Authors / CoAuthors
Reimann, C. | de Caritat, P.
Abstract
Geochemical data from two continental-scale soil surveys in Europe and Australia are presented and compared. Internal project standards were exchanged to assess comparability of analytical results. The total concentration of 26 elements (Al, As, Ba, Ca, Ce, Co, Cr, Fe, Ga, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Nb, Ni, P, Pb, Rb, Si, Sr, Th, Ti, V, Y, Zn, and Zr), Loss On Ignition (LOI) and pH are found to be comparable. In addition, for the first time, directly comparable data for 14 elements in an aqua regia extraction (Ag, As, Bi, Cd, Ce, Co, Cs, Cu, Fe, La, Li, Mn, Mo, and Pb) are provided for both continents. Median soil compositions are remarkably close, though overall Australian soils are slightly depleted in all elements with the exception of SiO2 and Zr. This is interpreted to reflect the overall longer and, in places, more intense weathering in Australia. Calculation of the Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) gives a median value of 72% for Australia compared to 60% for Europe. In general, element concentrations vary over 3 (and up to 5) orders of magnitude. Several elements (As, Ni, Co, Bi, Li, Pb, Mn, and Cu) have a lower element concentration by a factor of 2-3 in the soils of northern Europe compared to southern Europe. The break in concentration coincides with the maximum extent of the last glaciation. In Australia the central region with especially high SiO2 concentrations is commonly depleted in many elements. The data provided define the natural background variation for two continents on both hemispheres based on real data. Judging from the experience of these two continental surveys it can be concluded that analytical quality is the key requirement for the success of global geochemical mapping.
Product Type
nonGeographicDataset
eCat Id
72927
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Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Dr GPO Box 378
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2601
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Keywords
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- External Publication
- ( Theme )
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- geochemistry
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- regolith
- ( Theme )
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- soils
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- environmental
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- mineral exploration
- Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
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- Earth Sciences
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- Published_Internal
Publication Date
2011-09-23T00:00:00
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geoscientificInformation
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