Table Of ContentPergamon Books of Related Interest
Gusev et al English-Russian Dictionary of Applied Geophysics
Kuznetsov Russian-English Polytechnical Dictionary
Nickon & Silversmith Organic Chemistry—The Name Game: Modern Coined Terms and Their Origins
Stoliarov Russian-English Oil Field Dictionary
WEC Energy Terminology: A Multilingual Glossary
Pergamon Journals of Related Interest
(Sample copies available on request)
COMPUTERS & GEOSCIENCES
GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ROCK MECHANICS AND MINING SCIENCES & GEOMECHANICS ABSTRACTS
JOURNAL OF AFRICAN EARTH SCIENCES
JOURNAL OF SOUTH-EAST ASIAN EARTH SCIENCES
JOURNAL OF STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY
ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY OF THE EARTH
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
MULTILINGUAL
THESAURUS
ofGEOSCIENCES
Edited by
G.Ν. Rassam
Chairman, Commission on Geological Documentation (COGEODOC) and
American Geophysical Union (AGU), Washington, D.C., USA
J. Gravesteijn
COGEODOC and Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières (BRGM), Orléans, France
R. Potenza
COGEODOC and Consiglio Nazionale délie Ricerche (CNR), Milan, Italy
Sponsored by the
International Council for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI)
and
International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS)
PERGAMON PRESS
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U.K. Pergamon Press, Headington Hill Hall,
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PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC Pergamon Press, Room 4037, Qianmen Hotel, Beijing,
OF CHINA People's Republic of China
FEDERAL REPUBLIC Pergamon Press, Hammerweg 6,
OF GERMANY D-6242 Kronberg, Federal Republic of Germany
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AUSTRALIA Pergamon Press Australia, P.O. Box 544,
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JAPAN Pergamon Press, 8th Floor, Matsuoka Central Building,
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CANADA Pergamon Press Canada, Suite No. 271,
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Copyright © 1988 Pergamon Books, Inc.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in
any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic,
magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without permission in writing from the publishers.
First printing 1988
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Multilingual thesaurus of geosciences.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
I. Subject headings—Geology. 2. Subject
headings—Mines and Mineral resources. 3. Subject
headings—Hydrology. I. Rassam, Ghassan Ν.
II. Gravesteijn, J. III. Potenza, R. IV. International
Council for Scientific and Technical
Information. V. International Union of Geological
Sciences.
Z695.1.G43M84 1987 025.4'9551 86-25353
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Multilingual thesaurus of geosciences
1. Geology. Polyglot dictionaries
I. Rassam, G. Ν. II. Gravesteijn, J.
III. Potenza, R.
551'.03
ISBN 0-08-036431-4
Reproduced, printed and bound in Great Britain by
Hazell Watson & Viney Limited
Member of BPCC pic
Aylesbury Bucks
Preamble: On the Birth of a Thesaurus
"In the beginning was the Word" has had small acceptance by attended the meetings of COGEODOC. The group did not want to
philosophers from Plato to Feyerabend who, through the ages, have confine itself to a pilot project and also did not want to disappoint the
wrangled over the meaning of the word, "Word." Was it the sign for an new interlocutors at Montreal. Thus, before the end of the Congress, it
idea of an object, or was it the mark of the object itself? For purposes of was decided—maybe with a bit of a happy-go-lucky attitude—to work
translation, epistemologists have argued that, "Schnee ist weiss, if and on a multilingual thesaurus for the earth sciences as a whole.
only if snow is white." This has little relevance to geology, and certainly The general principles for such a thesaurus were defined as
none to the multilingual thesaurus you have in your hand. What is follows:
relevant, however, is that the language of science undergoes strange and
complicated transmutations as it crosses linguistic boundaries (e.g., • the work should be organized collectively and should take into account
Eisberg in German becomes Iceberg in English, and remains Iceberg in the existing national thesauri and documentary activities;
French).
• any proposed linguistic or national collaboration should be accepted,
In 1972, at the International Geological Congress in Montreal, the
the initial languages being Czech, English, French, German, Russian,
IUGS Commission on Geological Documentation (COGEODOC) pre-
and Spanish;
sented a modest draft of a multilingual thesaurus of structural geology
• the lexical reference material should be the "Glossary of Geology,"
in Czech, English, French, and German.
published by the American Geological Institute; each participant on
For the representatives of the national organizations concerned at
behalf of any linguistic group should be allowed to propose additional
that time (American Geological Institute, Bundesanstalt für Geowissen-
terms and concepts. After discussion in the working group, these
schaften und Rohstoffe, Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Min-
terms were to be introduced and translated by all other linguistic
ières, GEOFOND), the aim was not only to undertake a new task, but to
groups.
respond to a more and more evident need to organize international
cooperation in the field of earth science documentation. • The final aim of the project is to facilitate the exchange of biblio-
One must bear in mind, that at that epoch—which seems to be so graphic data between the different organizations and linguistic groups
far in the past—computer use had just begun to enter geologic work, and through an international network of documentation for the benefit of
only a few organizations had started to produce bibliographies and all geologists.
indexes by computer methods.
The presentation of this "micro thesaurus" surprised the interna- The project was begun, and the work leading to the present stage took 14
tional community at Montreal and aroused its interest. Several national years; a short span for any human enterprise . . . and very short when
delegations (among which was the delegation of the Soviet Union) considered in geological concepts of time! In these 14 years there were
vii
MULTILINGUAL THESAURUS OF GEOSCIENCES
many technical problems to be solved, plenty of sessions and discussions, the International Council for Scientific and Technical Information, and
many corrections and—above all—immense good intention and addi- where we have always found scientific and operational help and under-
tional participation of the partners from Canada, Czechoslovakia, standing.
Finland, France, West Germany, Italy, guests from Denmark, Sweden, The present multilingual thesaurus is fully in concordance with our
Hungary, correspondents from Australia and other countries. initial wish: a collective work of geologists, who often became informa-
When we took th** f»rr aieps toward creating the thesaurus each of tion specialists by outside demand or by professional interest. Its
us had some knowleüge of each other's first language, and possessed a completion and publication is a technical success. But beyond this—and
working knowledge of a third or fourth and that helped the process this seems to us to be essential—during the numerous meetings all over
along. Borrowed terms (e.g., klippe, graben, molasse, roche moutonnée) the world, there was the chance of discovery and establishment of
created special problems when it became evident that the borrower had friendship and close human relations, and the fact that there are already
altered the original meanings; and common terms with different mean- countries with operational bilateral cooperation has come from this
ing in different countries (e.g., schist and schiste) created others. documentary tool and work.
Classifications that are troublesome in American usage (e.g., siltstone, We are pleased that we have this opportunity to offer our congratu-
claystone, mudstone) became more so when exported. Differences lations and express our profound admiration for this accomplishment.
between American English and British English had to be explicated. It The geologists who performed the work have gone a long way to respond
was not long before we realized that chalk and a blackboard were to the admonition of the great Francis Bacon, who wrote,
indispensable to our deliberations. Can a thrust fault and a reverse fault "Although we think we govern our words, . . . certain it is that
be explained without a pencil? We were reminded of the hand gestures words, as a Tartar's bow, do shoot back upon the understanding of the
to be observed in the corridors of any large meeting when geologists are wisest, and mightily entangle and pervert the judgement. So that it is
describing the details of a structure to colleagues. There was a time almost necessary ... in setting down in the very beginning the defini-
when the formation of a Committee to Standardize Geological Gestures tions of our words and terms, that others may know how we accept and
was considered. understand them, and whether they concur with us or no. For it cometh
In the beginning we took a gamble perhaps and the odds against to pass, for want of this, that we are sure to end there where we ought to
success were great, but finally we succeeded because our cooperation have begun, which is—in questions and differences about words."
was founded on the willingness to cooperate, on friendship as well as on
modern techniques and on data processing. However, we are aware that
nothing would have been accomplished without the support of the L. Delbos, France
International Union of Geological Sciences and also the International H. Glashoff, Federal Republic of Germany
Council of Scientific Unions Abstracting Board which has evolved into J.J. Lloyd, United States
VIII
Introduction
The Multilingual Thesaurus of Geosciences (MT) was developed Geological Congress at Montreal (Canada) in August 1972. At the
over the past 14 years by the efforts of two international organizations: Congress, IUGS requested that the joint IUGS/ICSU AB working
International Council for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI) group (WGMT) undertake the expansion of the pilot project to a
and the Commission of Geological Documentation (COGEODOC) of complete multilingual thesaurus of the vocabulary of geology. After
the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS). ICSTI, which initially examining and experimenting with theoretical approaches, the
is a not-for-profit organization like its predecessor ICSU AB (Interna- WGMT switched to a totally pragmatic methodology and used it
tional Council of Scientific Unions Abstracting Board), aims at increas- throughout.
ing accessibility to and awareness of scientific and technical informa- The American Geological Institute's Glossary was taken as a first
tion. Its membership includes the leading world database producers in reference tool. This glossary contains about 33,000 terms and their
science and technology, as well as representatives of all activity sectors definitions. It is approximately 80 percent complete without considering
in the information transfer chain. COGEODOC promotes international archaic nomenclature or slang.
cooperation among national and international documentation centers It was quickly shown that the assumption that geology would have
covering the earth sciences, and aims at improvement of the availability a limited vocabulary with few ambiguous terms was overly optimistic.
and the use of geological information by geoscientists and specialists Much time was spent on explanations of the meaning of terms in various
involved in geological activities. Additional and important help was languages. It was important to relate concepts rather than terms in a
provided by the organizations where the participants worked. For a list science where cognates may have different meanings (Fault-Falte), and
of these organizations, see Editorial Group at the end of this introduc- homonyms are sometimes more restricted in one language than in
tion. another (schist-schiste).
In 1970 the ICSU AB selected geology as the subject of a pilot
project to develop a methodology for the construction of a multilingual
thesaurus, which could then be applied to other sciences under the WHY A MULTILINGUAL THESAURUS
assumption that geology has a more limited vocabulary than other
IN GEOLOGY?
scientific disciplines and that there was less ambiguity in terminology
and nomenclature. The treatment of bibliographic information and the creation of
ICSU AB was joined in the pilot project by COGEODOC and the manual or automated indexes require the use of documentary methods
language coverage was to include Czech, English, French, and German of classification and organization for bibliographic analysis.
while the subject field was reduced to tectonics with a subset of 300 In a manual system, the classification plays a preeminent role.
terms. The work was completed and presented to the International With introduction of automatic methods of retrieval (and computers),
ix
MULTILINGUAL THESAURUS OF GEOSCIENCES
the procedures for selection of pertinent documents are refined in the HOW TO BUILD A MULTILINGUAL THESAURUS?
sense that index terms are used for retrieval rather than broad catego-
ries. The ensuing dramatic increase in facility and quality of telecommu-
Thesauri
nications has added a new dimension to the dissemination of informa-
tion: It has shrunk the distance between the laboratory and the database The creation of thesauri is closely related to the automatic treat-
and between the researcher and the documentalist, and as a result, ment of bibliographic analysis and the search strategy which results
between the scientist as producer of data and the scientist as a user of therefrom.
data.
The International Standards Organization (ISO) standard for
It is not surprising therefore that a movement began in various
monolingual thesauri defines three criteria:
documentation centers to increase the compatibility between their
methods and their products.
1. Controlled language of indexing: terms selected from the natural
In 1970, the French, West German and Czech geological surveys
language and formally used to represent, in a condensed form, the
cooperated to create and update a joint database. A common indexing
contents of the document (descriptors).
vocabulary was used and direct contacts between the documentation
centers led to a common indexing practice. On the other hand, in the 2. Establishment of relationships between terms: these relationships
1970s, GEOINFORM, the common geoscience information project of may be hierarchical with "specific" and "generic" terms, or associa-
the CMEA (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance) countries, tive with "use" and "use for" or "see also" terms.
started developing a multilingual thesaurus for the analysis of the
3. Formal organization of relationships: function of a term (descriptor
geoscience literature to be covered by the participating countries.
or non-descriptor) and its relationship with other terms belonging to
The major outcome of the ICSTI-IUGS multilingual thesaurus
the same group of apparent concepts.
(MT) project is the reinforcement of this international cooperation.
Nine European countries (Czechoslovakia, Finland, France, Federal
Republic of Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, and Spain) A multilingual thesaurus is different in that it permits transposition
and the United States (represented by the American Geological Insti- and translation of concepts in many languages. The multilingual thesau-
tute, AGI) participate in an information network contributing in the rus may be "divided" into a number of distinct monolingual structured
updating of the two operational international databases, GeoRef and thesauri, although it is not a simple sum of them.
PASCAL-GEODE and using a common indexing language perfectly Multilingual thesauri may be created a priori when different
compatible with the MT. documentation centers decide to construct a common database. The
The MT thus could become in the near future the switching multilingual thesaurus allows each linguistic group to operate in its own
mechanism for a world network for geological information. language, both for indexing and for retrieval. Such networks have been
It is planned that the MT project will be a dynamic and ongoing created by the United Nations, Commission of European Community
operation that will take into account developments in the international and the CMEA countries.
information scene, and which will contribute to a better and easier use of In the case of international cooperation between separate existing
geoscience information. information systems, the méthodologie approach is based on a posteriori
χ
MULTILINGUAL THESAURUS OF GEOSCIENCES
compatibility between the concepts used for the various systems operat- • Verification of compatibility of terms with each "national" monolin-
ing in different languages. gual thesaurus.
In this case, the comparison of concepts and terms and the analysis • Discussion in annual meetings of definition of terms, their quality as
of the indexing techniques of the participants take the most important descriptors or non-descriptors in each linguistic version.
place in the construction of a multilingual thesaurus. The a posteriori
• Introduction or elimination of terms as a function of the following
methodology was chosen for the MT project.
criteria: utility of these terms for indexing or retrieval, and use of them
Languages as descriptors by at least one of the systems represented.
• Addition of terms judged necessary for each participant to assure a
The Working Group included the following language groups:
compatibility between their national thesaurus and the MT.
Czech, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Span-
• Terms are then assigned, by each linguistic group:
ish. Other languages may be included in the future.
1. Their role in each documentation system (descriptor; non-
Hungarian and Swedish specialists participated in the work of the
descriptor)
group but their linguistic versions have not yet been included in the
2. Establishment of eventual substitute relationships for non-
database. For several years there was also Canadian participation in the
descriptors. Multiple preferred terms may be given. These
project.
substitutes may be simple or complex as a function of the
Principles specificity of the term or its characteristics, whether post- or
pre-coordinated.
The MT has been conceived as a switching mechanism between
3. Reciprocity of substitute relationships. Preferred usage (use
documentation centers specializing in geoscience. It involves creating a
for or UF) is indicated for descriptors involved by both unique
common indexing vocabulary, compatible with work methods and
and multiple preferred terms.
practical systems in the various centers. In other words, bridges must be
• Some adjectives and general terms used for post-coordinate indexing
created between centers of different languages and with different
were then introduced in the MT. These terms are useful only in
methodology. Such a task may have seemed impossible but the Working
relation to other descriptors in a syntactic relationship used by certain
Group started with a phased, pragmatic approach.
national systems.
Most members of the group had the technical expertise necessary
• When a term is used only in one language, its original form is not
for decision-making. In addition, the cooperation among several mem-
translated and is repeated in the other languages; for example, EN
bers of the group, as it has developed, actually used the methodology and
ECHELON in English.
the terminology of the MT thus creating a "proving ground" for the MT
concept. • Classification of terms by subject or field.
Methodology Hierarchical Structure of MT
• A posteriori approach: Selection by each participant of appropriate The hierarchical structure is established at the level of each
terms in AGI's Glossary of Geology. monolingual national thesaurus. These "national" thesauri make the
xi
MULTILINGUAL THESAURUS OF GEOSCIENCES
annexes or the extensions of the multilingual nucleus and are related to and 5 distinct fields describe concepts common to all subdivisions
it by the MT terms. (properties, methods, etc.)
Examples of hierarchies in "national" monolingual thesauri fol- For the systematic subdivisions, selection has been made among the
low. terms available. The criteria for selection were the following:
Russian: DVIZHENIE TEKTONICHESKOE (related to MT
• Stratigraphy: epoch and stage names. Field: STRS
term PLATE TECTONICS)
V(BT) TEKTOGENEZ • Paleontology: names of groups (to the family or order level) as a
Ν (NT) DVIZHENIE EHSTATICHESKOE function of the documentation importance of the groups. Field:
DREJF KONTINENTOV PALS
SKLADKOOBRAZOVANIE • Soils: terms used in American and European classifications. Field:
TAFROGENEZ SUSS
EHPEYROGENEZ
• Rocks: names generally accepted, according to the IUGS classifica-
a! (RT!) KOLEBANIE
tions. Fields: IGNS, IGMS, SEDS
SMESHCHENIE
• Minerals: principal groups. Field: MING
ΤΕΚΤΟΝΙΚΑ PLIT
• Extraterrestrial bodies: planets and meteorites. Field: EXTS
English: ANTICLINES (equivalent to MT term)
BT FOLDS
SA ANTICLINORIA Geographic and physiographic place names are not included for the
SA ANTIFORM FOLDS time being.
SA ARCHES
SA DIAPIRS PRESENTATION
SA DOMES
SA GEANTICLINES Six languages—English, French, German, Italian, Russian and
SA SYNCLINES Spanish—were chosen for this printed version of the thesaurus. For
other languages, the option of printing a national version of the MT
(BT = broader term; NT = narrower term; RT = related term; SA = see
together with one or more of the languages is left open.
also)
The MT includes a main list of key terms as well as several indexes
and translations. The main list shows the key terms in alphabetical order
CONTENTS
carrying a sequential reference number. Each entry is composed of the
The MT database contains now approximately 5,000 key terms following:
expressed as descriptors or non-descriptors in 8 linguistic versions. The
terms are classed in 36 groups or fields, of which 20 correspond to the • A key term in English presented in the initially selected form of the
major subdivisions of geoscience; 11 concern the systematic parts of reference concept. The key term is followed by the field of applica-
classification domains Such as stratigraphy, rock names, elements, etc.; tion.
xii
MULTILINGUAL THESAURUS OF GEOSCIENCES
• Six entries corresponding to the different linguistic versions of the ENVI Environment
MT, exhibiting the documentation nature of the term (Descriptor, EXTR Extraterrestrial geology
Non-descriptor, Adjectival, General or Non-translatable). If the term EXTS Meteorites, planets
is in all capital letters, the term is a descriptor in that language and the GEOC Geochemistry
term is translated. If the designation is in upper and lower case, the GEOH Hydrology
term is not a descriptor and is followed by one or two descriptors GEOL General geology
indicating (in capital letters) the preferred term(s). If two descriptors IGMS Metamorphic rocks—systematics
are assigned, these are separated by a semicolon. Preferred usage is IGNE Petrology
indicated by a UF (use for) for each linguistic version. Multiple IGNS Igneous rocks—systematics
preferred terms are separated by a semicolon. INST Instruments—equipment
ISOT Isotope geochemistry/Absolute age, geochronology
• Adjectives are in capital letters for those versions using post-
MARI Marine geology
coordinate indexing. For the other linguistic versions, adjectives are
MATH Mathematical geology
followed by (adj.) and are in upper and lower case letters, for example,
METH Methods
Abyssal (adj.).
MINE Mineralogy
• General terms are treated in a similar manner to adjectives and are
MING Mineral groups
followed by (gen.) for those versions not using post-coordinate index-
MINI Mining
ing, for example, Paleo (gen.).
MISC Miscellaneous
• Non-translated terms are enclosed in brackets, [EN ECHELON]. PALE Paleontology
PALS Paleontology—systematics
For further information on the presentation, see the Legend and PHCH Physical and chemical properties, processes
Preface to Entries of the MT. SEDI Sedimentology
In addition, there are for each language a specific linguistic index SEDS Sedimentary rocks—systematics
in alphabetical order referencing the key-term numbers used in the main SOLI Solid Earth geophysics
list. STRA Stratigraphy
Those indexes are followed by the field index, in which key terms STRS Stratigraphy—systematics
have been classified by field. A full list of the field codes and their STRU Structural geology
explanations follows. SURF Geomorphology—Quaternary geology
SUSS Soils—systematics
APPL Applied geophysics TEST Textures—structures
CHEE Elements
CHES Chemical compounds
THE PARTICIPANTS
COMS Commodities
ECON Economic geology In ongoing and international projects such as the MT, the number
ENGI Engineering geology of people who contribute their work and efforts is usually very large and
xiii
