Neotoma) in 2024. Neotoma provides a robust infrastructure for standardized, quality-checked data entry, along with tools for browser-based and API-driven data access, facilitating interdisciplinary climate research.

By adding the data to Neotoma and becoming a constituent database, the working group paves the way toward long-term stewardship of the SISAL speleothem database. This integration is supported by the ETH Domain Open Research Data Program and the ETH Zürich Climate Geology group (Prof. Heather Stoll and project lead Laura Endres). The constituent database will launch in March 2025, initially as a direct copy of SISALv3 (Kaushal et al., 2024), with new submissions added on a rolling basis.