A free two-day pre-conference short course in applied geochemical methods that are described in the International Union of Geological Sciences Manual of Standard Methods for Establishing the Global Geochemical Reference Network will be organised on Saturday, 1st of July, and Sunday, 2nd of July 2023. The course is sponsored by the International Union of Geological Sciences.
The manual can be downloaded directly from the website of the IUGS Commission on Global Geochemical Baselines at https://www.globalgeochemicalbaselines.eu/content/174/iugs-manual-of-standard-methods-for-establishing-the-global-geochemical-reference-network-/ or https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7307696.
The first day (Saturday, 1st July 2023) will be devoted to classroom lectures, and the second day (Sunday, 2nd July 2023) to the demonstration of sampling methods in the field. The course level will be for geoscience graduate students, early career researchers and professional applied geochemists, who wish to broaden their knowledge of well-tested geochemical methods and techniques.
During the course, there will be hands-on exercises, and the workshop participants are encouraged to bring their laptops.
FIRST DAY, Saturday, 1st July 2023, 08.30 to 18.00
The class-room course on Saturday, 1st July 2023, shall be organised in eight sessions:
First session: An introduction to applied geochemistry and the concept used in planning the global geochemical reference network will be covered, as well as the production of internally consistent and quality-controlled national and international geochemical databases, using as examples the data sets of the Geochemical Atlas of Europe (http://weppi.gtk.fi/publ/foregsatlas/).
Second session: Detailed instructions and important cautions will be given for the sampling of rock, residual soil, humus, stream water, stream sediment, overbank sediment and floodplain sediment using standardised equipment (all sampling methods will be demonstrated in the field on Sunday, 2nd July 2023).
Third session: The topics that will be covered are sample preparation, including homogenisation and splitting into representative sub-samples; safe storage of samples; the development of secondary reference materials and geoanalytical methods.
Fourth session: Quality control (QC) procedures for the development of internally consistent geochemical databases will be covered (QC issues will also be mentioned in the previous two sessions).
Fifth session: Geodetic and parametric levelling of existing geochemical data sets will be demonstrated; data conditioning for the generation of time-independent geochemical data, especially for long-term running projects.
Sixth session: Management of generated data, development of databases, statistical and geostatistical processing, compositional data analysis and map plotting will be covered.
Seventh session: The interpretation and use of geochemical data in mineral exploration, environmental studies, geomedicine, agriculture and land use planning will be covered using as examples the harmonised data sets of the Geochemical Atlas of Europe (http://weppi.gtk.fi/publ/foregsatlas/).
Eighth session: Downscaling from low- to high-resolution geochemical surveys.
The lectures will start at 08:30 in the morning until 18:00 in the afternoon, with two short breaks for coffee/tea/soft drinks in the morning and afternoon, and a sandwich lunch at 13:00.
On the second day, Sunday, 2nd July 2023 (08:30 to 17:00), the practical procedures of sampling rock, residual soil, stream water, stream sediment and overbank/floodplain sediment will be demonstrated at field sites within and near the Athens University campus, and in the northern Athens suburbs.
Course material: The course material and relevant bibliography will be provided to all participants on a memory stick. The 32 GB memory sticks were donated by Plaisio Computers (https://www.plaisio.gr/).
Certificates: All short-course participants will be given a signed attendance certificate.
SECOND DAY, Sunday, 2nd July 2023, 08:30 to 17.00
The field course will start at 08:30 in the morning, and end around 17:00 in the afternoon. All the sampling techniques described in the International Union of Geological Sciences Manual of Standard Methods for Establishing the Global Geochemical Reference Network will bedemonstrated, namely sampling of rock, residual soil, stream sediment (dry and wet), stream water and overbank/floodplain sediment. Additionally, Dr. Alexandros Liakopoulos will demonstrate the use of portable XRF for in-situ analytical determinations. Regarding stream water sampling, apart from the demonstration of the sampling technique described in the Manual, MSc Geologists, Vassilis Zorapas and Konstantina Tsoulou, will demonstrate in-situ measurements of pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, and stream water flow rate, as well as the collection of stream water samples for chemical analysis (basic analysis, trace elements, and hexavalent chromium) used by the Hellenic Survey of Geology and Mineral Exploration.
Tutors:
Professor Ariadne Argyraki (Department of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)
Dr. Alecos Demetriades (IUGS Commission on Global Geochemical Baselines)
Professor Stefano Albanese (University of Napoli Federico II, Naples)
Dr. Hatakka Tarja (Geological Survey of Finland)
Dr. Iván Martín Méndez (Instituto Geológico y Minero de España)
Dr. Alexandros Liakopoulos (Hellenic Survey of Geology and Mineral Exploration, Athens)
MSc. Vassilis Zorapas (Hellenic Survey of Geology and Mineral Exploration, Athens)
MSc. Konstantina Tsoulou (Hellenic Survey of Geology and Mineral Exploration, Athens)
Matteo Serra (University of Cagliari, Sardinia, Ph.D. student)
Recommendation: The short-course participants are advised to download the following material and to study it, and to have questions to be answered during the two-day course:
Demetriades, A., Johnson, C.C., Smith, D.B., Ladenberger, A., Adánez Sanjuan, P., Argyraki, A., Stouraiti, C., Caritat, P. de, Knights, K.V., Prieto Rincón, G. & Simubali, G.N. (Editors), 2022. International Union of Geological Sciences Manual of Standard Methods for Establishing the Global Geochemical Reference Network. IUGS Commission on Global Geochemical Baselines, Athens, Hellenic Republic, Special Publication, 2, xliv, 515 pages, 375 figures, 35 Tables, 5 Annexes and 1 Appendix, ISBN: 978-618-85049-1-2; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7307696.
He, J. & Geng, X., 2022. R-scripts for Generation of 5, 8 and 16 Random Sampling Points Within Predefined Rectangles. IUGS Commission on Global Geochemical Baselines, Athens, Hellenic Republic, Special Publication, 3, vi, 14 pp., 5 Figures, 3 Appendices, Supplementary material, ISBN: 978-618-85049-2-9; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7307202.
Vassiliades, E., 2002. Program ROBCOOP4A for Estimation of Balanced Classical and Robust Analysis of Variance: Instructions for Use and Source Code. IUGS Commission on Global Geochemical Baselines, Athens, Hellenic Republic, Special Publication, 4, vi, 42 pp., 12 Figures, 4 Tables, 2 Appendices, Supplementary material, ISBN: 978-618-85049-3-6; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7307388.
