GEMAS aims to provide harmonised soil geochemical data for arable land and land under permanent grass cover at the continental, European scale.
As a collaboration between EuroGeoSurveys and Eurometaux, and geological surveys in 34 European countries, covering an area of approximately 5.6 million km2, sampled their territory at a sample density of 1 site per 2500 km2. 2211 samples of arable soil (0-20 cm) and 2118 samples of grazing land soil (0-10 cm) were collected across Europe in 2008. The extensive analytical programme determined the concentrations of more than 50 chemical elements in the samples.
GEMAS soil profile in sampling pit
GEMAS soil sample collection
Sample collection
In the UK, BGS sampling teams visited a total of 138 sites collecting a total 276 soil samples. Sampling took place during the summer of 2008, following a jointly agreed field protocol. Since the collection, the samples have undergone chemical analysis and results have been reported.
Data from the GEMAS project help to support REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals), the new European Chemicals Regulation, adopted in December 2006, which came into force on the 1st June 2007. The REACH regulation, as well as the pending EU Soil Protection Directive, require additional knowledge about “soil quality” at the European scale.
They provide information to policy makers as well as underpinning international collaborative research in topics such as agricultural productivity, trace element status and forensic food geochemistry. An archive of excess sample material to support future analyses was transferred to the National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC), British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, UK.
The data has been published and is available at http://gemas.geolba.ac.at/.
- EuroGeoSurveys Geochemistry Working Group. 2008. EuroGeoSurveys Geochemical mapping of agricultural and grazing land soil of Europe (GEMAS) – Field manual. Report 2008.038. Geological Survey of Norway, Trondheim.
- EuroGeoSurveys Geochemistry Working Group. 2013. The GEMAS Brochure. Geological Survey of Norway, Trondheim.
- Reimann, C., Birke, M., Demetriades, A., Filzmoser, P. & O’Connor, P. (Editors), 2014. Chemistry of Europe’s agricultural soils – Part A: Methodology and interpretation of the GEMAS data set. Geologisches Jahrbuch (Reihe B 102), Schweizerbarth, Hannover, 528 pp. + DVD
- Reimann, C., Birke, M., Demetriades, A., Filzmoser, P. & O’Connor, P. (Editors), 2014.Chemistry of Europe’s agricultural soils – Part B: General background information and further analysis of the GEMAS data set. Geologisches Jahrbuch (Reihe B 103), Schweizerbarth, Hannover, 352 pp.
- GEMAS: Chromium, Ni, Co and Cu in agricultural and grazing land soil of Europe.
- Use of GEMAS data for risk assessment of cadmium in European agricultural and grazing land soil under REACH Regulation.
- GEMAS: Spatial distribution of the pH of European agricultural and grazing land soil.
- Bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr in European soils: A baseline for provenancing studies.
- GEMAS: Prediction of solid-solution phase partitioning coefficients (Kd) for oxoanions and boric acid in soils using mid-infrared 37 diffuse reflectance spectroscopy.
- GEMAS: Indium in agricultural soils of Europe – its source and geochemical distribution pattern.
- Mobile Metal Ion® analysis of European agricultural soils: bioavailability, weathering, geogenic patterns and anthropogenic anomalies.
- GEMAS: CNS concentrations and C/N ratios in European agricultural soil.
- GEMAS: Source, distribution patterns and geochemical behaviour of Ge in agricultural and grazing land soils at European continental scale.
- Geochemical fingerprinting and sources discrimination in soils and sediments at continental scale.
- Mercury in European agricultural and grazing land soils.
- Distribution of Selenium in European Agricultural and Grazing Land Soil.
- GEMAS: Establishing geochemical background and threshold for 53 chemical elements in European agricultural soil.
- Geogenic and agricultural controls on the geochemical composition of European agricultural soils.
- Ce, La and Y concentrations in agricultural and grazing-land soils of Europe.
- GEMAS : low density geochemical data for arable and grazing land soils of the UK.
- Distribution of Aeolian Deposits in Europe and Their Influence on Soil Geochemistry.
- Geochemical evidence of aeolian deposits in European soils.
- The geochemistry of niobium and its distribution and relative mobility in agricultural soils of Europe.
- The use of diffuse reflectance midinfrared spectroscopy for the prediction of the concentration of chemical elements estimated by X-ray fluorescence in agricultural and grazing European soils.
- Prediction of the concentration of chemical elements extracted by aqua regia in agricultural and grazing European soils using diffuse 32 reflectance mid-infrared spectroscopy.
- Arsenic in agricultural and grazing land soils of Europe.
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