Natural Resources Canada
Government of Canada
NGR geochemical data
Format descriptor for regional lake sediment geochemical reconnaissance data

Table 1. Field observations legend
Field Definition Example
Uniq_ID A unique identifier for each sample site. Uniq_ID combines NTS mapsheet and sample number 031C761002
Province Abbreviated form of province or territory of Canada ONT
GSC_OF Original GSC open file release number 405
Medium Type of sample material Lake
NTS_Sht National Topographic System (NTS); lettered quadrangle (1:250 000 or 1:50 000 scale) 031C
Smpl_Nu Remainder of sample number:  
  Year of collection 76
  Field crew 1
  Sample sequence number 002
Rep_Stat Replicate status; relationship of the sample to others within the survey:  
  Routine sample site 0
  First of a site duplicate pair 1
Latitud_NAD27 Latitude coordinate of sample site in decimal degrees (datum NAD 27). 44.85675
Longitud_NAD27 Longitude coordinate of sample site in decimal degrees (datum NAD 27). -76.00232
Lk_Area Area of the water body sampled:  
  Pond Pond
  ¼ to 1 km2 0.25 - 1.0 sq km
  1 to 5 km2 1 - 5 sq km
  Greater than 5 km2 >5 sq km
Lk_Depth Distance in metres from the surface of the lake to the bottom  
Terr_Rlf Relief of lake catchment basin:  
  Low Low
  Medium Medium
  High High
Contam Contamination, human or natural:  
  None None
  Work Work
  Camp Camp
  Fuel Fuel
  Gossan Gossan
Sed_colo Sediment sample colour; up to two colours may be selected:  
  Tan Tan
  Yellow Yellow
  Green Green
  Grey Grey
  Brown Brown
  Black Black
Suspend Suspended material in water:  
  None None
  Heavy Heavy
  Light Light

Table 2. Summary of analytical data and methods
Element Detection Level Method
Sediments:      
Ag Silver 0.2 ppm AAS
As Arsenic 1.0 ppm AAS
As_INA Arsenic 0.5 ppm INAA
Au Gold 1 (variable) ppb FA-NA
Au_R Gold (repeat analysis) 1 (variable) ppb FA-NA
Au_INA Gold 2 ppb INAA
Au_R_INA Gold 2 ppb INAA
Ba Barium 40 ppm AAS
Ba_INA Barium 50 ppm INAA
Br_INA Bromine 0.5 ppm INAA
Cd Cadmium 0.2 ppm AAS
Ce_INA Cerium 5 ppm INAA
Co Cobalt 2 ppm AAS
Co_INA Cobalt 5 ppm INAA
Cr_INA Chromium 20 ppm INAA
Cs_INA Cesium 0.5 ppm INAA
Cu Copper 2 ppm AAS
Eu_INA Europium 1 ppm INAA
F Fluorine 40 ppm ISE
Fe Iron 0.02 pct AAS
Fe_INA Iron 0.2 pct INAA
Hf_INA Hafnium 1 ppm INAA
Hg Mercury 5 ppb CV-AAS
La_INA Lanthanum 2 ppm INAA
LOI Loss-on-ignition 1.0 pct GRAV
Lu_INA Lutetium 0.2 ppm INAA
Mn Manganese 5 ppm AAS
Mo Molybdenum 2 ppm AAS
Mo_INA Molybdenum 1 ppm INAA
Na_INA Sodium 0.02 pct INAA
Ni Nickel 2 ppm AAS
Ni_INA Nickel 10 ppm INAA
Pb Lead 2 ppm AAS
Rb_INA Rubidium 5 ppm INAA
Sb Antimony 0.2 ppm HY-AAS
Sb_INA Antimony 0.1 ppm INAA
Sc_INA Scandium 0.2 ppm INAA
Sm_INA Samarium 0.1 ppm INAA
Sn Tin 1 ppm FUS
Ta_INA Tantalum 0.5 ppm INAA
Tb_INA Terbium 0.5 ppm INAA
Th_INA Thorium 0.2 ppm INAA
U Uranium 0.2 ppm NADNC
U_INA Uranium 0.2 ppm INAA
V Vanadium 5 ppm AAS
W Tungsten 1 ppm COL
W_INA Tungsten 1 ppm INAA
Yb_INA Ytterbium 2 ppm INAA
Zn Zinc 2 ppm AAS


Terminology

AAS
atomic absorption spectrometry
COL
colorimetric
CV-AAS
cold vapour / atomic absorption spectrometry
FA-NA
fire assay - neutron activation
FUS
fusion
GCM
glass Calomel electrode and pH meter
GRAV
gravimetry
HY-AAS
hydride evolution - atomic absorption spectrometry
INAA
Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis
ISE
ion selective electrode
NADNC
neutron activation - delayed neutron counting