Database versioning and its implementation in geoscience information systems

•The versions of geoscience data is managed in database systems.•The data model is simple.•Mesh comparison algorithm is based on the k–d tree sliding-median-widest-spread.•Version merging strategy considers the conflict situations.•The software is implemented in PostgreSQL and gOcad.

Many different versions of geoscience data concurrently exist in a database for different geological paradigms, source data, and authors. The aim of this study is to manage these versions in a database management system. Our data include geological surfaces, which are triangulated meshes in this study. Unlike revision/version/source control systems, our data are stored in a central database without local copies. The main contributions of this study include (1) a data model with input/output/manage functions, (2) a mesh comparison function, (3) a version merging strategy, and (4) the implementation of all of the concepts in PostgreSQL and gOcad. The software has been tested using synthetic surfaces and a simple tectonic model of a deformed stratigraphic horizon.