Major and trace element analysis of Precambrian and Paleozoic lacustrine mudrocks

This dataset contains geochemical measurements which quantify the major and trace element concentrations of Precambrian (Proterozoic) and Paleozoic (541–251 Mya) mudstones. Sampled mudstones are listed under their formation name, with information on the locations of each outcrop belt and further details on lithological characteristics, including environment of formation, freely available on the British Geological Survey Lexicon of named rock units ( https://www.bgs.ac.uk/technologies/the-bgs-lexicon-of-named-rock-units/) and Government of Canada weblex ( https://weblex.canada.ca/weblexnet4/weblex_e.aspx), for UK and Canadian samples, respectively. Stratigraphic age is given in accordance to the GSA geological timescale v.5.0. Following sampling, specific methodologies for preparation for major and trace element analysis, conducted on an Agilent 5100, are provided in the Methodology. The data was collected to understand changes in weathering intensity coeval with the Paleozoic expansion of land plants. The major element data was needed to: 1) determine how much sample was required for subsequent Lithium isotope analyses (data from which are separately uploaded to the repository); and 2) to ensure similarity of source between samples compared across our study. The tabulated major element analyses were compared at different temporal stages of plant evolution through the Paleozoic. Samples were collected by the University of Cambridge. Major element data was obtained by William McMahon, and supervised by Edward Tipper and Mohd Tarique and Emily Stevenson.

Date (Creation): 2025-05-08

Citation identifier: http://data.bgs.ac.uk/id/dataHolding/13608411

Point of contact

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
University of Cambridge	William McMahon	not available	Originator
British Geological Survey	Enquiries	not available	Distributor
British Geological Survey	Enquiries	not available	Point of contact

Maintenance and update frequency: notApplicable

GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0

Geology

BGS Thesaurus of Geosciences

Trace elements
NGDC Deposited Data
Precambrian
Palaeozoic
Major element analysis

dataCentre

NGDC Deposited Data

Keywords

NERC_DDC

Access constraints: Other restrictions

Other constraints: licenceOGL

Other constraints: Available under the Open Government Licence subject to the following acknowledgement accompanying the reproduced NERC materials "Contains NERC materials ©NERC [year]"

Use constraints: Other restrictions

Other constraints: The copyright of materials derived from the British Geological Survey's work is vested in the Natural Environment Research Council [NERC]. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of the copyright holder, via the BGS Intellectual Property Rights Manager. Use by customers of information provided by the BGS, is at the customer's own risk. In view of the disparate sources of information at BGS's disposal, including such material donated to BGS, that BGS accepts in good faith as being accurate, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the quality or accuracy of the information supplied, or to the information's suitability for any use. NERC/BGS accepts no liability whatever in respect of loss, damage, injury or other occurence however caused.

Other constraints: Available under the Open Government Licence subject to the following acknowledgement accompanying the reproduced NERC materials "Contains NERC materials ©NERC [year]"

Language: English

Topic category

Geoscientific information

Begin date: 2022-04-01

End date: 2024-12-31

Reference System Information

No information provided.

Distribution format

Name	Version
Excel (.xlsx)

Distributor contact

Organisation name	Individual name	Electronic mail address	Role
British Geological Survey	Enquiries	not available	Distributor

OnLine resource

Protocol	Linkage	Name
	https://webapps.bgs.ac.uk/services/ngdc/accessions/index.html#item188122	Data

Hierarchy level: Non geographic dataset

Other: non geographic dataset

Conformance result

Title: INSPIRE Implementing rules laying down technical arrangements for the interoperability and harmonisation of Geology

Date (Publication): 2011

Explanation: See the referenced specification

Pass: No

Conformance result

Title: Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services

Date (Publication): 2010-12-08

Explanation: See http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:323:0011:0102:EN:PDF

Pass: No

Statement: Major and selected trace element (Fe, Mn) concentrations were determined by ICP-OES (Agilent 5100). External reproducibility was monitored using certified standards, diluted to appropriate concentrations for each matrix and calibration line. The calibration line was made up from lithium-borate fused micro-beads made from a mixture of USGS rock standards BHVO-2 and SDC-1, dissolved in 2% HNO3. External reproducibility and drift were monitored with the following suite of USGS rock standards: BCR-2, SCo-1, BHVO-2 and SDC-1. They were processed alongside samples and analysed every 5 to 10 samples during analytical sessions. Repeated analyses yielded values which were accurate to within ±3% for Al, Na, Si, Mn, Zn, ±5% for Ba, Fe, Mg, V, Ti, ±6% for Ca, K and ±7% for Sr, n=67. Any solution (sample or standard) analysed at or below ~5 ppb was considered unreliable and discarded