The information system PANGAEA is operated as an Open Access library aimed at archiving, publishing and distributing georeferenced data from earth system research. The system guarantees long-term availability of its content through a commitment of the operating institutions.

Most of the data are freely available and can be used under the terms of the license mentioned on the data set description. A few password protected data sets are under moratorium from ongoing projects. The description of each data set is always visible and includes the principle investigator (PI) who may be asked for access.

Each dataset can be identified, shared, published and cited by using a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). Data are archived as supplements to publications or ascitable data collections. Citations are available through the portal of the German National Library of Science and Technology.

PANGAEA is a member of the ICSU World Data System. The policy of data management and archiving follows the ICSU World Data System Data Policy and the OECD Principles and Guidelines for Access to Research Data from Public Funding.

PANGAEA提供在线检索地球科学数据服务，大部分数据均可自由下载。

目前，这个Search Engine不对数据的准确性及完整性等要求做出验证，因此，用户下载后还要自行确认数据的有效性。