National Geochemical Survey

NGS Laboratory Numbers

In the NGS, LABNO is the primary field and is unique to each record. In some cases, data for the various methods run as part of the NGS derive from samples that were submitted for analysis multiple times, sometimes to different labs. When this occurred, the data were pooled under one of the laboratory numbers (the one given in the LABNO field), and the second laboratory number was stored in the LABNO2 field. In other cases, NURE samples may have been reanalyzed by the USGS prior to the NGS program, using semiquantitative methods not suitable for the NGS. The "PREV_LABNO" field contains the laboratory numbers from these previous analyses.

Laboratory numbers have several formats

• USGS Sample Control Numbers. These values begin with a letter and a hyphen, either "C-" or "D-" (D's were assigned before ~1997, and C's were assigned later). A six-digit sequence number follows the hyphen. All were assigned by the LIMS system at the USGS in Denver, Colo. Example: C-123456.
• USGS/RASS Tag numbers. These values consist of 3 letters followed by 3 numbers. They represent the "TAGNUMBER" field from the Rock Analysis Storage System (RASS), which was used by the Geologic Division of the USGS from the late-1960's through the late-1980's to archive geochemical data.
• Non-USGS laboratory numbers. A number of samples were submitted directly to non-USGS laboratories for analysis. Two formats of laboratory numbers in the NGS are associated with these samples:
  • ACME laboratories. Samples analyzed by ACME Analytical Laboratories, Ltd., Vancouver, B.C., Canada, were given laboratory numbers of the format "YY-aa-###", where YY is a two digit year code (either 97 or 98), aa is an abbreviation for a 1x2 degree quadrange, and ### is a sequence number.
  • Becquerel laboratories. Samples analyzed by INAA at Becquerel Laboratories, Inc., Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, were assigned laboratory numbers of the format "BQnn-###", where nn is an analytical batch number, and ### is a sequence number