Alexander Martijn Prent, Dominik C Hezel, Marthe Klöcking , Lesley Wyborn , Rebecca Farrington, Kerstin Lehnert, Kirsten Elger, Lucia Profeta

A vision of the not-to-distant future: Imagine yourself as a researcher who is making plans for fieldwork in the Andes Mountains. You are behind your computer and load a three-dimensional visualisation of the Earth and its geology to investigate the research already done in the southern Patagonian regions. You zoom in to the mountain range of interest and select various data layers to show samples, their chemical and isotopic compositions, as well as rock ages for further reference. One area shows particularly young ages and a single click brings up an image showing the thermal and chemical evolution of the rocks, bringing to life the events experienced by that part of the Earth. Each sample and data point have all the necessary information about uncertainties in the data, and the associated description of the analytical methods enables you to verify and trust the quality of data associated with (anomalous) points. Looking back at the visualisation, you change a few parameters and, in (close to) real-time, the modelled Earth changes to display the outcomes of the selected model scenario. The model recipe and selected data are exported by another click to a standard formatted file. These data are directly usable in your chosen application and offline device. Adding your own recently collected data to the model via drag and drop makes them show up in bright colours, contrasting with the prior known data and putting them in direct context. The visualised additional data alters the prior geological understanding and confirms your suspicions regarding what information is missing. Together with a customisable visualisation of model uncertainty, this information helps you to plan the collection of new samples. You are excited to go into the field to collect and subsequently analyse samples that you know will complement existing research in the area and vastly improve the current geological understanding of this region. With this preparation in hand, you are now able to apply for the necessary funding, proposing an efficient plan that minimises cost at a high likelihood of success.