Geofluids Home Link to pmd*CRC site (GA1051)

Fluid Inclusion Database Project

Fluid inclusion database and web application (FIncs) concept

Currently this web-enabled FIncs system allows researchers to retrieve fluid inclusion data from regions of interest anywhere in the world. The concept is to build a free and widely available web-based library of fluid properties for a range of geological fluids.

The database is developed as an open project, to bring together researchers interested in the properties of geological fluids or fluid inclusions. Customers interested in using this system are encouraged to store your data in the database and to forward constructive suggestions, bug reports and computational algorithms which may be available to share. For more details, please contact Geoscience Australia.


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The fluid inclusion database, pmd*CRC and the geochemical community

The fluid inclusion database was developed for the Predictive Mineral Discovery Cooperative Research Centre (pmd*CRC).

The fluid inclusion database assists in meeting one of the long-term objectives of the pmd*CRC: to create a computational environment to simulate the 4D evolution of mineral systems aimed at developing predictive exploration capabilities for ore deposits. Numerical modelling requires the input of real and observable fluid properties, such as temperature, pressure and chemical compositions, as fundamental constraints.

Although primarily serving the pmd*CRC, Geoscience Australia believes that the fluid inclusion database also will benefit the wider geological community. Until now, most fluid inclusion data has remained the property of individual researchers or was contained in university theses and was often difficult to obtain. Much of this data, even in digital form, eventually is lost.

The fluid inclusion database can potentially provide an accessible library of fluid properties from a variety of geological environments from around the world. Most of the data is publicly accessible. In turn, Geoscience Australia anticipates that researchers will add their data to the database in order to continually update and increase the value of the resource.


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The design of the fluid inclusion database

The concept behind the fluid inclusion database was inspired by the Flincor and MacFlinCor programs developed by Philip Brown from the University of Wisconsin, USA. These were the first generally available programs developed to process and interpret laboratory data gathered from a wide variety of fluid inclusions (see Brown, 1989; Brown & Hagemann, 1995).

The fluid inclusion database is built on other Geoscience Australia databases which have been designed to store data for numerous types of geological observations. It is a mandatory requirement to provide a location for the samples and a brief description of the rock sample, thin section and grain containing the fluid inclusion before the fluid inclusion data is recorded.

The fluid inclusion database stores the observed and measured properties of fluid inclusions (i.e. only those values obtained in the laboratory). The other, derived, properties of the fluid are calculated at the user's request. This approach allows greater flexibility by enabling the customer to choose from a number of available equations of state which are used to derive the thermodynamic properties of the fluid. This method has the benefit of ensuring that all derived data are produced and standardised by a selected set of routines. It also enables old data to be quickly reprocessed by new routines as they become available and are added to the database toolkit.

A reporting module will enable customers to interrogate the fluid inclusion data and produce summaries of the data which allows selection of the average or most appropriate parameters of the fluids for their reports or for use in other numerical modelling packages.


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Implementation stages for the fluid inclusion database

The fluid inclusion database is being implemented in the following stages:

  • Implementation of the database and fluid inclusion data entry forms (completed September 2003);
  • addition of built-in algorithms to calculate fluid thermodynamic properties from algorithms used in MacFlinCor (completed December 2003);
  • database population and maintenance (ongoing).
  • implementation of a web-based interface to to provide a friendly user interface to the Fluid Inclusion database and other dependent systems (first stage completed June 2007);
  • addition of new algorithms to calculate fluid thermodynamic properties from algorithms produced by Ronald Bakker; and
  • implementation of a bulk uploading facility to enable bulk data transfer from the client’s computer over the internet.

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Fluid inclusion database development team

  • Concept – T. Mernagh1, P. Brown2, R. Bakker3, L. Wyborn1
  • Programming: S. Girvan1, D. Percival1
  • Database custodian – T. Mernagh1
1 Geoscience Australia and pmd*CRC
2 Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wisconsin, USA
3 Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Leoben, Austria

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References


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Related links

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