Concentrations below the detection limit are represented as 'below_DL' (originally "<_DL"). See the Supplemental Files section for Detection Limits.

Quality flag definitions:
BDL = below detection limit (detection limit = 3 standard deviations of the blank).
0 = No QC performed.
1 = Good data.
2 = Probably good data.
3 = Probably bad data that is potentially correctable.
4 = Bad data.
5 = Value changed.
6 = Sample < blank.
7 = Outlier (unexplained data point or sample).
8 = Interpolated value.
9 = Missing value.
F = Filtered sample.

BCO-DMO made the following modifications:
- Replaced blanks with 'nd'.
- Replaced ' < DL' with 'below_DL'.
- Changed PI-supplied cruise IDs of KN204-4 and KN204-5 to KN204-01A and KN204-01B. Added 'cruise_part' column to distingush between parts A and B of cruise KN204-01.
- Copied averages and variances from the 3rd sub_sample to the all 3 sub_sample rows (where applicable).

Additional GEOTRACES Processing:
After the data were submitted to the International Data Management Office, BODC, the office noticed that important identifying information was missing in many datasets. With the agreement of BODC and the US GEOTRACES lead PIs, 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: station_GEOTRC, cast_GEOTRC (bottle and pump data only), event_GEOTRC, sample_GEOTRC, sample_bottle_GEOTRC (bottle data only), bottle_GEOTRC (bottle data only), depth_GEOTRC_CTD (bottle data only), depth_GEOTRC_CTD_rounded (bottle data only), BTL_ISO_DateTime_UTC (bottle data only), and GeoFish_id (GeoFish data only). 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_GT10, GT-C_Bottle_GT11, ODF_Bottle_GT10, and ODF_Bottle_GT11 datasets. Non-bottle parameters, including those from GeoFish tows, Aerosol sampling, and McLane Pumps, were taken from the Event_Log_GT10 and Event_Log_GT11 datasets. McLane pump cast numbers missing in event logs were taken from the Particulate Th-234 dataset submitted by Ken Buesseler.

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.