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In recent years there have been a number of efforts for encoding the tectonic knowledge into logic theories, sometimes resorting to probabilistic models for uncertain elements. Also, the development of the WWW has evolved into the Semantic Web initiative, with the Linked Data paradigm that aims at connecting different portions of the knowledge, also belonging to different disciplinary realms. In particular, for the case of the geotectonic knowledge a great deal involves the connection of the static description of entities with the dynamic description of processes. The GeoScienceML data model has provided some connections between the geologic entities, namely units and structures, with the geologic processes: for example, a geologic structure is related to (link GeologicHistory) some geologic event, which in turn are related to event processes and environment (links EventProcess and EventEnvironment, respectively). Moreover, reasoning algorithms can be applied to such knowledge for performing classifications of entities for which some properties hold and for inferring novel links over entities. We believe that the power of computational ontologies together with the spread of the linked data paradigm can greatly support the construction of a logic theory of the geotectonic knowledge by addressing those issues that fall in the expressive power of descriptive logic. This requires an effort of encoding and the developing of specific applications on a large scale. Here we present the OntoGeonous approach, which exploits the power of computational ontologies, by introducing definitions through necessary and sufficient conditions, SWRL rules for representing knowledge covering distant fragments of knowledge, and the data linking for the automatic classification of entities as well as the creation of novel connections over entities involved in the geomapping process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution regards an ontology for the geosciences named "OntoGeonous", which consists of a set of merged ontologies with the goal of representing the geologic knowledge, primarily focusing on the geological mapping process. Ontogeonous is developed by the University of Turin, Department of Computer Sciences, and the Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources of the Italian National Research Council (CNR-IGG). It has been realized through the OWL encoding of the statements reported in some authoritative resources (GeoScienceML(1) and INSPIRE Data Specification on Geology(2)), to avoid ambiguities in the representation of data, i.e. concepts, features and relations.OntoGeonous consists of a first part concerning the axiomatization (process of translation from natural language to machine readable language) of GeoSciML Geologic Units concepts and vocabularies, (already partially described in Lombardo et al., 2018) and by a second part (here illustrated for the first time) regarding the GeoSciML class "Geologic Structure". The ontology has been applied to the Geological Map of Piemonte region, NW Italy (Piana et al., 2017): some real geologic units of the map are described strictly following the requirements of the ontology (the sufficient and necessary conditions are listed), to comply the properties an object must have, in order to be classified as a "GeologicUnit" or a "GeologicStructure", or some of their relevant subclasses.The taxonomy of the subclasses is inspired by the organization of knowledge represented in the UML schemata by GeoScienceML. The structure of the ontology and the process of translation from natural language to machine readable language (axiomatization process) are explained in a dedicated wiki-website(3). OntoGeonous can be used for the implementation of geodatabase in geological mapping projects, as it now contains the encoded description of two among the three main geological features provided for by the IUGS-CGI/INSPIRE Data Model (the "Geomorphological Features" are still lacking). Based on OntoGeonous, a method to design an ontology-driven geodatabase has been developed, to apply the ontology concepts through the geological mapping task.REFERENCESLombardo, V., Piana, F., Mimmo, D. (2018). Semantics–informed geological maps: Conceptual modeling and knowledge encoding. Computers & Geosciences. 116. 10.1016/j.cageo.2018.04.001.Piana, F., Fioraso, G., Irace, A., Mosca, P., d'Atri, A., Barale, L., Falletti, P., Monegato, G., Morelli, M., Tallone, S., Vigna, G.B. (2017). Geology of piemonte region (nw Italy, alps–apennines interference zone). J. Maps 13 (2). https://doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2017.1316218.(1)http://www.geosciml.org.(2)http://inspire.jrc.ec.europa.eu/documents/Data_Specifications/INSPIRE_DataSpecification_GE_v3.0.pdf(3)https://www.di.unito.it/wikigeo/index.php?title=Pagina_principale [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]