As the database grows, navigation will be less and less by browsing and increasingly done by keyword searches. This makes the selection of proper and complete keywords an important task of the page generation process.
We strive to keep the database searchable by the following five parameters:
Provenance (e.g., metamorphic high-grade)
Composition (e.g., sublitharenite)
Transport Process (e.g. glacial)
Depositional System (e.g. beach)
Geographic Location (i.e., country, continent, ocean if appropriate)
The following paragraphs will define these parameters more fully.
Provenance
provenance_sedimentary
shallow marine (a subdivision of _sed)
provenance_plutonic
provenance_volcanic
provenance_metamorphic low-grade
provenance_metamorphic high-grade
Composition
We follow the sandstone classification of Bob Folk
Quarzarenite
Subarkose
Sublitharenite
Arkose
Litharenitic arkose
Arkosic litharenite
Litharenite
Calcarenite(because there are many carbonate sands)
Transport Process
glacial
mass flow
aquatic
eolian
Depositional system
alluvial
fluvial (including mountain_stream, fluvial_braided, fluvial_meandering)
deltaic
beach (beach_low-energy, beach_high-energy)
desert
lacustrine
shallow_marine
shelf
deep_marine
Geographic Location
Country; where appropriate also State (e.g. North_Dakota, Bavaria, Sikkim)
Continent (e.g., Antarctica)
Ocean (if appropriate); e.g., Pacific