Europe

Europe

Geochemical atlas of Cyprus

Cohen, D.R., Rutherord, N.F., Morisseau, E. & Zissimos, A.M., 2011.  Geochemical Atlas of Cyprus.  University of New South Wales Press Ltd., Sydney, Australia, 144 pp.

The Geochemical Atlas of Cyprus was a five year project (2006-2011), funded through a public tender by the Government of Cyprus, and was implemented in collaboration with the University of New South Wales Australia.  The project involved the collection of topsoil and subsoil samples from ~5500 sites according to the sampling procedure of the FOREGS Geochemical Atlas of Europe, but at a higher sample density.  It covered an area of 5,897 km² at an average density of ~1 sample/km².  The soil samples were analysed for some 60 chemical elements.  According to Professor Gerry J.S. Govett, "the Geochemical Atlas of Cyprus provides a detailed visual record of the distribution of the elements of the periodic table in the soil of a region that has great geological and cultural significance; it is an important contribution to global geochemical mapping", and he is quite correct because the Geochemical Atlas of Cyprus is unique with respect to the soil sampling density used.

The Atlas was released at the Symposium on the Release of the Geochemical Atlas of Cyprus, which was organised by the Cyprus Geological Survey Department between the 5^th and 7^th of September 2011 at the Hilton Park Hotel in Lefkosia, Cyprus.

The Cyprus Geological Survey Department is in the process of making available the digital raster maps of all determined chemical elements and physico-chemical parameters, which can be viewed and copied at its GeoPortal.  Further, mineralogical data, determined by X-ray diffraction, are provided at 35 sampling sites along a north-east to south-west transect across the Troodos Intrusive Complex.  The four technical reports of the Geochemical Atlas of Cyprus are freely available:

• Cohen, D., Rutherford, N., Morisseau, E., Zissimos, A.M., Laffan, S., Gatehouse, S.G. & Ren, L., 2011.  Technical Report on the Development of a Geochemical Atlas of Cyprus:  Volume 1 – Text.  The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 104 pp.

• Cohen, D., Rutherford, N., Morisseau, E., Zissimos, A.M., Laffan, S., Gatehouse, S.G. & Ren, L., 2011.  Technical Report on the Development of a Geochemical Atlas of Cyprus:  Volume 2 – Tables and Figures.  The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 261 pp. 

• Cohen, D., Rutherford, N., Morisseau, E., Zissimos, A.M., Laffan, S., Gatehouse, S.G. & Ren, L., 2011.  Technical Report on the Development of a Geochemical Atlas of Cyprus:  Volume 3 – Atlas and Other Maps.  The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 138 pp.

• Cohen, D., Rutherford, N., Morisseau, E., Zissimos, A.M., Laffan, S., Gatehouse, S.G. & Ren, L., 2011.  Technical Report on the Development of a Geochemical Atlas of Cyprus:  Volume 4 – Appendix:  Analytical Quality Control.  The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 96 pp.

Inquiries about the availability of the geochemical data sets should be sent to Cyprus Geological Survey Department.

Geochemical atlas of Sweden

Andersson, M., Carlsson, M., Ladenberger, A., Morris, G., Sadeghi, M. & Uhlbäck, J., 2014.  Geochemical Atlas of Sweden.  Geological Survey of Sweden, Uppsala, Sweden, 210 pp.

The Geochemical Atlas of Sweden is a national compilation of till geochemistry which shows elements’ natural background concentrations and their spatial distribution in Sweden. The Geological Survey of Sweden has compiled this geochemical atlas because of the increased demand for knowledge of metals and other elements in the environment.

The book contains maps for 66 elements and pH in till supported by geochemical maps of grazing land (from the GEMAS project) and 14 biogeochemical maps (aquatic plants, SGU database). Detailed map descriptions in Swedish and English follow each map and statistical results are presented as tables in the attachment.  The book also contains background information about Swedish geology, mineralisation and geographical conditions.

The geochemical atlas has a wide range of applications, e.g., in spatial planning including land-use, environmental monitoring, epidemiology, forensic medicine, research, mineral exploration and crisis management.

You can download the complete book of the Geochemical Atlas of Sweden (91 MB) or each chapter separately.  Single maps and descriptions are available on the Maps and descriptions page.  Data and tables can downloaded from the Data and tables page.

United Kingdom

Stream sediment geochemical atlas of the United Kingdom

• Everett, P.A., Lister, T.R., Fordyce, F.M., Ferreira, A.M.P.J., Donald, A.W., Gowing, C.J.B. & Lawley, R.S., 2019.  Stream sediment geochemical atlas of the United Kingdom.  British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, United Kingdom, 94 pp. (OR/18/048)

This atlas is a milestone publication representing 45 years of work to characterise the chemical quality of the United Kingdom (UK) surface environment.  Maps and information documenting the concentrations of 18 chemical elements analysed in approximately 111,000 stream sediment samples collected across the UK are presented for the first time.  Results reveal the influence of natural geological/ weathering processes on sediment chemistry as well as human impacts including urbanisation, industry, mining and agriculture.  The data provide an invaluable basis to aid Earth-system process modelling, mineral resource and catchment management, environmental protection and quantitative evidence, against which to measure future environmental change.  This atlas has been published as an ‘interactive pdf document’, which features several functions that allow the reader to access and display different geochemical maps and information in various ways.  This atlas is designed to be downloaded and read in two-page view using Adobe pdf software (e.g., Adobe Reader, Adobe Acrobat).  If viewed using other software, e.g., within your browser, certain interactive elements may not display or function as intended.