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Abstract

De Vos W.¹, Tarvainen T.² (Chief-editors), Salminen R.², Reeder S.³, De Vivo B.⁴, Demetriades A.⁵, Pirc S.⁶, Batista M.J.⁷, Marsina K.⁸, Ottesen R.-T.⁹, O'Connor P.J.¹⁰, Bidovec M.¹¹, Lima A.⁴, Siewers U.¹², Smith B.³, Taylor H³, Shaw R.³, Salpeteur I.¹³, Gregorauskiene V.¹⁴, Halamic J.¹⁵, Slaninka I.⁸, Lax K.¹⁶, Gravesen P.¹⁷, Birke M.¹², Breward N.³, Ander E.L.³, Jordan G.¹⁸, Duris M.¹⁹, Klein P.²⁰, Locutura J.²¹, Bel-lan A.²¹, Pasieczna A.²², Lis J.²², Mazreku A.²³, Gilucis A.²⁴, Heitzmann P.²⁵, Klaver G.²⁶, Petersell V.²⁷ 2006.
Geochemical Atlas of Europe. Part 2 - Interpretation of Geochemical Maps, Additional Tables, Figures, Maps, and Related Publications.

Multi-media and multi-element geochemical surveys carried over almost the whole of Europe indicate that baseline concentrations of chemical elements in samples of soil, humus, stream water and sediments (stream and floodplain) vary spatially by up to several orders of magnitude, because of geological, climatic, biological and other factors, including inputs from different human activities. The EuroGeoSurveys-FOREGS geochemical baselines project provides European decision-makers with data about the chemical composition of the near-surface environment at the end of the twentieth century. It is the ‘baseline’ against which the next generations will quantify changes, whether natural or human-made. Although the sampling density used in the current project is low, approximately one sample site per five thousand square kilometres (1 site/5000 km²), geochemists have been using quite effectively such low-sample density surveys to cover large areas for the last forty years.

This geochemical baseline survey provides us with invaluable information about the natural and human-induced concentrations of chemical elements in materials of the near-surface environment, where we live on, grow our crops, raise our livestock, and from which we extract our drinking water, and other raw materials, including mineral wealth. Our quality of life depends on the chemical composition of water (river or groundwater) and soil, whether residual (developed directly on bedrock) or alluvial (transported by river water and deposited during flood episodes on floodplains).

The geochemical distribution maps show distinct geographical differences in the levels of potentially harmful elements from natural geogenic sources, including lithology and mineralisation, and from natural processes such as climate, which influence the original levels. This geochemical variation illustrates the difficulty in defining a single guideline value for ‘water’, ‘soil’ and ‘sediment’ to be applied all over Europe. Finally, the geochemical maps could be used to identify potential geohazard and geohealth risks for more detailed investigations.

Key words (GeoRef Thesaurus, AGI): geochemical surveys, baseline studies, soils, sediments, stream water, geochemical maps, atlas, areal geology, Europe

¹Geological Survey of Belgium, Jennerstraat 13, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium;

²Geological Survey of Finland, P.O.Box 96, F1-02151 Espoo, Finland;

³British Geological Survey, Kingsley Dunham Centre, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, United Kingdom;

⁴Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Universita' di Napoli "Federico II", Via Mezzocannone 8, 80138 Napoli, Italy;

⁵Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration, 70 Messoghion Street, GR-11527 Athens, Greece;

⁶Geology Department, University of Ljubljana, Askeceva 12, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia;

⁷Geological Survey of Portugal, Estrada da Portela – Zambujal, Apartado 7586, 2720 Alfragide, Portugal;

⁸Geological Survey of Slovak Republic, Mlynská dol. 1, SK-81704 Bratislava, Slovak Republic;

⁹Geological Survey of Norway, 7491 Trondheim, Norway;

¹⁰Geological Survey of Ireland, Beggars Bush, Haddington Road, Dublin 4, Ireland;

¹¹Geological Survey of Slovenia, 1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia;

¹²Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, Postfach 510153, D-30631 Hannover, Germany;

¹³Geological Survey of France, BP 6009, 45060 Orléans Cedex, France;

¹⁴Geological Survey of Lithuania, Konarskio 35, Vilnius, LT-03123, Lithuania;

¹⁵Institute of Geology, Croatia, Sachsova 2, HR-10000, Zagreb, Croatia;

¹⁶Geological Survey of Sweden, P.O.Box 670, S-751 28 Uppsala, Sweden;

¹⁷Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Øster Voldgade 10, DK-1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark

¹⁸Hungarian Geological Institute, P.O. Box 106, H-1442 Budapest, Hungary;

²⁰Geological Survey of Austria, Rasumofskygasse 23 Postfach 127 A-1031 Wien, Austria;

²¹Geological Survey of Spain, 23 Rios Rosas, ITGE-E 28003 Madrid, Spain;

^22Polish Geological Institute, PL-00 975 Warszawa, Poland;

²³Centre of Civil Geology, Rs. S. Frasheri, Nr. 31 Tirana Albania;

²⁴State Geological Survey of Latvia, Eksporta iela 5, Riga, LV-1010, Latvia;

²⁵Swiss National Hydrological and Geological Survey, CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland;

²⁶TNO-NITG, The Netherlands, P.O. Box 80015, 8508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands;

²⁷Geological Survey of Estonia, Kadaka tee 80/82, Tallinn, EE-0026, Estonia.

Walter De Vos
Geological Survey of Belgium
Jennerstraat 13B-1000 BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

E-mail: walter.devos@naturalsciences.be

Timo Tarvainen
Geological Survey of FinlandP.O.Box 96
FIN-02151 ESPOO, FINLAND

E-mail: Timo.Tarvainen@gtk.fi

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