London’s Soil Chemistry:
A continental scale anomaly
Dee Flight, Andreas Scheib and the Geochemical Baselines Team
British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, NG12 3NX
www.bgs.ac.uk
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A tale of two soil geochemical
mapping projects
GEMAS: European continental scale
• Agricultural soil quality
• Are anthropogenic impacts significant?
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London Earth: city scale:
• Urban soil quality;
• What impact does the soil
quality have on the
population?
GEMAS UK
138 sites
1 sample per
2500 km2
London
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London Earth
London Earth – Source of Sample site map:
http://www.bgs.ac.uk/downloads/start.cfm?id=1464
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6300 sites
1572 km2
4 samples per km2
London Earth: Land use
at soil sampling sites
School/ hospital
grounds, 68
Industrial site, 93
Other, 52
Rough Grazing,
392
Woodland and
Forests, 307
Arable, 323
Pasture, 169
Domestic
Garden, 1611
Urban open
space, 1166
Parks and
Recreational,
1125
Road verge, 606
Commercial and
Residential, 142
Golf, 178
Cemetery
Crematorium, 104
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Playing Fields
and sports
grounds, 255
Allotments, 30
London Earth
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GEMAS & London Earth
•
•
•
•
•
Rigorous standardised methods based on
established expertise and well tested,
quality control;
Undertaken contemporaneously;
Multi-element/parameter topsoil
geochemical mapping;
Robust and reproducible outputs;
Sample and data archive – lasting impact
and future resource.
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London Earth – Source of As map:
http://www.bgs.ac.uk/downloads/start.cfm?id=2020
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London Earth – Source of Cd map:
http://www.bgs.ac.uk/downloads/start.cfm?id=2021
London Earth
– statistical
analysis and
parent material
mapping
• Geogenic signatures for Al, Cs, Ga, K, La, Mg, Mn, Nb, Rb, Ti, V
most dominant.
• Very low geogenic control of As, Ba, Cd, Mo, Pb, Se, Sn, Zn
in London urban domain.
• Strongest geogenic signatures survived 2000 year history
of urban development
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London Earth – Source of Pb map:
http://www.bgs.ac.uk/downloads/start.cfm?id=2026
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(From Reimann et al., 2014, Fig. 11.41.5, p.339)
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21 mg/kg
GEMAS median
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(From Reimann et al., 2014, Fig. 11.42.4, p.346)
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Pb isotope ratios in London’s soil
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Census 2011 population density (person/km2)
14000
Islington
Hackney
Kensington and Chelsea
12000
Tower Hamlets
Lambeth
Hammersmith and Fulham
Camden
Westminster
Southwark
10000
Wandsworth
Haringey
Newham
Lewisham
8000
Brent
Waltham Forest
Ealing
6000
Barking and Redbridge
Dagenham
Harrow
Kingston
upon ThamesSutton
Croydon
Barnet
Enfield
Bexley
4000
Merton
Greenwich
Hounslow
Richmond upon Thames
2000
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Havering
Bromley
100
Hillingdon City of London
Inner London
Outer London
200
300
400
Borough median soil Pb (mg/kg)
500
London: soil Pb bioaccessibility
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Lead in London Soil - a relationship with social
deprivation?
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The London effect: Precious metals
(From Reimann et al., 2014, Fig. 11.7.5, p.139)
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(From Reimann et al., 2014, Fig. 11.10.5, p.159)
Gold in
London’s soils
Boxplot of X_Au ppb, A_Au ppb, X_Pt ppb, A_Pt ppb, X_Pd ppb, A_Pd ppb
140
X soil: 0-2 cm
A soil: 5-20 cm
120
Data
100
GEMAS median soil
Au concentration:1 ppb
80
60
40
20
0
X_Au ppb
A_Au ppb
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X_Pt ppb
A_Pt ppb
X_Pd ppb
A_Pd ppb
Conclusions
•
GEMAS and London Earth are high quality robust soil
geochemical surveys of differing scale and purpose.
•
Used together they provide unique understanding of
the magnitude and spatial influence of London’s urban
soil contamination.
•
High resolution geochemical data show that a wide
range of elements have been modified in London’s
urban soil.
•
GEMAS shows that for Pb, Au, (Sn, Hg, Ag) the
impact of London’s urban soil contamination is
significant at the continental scale.
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Thank you for listening
dmaf@bgs.ac.uk
References
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References
SLIDES 5, 6:
Knights, K.V. and Scheib A.J., 2010. London Earth: details of field campaigns across the Greater London area, 2005 to 2009. British
Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham, UK. Open Report OR/09/056.
SLIDE 9:
Ellison, R.A., Woods, M.A., Allen, D.J., Forster, A., Pharaoh, T.C. and King, C., 2004. Geology of London. Memoir of the British
Geological Survey, Sheets 256 (North London), 257 (Romford), 270 (South London) and 271 (Dartford) (England and Wales).
British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham.
SLIDE 11, 13, 19:
Reimann, C., Demetriades, A., Birke, M., Filzmoser P., O’Connor, P., Halamic, J., Ladenberger, A. & the GEMAS Project Team, 2014.
Distribution of elements/parameters in agricultural and grazing land soil of Europe. Chapter 11 In: C. Reimann, M. Birke, A.
Demetriades, P. Filzmoser & P. O’Connor (Editors), Chemistry of Europe's agricultural soils – Part A : Methodology and
interpretation of the GEMAS data set. Geologisches Jahrbuch (Reihe B 102), Schweizerbarth, 101-472.
SLIDE 12:
Johnson, C.C., Ander, E.L., Cave, M.R. and Palumbo-Roe, B., 2012. Normal background concentrations (NBCs) of contaminants in
English soils: Final project report. British Geological Survey Commissioned Report, CR/12/035, 40 pp.
SLIDE 16:
Appleton, J.D., Cave M.R., Scheib, A. and Wragg, J., 2012. Modelling lead bioaccessibility in urban topsoils based on data from
Glasgow, London, Northampton and Swansea, UK. Accepted for publication in Environmental Pollution.
SLIDE 17:
Department for Communities and Local Government, Indices of Deprivation 2010. ONS Super Output Area Boundaries.