Estimated Urban Soil Chemistry Great Britain (version 1)
The BGS digital estimated urban soil chemistry data (GB_EstimatedUrbanSoilChemistry_v3) indicates the estimated geometric mean concentrations (mg kg-1) of Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Nickel (Ni) and Lead (Pb) in topsoil derived by spatial interpolation of the point source urban soil chemistry data. The information is relevant for the first stage of any assessment of risks to human health required by regulatory authorities in relation to land use and also assessing ecological risks. Estimated topsoil PHE (Potentially Harmful Element) concentrations above respective SGVs (Soil Guideline Value) do not necessarily imply a significant health risk but they do highlight the need to consider whether or not there may be a risk. Comparison of this spatially referenced geochemical data set with information on current or historic land use and geological information might help environmental professionals decide whether high PHE concentrations in topsoils can be attributed to geogenic or anthropogenic sources. The dataset is based on, and limited to, an interpretation of the records in the possession of the BGS at the time the dataset was created. An indication of high estimated PHE concentrations in soil does not necessarily mean that an individual site will have a high PHE concentration. Topsoil concentrations in urban areas are frequently characterised by strong spatial variation over short distances so this data should be interpreted and used with caution. The original urban topsoil samples were collected and analysed as part of the BGS Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE) project.
INSPIRE
Identification
- File identifier
- 9df8df52-d75d-37a8-e044-0003ba9b0d98 XML
- Resource type
- dataset
Online resource
- Protocol
-
HTTP
Resource identifier
- Metadata Language
- English (en)
- Spatial representation type
- vector
Encoding
- Format
-
Shapefiles
Projection
Classification of data and services
- Topic category
-
- Geoscientific information
Classification of data and services
Coupled resource
Coupled resource
Classification of data and services
Coupled resource
Coupled resource
Keywords
- GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0
- BGS Thesaurus of Geosciences
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Soil chemistry
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UK Location (INSPIRE)
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Cadmium
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Chromium
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Lead
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Nickel
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Arsenic
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Geographic coverage
Temporal reference
Temporal extent
Temporal extent
- Dataset Reference Date ()
- 2009
Quality and validity
- Lineage
-
The dataset is derived from high resolution urban soil geochemical data from the BGS Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Soil geochemical surveys have been carried out, by BGS, at 24 urban centres in England, Scotland and Wales. Urban geochemical surveying is based on the collection of samples on a 500 m grid at a density of approximately 4 samples per km2 across the urban areas. Samples were collected from open ground as close as possible to the centre of each 500 m grid cell. At each sample site, composite samples based on 5 sub-samples taken at the centre and four corners of a 20m square, were collected from the topsoil ('A' soil sample; 5-20 cm depth) and subsurface ('S'soil sample; 35-50 cm depth). Approximately 40 chemical elements were determined in the <2mm size fraction of the 'A' soils. Either the <150 micron or <2mm fraction of the 'S' soil samples were analysed. The point source urban soil chemistry data contain analysed results from these sampling campaigns. This dataset indicates the estimated topsoil As, Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb concentrations (mg kg-1) derived by spatial interpolation of the point source urban soil PHE data. Urban soil geochemical data generally have large positive skewness coefficients so were transformed by taking natural logarithms. To overcome the bias associated with traditional measures of location (mean) and scale (standard deviation) for log-normal data, the inverse distance weighted (IDW) mean and standard deviation of log transformed.
- Denominator
- 50000
Conformity
Conformity
Conformity
Conformity
Conformity
Conformity
- Explanation
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See the referenced specification
Restrictions on access and use
- Access constraints
- license
- Access 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.
- Access constraints
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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. iprdigital@bgs.ac 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.
Responsible organization (s)
Contact for the resource
- Organisation name
-
British Geological Survey
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enquiries@bgs.ac enquiries@bgs.ac.uk
- Organisation name
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British Geological Survey
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enquiries@bgs.ac enquiries@bgs.ac.uk
- Organisation name
-
British Geological Survey
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enquiries@bgs.ac enquiries@bgs.ac.uk
Responsible organization (s)
Contact for the resource
- Organisation name
-
British Geological Survey
-
enquiries@bgs.ac enquiries@bgs.ac.uk
- Organisation name
-
British Geological Survey
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enquiries@bgs.ac enquiries@bgs.ac.uk
- Organisation name
-
British Geological Survey
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enquiries@bgs.ac enquiries@bgs.ac.uk
Metadata information
Contact for the metadata
- Organisation name
-
British Geological Survey
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enquiries@bgs.ac enquiries@bgs.ac.uk
- Metadata Date
- 2024-04-25
- Metadata Language
- English (en)