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{{LondonAtlas}}
The British Geological Survey’s Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE<ref name="Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE)">Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE) http://www.bgs.ac.uk/gbase/home.html</ref>) project systematically maps the distribution of inorganic chemical elements in the surface environment of Great Britain (Johnson et al., 2005<ref>Johnson, C C, Breward, N, Ander, E L, and Ault, L. 2005. GBASE: baseline geochemical mapping of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis, Vol. 5 (4), 347–357.</ref>) to help characterise land quality. This systematic and high-resolution geochemical baseline mapping, completed in 2015, was initially based on drainage samples collected from low order streams (Plant, 1971<ref>Plant, J A. 1971. Orientation studies on stream sediment sampling for a regional geochemical survey in northern Scotland. Transactions of the Institute Mining & Metallurgy, Vol. 80, 323–346.</ref>) but has since been expanded to include soils. The work started in the late 1960s in northern Britain and was primarily concerned with mineral exploration. Since commencement, the geochemical mapping has progressed southwards. It is now principally focused on underpinning research projects, supporting stakeholders, and work on maintaining sustainable and healthy environments, particularly since the project’s remit was expanded to include the mapping of urban areas in the 1990s (Fordyce et al., 2005<ref>Fordyce, F M, Brown, S E, Ander, E L, Rawlins, B G, O'Donnell, K E, Lister, T R, Breward, N, and Johnson, C C. 2005. GSUE: urban geochemical mapping in Great Britain. Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis, Vol. 5 (4), 325–336. [http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/883/ Download from NORA].</ref>; Johnson and Ander, 2008<ref>Johnson, C C, and Ander, E L. 2008. Urban geochemical mapping studies: how and why we do them. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, Vol. 30, 511–530.</ref>; Flight and Scheib, 2011<ref>Flight, D M A, and Scheib, A J. 2011. Soil geochemical baselines in UK urban centres: the G-BASE project. Chapter 13, 186–206. In: Mapping the chemical environment of urban areas. Johnson C C, Demetriades, A, Locutura, J, and Ottesen, R T (eds.). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Chichester, UK. </ref>). The systematically collected rural and urban G-BASE<ref name="Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE)">Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE) http://www.bgs.ac.uk/gbase/home.html</ref> soil database available for England is summarised in [[Media:P929857.jpg |'''Figure 1''']] and the area covered by this atlas is indicated on this figure. Separate to the G-BASE<ref name="Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE)">Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE) http://www.bgs.ac.uk/gbase/home.html</ref> survey, the National Soil Inventory (NSI<ref name="NSI | Soils Summary Information">NSI | Soils Summary Information http://www.bgs.ac.uk/gbase/sampleindexmaps/soilnsi.html</ref>) samples were collected by the Soil Survey of England and Wales. These were re-analysed by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRFS) in the BGS laboratories to be compatible with the G-BASE<ref name="Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE)">Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE) http://www.bgs.ac.uk/gbase/home.html</ref> dataset and reported by Rawlins et al. (2012)<ref>Rawlins, B G, McGrath, S P, Scheib, A J, Cave, M R, Breward, N, Lister, T R, Ingham, M, Gowing, C J B, and Carter, S. 2012. The advanced soil geochemical atlas of England and Wales. British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham. Published as an electronic book. at: [http://www.bgs.ac.uk/gbase/advsoilatlasEW.html www.bgs.ac.uk/gbase/advsoilatlasEW.html] (last accessed 14th February 2013).</ref>. The NSI<ref name="NSI | Soils Summary Information">NSI | Soils Summary Information http://www.bgs.ac.uk/gbase/sampleindexmaps/soilnsi.html</ref> samples were collected at a low density (1 site every 25 km2) and not from urban areas. With the high density G-BASE<ref name="Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE)">Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE) http://www.bgs.ac.uk/gbase/home.html</ref> samples available for the London region there was no need to include the low density NSI<ref name="NSI | Soils Summary Information">NSI | Soils Summary Information http://www.bgs.ac.uk/gbase/sampleindexmaps/soilnsi.html</ref> samples in this atlas. For the last G-BASE rural survey (SSEEN) carried out in 2014/2015 ([[Media:P929857.jpg |'''Figure 1''']], sample sites in blue), a lower sampling density was used. These samples were not used for this atlas, as the dataset here was compiled before the SSEEN results were available.

[[Image:P929857.jpg|thumb|center|800px| '''Figure 1''' Map showing the distribution of systematically collected topsoil samples from England (until 2015) with the area covered by this atlas shown by the red rectangle around London. NSI (XRFS) covers the whole of England at a sample density of 1:25 km2. G-BASE sampling densities for rural and urban are 1:2 km2 and 4:1 km2, respectively, except for the 2014 survey (in blue). Only G-BASE samples collected previous to 2014 are used in this atlas. ([[Media:P929857.jpg |P929857]]).]]

By 2005 the geochemical survey had reached the outskirts of northern London and sampling in urban areas of London commenced with priority given to the area proposed for the main Olympic site at Stratford. After sampling in some south Essex urban centres (Scheib and Brown, 2005<ref>Scheib, A J, and Brown, S E. 2005. A report on the G-BASE summer field campaign of 2005: Essex and urban areas of north-east London. British Geological Survey Internal Report, IR/05/142.</ref>; Scheib et al., 2006<ref>Scheib, A J, Brown, S E, and Knights, K V. 2006. A report on the G-BASE summer field campaign of 2006: Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire and urban areas of north-east London and Southend. British Geological Survey Internal Report, IR/06/122.</ref>), a project sampling soils of the Greater London Autority area (GLA), known as the London Earth<ref name="London Earth">London Earth http://www.bgs.ac.uk/gbase/londonearth.html</ref> project, commenced in 2008 and was completed in 2009 (Johnson et al., 2010<ref>Johnson, C C, Scheib, A, and Lister, T R. 2010. London Earth topsoil chemical results: user guide. British Geological Survey Open Report, OR/11/035. [http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/14402/ Download from NORA].</ref>). Soils were collected from over 6000 sites across London at a density of four sites for every British National Grid (BNG) kilometre square (Knights and Scheib, 2010<ref>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 Open Report, OR/09/056. Download from NORA.</ref> and [[London Atlas: Introduction #Table 1 |'''Table 1''']]). The GLA has an area of 1579 km2 (607 sq mi) and in 2011, was reported to contain a population of 8.2 million (ONS, 2012<ref>ONS. 2012. 2011 Census – population and household estimates for England and Wales, March 2011. Office for National Statistics. 20 July 2012. 36 pp. Available online from http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_270487.pdf.</ref>). The London Earth<ref name="London Earth">London Earth http://www.bgs.ac.uk/gbase/londonearth.html</ref> project represents the world’s largest systematic geochemical survey of an urban area.


<div align="center">
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Table 1 Details of the number of soil samples collected from each London local government district and urban centres in south Essex, 2005–2009 (after Knights and Scheib, 2010<ref>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 Open Report, OR/09/056. [http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/9421/ Download from NORA]. </ref>)
| style="width: 200pt; background-color:#dbd7d2;" |'''London local government districts'''
| style="width: 70pt; background-color:#dbd7d2;" |'''Sample sites'''
| style="background-color:#dbd7d2" |'''Date of sampling'''
| rowspan=21 style="color:#ffffff;"| 21
| style="width: 200pt; background-color:#dbd7d2;" |'''London local government districts '''
| style="width: 70pt; background-color:#dbd7d2;" |'''Sample sites'''
| style="background-color:#dbd7d2" |'''Date of sampling'''
|-
| Barking and Dagenham
| 140
| 2005, 2006 & 2008
| Lambeth
| 113
| 2009
|-
| Barnet
| 354
| 2008
| Lewisham
| 143
| 2009
|-
| Bexley
| 269
| 2009
| Merton
| 155
| 2009
|-
| Brent
| 176
| 2008
| Newham
| 164
| 2006 & 2008
|-
| Bromley
| 610
| 2009
| Redbridge
| 233
| 2008
|-
| Camden
| 92
| 2008
| Richmond upon Thames
| 247
| 2009
|-
| City of London
| 16
| 2008
| Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
| 57
| 2008
|-
| City of Westminster
| 87
| 2008
| Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
| 149
| 2009
|-
| Croydon
| 353
| 2009
| Southwark
| 126
| 2009
|-
| Ealing
| 227
| 2008
| Sutton
| 181
| 2009
|-
| Enfield
| 325
| 2008
| Tower Hamlets
| 87
| 2006 & 2008
|-
| Greenwich
| 191
| 2009
| Waltham Forest
| 153
| 2006 & 2008
|-
| Hackney
| 75
| 2006 & 2008
| Wandsworth
| 146
| 2009
|-
| Hammersmith and Fulham
| 69
| 2008
| colspan=3 |
|-
| Haringey
| 118
| 2008
| style="background-color:#dbd7d2" |'''South Essex urban centres'''
| style="background-color:#dbd7d2" |
| style="background-color:#dbd7d2" |
|-
| Harrow
| 206
| 2008
| Basildon
| 115
| 2005
|-
| Havering
| 453
| 2005, 2006 & 2008
| Brentwood
| 66
| 2005, 2006 & 2008
|-
| Hillingdon
| 423
| 2008 & 2009
| Grays and Tilbury
| 180
| 2005 & 2006
|-
| Hounslow
| 234
| 2008 & 2009
| Southend-on-Sea
| 271
| 2006
|-
| Islington
| 63
| 2008
| Stanford-le-Hope and Shell Haven
| 51
| 2006
|}
</div>

A selection of geochemical maps showing element concentrations in topsoil for the GLA area were published online in 2011 as part of the London Earth<ref name="London Earth">London Earth http://www.bgs.ac.uk/gbase/londonearth.html</ref> project and the database of soil results made publicly available (Johnson et al., 2011<ref>Johnson, C C. 2011 [http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/16218/ Understanding the quality of chemical data from the urban environment. Part 1, quality control procedures.] ''In'': Johnson, C C. et al., (eds.) Mapping the chemical environment of urban areas. Wiley, 61–76.</ref>). In addition to sampling urban areas, the G-BASE<ref name="Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE)">Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE) http://www.bgs.ac.uk/gbase/home.html</ref> project has continued to collect soils from rural areas at a density of 1 site every 2 km2 using the same sampling and analytical methods as used in the urban area. The region around the GLA has, therefore, been sampled also ([[Media:P929858.jpg |'''Figure 2''']]). As a result, in this atlas it is possible to study the London soils in the context of surrounding rural areas, so that the impact of urbanisation on the geochemical baseline can be determined. The atlas provides details of the sampling and analytical methodology along with initial data exploration to accompany a set of extrapolated grid geochemical maps for each soil element created using the parent-material polygon-mapping method described by Appleton and Adlam (2012)<ref>Appleton, J D, and Adlam, K A M. 2012. Geogenic control on soil chemistry in urban areas: a novel method for urban geochemical mapping using parent material classified data. Applied Geochemistry, Vol. 27, 161–170. 10.1016/j.apgeochem.2011.10.001</ref>. The data exploration is reported here and is seen as a resource and catalyst for further research on the surface chemical environment of London.

[[Image:P929858.jpg|thumb|center|900px| '''Figure 2''' Map showing the topsoil sample locations in the London Region. ([[Media:P929858.jpg |P929858]]).]]

==References==
<References/>

[[Category:London_Region_Atlas_of_Topsoil_Geochemistry | 02]]

London Atlas: Introduction - Revision history

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Dbk at 10:23, 1 February 2017