Directives / spécifications techniques
Spécifications techniques pour la fourniture de données issues de projets géothermiques soutenus par l'Office fédéral de l'énergie (OFEN).
Les documents énumérés ci-dessous ne sont actuellement disponibles qu'en anglais.
Controlled Vocabularies
Les informations suivantes ne sont actuellement disponibles qu'en anglais et seront complétées au cours des prochains mois.
This section explains how to read and interpret the vocabularies available on lexic.swissgeol.ch.
It outlines the main elements, relations and semantic structure used to describe geological concepts, independently of editorial or governance processes.
Purpose of controlled vocabularies
Controlled vocabularies provide a standardized set of terms for describing real world phenomena, such as geological concepts. They ensure that different datasets, maps, and reports use a consistent terminology — a prerequisite for data integration, interoperability, and semantic clarity. Each vocabulary focuses on a specific domain such as lithology, chronostratigraphy, or tectonics.
Structure of a vocabulary
A vocabulary (also called a concept scheme) is a curated list of concepts that belong to the same thematic area. Each concept is represented as a record containing labels, a definition, references, and relations to other concepts.
The vocabularies are mainly encoded in SKOS (Simple Knowledge Organization System), a W3C standard for representing structured knowledge in a machine-readable form. Additional standards, such as the W3C Time Ontology are incorporated as well.
Concepts and URIs
Each concept is assigned a unique URI (Uniform Resource Identifier), serving as its stable, citable identifier. URIs allow unambiguous referencing in datasets, publications, and other vocabularies.
Example: https://lexic.swissgeol.ch/vocabulary/concept1234
Labels and status
Each concept includes:
Preferred labels — official names in English, German, French, and Italian
Alternative labels — synonyms or common variants
Hidden labels — obsolete or misspelled forms (not visible to the user)
The status of each concept is indicated as:
Active: currently valid terms
Deprecated: historical terms retained for reference only
Relations among concepts
Relationships are expressed using the SKOS model and, where applicable, the W3C Time Ontology for ordering temporal intervals.
Broader / Narrower - Hierarchical structure: from general to specific.
Related - Non-hierarchical association within the same scheme.
Exact / Close Match - Equivalency or similarity to a concept in a vocabulary from an external resource.
Stratigraphic rank - For lithostratigraphic and chronostratigraphic vocabularies, each concept is assigned a stratigraphic rank that indicates its formal hierarchical position (e.g. formation, member, epoch, stage).
Interval meets/met by - Defines adjacency in a chronological sequence (expressed along the time arrow for concepts of the same rank).
Interval started/finished by - Defines the chronological sequence of subunits (expressed along the time arrow for concepts of the next subordinate rank).
Unlike a strict classification tree, SKOS allows multiple broader or narrower links, resulting in a semantic network rather than a single hierarchy.
Definitions and references
Each concept includes a short definition and may cite bibliographic references from geological standards or literature.
Where available, online sources are linked directly.
Definitions help clarify the intended use and boundaries of the concept.
How to interpret entries on lexic.swissgeol.ch
When viewing a concept page, you will find:
Header – preferred labels (in English, German, French and Italian), status, URI
Details – short definition of the concept, references and notes
Related Terms – list or graph of connected concepts
Other relations – multilingual alternative labels, links to external resources, chronological relations and further information
This structure allows both humans and machines to understand the meaning and context of each geological term.