Demetriades, A., Dai, H., Liu, K., Savin, I., Birke, M., Johnson, C.C., Argyraki, A. (Editors), 2020. International Union of Geological Sciences Manual of Standard Geochemical Methods for the Global Black Soil Project. International Union of Geological Sciences, Commission on Global Geochemical Baselines, Special Publication No. 1, Athens, Hellas, 107 pages, 49 figures, 4 Tables, and 4 Appendices, ISBN: 978-618-85049-0-5; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7267967.

 

The aim of the Global Black Soil Critical Zone Geo-ecological Survey (BASGES) is to study, in a holistic approach, the serious degradation problems that Black Soil types are facing all over the world because of several decades of intensive cultivation. Their present chemical state shall be studied by following the principles of the IUGS Commission on Global Geochemical Baselines for producing an internally consistent high quality geochemical database. The requirements are to use standardised sampling and sample preparation methods, and all samples must be analysed in the same laboratory for the same suite of determinands/parameters, following a strict quality control protocol.

 

IUGS APPROVAL FOR PUBLICATION 

 

The Executive Committee of the International Union of Geological Sciences (http://www.iugs.org/) approved the publication of  the “International Union of Geological Sciences Manual of Standard Geochemical Methods for the Global Black Soil Project” at its 74^th meeting in Busan of South Korea on the 17^th of January 2020. The Executive Committee members Qiuming Cheng (President), Kristine Asch (Vice President), William Cavazza (Vice President), Stanley C. Finney (Secretary-General), Hiroshi Kitazato (Treasurer), Roland Oberhänsli (Past President), Ben Mapani (Councillor), Edmund Nickless (Councillor), Silvia Peppoloni (Councillor) and Claudia Mora (Councillor) are thanked for approving the publication of this manual.