Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research

Appendix II: Consensus Statement Written and Accepted at the July, 1999 SDLS
Workshop in Wellington New Zealand Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research

Antarctic Offshore Stratigraphy Project
(ANTOSTRAT)
Reaffirmation of the Antarctic Seismic Data Library System
for Cooperative Research (SDLS)

Solid-earth science disciplines have made major contributions to the understanding of our planet. Such work in Antarctica has long been recognized as having global significance as applied, inter alia, to studies of plate tectonics and Antarctic glacial history, including its effects on world climate. It is important that scientific research in the earth sciences in Antarctica be maintained and promoted. In 1991, the Antarctic Seismic Data Library System for Cooperative Research (SDLS) was created, to provide access to multichannel seismic reflection (MCS) data and bring the scientific community into full compliance with Article III (1) (c) of the Antarctic Treaty, and to facilitate and promote use of these essential data in earth science research. Guidelines and mandates for the SDLS are outlined in SCAR Report #9 and ATCM Recommendation XVI-12, respectively.
To date, the SDLS has created 30 CD-ROMs with about 80,000 km of MCS data now openly accessible at 12 branches in 10 countries.
The purpose of this consensus statement is to reaffirm that the SDLS should continue under the same data-access philosophy as outlined in SCAR Report #9, and that the SDLS will be upgraded to reflect new technologies for more effective data access via CD-ROM and the World Wide Web. The statement was written following a careful review of the SDLS at a workshop in Wellington, New Zealand in July 1999 at which 12 representatives from 9 countries that have acquired, or will soon acquire, multichannel seismic data in the Antarctic Treaty area attended.
The SDLS will remain under the auspices of SCAR (ANTOSTRAT) and the ATCM. Data must still be submitted to the SDLS within 4 years of collection, and will be held at SDLS branches worldwide for 4 years with limited access to protect the collector's intellectual property rights. Thereafter, the seismic data will be sent to the World Data Centers or other archives for general release. As before, the costs of the system will be shared between the National Antarctic Programs, data collectors, and the library users, and will not be paid by SCAR. The daily operations of the SDLS will continue to be handled by librarians for the SDLS branches, and the SDLS oversight and data-distribution will be done by various agencies with support of National Antarctic Programs (currently by agencies in Italy (OGS) and the U.S. (USGS)).
The SCAR seismic data library system was designed by the consensus of the Antarctic multichannel seismic research community and is being reaffirmed, after 8 years of use, to reiterate that it is a valued tool for meeting Treaty-mandated data access, and for facilitating cooperative international research in Antarctic earth science.