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Abstract

The transformation and re-evaluation of the Global Heat Flow Database (GHFDB) of the International Heat Flow Commission (IHFC) of the IASPEI is ongoing since 2021. Based on these experiences, we are developing now a quality-oriented thermal database scheme to reveal and constrain past and recent changes in climate conditions from temperature data. The thermal data compiled in this part of the GHFDB will improve our understanding of the thermal impact of interactions at the lithosphere-cryosphere-atmosphere interfaces on the temperature distribution in the subsurface over time. For this purpose, high-quality continuous temperature data from boreholes are needed. Based on our recent experience in developing new standards and implementing them within the GHFDB, we are in the process of defining and describing (meta-) database fields, collecting and re-evaluating globally available temperature data from the subsurface. This process continues earlier IHFC attempts to maintain a global database for borehole temperatures and climate reconstructions. The overarching goal of this collaborative effort is to provide high-quality data sets with continuous temperature and thermal property profiles together with well-defined metadata fields to enable climate studies at different levels and for different scales. In addition to temperature, the dataset should also include information on the measuring date, the lithology, stratigraphy, and thermal properties of the drilled sequence, based on an appropriate resolution and provided as open-access publications. Initial examples from German data are presented, which can serve as a template for further evaluation of thermal background data for future analyses.