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Design and use of a geochemical data bank
Computers&Geosciences.Vol.2. pp. 163-170. PergamonPress.1976. PrintedinGreatBritain
DESIGN AND USE OF A GEOCHEMICAL DATA BANK' PH. GRANDCLAUDE Centre de Recherches Petrographiques et G~ochimiques(CRPG) du CNRS, CO no. I, 54500 Vandoeuvre-Nancy, France (Received 14 November 1975) Abstract--Miscellaneoustypes of geochemicaldata banks and informationsystems are presented and discussed: raw and selected data banks, indicesof files,selected publisheddata banks, and detection of publishednew analyses.The topic then is restricted to the raw data banks for which the main choices (data, software, and interfaces) are set forth. Lastly~ a short description of the CRPG's geochemical data bank is given as an illustration of the preceding considerations. Key Words: Data Bank, Geochemistry, Data Processing. INTRODUCTION Mainly due to an ever increasing use of physical methods of analysis (x-ray fluorescence, emission spectrometry, atomic absorption, etc.), the growth rate of geochemical data has been constantly increasing during the last 15 years. About 100,000 analyses of rocks and minerals become available per year (Wilkinson, 1971). This situation explains the interest of the geochemists in the processing capabilities offered by the mecanographic machines at first and then by computers. The high speed and low cost in processing data organized in files built for specific projects were developed first. Then, geochemists became aware of the potential usefulness of computer techniques for storage, management, and retrieval of great quantities of data. In addition we observe in agreement with Wilkinson that "innovations in analytical techniques have greatly improved precision and sensitivity and are gradually improving accuracy, and it may well prove that the decay rate of the geochemical data may be considerably slower in the future". Thus it seems certain that geochemical data, contrary to some other geological data, will have a rather long-life time span.
TYPES OF SYSTEMS Figure 1 shows the types of systems that may be implemented in an organization and their possible mutual relationships. The specificity (specific files) and generality (data bases) are not absolute but are relative characteristics. The scheme indicated in Figure 1 may be applied at different levels--regional, national, and international. For instance, regional raw data banks might serve as specific files at the national level. The individual advantages of the specific files are: --flexibility: every information adding, subtracting, or alteration each time is dependent only on the directly concerned geochemist or limited team; ~Paper modifiedfrom one presented at the symposium"Mining Pribram in Science and Technique 1975--internationalsection on Mathematical Methods in Geology".
--simplicity of data collection and verification; --good adjustment between the methods and hardware on the one hand and the data on the other; and --low cost for quasiimmediate results. But there are disadvantages for the community if the individual systems are not coordinated or integrated in a higher level structure. The economic drawback is the most obvious. There is a risk of duplicating works and underusing the data stored in systems. The second major drawback is the difficulty encountered in accomplishing syntheses, which are becoming more and more necessary in view of the increasing number of data and the fragmentary nature of many projects. This difficulty lies chiefly in the implicit character of many data to be communicated for success in large-scale projects. In this situation, several categories of solutions and systems may be proposed. In the order of decreasing constraints, cost and (theoretical) satisfaction of the users, there are (Fig. 1): (1) Raw data banks in which the data created for the achievement of individual projects will be systematically integrated and also the data necessary for further communication towards a broadened set of users. (See, for instance, the list of the "specifications to be added to geochemical data", defined by the lUGS ex-Committee on Storage, Retrieval and Automatic Processing of Geochemical Data.) (2) Selected data banks in which the raw or combined data thought "important" from specific files are stored. For instance, the geochemical mean values for every facies will be extracted from regional files and put in a national data bank and related to the geological map. (3) Indices of files from which the user obtains the location of files likely to contain pertinent data for his own projects corresponding with systems (2), and (3), two types of systems may be built for published data: (4) Selected published data banks (for instance see Chayes, 1972 and Le Maftre, 1973). (5) Detection of published new analyses by literature survey bodies (see for instance the CNRS-BRGM 163
PH. GRANDCLAUDE
164
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Figure 1, Relationshipsbetweenvarioustypesofgeochemicalinformationsystems. "Bulletin signal6tique", an extract of which is given in Fig. 2.). Furthermore, rules for coordination between geochemical files and standards for formats were defined with a view of increasing data exchanges (see for instance, at the national level, Brisbin and Ediger, 1967; at international level, lUGS Cogeodata Recommendations, 1972). Each of these systems offers advantages and drawbacks in respect of data collection, information accuracy, implementation facilities (political, psychological, technical), and cost. It is not possible to deal in detail at each level with combinations and weightings of these systems, nevertheless, the following general remarks are in order. At the present time, the systems listed must not be considered exclusive from each other but adaptable to different situations. The raw data banks, which avoid successive collections and computerizations of data, are theoretically the best solution as far as they may give relative exhaustivity and communication capability of the data. In a general manner, their setting-up arises from the initative of mass-production analytical laboratories. If these initiatives are not numerous or coordinated, if the costs are too high, and if the user's requirements are badly assessed, it is unavoidable and desirable that, indices of *Ml~thndologte analyse, Spectrographic d'emission. Absorption atomique. Standard *Spectrolp'aphie d'absorption. Instrumentation °Mcthodololpe analyse. Activation. Rayonnement gamma, Speetrolraphie d'Emis~on * MEthodologie analyse
files or selected bibliographical data banks should be created under sponsorship of public or private organizations. But in the long run for the reasons outlined and with the decreasing costs of data input and computers use, the emphasis should be put on the development near the source of information of raw data banks. A supplementary but not a minor advantage of this solution being the improvement of the quality of the data by interfacing continuously data collection and automatic processing. On the following pages, we shall limit ourselves to raw data banks, the principal aim of which is to place the data, produced for specific aims, at the community's disposal. The main choices which will be presented are related to the functions of a data bank (Fig. 3): --the nature of the data and procedures of collection; and --the user's requirements, as far as they may be assessed in a general manner, and the interfaces with the software and machine. The discussion will be illustrated by a short description of the system developed in CRPG.
Analyse mtneurs Analyse mlneurs
CHOICES TO BE MADE FOR DATA COLLECTION
As shown by Figure 4, a datum is made of three
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Analyse m4neurs Eau. Roche. 11)98 Analyse mlneunl Na. K. Ca. Mg. Fe. Mn. Suspension. Eau de mer. Ab~,orption atomique, 1104. * M,;thodologie analyse Analyse n~neurs Charbon. I 112. *Pollution. Eau de surface. MEtal Anmlyse mineurs Honshu (Tama riv.), I I I L "Analyse majeurs Analyse mtneurs Granite. Standard. Hornblende. Biotite. Absorption atomique. 1131. Analyse mlneurs Carbonate, Ca. SO (Gyp~e). S,~d. continentalc. Eoc~"n¢ sup. (Ludien), Oise (Mont Pallnotte). 1132. Anlly~l n,;,,,eurs Charbon, Carbonif~:re. Dniepr Donets, 1135 Gentle roche ienee, Antecambrien. Bihar. Mysore. Andhra Pradesh. Annlys~q,lneurs "Migmatlte. Granite. Syenite
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Figure 2. ExtractfromCNRS-BRGM "Bulletin signal~tique".
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Figure 4. Schematic representation of information's collection and data's components. components which designate an object, a character and one or several values assigned through observations or measures to the character for the object. In geochemistry. the analyzed sample is undoubtedly the reference object in a file or in a data base. The choice of characters concerns
--intrinsic characters, directly determined on the analyzed samples: components (minerals, matrix, etc.), structure, grain size, cohesion, freshness, and, of course, chemical elements (what?); --extrinsic characters, for the description of the relationships between the sample and its setting:
166
Pll. GRANDCLAUDE
representation, geometric relationships with geological bodies, location, situation in the sampling scheme, etc. (where?); and --caract~res de conjoncture*, for the description of the treatments undergone by the sample: name of the collector, date and aim of sampling, method and date of preparation and analysis, etc. (how?). The choice of the values of characters which may be a priori used is dependent of course on the preceding choice. It must be made in view of the difficulties due to: --the variety of the classification points of view, criteria, cutting positions, scales of description (logical aspects); and --the polysemies and polylexies (linguistic aspects). These choices are materialized by collection--forms, more or less precise, complete and compelling, the rules for their use ranging between two extremes: --"liberal" solution : a rather great liberty is offered to the collector for terminology, formats, etc.; or --"authoritative" solution: the collector is requested to use only authorized concepts and words, the precise meaning of which is given in a glossary. In actual fact, the absolute character of these two utmost solutions is attenuated: --in "liberal" forms, normalized zones are reserved for the most "important" data; and --in "authoritative" forms, free-text zones and possibilities for expressing doubts among several values of character may be available to collectors. In some situations (not much data and authoritative forms), the collector may be requested to assume not only the data collection but also, at the same time, the data coding and digitizing (mark-sense, optic, magnetic, etc., forms). The data bank thus is between the collectors transmitting the collection forms with their demands for analyses and the laboratories (see for instance Davidson, 1969).
SOFTWAREANDINTERFACES Greatly subordinated to the nature of the stored data, the usefulness of a geochemical data bank depends also on the methods chosen for its development and use. In this respect, the most important points are: (1) The substance and form controls made by man or machine. (a) Manual control: --by the geochemist-collector in a "short circuit" (collecting, coding, and possibly digitizing made at the same time); and --by an analyst in charge of rewriting the data from the forms used by the collectors to computer-readable forms ("long circuit"). (b) Automatic control, existing in the data base management software: internal and crossed consistency of data, format errors, etc. (2) A geochemical data bank, contrary to an automatic *The French terminology, proposed by H. de La Roche, is difficult to translate.
airplane booking system, is not aimed at the instantaneous satisfaction of the curiosity of a great number of users for some samples but chiefly for creating working-files, specific of projects issued from a relatively small number of users. Moreover, the exploitation of a working-file and the interpretation of the results may require rather long delays. Thus, the inquiry rate will not generally be so high as that at the most basic level, (a) the batch processing of sequential files should not be satisfactory, and (b) the user should have the opportunity for asking himself the data base through a user-oriented language. Particularly in the situation of a "long circuit" of data collection and input, it should be prohibitive to train occasional users to translate their questions in the asking language. It is better that this step should be done by the analyst who has experience of the system. On the contrary, at higher and especially at the working-file level, it is desirable that the user himself may act, if possible in an interactive manner, with a set of data which are specific to his own project. (3) For regional projects, great care must be devoted to the location by coordinates of the samples, the accuracy of which determines the quality of the maps produced on printer, plotter or on interactive graphic terminal. In addition to a good acquaintance of the collectors with the coordinates systems (or to a good control), it also is necessary to have: --conversion programs from rectangular grids to elliptical coordinates and vice versa (unification for large-scale selections and, on the contrary, for output in particular rectangular grids): --programs for determining the position of points relative to closed boundaries (previously digitized). These programs offer the advantage of making the regional selections independent of the local geological terminology. (4) The users must be well informed about the content of the data base. This is an essential condition for awakening their interest and also for successfully exploiting the system. The following techniques can be used: --short description of the files or data bases. For example: sources of information, number of records, types of material, record content, nature of analytical methods, data availability, supports, etc. (Fig. 5); --indices (on types of material, geographic areas, etc.); and --edition of sorted data tables which will be addressed to persons who cannot have direct access to the system; for regional data tables, edition of the relevant sampling maps. THE CRIb'S GEOCHEMICALDATABANK Devoted to research in geochemistry, the CRPG is an important producer of rock and mineral analysis (nearly 5,000 analyses per year). The so-called standard analysis contains (Govindaraju, 1973): --by emission spectrometry: AI, Fe, Mn, Mg, Ca, Ti, Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Sr. V; --by atomic absorption: Si, Na, K; and --loss on ignition.
Design and use of a geochemicaldata bank
167 Document 1
c;l ~ ~ 711[?NII(TAI, ~:I[.E (3N "(;RAN ITES l !RAN IFEI~ES FRANCAIS" C.R.!~.(,.
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Sources : CEA ,%liar s y s t e n l a t i c s a m p l i n g in gran c o m p l e m e n t a r y samplin:4 lrom 19(;6.
tc hodles assoctated w i t h u r a n i u m deposits in France (196;1 to 1964) - CRP(;
N u m b e r of records ( S e p t e l n b c r 1 st 1'.~75) and tff_p~s of m a t e r i a l s : 61 ].9 rocks : chiefly two m i c a s granites, b i o t i t e granites and a s s o c i a t e d rocks. 41~.- lnint-rals : c h i e f l y felcispars, h t o t i t c s and m u s c o v i t e s . Ilecord c o n t c m : (v. iTh data or d a t a groups frequent'},) ] " l.abcl f l O 0 ) : collt-clor, year, project or b o r e - h o l e , s a m p l e n u m b e r ; 2 - t lzemical data : m a j o r elen,ents{l(/O), I (~//~), "]1h (1{]) ; ~ Locatiou ( ] 0 0 ) : coordinates and a d m i n i s t r a t i v e units ; ,t S a m p l i n g coaditions(l()~,) : sitt., typ~ of s a m p l i n g . . . ; ;, T y p e of m a t e r i a l and n a m e ( 1 0 0 ) : G Petrographic and m m e r a l o g i c description (50) : structure, m i n t rain, freshness . . . G e o l o g i c a l l o c a t i o n (]{~0) : n a m e s of mazsifs, f a c i e s . . . ; F Local g e o l o g i c a l setting (1~0 ; 9 Age (l~a) -
;
_C_onct~r_t}e_d_ area_~sa_.nndLor m e t a l l o ~ e n t c province.~ : lJretagne : 4:!6 rocks Vendre : '7,57 rocks - a',~(; m m e r a t s Nord-Limousin aud Marci',e : 32.q2 rocks - 12~ m i n e r a l s N o r d - M i l l e v a c h e s : 169 rocks - 3'7 m i n e r a l s Montagne Bourbonnaise : 90"i rocks - 74 m i n e r a l s Morvan : 62~ rocks - 33 m i n e r a l s P n m a r s o b j c c l i v e s and samplhqg conditions : T~pology and d e t e c t i o n of z o n a l patterns in g r a n t t i c massifs from french u r a n i u m p r o v i n c e s . Relationship b e t w e e n the content and distribution of u r a n i u m in traces and the types of g r a n i t e s . Field ( p r o f i l e s and plan-nets), b o r e - h o l e s and m i n e s s a m p l e s . -
-
Methods of c h e m i c a l analysis : - Major e l e m e n t s ( a n a l y z e d at C. R. P. G. ) SiO o,. AI,~O 3, F e 2 0 3 t o t a l , MnO, MgO, CaO, T i O 2 : e m i s s i o n s p e c t r o m e t r y ( q u a n t o m e t t e ) NaO,
K O : flame photometry 2 Loss on ignition : 1000°C ( 4 h )
- Uranium ( a n a l y z e d at C . R . R . ) solvant e x t r a c t i o n or p a ~ r ct, r o m a t o g r a p h y and f l u o r i m e t r i e analysis - T h o r i u m ( a n a l y z e d at C. R. R. ) : g a m m a s p e c t r o m e t r y . -
Other a v a i l a b l e e l e m e n t s (low f r e q u e n c y and v a r i a b l e distribution in the f i l e ) FeO. HgO +, H 2 0 - , SO3. CI. g. CO 2 ( C . R. P. G. wet methods).
I£ IIa. Be, Co, Ct, t.u, Ga. Ni, Pb. Sc, Sn, St, V, Zn ( C . R . P . G . Li, Rb. C s ( C . R . P . G . or C . E . A . a t o m i c absorption)
s p e c t r o g r a p h y or 8 . R . G . M .
emission spectrometry)
File : Stored on m a g n e t i c t a p e (S00 BPI) running on C I I - 1 0 0 7 0 c o m p u t e r File open after c o l l e c t o r ' s a g r e e m e n t . C o m m u n i c a t i o n f o r m a t : " C . R . P . G . format and support if p r e l i m i n a r y a g r e e m e n t .
n o r m a l i z e d t a s k - f i l e s " (on m a ~ e t i e
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File c ~ t e n ~ ' s e v o l u t i o n : Rather stationary f i l e . H o w e v e r w i l l be soon i n t e g r a t e d : 2 O0 analyses of 2 m i c a s or biotite gra.nires, m i c a s c h i s t s and e p i s y e n i t e s from N o r d - , M i l l e v a c h e s ; ~ 0 analyses of m e t a n , o r p t a c rocks surrounding the g r a n i t i c massifs of Gu~rande ( B r e t a ~ l e ) and La R o c h e - s u r - Y o n ( V e n d e e ) . -
-
Figure 5. Extract from short description of file on "granites uranif~resfran~ais".
An operational booklet for data collection in the field and office was designed from a list of sixteen specifications to be added to geochemical data recommended in 1966 by the lUGS Committee on Storage, Retrieval and Automatic Processing of Geochemical Data*. The first sheet of this booklet to be filled-in is shown as an example (Fig. 6). The other sheets are devoted to the description of *In 1%8. this committee became a working group of COGEODATA.
the local geological environment, age, petrographic, and mineralogic description of the specimens. The corresponding description system is based upon the following conditions and principles: --large data content, in order to allow searching through a wide range and combination of parameters; --control of terminology by as many elementary characters as possible; and --"liberal" solution for collection, offering possibilities to the collector of expressing rather freely and with the
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Designand use of a geochemicaldata bank
Figure 8 shows the adopted flowchart for the creation, management, and exploitation of the data base which now contains 16,000 records (16,000 analyzed samples). The principles upon which the system is based are those given previously. The collected data are translated by an analyst in software-adapted forms (free-format), punched and stored on magnetic tapes which can be searched by COBOL programs (selection of records, extraction of data and creation of working-files), calling if necessary FORTRAN subroutines (for instance, for coordinates transformations and geographical selections). The application programs (Leymarie, Isnard, and de Beaucourt, 1975) now are only used in batch processing.
minimum supplementary work his observations and measures. However, this solution involves a "long circuit" outside the machine. A guide for use, with examples, is provided with this booklet (de La Roche, Grandclaude, and Marchal, 1970). The filled-in booklets are transmitted to the EDTA* group, which is in charge of the creation, management and exploitation of the data base. The relationships between the collectors asking for analyses, the laboratories, and the EDTA group are shown in Figure 7. The following data are always given: --label, consisting of three parts: collector, year, sample field number; --coordinates of the sampling point; --political and administrative location; --type of material; ---conditions of sampling; ----designation of the sample (name of rock or mineral); -----easily determinable characters such as color, grain size, cohesion, etc. However, the following data are lacking: ---in 40 percent of the situations, the precise description of the sample's components; --in 50 percent of the situations, a good description of the local geological environment; --in most situations, the age of the sample (that is explained by the ratio of igneous and highly metamorphized analyzed rocks).
CONCLUSION
The geochemical data banks now may possibly leave a pilot-stage where the object was to demonstrate their technical feasibility. As fully emphasized elsewhere (see for instance CODATA, 1975), these tools, built and used in a collective manner, raise problems which are more economic and sociopolitic than technical for functioning under actual conditions. Indeed, the techniques may undergo further evolution, but the interfaces between machines and data collection or use must be points of stability. And the key conditions for the development of geochemical data banks remains the quality of the data collection and the ability to anticipate the requirements of the users.
*Etudes Documentaireset Traitement Automatique de l'Information en G6ochimie.
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170
PH. GRANDCLAUDE
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Geochemical
area maps diagrams
Figure 8. SimplifiedgeneralflowchartofcreationandexploitationofCRPG'sgeochemicaldatabase. REFERENCES Brisbin, W. C., and Ediger, N. M., eds, 1967, A national system for storage and retrieval of geologic data in Canada: Rept ad hoc Committee on Storage and Retrieval of Geological Data in Canada, Nat. Adv. Comm. Res. Geol. Sci. Publ., Geol. Surv. Canada, 175 p. Chayes, F., 1972, Rock information system (version III of the user's guide to the): unpubl, rept., Geophysical laboratory, Washington, 36 p. CODATA Task group on Computer Use, 1975, Man-machine communication in scientific data handling: CODATA Bull. no. 15, 31 p. Davidson, D. F., 1969, Code book, instructions for coding samples submitted for chemical, spectrographic or physical properties analysis (3rd. ed.): U.S. Geological Survey, 20 p. Govindaraju, K., 1973, New scheme of silicate analysis (16 major, minor and trace elements) based mainly on ion exchange disolution and emission spectrometric methods: Analusis, v. 2, no. 5, p. 367-276. IUGS COGEODATA, 1972, Recommendations: Doc. 33, 26 p. IUGS Committee on Storage Retrieval and Automatic Processing of Geochemical Data, 1966, Report of the constituent meeting: unpubl, rept., CRPG, Nancy, 23 p. La Roche, H., de, Grandclaude, Ph., and Marchal, M., 1970, Observations et donn6es concernant les 6chantillons g6ochimiques. Notice d'utilisation du carnet op6rationnel et exemples-types: unpubl, rept., CRPG, Nancy, 50 p. Le Maitre, R. W., 1973, Experiences with Clair: a computerized library of analysed igneous rocks: Chemical geology, v. 12, no. 4, p. 301-308. Leymarie, P., Isnard, P., and Beaucourt, F., de, 1975, Le traitement automatique des donnges ggochimiques. ~ 1 6 -
thodes utilis6es au Centre de Recherches P~tographiques et G6ochimiques: Sci. de la Terre, Nancy. S6r. lnfor. G6ol., no. 6, 69 p. Wilkinson, P., 1971, Automatic data handling in geochemistry and allied fields, in Data processing in biology and geology: Academic Press, London, p. 205-234. OTHER REFERENCES Gordon, T. M., and Hutchison, W. W., 1974, Computer use in projects of the Geological Survey of Canada: Geol. Survey Canada Paper 74-60, 108 p. Grandclaude, Ph., 1974, Contribution ~ la m6thodologie d'un syst~me d'information en g6ologie, Application ~ la g6ochimie: Sciences de la Terre, Nancy. S6r. Infor. G6ol. M6m. no. 2, 277 p. Grandclaude, Ph., 1975, Description of the content of geochemical data files. Application to a file of "Granites Uranif~res fran~:ais": Rept. prepared for COGEODATA ad hoc WorkingGroup on Rock Chemical Data, CRPG, Nancy, 15 p. Hubaux. A.. 1973. A new geological tool The data: Earth Sci. Rev.. v. 9. no. 2. p. 159-196. Hutchison, W. W., ed., 1974, Computer-based systems for geological field data--an international state of the art review for 1973: Geol. Survey Canada Paper 74--63, 100 p. LalStte, P., ed., 1972, Trait~ d'informatique ggologique: Masson, Paris, 624 p. La Roche, H., de, 1968, L'gvolution des fichiers g6ochimiques et leur adaptation fi la communication: unpubl, rept., CRPG, Nancy, 6 p. La Roche, H., de. 1969, Inquiry about the presentation of geochemical data: unpubl, rept., CRPG. Nancy. 16 p.
DESIGN AND USE OF A GEOCHEMICAL DATA BANK' PH. GRANDCLAUDE Centre de Recherches Petrographiques et G~ochimiques(CRPG) du CNRS, CO no. I, 54500 Vandoeuvre-Nancy, France (Received 14 November 1975) Abstract--Miscellaneoustypes of geochemicaldata banks and informationsystems are presented and discussed: raw and selected data banks, indicesof files,selected publisheddata banks, and detection of publishednew analyses.The topic then is restricted to the raw data banks for which the main choices (data, software, and interfaces) are set forth. Lastly~ a short description of the CRPG's geochemical data bank is given as an illustration of the preceding considerations. Key Words: Data Bank, Geochemistry, Data Processing. INTRODUCTION Mainly due to an ever increasing use of physical methods of analysis (x-ray fluorescence, emission spectrometry, atomic absorption, etc.), the growth rate of geochemical data has been constantly increasing during the last 15 years. About 100,000 analyses of rocks and minerals become available per year (Wilkinson, 1971). This situation explains the interest of the geochemists in the processing capabilities offered by the mecanographic machines at first and then by computers. The high speed and low cost in processing data organized in files built for specific projects were developed first. Then, geochemists became aware of the potential usefulness of computer techniques for storage, management, and retrieval of great quantities of data. In addition we observe in agreement with Wilkinson that "innovations in analytical techniques have greatly improved precision and sensitivity and are gradually improving accuracy, and it may well prove that the decay rate of the geochemical data may be considerably slower in the future". Thus it seems certain that geochemical data, contrary to some other geological data, will have a rather long-life time span.
TYPES OF SYSTEMS Figure 1 shows the types of systems that may be implemented in an organization and their possible mutual relationships. The specificity (specific files) and generality (data bases) are not absolute but are relative characteristics. The scheme indicated in Figure 1 may be applied at different levels--regional, national, and international. For instance, regional raw data banks might serve as specific files at the national level. The individual advantages of the specific files are: --flexibility: every information adding, subtracting, or alteration each time is dependent only on the directly concerned geochemist or limited team; ~Paper modifiedfrom one presented at the symposium"Mining Pribram in Science and Technique 1975--internationalsection on Mathematical Methods in Geology".
--simplicity of data collection and verification; --good adjustment between the methods and hardware on the one hand and the data on the other; and --low cost for quasiimmediate results. But there are disadvantages for the community if the individual systems are not coordinated or integrated in a higher level structure. The economic drawback is the most obvious. There is a risk of duplicating works and underusing the data stored in systems. The second major drawback is the difficulty encountered in accomplishing syntheses, which are becoming more and more necessary in view of the increasing number of data and the fragmentary nature of many projects. This difficulty lies chiefly in the implicit character of many data to be communicated for success in large-scale projects. In this situation, several categories of solutions and systems may be proposed. In the order of decreasing constraints, cost and (theoretical) satisfaction of the users, there are (Fig. 1): (1) Raw data banks in which the data created for the achievement of individual projects will be systematically integrated and also the data necessary for further communication towards a broadened set of users. (See, for instance, the list of the "specifications to be added to geochemical data", defined by the lUGS ex-Committee on Storage, Retrieval and Automatic Processing of Geochemical Data.) (2) Selected data banks in which the raw or combined data thought "important" from specific files are stored. For instance, the geochemical mean values for every facies will be extracted from regional files and put in a national data bank and related to the geological map. (3) Indices of files from which the user obtains the location of files likely to contain pertinent data for his own projects corresponding with systems (2), and (3), two types of systems may be built for published data: (4) Selected published data banks (for instance see Chayes, 1972 and Le Maftre, 1973). (5) Detection of published new analyses by literature survey bodies (see for instance the CNRS-BRGM 163
PH. GRANDCLAUDE
164
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Figure 1, Relationshipsbetweenvarioustypesofgeochemicalinformationsystems. "Bulletin signal6tique", an extract of which is given in Fig. 2.). Furthermore, rules for coordination between geochemical files and standards for formats were defined with a view of increasing data exchanges (see for instance, at the national level, Brisbin and Ediger, 1967; at international level, lUGS Cogeodata Recommendations, 1972). Each of these systems offers advantages and drawbacks in respect of data collection, information accuracy, implementation facilities (political, psychological, technical), and cost. It is not possible to deal in detail at each level with combinations and weightings of these systems, nevertheless, the following general remarks are in order. At the present time, the systems listed must not be considered exclusive from each other but adaptable to different situations. The raw data banks, which avoid successive collections and computerizations of data, are theoretically the best solution as far as they may give relative exhaustivity and communication capability of the data. In a general manner, their setting-up arises from the initative of mass-production analytical laboratories. If these initiatives are not numerous or coordinated, if the costs are too high, and if the user's requirements are badly assessed, it is unavoidable and desirable that, indices of *Ml~thndologte analyse, Spectrographic d'emission. Absorption atomique. Standard *Spectrolp'aphie d'absorption. Instrumentation °Mcthodololpe analyse. Activation. Rayonnement gamma, Speetrolraphie d'Emis~on * MEthodologie analyse
files or selected bibliographical data banks should be created under sponsorship of public or private organizations. But in the long run for the reasons outlined and with the decreasing costs of data input and computers use, the emphasis should be put on the development near the source of information of raw data banks. A supplementary but not a minor advantage of this solution being the improvement of the quality of the data by interfacing continuously data collection and automatic processing. On the following pages, we shall limit ourselves to raw data banks, the principal aim of which is to place the data, produced for specific aims, at the community's disposal. The main choices which will be presented are related to the functions of a data bank (Fig. 3): --the nature of the data and procedures of collection; and --the user's requirements, as far as they may be assessed in a general manner, and the interfaces with the software and machine. The discussion will be illustrated by a short description of the system developed in CRPG.
Analyse mtneurs Analyse mlneurs
CHOICES TO BE MADE FOR DATA COLLECTION
As shown by Figure 4, a datum is made of three
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Analyse m4neurs Eau. Roche. 11)98 Analyse mlneunl Na. K. Ca. Mg. Fe. Mn. Suspension. Eau de mer. Ab~,orption atomique, 1104. * M,;thodologie analyse Analyse n~neurs Charbon. I 112. *Pollution. Eau de surface. MEtal Anmlyse mineurs Honshu (Tama riv.), I I I L "Analyse majeurs Analyse mtneurs Granite. Standard. Hornblende. Biotite. Absorption atomique. 1131. Analyse mlneurs Carbonate, Ca. SO (Gyp~e). S,~d. continentalc. Eoc~"n¢ sup. (Ludien), Oise (Mont Pallnotte). 1132. Anlly~l n,;,,,eurs Charbon, Carbonif~:re. Dniepr Donets, 1135 Gentle roche ienee, Antecambrien. Bihar. Mysore. Andhra Pradesh. Annlys~q,lneurs "Migmatlte. Granite. Syenite
1138,
"Solution solide. MaKma Analyse mlneurs Cri~tallisalion. 1147 "Ma)i~re organique Analyse mlneurs C (CI~). Isotope, Spongolite (Chert). Proterozoique. Republique Sud Afticaine (Fig Tree. Onverwacht). 1149 Analyse mlnnurs Biotite. Roche ignce, Guide, Prospection. Etats Urns. Colombi¢ Britannique, Grande~ Antilles. 1151. • Truchyte. And~site (Trachyande~,it¢).Mi~x:cne Analy|e mineurs V. Cr. Mn. Cu. Ni. Cu. Zn. Rb. Sr. Mo. Ba. Alcalin. Molasse Autriche Sud (Gleichenberg/Styrie), 1153.
Figure 2. ExtractfromCNRS-BRGM "Bulletin signal~tique".
Design and use of a geochemical data bank Rt IR1FVAL
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Figure 4. Schematic representation of information's collection and data's components. components which designate an object, a character and one or several values assigned through observations or measures to the character for the object. In geochemistry. the analyzed sample is undoubtedly the reference object in a file or in a data base. The choice of characters concerns
--intrinsic characters, directly determined on the analyzed samples: components (minerals, matrix, etc.), structure, grain size, cohesion, freshness, and, of course, chemical elements (what?); --extrinsic characters, for the description of the relationships between the sample and its setting:
166
Pll. GRANDCLAUDE
representation, geometric relationships with geological bodies, location, situation in the sampling scheme, etc. (where?); and --caract~res de conjoncture*, for the description of the treatments undergone by the sample: name of the collector, date and aim of sampling, method and date of preparation and analysis, etc. (how?). The choice of the values of characters which may be a priori used is dependent of course on the preceding choice. It must be made in view of the difficulties due to: --the variety of the classification points of view, criteria, cutting positions, scales of description (logical aspects); and --the polysemies and polylexies (linguistic aspects). These choices are materialized by collection--forms, more or less precise, complete and compelling, the rules for their use ranging between two extremes: --"liberal" solution : a rather great liberty is offered to the collector for terminology, formats, etc.; or --"authoritative" solution: the collector is requested to use only authorized concepts and words, the precise meaning of which is given in a glossary. In actual fact, the absolute character of these two utmost solutions is attenuated: --in "liberal" forms, normalized zones are reserved for the most "important" data; and --in "authoritative" forms, free-text zones and possibilities for expressing doubts among several values of character may be available to collectors. In some situations (not much data and authoritative forms), the collector may be requested to assume not only the data collection but also, at the same time, the data coding and digitizing (mark-sense, optic, magnetic, etc., forms). The data bank thus is between the collectors transmitting the collection forms with their demands for analyses and the laboratories (see for instance Davidson, 1969).
SOFTWAREANDINTERFACES Greatly subordinated to the nature of the stored data, the usefulness of a geochemical data bank depends also on the methods chosen for its development and use. In this respect, the most important points are: (1) The substance and form controls made by man or machine. (a) Manual control: --by the geochemist-collector in a "short circuit" (collecting, coding, and possibly digitizing made at the same time); and --by an analyst in charge of rewriting the data from the forms used by the collectors to computer-readable forms ("long circuit"). (b) Automatic control, existing in the data base management software: internal and crossed consistency of data, format errors, etc. (2) A geochemical data bank, contrary to an automatic *The French terminology, proposed by H. de La Roche, is difficult to translate.
airplane booking system, is not aimed at the instantaneous satisfaction of the curiosity of a great number of users for some samples but chiefly for creating working-files, specific of projects issued from a relatively small number of users. Moreover, the exploitation of a working-file and the interpretation of the results may require rather long delays. Thus, the inquiry rate will not generally be so high as that at the most basic level, (a) the batch processing of sequential files should not be satisfactory, and (b) the user should have the opportunity for asking himself the data base through a user-oriented language. Particularly in the situation of a "long circuit" of data collection and input, it should be prohibitive to train occasional users to translate their questions in the asking language. It is better that this step should be done by the analyst who has experience of the system. On the contrary, at higher and especially at the working-file level, it is desirable that the user himself may act, if possible in an interactive manner, with a set of data which are specific to his own project. (3) For regional projects, great care must be devoted to the location by coordinates of the samples, the accuracy of which determines the quality of the maps produced on printer, plotter or on interactive graphic terminal. In addition to a good acquaintance of the collectors with the coordinates systems (or to a good control), it also is necessary to have: --conversion programs from rectangular grids to elliptical coordinates and vice versa (unification for large-scale selections and, on the contrary, for output in particular rectangular grids): --programs for determining the position of points relative to closed boundaries (previously digitized). These programs offer the advantage of making the regional selections independent of the local geological terminology. (4) The users must be well informed about the content of the data base. This is an essential condition for awakening their interest and also for successfully exploiting the system. The following techniques can be used: --short description of the files or data bases. For example: sources of information, number of records, types of material, record content, nature of analytical methods, data availability, supports, etc. (Fig. 5); --indices (on types of material, geographic areas, etc.); and --edition of sorted data tables which will be addressed to persons who cannot have direct access to the system; for regional data tables, edition of the relevant sampling maps. THE CRIb'S GEOCHEMICALDATABANK Devoted to research in geochemistry, the CRPG is an important producer of rock and mineral analysis (nearly 5,000 analyses per year). The so-called standard analysis contains (Govindaraju, 1973): --by emission spectrometry: AI, Fe, Mn, Mg, Ca, Ti, Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Sr. V; --by atomic absorption: Si, Na, K; and --loss on ignition.
Design and use of a geochemicaldata bank
167 Document 1
c;l ~ ~ 711[?NII(TAI, ~:I[.E (3N "(;RAN ITES l !RAN IFEI~ES FRANCAIS" C.R.!~.(,.
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Sources : CEA ,%liar s y s t e n l a t i c s a m p l i n g in gran c o m p l e m e n t a r y samplin:4 lrom 19(;6.
tc hodles assoctated w i t h u r a n i u m deposits in France (196;1 to 1964) - CRP(;
N u m b e r of records ( S e p t e l n b c r 1 st 1'.~75) and tff_p~s of m a t e r i a l s : 61 ].9 rocks : chiefly two m i c a s granites, b i o t i t e granites and a s s o c i a t e d rocks. 41~.- lnint-rals : c h i e f l y felcispars, h t o t i t c s and m u s c o v i t e s . Ilecord c o n t c m : (v. iTh data or d a t a groups frequent'},) ] " l.abcl f l O 0 ) : collt-clor, year, project or b o r e - h o l e , s a m p l e n u m b e r ; 2 - t lzemical data : m a j o r elen,ents{l(/O), I (~//~), "]1h (1{]) ; ~ Locatiou ( ] 0 0 ) : coordinates and a d m i n i s t r a t i v e units ; ,t S a m p l i n g coaditions(l()~,) : sitt., typ~ of s a m p l i n g . . . ; ;, T y p e of m a t e r i a l and n a m e ( 1 0 0 ) : G Petrographic and m m e r a l o g i c description (50) : structure, m i n t rain, freshness . . . G e o l o g i c a l l o c a t i o n (]{~0) : n a m e s of mazsifs, f a c i e s . . . ; F Local g e o l o g i c a l setting (1~0 ; 9 Age (l~a) -
;
_C_onct~r_t}e_d_ area_~sa_.nndLor m e t a l l o ~ e n t c province.~ : lJretagne : 4:!6 rocks Vendre : '7,57 rocks - a',~(; m m e r a t s Nord-Limousin aud Marci',e : 32.q2 rocks - 12~ m i n e r a l s N o r d - M i l l e v a c h e s : 169 rocks - 3'7 m i n e r a l s Montagne Bourbonnaise : 90"i rocks - 74 m i n e r a l s Morvan : 62~ rocks - 33 m i n e r a l s P n m a r s o b j c c l i v e s and samplhqg conditions : T~pology and d e t e c t i o n of z o n a l patterns in g r a n t t i c massifs from french u r a n i u m p r o v i n c e s . Relationship b e t w e e n the content and distribution of u r a n i u m in traces and the types of g r a n i t e s . Field ( p r o f i l e s and plan-nets), b o r e - h o l e s and m i n e s s a m p l e s . -
-
Methods of c h e m i c a l analysis : - Major e l e m e n t s ( a n a l y z e d at C. R. P. G. ) SiO o,. AI,~O 3, F e 2 0 3 t o t a l , MnO, MgO, CaO, T i O 2 : e m i s s i o n s p e c t r o m e t r y ( q u a n t o m e t t e ) NaO,
K O : flame photometry 2 Loss on ignition : 1000°C ( 4 h )
- Uranium ( a n a l y z e d at C . R . R . ) solvant e x t r a c t i o n or p a ~ r ct, r o m a t o g r a p h y and f l u o r i m e t r i e analysis - T h o r i u m ( a n a l y z e d at C. R. R. ) : g a m m a s p e c t r o m e t r y . -
Other a v a i l a b l e e l e m e n t s (low f r e q u e n c y and v a r i a b l e distribution in the f i l e ) FeO. HgO +, H 2 0 - , SO3. CI. g. CO 2 ( C . R. P. G. wet methods).
I£ IIa. Be, Co, Ct, t.u, Ga. Ni, Pb. Sc, Sn, St, V, Zn ( C . R . P . G . Li, Rb. C s ( C . R . P . G . or C . E . A . a t o m i c absorption)
s p e c t r o g r a p h y or 8 . R . G . M .
emission spectrometry)
File : Stored on m a g n e t i c t a p e (S00 BPI) running on C I I - 1 0 0 7 0 c o m p u t e r File open after c o l l e c t o r ' s a g r e e m e n t . C o m m u n i c a t i o n f o r m a t : " C . R . P . G . format and support if p r e l i m i n a r y a g r e e m e n t .
n o r m a l i z e d t a s k - f i l e s " (on m a ~ e t i e
tapes) or other
File c ~ t e n ~ ' s e v o l u t i o n : Rather stationary f i l e . H o w e v e r w i l l be soon i n t e g r a t e d : 2 O0 analyses of 2 m i c a s or biotite gra.nires, m i c a s c h i s t s and e p i s y e n i t e s from N o r d - , M i l l e v a c h e s ; ~ 0 analyses of m e t a n , o r p t a c rocks surrounding the g r a n i t i c massifs of Gu~rande ( B r e t a ~ l e ) and La R o c h e - s u r - Y o n ( V e n d e e ) . -
-
Figure 5. Extract from short description of file on "granites uranif~resfran~ais".
An operational booklet for data collection in the field and office was designed from a list of sixteen specifications to be added to geochemical data recommended in 1966 by the lUGS Committee on Storage, Retrieval and Automatic Processing of Geochemical Data*. The first sheet of this booklet to be filled-in is shown as an example (Fig. 6). The other sheets are devoted to the description of *In 1%8. this committee became a working group of COGEODATA.
the local geological environment, age, petrographic, and mineralogic description of the specimens. The corresponding description system is based upon the following conditions and principles: --large data content, in order to allow searching through a wide range and combination of parameters; --control of terminology by as many elementary characters as possible; and --"liberal" solution for collection, offering possibilities to the collector of expressing rather freely and with the
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169
Designand use of a geochemicaldata bank
Figure 8 shows the adopted flowchart for the creation, management, and exploitation of the data base which now contains 16,000 records (16,000 analyzed samples). The principles upon which the system is based are those given previously. The collected data are translated by an analyst in software-adapted forms (free-format), punched and stored on magnetic tapes which can be searched by COBOL programs (selection of records, extraction of data and creation of working-files), calling if necessary FORTRAN subroutines (for instance, for coordinates transformations and geographical selections). The application programs (Leymarie, Isnard, and de Beaucourt, 1975) now are only used in batch processing.
minimum supplementary work his observations and measures. However, this solution involves a "long circuit" outside the machine. A guide for use, with examples, is provided with this booklet (de La Roche, Grandclaude, and Marchal, 1970). The filled-in booklets are transmitted to the EDTA* group, which is in charge of the creation, management and exploitation of the data base. The relationships between the collectors asking for analyses, the laboratories, and the EDTA group are shown in Figure 7. The following data are always given: --label, consisting of three parts: collector, year, sample field number; --coordinates of the sampling point; --political and administrative location; --type of material; ---conditions of sampling; ----designation of the sample (name of rock or mineral); -----easily determinable characters such as color, grain size, cohesion, etc. However, the following data are lacking: ---in 40 percent of the situations, the precise description of the sample's components; --in 50 percent of the situations, a good description of the local geological environment; --in most situations, the age of the sample (that is explained by the ratio of igneous and highly metamorphized analyzed rocks).
CONCLUSION
The geochemical data banks now may possibly leave a pilot-stage where the object was to demonstrate their technical feasibility. As fully emphasized elsewhere (see for instance CODATA, 1975), these tools, built and used in a collective manner, raise problems which are more economic and sociopolitic than technical for functioning under actual conditions. Indeed, the techniques may undergo further evolution, but the interfaces between machines and data collection or use must be points of stability. And the key conditions for the development of geochemical data banks remains the quality of the data collection and the ability to anticipate the requirements of the users.
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Figure 8. SimplifiedgeneralflowchartofcreationandexploitationofCRPG'sgeochemicaldatabase. REFERENCES Brisbin, W. C., and Ediger, N. M., eds, 1967, A national system for storage and retrieval of geologic data in Canada: Rept ad hoc Committee on Storage and Retrieval of Geological Data in Canada, Nat. Adv. Comm. Res. Geol. Sci. Publ., Geol. Surv. Canada, 175 p. Chayes, F., 1972, Rock information system (version III of the user's guide to the): unpubl, rept., Geophysical laboratory, Washington, 36 p. CODATA Task group on Computer Use, 1975, Man-machine communication in scientific data handling: CODATA Bull. no. 15, 31 p. Davidson, D. F., 1969, Code book, instructions for coding samples submitted for chemical, spectrographic or physical properties analysis (3rd. ed.): U.S. Geological Survey, 20 p. Govindaraju, K., 1973, New scheme of silicate analysis (16 major, minor and trace elements) based mainly on ion exchange disolution and emission spectrometric methods: Analusis, v. 2, no. 5, p. 367-276. IUGS COGEODATA, 1972, Recommendations: Doc. 33, 26 p. IUGS Committee on Storage Retrieval and Automatic Processing of Geochemical Data, 1966, Report of the constituent meeting: unpubl, rept., CRPG, Nancy, 23 p. La Roche, H., de, Grandclaude, Ph., and Marchal, M., 1970, Observations et donn6es concernant les 6chantillons g6ochimiques. Notice d'utilisation du carnet op6rationnel et exemples-types: unpubl, rept., CRPG, Nancy, 50 p. Le Maitre, R. W., 1973, Experiences with Clair: a computerized library of analysed igneous rocks: Chemical geology, v. 12, no. 4, p. 301-308. Leymarie, P., Isnard, P., and Beaucourt, F., de, 1975, Le traitement automatique des donnges ggochimiques. ~ 1 6 -
thodes utilis6es au Centre de Recherches P~tographiques et G6ochimiques: Sci. de la Terre, Nancy. S6r. lnfor. G6ol., no. 6, 69 p. Wilkinson, P., 1971, Automatic data handling in geochemistry and allied fields, in Data processing in biology and geology: Academic Press, London, p. 205-234. OTHER REFERENCES Gordon, T. M., and Hutchison, W. W., 1974, Computer use in projects of the Geological Survey of Canada: Geol. Survey Canada Paper 74-60, 108 p. Grandclaude, Ph., 1974, Contribution ~ la m6thodologie d'un syst~me d'information en g6ologie, Application ~ la g6ochimie: Sciences de la Terre, Nancy. S6r. Infor. G6ol. M6m. no. 2, 277 p. Grandclaude, Ph., 1975, Description of the content of geochemical data files. Application to a file of "Granites Uranif~res fran~:ais": Rept. prepared for COGEODATA ad hoc WorkingGroup on Rock Chemical Data, CRPG, Nancy, 15 p. Hubaux. A.. 1973. A new geological tool The data: Earth Sci. Rev.. v. 9. no. 2. p. 159-196. Hutchison, W. W., ed., 1974, Computer-based systems for geological field data--an international state of the art review for 1973: Geol. Survey Canada Paper 74--63, 100 p. LalStte, P., ed., 1972, Trait~ d'informatique ggologique: Masson, Paris, 624 p. La Roche, H., de, 1968, L'gvolution des fichiers g6ochimiques et leur adaptation fi la communication: unpubl, rept., CRPG, Nancy, 6 p. La Roche, H., de. 1969, Inquiry about the presentation of geochemical data: unpubl, rept., CRPG. Nancy. 16 p.