A geospatial inventory dataset of study sites in a Korean Quaternary paleoecology database

Abstract. Ecological insights beyond human-observable time scales are derived from geologically preserved records in lake and wetland sediments around the world. Nonetheless, significant regional data gaps persist in global syntheses of these records as regional open data practices are still emerging. South Korean Quaternary paleoecology data remain underrepresented in these global efforts, despite a growing body of the relevant research. Here, we organize an inventory of 328 paleoecological study sites (72 paleo-sites for sediment records and 256 surface sites for surface pollen samples) in South Korea, compiled from 66 research articles published between 2003 and 2023. We have structured three datasets related to this inventory: (1) Publication Metadata, which provides citation details of the 66 articles; (2) Site Inventory, which contains geospatial, depositional environments, chronological ranges, proxies, and indexed publications; and (3) Chron-Depth Collection, which includes chronological details (dating methods, age, and depth points) for each site. The sites span latitudes from 33.2508° N to 33.4808° N and longitudes from 126.1486° E to 129.2132° E, with elevations from -156 m to 1867.5 m. Sediment samples were collected by coring or trenching from six depositional environments: Open-coastal zone, Estuary, Lagoon, River, Volcanic cone, and Others. A total of 784 chronological controls (14C, OSL, and U-Th) were analyzed from 72 sediment records, and the majority based on radiocarbon dating. Pollen, diatoms, grain-size analysis, and geochemical markers have been extensively used as paleoenvironmental proxies, with multiproxy analyses becoming increasingly common in recent studies. To enhance accessibility, we have developed GeoEcoKorea, an online platform archiving raw data of the compiled studies or linking to it through our metadata, site inventory, and chron-depth datasets if the data is made available elsewhere. This initiative seeks to establish more data sharing agreements with domestic researchers by promoting the collaborative benefits of findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) data.