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Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE) geochemical samples and analyses

The BGS Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE) is the national strategic geochemical mapping programme in Great Britain. The project set out to establish the chemistry of the surface environment by the collection and analysis of stream sediment, stream water and soil samples. Beginning in the late 1960s in northern Scotland and moving southwards across the country, the primary focus was mineral exploration, however, the project quickly developed to address important environmental concerns. The final G-BASE samples were collected in southern England in 2014. The outputs from the G-BASE project provide an invaluable, systematic baseline of geochemical information for Great Britain, serving as a marker of the state of the environment against which to measure future change. Sampling Stream sediments were the primary sample medium for G-BASE. The sediment was collected from the centre of the stream and sieved through two sieves (2 mm and 150 µm) to obtain a fine grain-size fraction of <150 µm. Excess material from the <2 mm fraction was panned to collect a heavy mineral concentrate. Stream water samples were collected also at each drainage site. Four different water samples were collected routinely: two filtered waters (for major and trace elements) and two unfiltered waters (for pH, conductivity and alkalinity). The routine collection of soil samples was introduced in 1986 in areas of poor drainage density, and urban soil sampling commenced in 1991. Further details of the sampling methodology can be found in the G-BASE field procedures manual ( https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/5190/). Sample analysis Stream water pH, conductivity and alkalinity were determined in the field. Water samples were returned to our laboratories and analysed by inductively coupled atomic emission and mass spectrometry (ICP-AES/MS), ion chromatography (IC)/ion selective electrode (ISE) for up to 50 chemical parameters. Waters were also analysed for non-purgeable organic carbon (NPOC) to determine dissolved organic carbon content. Most water samples were analysed for alkalinity, pH, conductivity, F and U and some for multi-element analyses including Al, Cl, Na, Si, SO4, NO4, and TOC. The <150 µm fraction of the stream sediment and the <2 mm fraction of topsoil were analysed by techniques including X-ray fluorescence (XRF)/direct reading optical emission spectrometry (DR-OES) to determine the concentration of up to 53 major and trace elements. Loss on ignition (LOI) and pH were determined in topsoil samples. Analytical data for the 150 micron fraction of soil and stream sediment samples are available for some or all of: Ag, As, B, Ba, Bi, Be, Ca, Ce, Cd, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, Ga, K, La, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Nb, Ni, P, Pb, Rb, Sb, Se, Sn, Sr, Th, Ti, U, V, Y, Zn, Zr. In later stages, the project also routinely determined the elements listed in the <2 mm fraction of surface soils. Sample storage and archive After preparation and analyses all soil, stream sediment and panned concentrate samples and excess material were stored and archived at the BGS’s National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC). The archive holds more than 40 years’ worth of material collected across the UK from Shetland in the north to Kent in the south. Archived samples can be made available for further tests and analyses on request by contacting BGS Enquiries (mailto: enquiries@bgs.ac.uk).

Simple

Date (Creation)
1968
Citation identifier
http://data.bgs.ac.uk/id/dataHolding/13480412
Point of contact
Organisation name Individual name Electronic mail address Role

British Geological Survey

Enquiries

enquiries@bgs.ac.uk

Distributor

British Geological Survey

Enquiries

enquiries@bgs.ac.uk

Point of contact
Maintenance and update frequency
Not planned

GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0

  • Geology

BGS Thesaurus of Geosciences

  • Sampling

  • UK Location (INSPIRE)

  • Sample analysis

  • Scottish SDI

  • Geochemistry

  • Geology

dataCentre
  • UK Location (INSPIRE)
  • Scottish SDI
Keywords
  • NERC_DDC

Access constraints
Other restrictions
Other constraints
no limitations
Other constraints
restricted
Other constraints
The dataset has been formally approved by BGS for access by external clients under a BGS Digital Data Licence, issued via BGS's IPR Section. The dataset must not be provided to, or be accessible by, an external client until the IPR Section confirms that signed licence documentation is in place. Refer to the IPR Section (DigitalLE@bgs.ac.) if further advice is required.
Other constraints
The dataset is made freely available for access, e.g. via the Internet. Either no third party data / information is contained in the dataset or BGS has secured written permission from the owner(s) of any third party data / information contained in the dataset to make the dataset freely accessible.
Use constraints
Other restrictions
Other constraints

The copyright of materials derived from the British Geological Survey's work is vested in the Natural Environment Research Council [NERC]. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of the copyright holder, via the BGS Intellectual Property Rights Manager. Use by customers of information provided by the BGS, is at the customer's own risk. In view of the disparate sources of information at BGS's disposal, including such material donated to BGS, that BGS accepts in good faith as being accurate, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the quality or accuracy of the information supplied, or to the information's suitability for any use. NERC/BGS accepts no liability whatever in respect of loss, damage, injury or other occurence however caused.

Other constraints

The dataset is made available to external clients under BGS Digital Data Licence terms and conditions. Revert to the IPR Section ( iprdigital@bgs.ac.uk) if further advice is required with regard to permitted usage.

Other constraints

Available under the Open Government Licence subject to the following acknowledgement accompanying the reproduced NERC materials "Contains NERC materials ©NERC [year]"

Spatial representation type
Vector
Language
English
Topic category
  • Geoscientific information
Geographic identifier
GBN

ISO 3166_2 2009 revision

Geographic identifier
GREAT BRITAIN [id=139600]

British Geological Survey Gazetteer: Geographical hierarchy from Geosaurus 1979 creation

N
S
E
W
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Begin date
1968
End date
2014
Supplemental Information

Regional geochemical Mapping commenced in the Caithness and South Orkney area carried out by the Institute of Geological Sciences (IGS -now BGS). Projected completion by 2015 Complete for Scotland, Wales, West Midlands, Northern England, Humber-Trent, Central England and East Anglia. Southern England ongoing. Soil samples average 1 per 2km square, sediment samples average 1 per 1.75 km square collected using 1:50 000 OS base maps. Geochemical mapping carried out according to International Geochemical Sampling methods described by IGCP 259.

Unique resource identifier
WGS 84 (EPSG::4326)
Distribution format
Name Version
Distributor contact
Organisation name Individual name Electronic mail address Role

British Geological Survey

Enquiries

enquiries@bgs.ac.uk

Distributor
OnLine resource
Protocol Linkage Name
http://www.bgs.ac.uk/gbase/home.html

G-BASE Homepage

Hierarchy level
Dataset
Other

dataset

Conformance result

Title

INSPIRE Implementing rules laying down technical arrangements for the interoperability and harmonisation of Geology

Date (Publication)
2011
Explanation

See the referenced specification

Pass
No

Conformance result

Title

Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services

Date (Publication)
2010-12-08
Explanation

See http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:323:0011:0102:EN:PDF

Pass
No
Statement

Project initially called Regional Geochemical Reconnaissance Programme (RGRP) and subsequently Geochemical Survey Project (GSP). All G-BASE data is loaded to the BGS Geochemistry Database.

Metadata

File identifier
9df8df51-63dd-37a8-e044-0003ba9b0d98 XML
Metadata language
English
Hierarchy level
Dataset
Date stamp
2025-06-30
Metadata standard name
UK GEMINI
Metadata standard version

2.3

Metadata author
Organisation name Individual name Electronic mail address Role

British Geological Survey

enquiries@bgs.ac.uk

Point of contact
Dataset URI

http://data.bgs.ac.uk/id/dataHolding/13480412

 
 

Overviews

overview

Spatial extent

thumbnail

Keywords

Scottish SDI UK Location (INSPIRE)


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