Progress in the applications of the Paleobiology Database in paleogeographic reconstruction

The information technology revolution in the era of big data has brought about the digital evolution of scientific research. As a significant milestone of digital scientific research in earth science, the Paleobiology Database (PBDB) can provide essential data support for paleogeographic research. Through the investigation of the content of the PBDB platform and its applications in paleogeographic reconstruction, the current problems in the paleogeographic reconstruction of PBDB are summarized, and its future development is anticipated. The results show that: (1) Paleontology database contains a large number of traceable data, which is an important information source and exchange platform for paleontology research. The PBDB includes a visualization function, can provide a variety of data retrieval and download methods, and is the preferred paleontology database for paleontology reconstruction work. (2) The classification and collection data of the PBDB have may applications in the field of paleogeographic reconstruction, such as constraining paleoplates locations, revising the division scheme of paleoclimatic zones, quantifying paleolatitudes and paleodepths, and correcting paleocoastlines. (3) The paleontological database is more suitable for the field of paleontological research, and the history of paleontological records may be biased and incomplete, so it plays an auxiliary constraint role in paleogeographic reconstruction, rather than an absolute approach. (4) Future developments and applications of paleogeography reconstruction using PBDB include automatic classification and screening of data, methods to accurately constrain the relative longitude of paleoplate positions, and approaches for improving the accuracy of paleoclimate, paleoelevation, and paleodepth determinations.