These pages provide information on the chemical composition of reference materials available for geochemical analysis. For each reference material, up to three sources of information are listed:

In accordance with current recommendations from ISO (The International Organisation for Standardisation), issuing bodies should take responsibility for reference values. Where there are differences in values between these three compilations, the issuing body value should take precedence.

Where available, each value is accommpanied by an uncertainty, being the interval within which the true value is expected to lie, within a stated degree of confidence. Different conventions are used for specifying confidence limits, so users are advised to examine carefully source data to identify the units used for this quantity. In any case, use and interpretation of any reference data should take account of the corresponding uncertainty limits.

A more extensive discussion of these principles can be found in:

GeoRem

The IAG is very grateful to E. Gladney (Los Alamos National Laboratory), for making his compilation available.