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MagIC Help Library |
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5.1 Terminology and Definitions
Criteria Codes can be defined in the PMAG_criteria and RMAG_criteria tables, and describe on what basis you have been selected or deselected data in your calculations. Once you have defined your Criteria Codes you can assign them to the appropriate data records in your MagIC SmartBooks.
An Expedition is defined either as a land expedition, a seagoing cruise or a fieldwork.
An Experiment Name is a unique identifier for a particular experiment you carried out in your laboratory on a particular specimen or synthetic material. It is recommended that you keep these Experiment Names short and unique. For example, you could device a naming scheme that combines your Institution Name, the Instrument you measured on, the Year of the measurements, and a Unique Enumerator. This would result in Experiment Names like SIO-06-00001 or IRM-X106-0456 that you can use in your publications while allowing others to uniquely refer to your particular experiments.
Even though uncommon in paleomagnetic and rock magnetism, you can provide Fossil information in the MagIC Database. Only provide this information in the MagIC Database when the measurements were carried out on single fossils, pieces of macrofossils or fossil separates. Note that er_fossil_name inside the MagIC SmartBooks refers to a sample number, not its classification.
A Location is defined as any locality that may contain a collection of sites that have been studied. These may include land (stratigraphic) sections, camps or villages for archeological studies, drill cores in lakes, and drill sites for DSDP, ODP and IODP expeditions. Most times Locations fall in a constricted latitude-longitude box, other times they span a larger area. It is, however, advisable to define Locations as narrow as possible, to make them more unique in the database and thus more valuable (i.e. accurate) in searches.
The MagIC Console Software has been developed to help you enter data in the MagIC SmartBook files, to help you check for correctness and coherence in data entries, and to help you prepare these data files for uploading in the online MagIC Database.
The MagIC Database is a relational Oracle 10x database that is located and maintained at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) in San Diego, California. This database is an integral part to the EarthRef.org Database and Website and contains both paleomagnetic and rock magnetic data, ranging from measurement data to highly derived magnetic parameters. The database is accessible through the EarthRef.org website and the specific PMAG and RMAG web portals.
A typical MagIC SmartBook file contains 30 tables (or worksheets) in a Microsoft Excel© workbook compliant with the Standard Data and Metadata Format vX.X as defined by the international MagIC consortium. For each project (or publication) a single MagIC SmartBook file should be populated with paleomagnetic and rock magnetic data. When populated, these filled-in SmartBooks can be uploaded into the MagIC Database via an online upload wizard.
Method Codes are short (unique) acronyms or abbreviations that describe a certain method, lab protocol, treatment step, etc. They were devised to allow you to uniquely (and fully) describe the analytical details of your measurement by concatenating one or more of these Method Codes. This makes describing your measurements less labor-intensive and allows for the automation of storing this analytical information.
A Mineral is a crystalline constituent of a rock. It may also have been made synthetically. Only provide this information in the MagIC Database when the measurements were carried out on single minerals, minerals in a polished thin section or mineral separates. Note that er_mineral_name inside the MagIC SmartBooks refers to a sample number, not its classification.
The PMAG Portal is an online entry point for typical paleomagnetic searches into the MagIC Database. The user will be able to query for rock magnetic properties as well.
The RMAG Portal is an online entry point for typical rock magnetic searches into the MagIC Database. The user will be able to query for paleomagnetic data as well.
Both the PMAG_results and RMAG_results tables contain highly-derived data entries only. This is in contrast to the other tables, such as PMAG_sites and RMAG_hysteresis, in which lower level data are reported, based on the averaging of directional sample data from a particular site or the direct results of an hysteresis experiment, for example. It is quite common that data from legacy papers only have data that would fit in these Results Tables, because the lower level measurement data is missing or unavailable from these publications.
A Rock Formation is defined as a unique rock formation or sequence. Only provide Formation info if it is a recognized geological unit or otherwise used in the Earth Science literature and geological maps. Formations may contain one or more members.
A Rock Member is unique rock unit that is part of a rock formation. Only provide Member info if it is a recognized geological unit or otherwise used in the Earth Science literature and geological maps.
Samples are separately oriented pieces of rock from a single site. Multiple Samples are normally collected from one site and allow for comparison of the NRM directions from sample-to-sample within a site to check for within-site homogeneity of the NRM. [ after Butler (1992) for paleomagnetism ]
A Site is an exposure of a particular bed in a sedimentary sequence, drill core or a cooling unit in an igneous and volcanic complex. Results from a single Site provide a record of the geomagnetic field direction at the sampling locality during the (ideally short) time interval when the primary NRM was formed. Multiple Sites within a given rock unit are needed to provide adequate time averaging of the geomagnetic field. [ after Butler (1992) for paleomagnetism ]
Specimens are pieces of samples prepared to appropriate dimensions for measurement of NRM. Multiple Specimens may be prepared from an individual sample, and this procedure can provide additional checks on the homogeneity of the NRM and experimental procedures. A typical Specimen for paleomagnetic analysis has a volume of ~10 cm3. [ after Butler (1992) for paleomagnetism ]
Synthetic Materials are quite common in rock magnetics. They may or may not be related to any natural sample or material. If you are providing information on Synthetic Materials it therefore is not required to also provide information about specimens, samples, site and locations, as these are irrelevant unless you made the synthetic materials based on geological materials. Note that er_synthetic_name inside the MagIC SmartBooks refers to a sample number, not its classification.
The first entry in the ER_citations table always gets assigned This study as the short citation name. This is done on purpose to make it easier for you to link all your data in the MagIC SmartBook files to your own Reference. Because in more than 75% of the cases you will refer to your own study, it becomes easier to insert This study instead of the standard Crimson et al. 2005 citation. Be aware that if you replace the first entry with another citation, this new citation will be designated This study!