The PANGAEA information system (http://www.pangaea.de) is operated to a long-term archive and publication unit of the World Data Center for Marine Environmental Sciences (WDC-MARE, http://www.wdc-mare.org) and efficiently distributes geological, biological, hydrophysical and meteorological data as well as any other georeferenced results from Earth system research. The system provides the data in consistent standard formats with search and access capabilities via Internet. The data are always stored with related meta-information necessary for their understanding. The system is designed as a network using client/server technology in a three-tiered architecture. The challenge of managing heterogenic and dynamic data was met through a flexible data model consisting of a relational data structure open to any kinds of scientific variables.The PANGAEA information system is operated by the AWI and MARUM institutions as an Open Access Library for any kinds of georeferenced data and also is used by individual scientists as well as by international and domestic programs as a repository. The data can be stored as supplements related to publications or stand-alone data collections. Each data set is published with a citation including a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) for reliable access. The data are presented according to OAI-PMH standards for harvesting and thus can be accessed and distributed by portals.WDC-MARE was founded in 2001 as a member of the World Data Center System. By the beginning of 2008 WDC-MARE stored more than 4 billions data items in about 600 thousands data sets from more than 150 projects. Major geological project examples, served by PANGAEA, are ANDRILL (Antarctic Geological Drilling) and the European part of IODP (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program). Within the project ARCOD (Arctic Ocean Sediment Database) geological data from the Arctic are retrodigitized and made available to the international scientific community by means of the PANGAEA technology. EUR-OCEANS funding program for hydrobiological, hydrophysical, and biogeochemical data rescue and integration results is also worth mentioning.