Standardizing and encouraging best practices in tephra sample and data collection

The tephra research community spans diverse disciplines—from volcanology to archaeology—but faces persistent challenges due to fragmented databases and limited data accessibility. To address these issues, the global tephra community has developed best practices for standardized data collection and reporting, documented in Wallace et al. (2022; zenodo.org/records/6568306). These guidelines and templates for physical and geochemical datasets promote FAIR principles by improving data consistency, discoverability, and interoperability. Implementing these practices can significantly enhance multidisciplinary research and foster collaboration.

To advance data discovery and accessibility, the tephra community has partnered with the Interdisciplinary Earth Data Alliance (IEDA²) to create the Tephra Information Portal (TIP). TIP serves as an integrated framework that connects tephra data from existing cyberinfrastructures—such as EarthChem, PetDB, GeoDIVA, SESAR, TephraBase, and StraboSpot—allowing users to search across tephra platforms using common criteria, enhancing data findability and reuse. Standardized data submissions to these platforms are therefore critical for improving the findability of samples and datasets through TIP, and their adoption is strongly encouraged by the tephra community.