International standards and resources
The International Union of Geological Sciences(Opens in a new tab/window) (IUGS) provides information about different aspects of geology, and links to other websites.
Australian conventions and resources
The Gazetteer of Australia Place Names Search(Opens in a new tab/window) includes formal names of many geological entities and features.
Structures (geomorphology)
International standards and resources
We have not found an IUGS classification system for geological structures and landforms. A useful reference for this complex area of geology and physical geography is a geomorphic description system(Opens in a new tab/window), produced by the United States Department of Agriculture.
Australian conventions and resources
The Geoscience Australia website(Opens in a new tab/window) provides useful information, including a section on landforms and structures(Opens in a new tab/window).
Many geological structures are named in the landscape, including tectonic plates, fault lines, seismic zones, cratons, provinces, basins, superbasins, domains, terranes and orogens. Use initial capitals for formal titles for these elements:
Australian Plate Pacific Plate Manus Microplate Tasman Fracture Zone San Andreas Fault Great Artesian Basin Baragwanath Transform Austral Petroleum Supersystem
Physiogeographic regions
Physiogeographic regions are areas mapped according to landform characteristics, and described in terms of landform, underlying geology, regolith (materials lying on bedrock) and soils. This classification is used in the Australian Soil Resource Information System (ASRIS). Seven main levels are described: division, province and zone (describe soils and landscapes across the continent); and district, system, facet and site (provide more detailed information from field surveys). Each lower level occurs within a higher-level category.
Use initial capitals for the names of physiogeographic regions:
Tasmanian Uplands Province Eastern Uplands Division West Tasmanian Ridges
Rocks
International standards and resources
The IUGS has developed a set of classification systems for igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, including lists of approved names. These are available from the British Geological Society(Opens in a new tab/window) (BGS) website. The BGS website also provides information about other rock structures and deposits.
Australian conventions and resources
Australian geologists follow the IUGS classification of rocks.
In Australia, stratigraphic units are named according to agreed conventions overseen by the Australian Stratigraphy Commission. Geoscience Australia maintains a database(Opens in a new tab/window) of formal names.
Petrology is the study of rocks and their formation. Like minerals, rocks are naturally occurring; however, rocks are aggregates, often made up of several minerals or mineral-like substances. For example, the rock granite comprises quartz, feldspar and biotite.
The 3 major groups of rocks are igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic.
Use lower case for the names of rocks or rock groups:
sandstone granite igneous
Rock layers
Did you know? Stratigraphy is the description of rock bodies and their organisation into mappable units.
Rock units can be organised into different categories, using different properties of the rocks. Each stratigraphic category has a number of unit terms. For example, names of lithostratigraphic units are based on the physical characteristics of the rock bodies, such as colour, texture and composition (called lithologic properties). These units include a principal term, such as Group, Formation, Member, Bed or Flow.
Formal names of most stratigraphic units consist of an appropriate geographical name, and a term indicating the kind and rank of the unit. Use initial capitals for all words in a formal name:
Warrawoona Group Cowra Formation Bendigo Zone Hiltaba Suite the Warrawoona Group rocks
but use lower case for informal (generic) and plural references:
The Cowra and Lachlan groups an alluvial formation
Reminder. Initial capitals are used only for formal names. Informal and collective (plural) references to the same item do not need capitals.
Soils
International standards and resources
ISRIC–World Soil Information is working to develop international soil standards(Opens in a new tab/window).
Australian conventions and resources
The Australian soil and land survey field handbook (3rd edition; CSIRO Publishing) is also a useful resource.
The Australian Soil Classification(Opens in a new tab/window) has been widely adopted as the official national system for organising knowledge about Australian soils. It has been formally endorsed by the Australian Soil Conservation Council, an Australian Government ministerial council.
See also the Australian Soil Resource Information System(Opens in a new tab/window) (ASRIS).
As in biology, soils are classified in a hierarchical system; in Australia, the 5 categories are order, suborder, great group, subgroup and family. In the United States, an additional category is used: series (below the level of family).
In Australia, 14 soil orders are described. The names end in osols and have an initial capital:
Vertosols Rudosols Podosols
Use lower case for terms associated with carbon in soils, although the abbreviations are in capitals:
particulate organic carbon (POC) humus organic carbon (HUM) resistant organic carbon (ROC) soil organic carbon (SOC) major vegetation groups (MVGs)
Reminder. Just because the abbreviation of a term is made up of capitals, it does not mean that the term has initial capitals when it is spelt out.
Do not follow the name of a soil with soil:
Rudosols and Podosols were the most dominant not Rudosol and Podosol soils were the most dominant
Soil names are expressed in the form subgroup, great group, suborder, order, family. Use an initial capital for all names except family names. Family names comprise descriptive terms for 5 criteria: A horizon thickness, gravel of the surface, A1 horizon texture, B horizon texture and soil depth:
Bleached, Eutrophic, Red Chromosol; thin, gravelly, sandy/clayey, shallow
[Bleached is the subgroup, Eutrophic is the great group, Red is the suborder, Chromosol is the order, thin is the A horizon thickness, gravelly is the type of surface, sandy/clayey is the texture of the A1 and B horizons, and shallow is the soil depth.]
Minerals
International standards and resources
The International Mineralogical Association (IMA) has a Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification(Opens in a new tab/window) that provides comprehensive information on mineral names (including spelling).
Australian conventions and resources
For minerals, the Geological Society of Australia(Opens in a new tab/window) is a member of the IMA, and Australian scientists follow the IMA classification.
See also Australia’s identified mineral resources(Opens in a new tab/window), published by Geoscience Australia.
Did you know? There are nearly 5,000 known minerals; the names of about 4,600 of these have been approved by the IMA.
Minerals are naturally occurring substances found on Earth, and are stable at room temperature. Minerals are different from rocks – for example, they have a specific chemical composition. Use lower case for mineral names:
diamond gold quartz sapphire