The <b>GERM initiative</b> is a community wide effort in geochemistry that works towards a complete chemical characterization of the Earth, its major reservoirs (core, mantle, crust, hydrosphere and atmosphere) and the fluxes between them. The GERM website is conceived as an up-to-date display of geochemical reference information as well as an active workplace for the geochemical research community. Currently, one of the most important aspects of GERM is the process of working towards such a reference model — since there is no general consensus on the composition of all geochemical reservoirs of the Earth. The goal is to offer a straw-man model that can be tested against new data from geochemistry and geophysics in order to improve the straw-man model. In an iterative fashion this process will finally converge on the best possible model that is consistent with all the evidence available. <br><br><b>The entire GERM website uses frames.</b> Please activate frames and follow the <a href="http://earthref.org/GERM/">http://earthref.org/GERM/</a> link again ...