Dataset: GP16 delta 30Si
Deployment: TN303

Occasionally samples are too small to obtain a value or are lost due to problems in sample preparation. These are flagged as NEED TO DECIDE. Other flags as per GEOTRACES as follows:
1 - Good: Passed documented required QC tests.
2 - Not evaluated, not available or unknown: Used for data when no QC test performed or the information on quality is not available.
3 - Questionable/suspect: Failed non-critical documented metric or subjective test(s).
4 - Bad: Failed critical documented QC test(s) or as assigned by the data provider.
9 - Missing data: Used as place holder when data are missing. 

BCO-DMO Processing:
- modified parameter names to conform with BCO-DMO and GEOTRACES parameter naming conventions;
- joined to BCO-DMO master EPZT events file;
- converted the "Natural_Abundance_Protocol.doc" document to PDF;
- 11-Sept-2018: changed parameter names to comply with GEOTRACES naming conventions.

Additional GEOTRACES Processing:
As was done for the GEOTRACES-NAT data, BCO-DMO added standard US GEOTRACES information, such as the US GEOTRACES event number, to each submitted dataset lacking this information. To accomplish this, BCO-DMO compiled a 'master' dataset composed of the following parameters: cruise_id, EXPOCODE,SECT_ID, STNNBR, CASTNO, GEOTRC_EVENTNO, GEOTRC_SAMPNO, GEOTRC_INSTR, SAMPNO, GF_NO, BTLNBR, BTLNBR_FLAG_W, DATE_START_EVENT, TIME_START_EVENT, ISO_DATETIME_UTC_START_EVENT, EVENT_LAT, EVENT_LON, DEPTH_MIN, DEPTH_MAX,  BTL_DATE, BTL_TIME, BTL_ISO_DATETIME_UTC, BTL_LAT, BTL_LON, ODF_CTDPRS, SMDEPTH, FMDEPTH, BTMDEPTH, CTDPRS, CTDDEPTH.

This added information will facilitate subsequent analysis and inter comparison of the datasets.

Bottle parameters in the master file were taken from the GT-C_Bottle and ODF_Bottle datasets. Non-bottle parameters, including those from GeoFish tows, Aerosol sampling, and McLane Pumps, were taken from the TN303 Event Log (version 30 Oct 2014). Where applicable, pump information was taken from the PUMP_Nuts_Sals dataset.

A standardized BCO-DMO method (called "join") was then used to merge the missing parameters to each US GEOTRACES dataset, most often by matching on sample_GEOTRC or on some unique combination of other parameters.

If the master parameters were included in the original data file and the values did not differ from the master file, the original data columns were retained and the names of the parameters were changed from the PI-submitted names to the standardized master names. If there were differences between the PI-supplied parameter values and those in the master file, both columns were retained. If the original data submission included all of the master parameters, no additional columns were added, but parameter names were modified to match the naming conventions of the master file.

See the dataset parameters documentation for a description of which parameters were supplied by the PI and which were added via the join method.