Section A
Nature and properties

The constituents are the building blocks of the system. They are a closed system serving as the analytical equivalent of the actual elements as found in the ground.

In this section, we will look at the following

1. what defines both elements and constituents, and what are the essential charactersitics of the system
2. the precise inventory of the constituents, divided by classes, and with a full listing of all the constituents as defined
3. the clustering patterns, by space and time
4. the way in which the constituents are formally labeled
5. the specific property attributes