Special Report: Chemistry of Europe’s agricultural soil
Geological Survey of Norway (NGU)
Following a suggestion of the Food and Agriculture Organization during the 68th UN General Assembly, 2015 has been declared the International Year of Soils (1). One of the main aims of this is to highlight the fundamental role of soils for human life. Just in time, the Geological Surveys of Europe (EuroGeoSurveys) have presented the two-volume publication Chemistry of Europe’s Agricultural Soil (2,3). The atlas provides a unique and reliable view on the agricultural landscapes of Europe through the eyes of some of the world’s leading experts in geochemical mapping, soil science and statistics (4).
The atlas presents a complete overview of the chemical inventory of one of our most valuable natural resources: the soil we live on and which nourishes us. For the first time, accurate maps of trace elements and even precious metals like gold and silver can be studied in a continental spatial context, providing many unexpected insights and opening new avenues for further research in classical soil sciences but also in mineral exploration, environmental sciences, forensic applications, or remote sensing.
When soil is formed, it acquires its chemical inventory primarily through the slow weathering of the underlying bedrock. This process takes much longer than it takes us to remove or pollute this exposed layer. Soil is an essentially non-renewable natural resource. Knowledge about soil quality, and of the driving forces that influence it, is of vital importance for society. Clean and productive agricultural soil is vital for the densely populated European continent. It should be safeguarded for the present and future generations.
Some of the pressing questions that need high quality chemical soil data to be answered include:
- Is European agricultural soil of good quality?;
- Is there evidence for large scale industrial contamination of European agricultural soil (diffuse pollution)?;
- Is there evidence of other anthropogenic impacts on European agricultural soil?;
- What are the levels of toxic or potentially harmful elements in European agricultural soil?;
- Are there element deficiencies in European soil?;
- How large is the natural variation of chemical elements in European soil?;
- Are there differences between European countries, and, if so, what is the explanation?; and
- Are geology and climate reflected in the spatial distribution of chemical elements in European soil?
These and similar questions can be tackled using the data and maps presented in the new geochemical atlas of European agricultural and grazing land soil, in short the GEMAS Atlas, the newest product of the EuroGeoSurveys Geochemistry Expert Group.
The atlas provides access to the first ever fully harmonised and quality controlled database of metals in agricultural and grazing land soil at the European scale, and of the parameters influencing their availability:
1) Samples were collected within the same short time interval (homogeneity in time);
2) Sampling sites are equally distributed over Europe (homogeneity in space);
3) Sampling targets (soil use) were uniformly chosen (homogeneity in sample material);
4) Identical sampling schemes and equipment were used (homogeneity in sampling);
5) Samples were analysed under exactly equal conditions in one laboratory (homogeneity in measuring); and
6) Strict external quality control was documented (homogeneity in quality control).
The two-volume atlas comes with a DVD that provides access to the maps and graphics shown in the atlas, as well as to the full database developed by the GEMAS project, an invaluable resource for research and data mining.
This unique work results from a co-operation between more than 60 organisations from around the world. Project leader and lead editor is Clemens Reimann from the Norwegian Geological Survey (NGU).
Part A provides an introduction to the project and a description of the methodology used, documents the extensive quality control results, and presents all statistical graphics and maps and their interpretation. This part also provides a general discussion of the project results, the conclusion and, last but not least, a DVD with the original data files and all maps and graphics.
Part B starts with an introduction to soil sciences, describes in detail the geology of Europe, shows the location of the known mineral deposits for most of the elements covered in Part A, and continues with a more in-depth interpretation of selected elements. Furthermore, risk assessment based on the GEMAS data, the Kd values and the results of the MMI (mobile metal ion) extraction are discussed. Part B also provides an overview table of the existing soil action levels in Europe and provides statistical overview tables for the project results.
The book and the unique dataset are of interest to a wide variety of users, e.g.:
(1) The European administration, national and international politicians concerned with environmental questions, and their advisors;
(2) Farmers and the fertiliser industry;
(3) Environmental agencies, scientists, and consulting companies;
(4) Food security authorities;
(5) Forensic scientists;
(6) Geochemists;
(7) Mineral exploration companies;
(8) The metals industry, the cement industry, and power companies – in short, all potential emitters of chemical elements into the environment; and
(9) Students and graduates of geochemistry, soil sciences, geology, geography, environmental sciences, environmental geology, ecology and statistics.
The data have already been used by the European metals industry to provide their risk assessment reports, as demanded by REACH to ECHA. In addition to the two-volume atlas, more than 20 publications from the project have already appeared in international, peer-reviewed journals, e.g. Applied Geochemistry, Boreas, Chemical Geology, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Journal of Geochemical Exploration, and Science of the Total Environment. Many more are in preparation.
References
(1) www.fao.org/globalsoilpartnership/iys-2015/en/
(2) Reimann C, Birke M, Demetriades A, Filzmoser P, O’Connor P (Eds.), 2014: Chemistry of Europe’s Agricultural Soils. Part A: Methodology and interpretation of the GEMAS data set. Geologisches Jahrbuch, Reihe B, Heft 102, Schweizerbart, Stuttgart, 528.
(3) Reimann C, Birke M, Demetriades A, Filzmoser P, O’Connor P (Eds.), 2014: Chemistry of Europe’s agricultural soils. Part B: General background information and further interpretation of the GEMAS data set. Geologisches Jahrbuch, Reihe B, Heft 103, Schweizerbart, Stuttgart, 352.
(4) Matschullat J, 2014. Reimann C, Birke M, Demetriades a, Filzmoser P, O’Connor P (Eds): Chemistry of Europe’s Agricultural Soils. Environmental Earth Sciences 72: 3239-3242.
Dr Clemens Reimann
Chairman, EuroGeoSurveys Geochemistry Expert Group
Geological Survey of Norway (NGU)
P.O. Box 6315 Sluppen
N-7491 Trondheim
Norway
tel: +47 73 904 307
[email protected]
http://gemas.geolba.ac.at/
