Managing and visualising geochemical data for tephra correlation with the IntChron Integration Tool

ABSTRACT There is now a wealth of glass‐shard geochemical data for volcanic ash (tephra) layers from a wide range of volcanoes and eruptions, providing invaluable datasets for tephrochronology. However, compilation of published data to assess tephra correlations leads to large files and requires careful management. Here, we show that a project within the IntChron Integration Tool (Ramsey et al., 2019), an open‐access and versatile online application, can be used to effectively store and manage tephra information, geochemical data and relevant metadata, while also providing visualisation and statistical tools. The visualisation functionality allows sites to be plotted on a variety of base maps, enables the plotting of tephra shard concentrations through a sequence and generates biplots of major and trace elements. The statistical tools are similarly invaluable for investigating compositional variability and relationships, and for assessing the probability that datasets correlate. An IntChron Integration Tool project supports the entire workflow, from sample and data collection through analysis and interpretation, to the generation of publication‐ready plots. Here, we present an example project to show the functionality using published data from distal tephra layers in the Lake Suigetsu core, and proximal eruption deposits from volcanoes across Japan. This project contains over 7000 geochemical analyses from 12 publications, demonstrating the power of the IntChron Integration Tool to manage, visualise and archive geochemical datasets.