Geochemical Atlases

Geochemical atlases are maps or databases providing regional coverage for a given media type (soil, sediment, groundwater, rocks, etc) at a large scale. They often cover a whole country or a larger region. They may be designed for the needs of mineral exploration, agriculture, land planning or risk management, but in most cases, they may also be used for other purposes. They are most useful for interpreting geochemical anomalies as well as for identifying local pollution.

They may be available free of charge – as a public service – or for a moderate publication cost. The earlier ones are available in printed form, while more recent ones are available online, sometimes with GIS features.

Most known atlases are listed here. Industry initiatives may lead to regional geochemical atlases as well, but they are usually not made public.

The list below is by far not exhaustive, do not hesitate to inform us of your own finds to be shared. 

Table 1: Main atlases

Region

Media

Density

URL

Africa - Zimbabwe

   

Ultra-low density geochemical mapping in Zimbabwe  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03756742/144/part/PC

Argentina

stream sediments 1:250,000 scale maps compiled from exploration projects. Two coverages: Pb-Zn-Cu coverage with locally other elements; and a multi-element coverage including up to 48 elements by ICP/AES, ICP/MS and INAA.

http://www.segemar.gov.ar/index.php/geoquimica/nuestro-alcance

Australia 

National Geochemical Survey of Australia (NGSA)

catchment outlet sediment

1,315 sites from 6,174,000 km2

http://www.ga.gov.au/ngsa

http://geea.lyellcollection.org/content/16/1/3.full.pdf+html

 

Australia 

Yilgarn Craton regional survey

shallow groundwater

2507 samples from 657,000 km2

http://geea.lyellcollection.org/content/16/1/100.abstract

Brazil

Stream and overbank sediments, soil and water, pan concentrates 

359 samples from 625,000 km2

http://www.cprm.gov.br/publique/cgi/cgilua.exe/sys/start.htm?UserActiveTemplate=cprm_layout&sid=13

- GEOBANK (database)

- Geochemical Maps Catalog

- International Geochemical Mapping Pilot Project: summary edition

- The geochemical Atlas of Rio das Velhas Basin (in Portuguese)

Canada 

surficial sediments, water, bedrock, vegetation

variable

http://geochem.nrcan.gc.ca

Canadian Database of Geochemical Surveys (CDoGS)

Canada - Newfoundland and Labrador

 

 

https://gis.geosurv.gov.nl.ca


Includes lake-sediment geochemical coverage of the entire province and till-geochemical coverage of about half of the island of Newfoundland (with data still being added) as well as links to numerous focused surveys of rock, till, lake and stream geochemistry

Canadian Database of Geochemical Surveys (CDoGS)

Canada – Labrador and Quebec (Geochemical atlas of northeastern Quebec and adjacent areas in mainland Newfoundland and Labrador)

lake sediments

6 to 8 samples per 100 km2

https://doi.org/10.4095/306596

Multi-element ICP-MS analyses, after aqua-regia digestion, of about 21,000 samples

Chile 

stream sediments and top soil

1 sample per 20 km2

 http://geoportal.sernageomin.cl/geoportal/catalog/main/home.page

http://www.sernageomin.cl/presentaciones-geologia.php

(Click on: “Mapa geoquímico del Norte de Chile (Juan Pablo Lacassie, Sernageomin)“:

 A powerpoint presentation with current advances of the project, in Spanish).

Chile - Northern

 

 

http://www.sernageomin.cl/pdf/presentaciones-geo/Mapa-geoquimico-del-Norte-de-Chile.pdf

China

 

 

Information expected soon

Europe

FOREGS

Subsoil and topsoil,
humus, stream
water, stream sediment, floodplain sediment

1 sample per 160 km2 (850 samples on average)

http://www.gtk.fi/publ/foregsatlas/

 

Europe

soil

2,219 agricultural soil samples and 2,127 grazing land soil samples at 1 site per 2500 km2

GEMAS (Geochemical Mapping of Agricultural and Grazing Land Soils) Project

http://www.eurogeosurveys.org

Jamaica 

stream sediments, soil

 

http://eshare.uwimona.edu.jm/xmlui/handle/1119/6

Japan

 

 

https://www.gsj.jp/Map/EN/geochemistry.html

Mexico 

soil

1,327 sites (at 1 site per 1600 km2), 3,526 samples

Not yet online, under completion

Peru

   

http://data.gov.uk/dataset/northern-peru-regional-geochemical-exploration-survey

Saudi Arabia

stream sediment, soil

ongoing

http://www.sgs.org.sa/English/MineralResources/Pages/GechemicalExploration.aspx

UK

soil

5,691 samples for km2

www.bgs.ac.uk/gbase/advsoilatlasEW.html

More information on GBase to be added soon

USA 

soil

4,857 sites (1 site per 1600 km2), 14,434 samples

USGS Soil Geochemical Landscapes of the Conterminous United States Project

Raw data:  https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/801/ 

Geochemical and mineralogical maps:  https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2014/1082/

Interactive web site, including interpretations of geochemical and mineralogical patterns:  https://pubs.usgs.ogv/sir/2017/5118/

Table 2: European atlases

Region

media

density

URL

Baltic Region 

terrestrial mosses and the organic soil layer

476 samples

http://arkisto.gtk.fi/sp/sp50.pdf

Barents

stream water,
minerogenic stream sediment,
humus,
moss,
plants,
minerogenic soil,
complete soil profiles

498 sampling sites from 658 000 km2

http://newprojects.gtk.fi/barents/

Cyprus

subsoil (50–70 cm), topsoil (0–25 cm)

1 sampling sites per ~1 km2

http://www.moa.gov.cy/moa/gsd/gsd.nsf/All/7E66423FF53B23DFC22585FA002EC099?OpenDocument

Geochemical data in the form of rasters available at GeoPortal of the Geological Survey Department with ArcGIS login
https://gsd.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=e6f54157fe8640cc853df09bf2e75dd7

Europe

FOREGS

subsoil,
topsoil
humus
stream water,
stream sediment,
floodplain sediment

1 sample per 160 km2 (850 samples on average)

http://www.gtk.fi/publ/foregsatlas/

Europe

soil

2,219 agricultural soil samples and 2,127 gazing land soil samples at
1 site per 2500 km2

GEMAS (Geochemical Mapping of Agricultural and Grazing Land Soils) Project

http://www.eurogeosurveys.org

Europe 

Geochemical Atlas of Northern Europe:

humus, moss, soil, stream sediment, stream water

58,311 samples

http://www.gtk.fi/publ/negatlas/index.php

Finland

Geochemical Atlas of Finland, part 1: The hydrogeochemical mapping of Finnish groundwater

approximately 3,600 samples across the entire country

http://tupa.gtk.fi/julkaisu/erikoisjulkaisu/ej_005.pdf

Finland

Geochemical Atlas of Finland, Part 2: Till

1,057 samples, 1 sample per 300 km2

http://tupa.gtk.fi/julkaisu/erikoisjulkaisu/ej_008.pdf

Finland

Geochemical Atlas of Finland, Part 3: Environmental geochemistry – stream waters and sediments

1,166 samples, density approximately 1 sample per 300 km2

http://tupa.gtk.fi/julkaisu/erikoisjulkaisu/ej_020.pdf

Finland

Regional Geochemical Mapping: Till

82,062 samples, 1 sample per 4 km2

http://arkisto.gtk.fi/tr/tr_130.pdf

http://geomaps2.gtk.fi/activemap/

Finland, Russia

Geochemical atlas of the eastern Barents region:

organic soil, minerogenic soil, terrestrial moss, stream water and sediment, vegetation

1 sampling site per 100 km2

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03756742/83/1-3

France

agricultural soil

734,00 sites from 500,000 km2

http://www.gissol.fr/programme/bdetm/bdetm.php (in French)

France

stream sediment, soil,
heavy minerals

more than 200,000 samples, heterogeneous distribution

http://sigminesfrance.brgm.fr/telechargement/divers/geochimie_inventaire.pdf (in French)

Germany

soil

one sample per 380 km2 

http://www.bgr.bund.de/EN/Themen/Sammlungen-Grundlagen/GG_geol_Info/Projekte/geochemical_atlas_of_germany/geochemical_atlas_germany_en.html

Italy

topsoil, subsoil, stream water, stream, floodplain sediment

extract from FOREGS

http://geo.geoscienze.unipd.it/sites/default/files/182/estratto_atlante.pdf

A list of regional atlases is available here

Northern Fennoscandia

till,
stream sediments, stream organic matter, stream moss,
heavy mineral fraction

7,267 sampling sites

Nordkalott Project: Geochemical Atlas of Northern Fennoscandia, 1:4,000,000 

http://www.gtk.fi; Only printed version available (Bølviken, B. et al. 1986.)

Sweden geochemical atlas, maps and data 2,578 samples at 1 sample per 150 km2 Geochemical Atlas of Sweden: https://www.sgu.se/en/mineral-resources/geokemisk-kartlaggning/geochemical-atlas-of-sweden/ (in English and Swedish)

United Kingdom

soil

5691 samples for km2

www.bgs.ac.uk/gbase/advsoilatlasEW.html

More information on GBase to be added soon