National Geochemical Survey

NGS Field Numbers

• FLDNAM_AN. This field contains the name of the sample as it was known at the time of analysis. In some cases, this field was misread from a sample container, or mistyped, and needed later correction. In other cases, the name submitted to the analytical laboratory was an alias for another name that is used in an ancillary database. This name, preserved in this data-field, may also correspond to names in other USGS databases, including the National Geochemical Database.
• FLDNAM. This field represents the formal name of the sample adopted by the NGS.

A wide variety of formats are used for sample names in these two data fields.

• NURE names. See Smith (1997c) for a complete description. These include:
  • Savannah River Laboratory names. Format AABB###Sn, where AA is either a two-letter state abbreviation or a two-letter 1x2 degree quadrangle abbreviation, BB is either a two-letter county abbreviation or a two letter code representing a cell with an area of 1/32 of a quadrangle, ### is a sequence number, S is always the letter S (meaning sediment), and n is a subsample number (usually 1). Example: VAFA019S1, a sample from Virginia, Fairfax County, number 19 from that county, a sediment, subsample 1.
  • Numeric names. Simple numbers, ranging from 2 to 6 digits in length, were used by the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, and Lawrence Livermore Laboratory to designate many samples.
  • Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory names. In addition to numeric names, Los Alamos samples also may have the format of a single letter followed by a 5-digit number (e.g., C00160).

• NGS names. All studies done by the NGS, and several earlier studies that are part of the NGS use composite sample names that indicate the name of the cell in which the sample was taken. In these studies, AOV samples are indicated by a suffix. A number of different formats were used in different study areas.
  1. Names beginning with a 5-digit number. Used in Florida I, South Carolina II, PLUTO SJV, and RASS CA studies. The 5-digit numbers identify the 10x10 km grid cell in which the sample was collected, where the first 2 digits denote an x-coordinate and the last 3 denote a y-coordinate (the digits actually are the UTM coordinate in km, divided by 10, in a UTM zone appropriate for the area in question). In Florida-I, names that have the letter "S" appended to them are soils. AOV samples are indicated with a suffix of either "D1", "D2", "D3", or "D4" (for explanation, see the method description SE US States).

  2. Names beginning with a state abbreviation followed by a 5-digit number.Used in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi I studies. These names are identical to those described just above, except that there is a two-letter state abbreviation before the number. In the Alabama and Mississippi-I studies, a suffix of "S" indicates samples that are soils. AOV samples are indicated with a suffix of either "D1", "D2", "D3", or "D4"; some samples in the Mississippi-II sudy have the suffix "D3D4" indicating that the D3 sample was never split into separate D3 and D4 samples, as originally intended (for explanation, see the method description SE US States).

  3. Names consisting of 3 letters plus a single digit. Used in States 2002 and SWAK 2001 studies. These names consist of a two-letter code for the 1:250,000 scale quadrangle in which the samples were collected, plus a letter-digit code for a 17x17 km cell within the quadrangle. Thus sample INH3 is from cell H3 (=column 8, row 3) in the Indianapolis 1x2 degree quadrangle. AOV samples are indicated with the suffixes "AOV1", "AOV2", "AOV3", or "AOV4", which are synonymous with D1-D4 as used above.

  4. Louisiana names. Used in the Louisiana study. Samples are named using the scheme LAQQX##n, where LA is the state code for Louisiana, QQ is a two-letter code for a 1:250000 scale quadrangle, X## is a letter-2-digit-number code for a 17x17 km grid cell within the quadrangle, and n is a subsample number. Samples from cells that were not AOV cells all have a 1 as the last digit. Samples from AOV cells have the digits 1, 2, 3, or 4 in the last digit, synonymous with the D1-D4 nomenclature used above. Thus sample LALCD052 is from Louisiana (LA), the Lake Charles quad (LC), cell D05 (=row 4, column 5, the opposite sense as in other formats), and is the D2 AOV sample (2).

  5. Michigan names. Used in the Michigan study. Samples are named using the scheme MIQQX#n, where MI is the state code for Michigan, QQ is a two-letter code for a 1:250000 scale quadrangle, X# is a letter-digit code for a 17x17 km grid cell within the quadrangle, and n is a subsample number. Samples from cells that were not AOV cells all have a 1 as the last digit. Samples from AOV cells have the digits 1, 2, 3, or 4 in the last digit, synonymous with the D1-D4 nomenclature used above. Thus sample MIGRH12 is from Michigan (MI), the Grand Rapids quad (GR), cell H1 (=column 8, row 1), and is the D2 AOV sample (2).

  6. Tallahassee names. Used in the Florida II study. These names are in the format nYnX##, using an abbreviated township/range/section designation. Thus, sample 2S1E16 comes from township 2S, range 1E, section 16 using the old land-survey system. Samples that are soils have the suffix "S" attached to the name. AOV samples also have "D1", "D2", or "D3" appended to the name.

  7. Jackson names. Mississippi II Names have 6 digit numbers, of the format ssxxyy. This represents an abbreviated township/range/section designation, where ss is the section number, xx is the range number, and yy is the township number. AOV samples also have "D1", "D2", or "D3" appended to the name. A suffix of "ST" indicates samples that are stream sediments (all others are soils).

• RASS and PLUTO names. These names can have any format.