Hello again,

Thinking about it over night (I'm currently in San Diego), I think a way 
forward might be to use the word 'total' in all cases, but define is as 'in 
every form', which provides a common denominator between these two usages.

Cheers, Roy
________________________________________
From: CF-metadata [cf-metadata-boun...@cgd.ucar.edu] On Behalf Of Jonathan 
Gregory [j.m.greg...@reading.ac.uk]
Sent: 06 December 2013 23:35
To: cf-metadata@cgd.ucar.edu
Subject: Re: [CF-metadata] standard names for sediment trap data

Dear Roy

> iron to total_iron (defined as all oxidation states)
> silica to total_silica (defined as biogenic + lithogenic)
> manganese to total_manganese (defined as all oxidation states)

I have reservations about that, because I think the word "total" is not self-
explanatory. You have to know what it's being contrasted with - as you can see
from the above, where it doesn't have a consistent meaning. I think that either
it has to be spelled out what is being included, or it's assumed by default
that *everything* is included by an unqualified species, and instead you add
extra words to be more specific.

Best wishes

Jonathan
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