The GeoCore ontology: A core ontology for general use in Geology

• Published in: Computers & geosciences Vol. 135; p. 104387
• Main Authors: Garcia, Luan Fonseca, Abel, Mara, Perrin, Michel, dos Santos Alvarenga, Renata
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2020
• Subjects: BFO top-level ontology; Core ontology; GeoCore ontology; Geological knowledge; Knowledge modeling; Ontology engineering; Core ontology; BFO top-level ontology; Geological knowledge; GeoCore ontology; Knowledge modeling; Ontology engineering
• ISSN: 0098-3004; 1873-7803
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cageo.2019.104387

Domain ontologies assume the role of representing, in a formal way, a consensual knowledge of a community over a domain. This task is especially difficult in a wide domain like Geology, which is composed of diversified science resting on a large variety of conceptual models that were developed over time. The meaning of the concepts used by the various professionals often depends on the particular vision that they have of a domain according to their background and working habits. Ontology development in Geology thus necessitates a drastic elucidation of the concepts and vocabulary used by geologists. This article intends to contribute to solving these difficulties by proposing a core ontology named GeoCore Ontology resting on the BFO top ontology, specially designed for describing scientific fields. GeoCore Ontology contains well-founded definitions of a limited set of general concepts within the Geology field that are currently considered by all geologists whatever their skill. It allows modelers to separately consider a geological object, the substance that constitutes it, the boundaries that limit it and the internal arrangement of the matter inside it. The core ontology also allows the description of the existentially dependent qualities attached to a geological object and the geological process that generated it in a particular geological age. This small set of formally defined and described concepts combined with concepts from BFO provides a backbone for deriving by subsumption more specialized geological concepts and also constitutes a baseline for integrating different existent domain ontologies within the Geology domain. The GeoCore ontology and the methodology that we used for building it, provide solutions for unveiling major misunderstanding regarding the concepts that are commonly used for formulating geological interpretations. This will facilitate the communication of this information to external Geology users and its integration in domain applications. •We provide a core ontology for a general use in Geology.•The ontology constitutes a base for developing and integrating domain ontologies.•The concepts proposed allow modeling most of geological knowledge.•Conceptual tools used for building the ontology are important aspects of the work.•Use case section demonstrates the benefits of using the proposed ontology.