Merrill, G. P. (1897) A treatise on rocks, rock weathering and soils. New York, Macmillan. 411 pp. The entire unconsolidated or secondarily recemented cover that overlies more coherent bedrock, that has been formed by weathering, erosion, transport and/or deposition of the older material. The regolith thus includes fractured and weathered basement rocks, saprolites, soils, organic accumulations, volcanic material, glacial deposits, colluvium, alluvium, evaporitic sediments, aeolian deposits and ground water. Everything from fresh rock to fresh air. http://crcleme.org.au/Pubs/Monographs/RegolithGlossary.pdf The term was introduced by Merrill (1897) who wrote of the incoherent mass of varying thickness covering the underlying rocks: “In places this covering is made up of material originating through rock weathering in-situ. In other instances it is of fragmental and more or less decomposed material drifted by wind, water or ice from other sources. This entire mantle of unconsolidated material, whatever its nature or origin, it is proposed to call the regolith, from the Greek words rhego), meaning a blanket, and lithos, a stone.” Regolith Air Specimen collection of ambient air or sensor emplaced to measure properties of ambient air. Unknown The sampled medium is unknown. Adapted from CUAHSI HIS SampleMediumCV. See http://his.cuahsi.org/mastercvreg/edit_cv11.aspx?tbl=SampleMediumCV. There is no applicable sampled medium. Not applicable Adapted from SESAR Material CV. See http://app.geosamples.org/reference/materials.php This term should be used in the case that there is no medium or medium does not apply in some context. Specimen collected from material broken down by processes of weathering and erosion and subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice, and/or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. Sensors may also be emplaced to measure sediment properties. Adapted from SESAR Material CV. See http://app.geosamples.org/reference/materials.php. Definition adapted from Wikipedia. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sediment Sediment Adapted from SESAR Material CV. See http://app.geosamples.org/reference/materials.php Other. Other Ice Sample collected as frozen water or sensor emplaced to measure properties of ice. Specimen collected as an organic liquid. Adapted from SESAR Material CV. See http://app.geosamples.org/reference/materials.php Liquid organic Observation in, of or sample taken from snow. Adapted from CUAHSI HIS SampleMediumCV. See http://his.cuahsi.org/mastercvreg/edit_cv11.aspx?tbl=SampleMediumCV. Snow Liquid aqueous Adapted from SESAR Material CV. See http://app.geosamples.org/reference/materials.php Specimen collected as liquid water or sensor emplaced to measure properties of water in sampled environment. Adapted from SESAR Material CV. See http://app.geosamples.org/reference/materials.php Particulate Specimen collected from particulates suspended in a paticulate-fluid mixture. Examples include particulates in water or air. Sample of a living organism's tissue or sensor emplaced to measure property of tissue. Tissue Soil Specimen collected from soil or sensor emplaced to measure properties of soil. Soil includes the mixture of minerals, organic matter, gasses, liquids, and organisms that make up the upper layer of earth in which plants grow. Adapted from SESAR Material CV. See http://app.geosamples.org/reference/materials.php Organism Data collected about a species at organism level. Equipment An instrument, sensor or other piece of human-made equipment upon which a measurement is made, such as datalogger temperature or battery voltage. Specimen collected as a mineral. Mineral Adapted from SESAR Material CV. See http://app.geosamples.org/reference/materials.php http://www.eionet.europa.eu/gemet/concept?ns=1&cp=8922 Retrieved from Eionet GEMET Thesaurus The plants of an area considered in general or as communities, but not taxonomically. Vegetation Adopted from STORET into USGS National Water Quality Portal. http://waterqualitydata.us/portal_userguide/#WQPUserGuide-Table2 Definition from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitat Necessary to describe ecosystem properties, such as: birds per km2 of habitat STORET definition: The habitat conditions at the monitoring site; physical features of the area surrounding the monitoring location site. Habitat A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant, or other type of organism. Adapted from SESAR Material CV. See http://app.geosamples.org/reference/materials.php Gas phase specimen or sensor emplaced to measure properties of a gas. Gas ODM2 Group ODM2 Medium Controlled Vocabulary A vocabulary for describing the physical medium of a specimen, reference material, or sampled environment. Specimen collected from a naturally occuring solid aggregate of one or more minerals. Adapted from SESAR Material CV. See http://app.geosamples.org/reference/materials.php. Definition adapted from Wikipedia. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_(geology) Rock