G-BASE: Geochemical Baseline Survey of Stream Sediments and Soils in South West England

The G-BASE programme provides systematic geochemical data for the surface environment of the UK. This dataset for south west England includes concentrations of over 50 elements, such as Ag, Al, As, and Zn, in stream sediment and shallow soil samples. It was produced by the British Geological Survey with high analytical precision and strict quality control to establish a national baseline.

Use Cases

• Identifying areas of potential mineralisation based on anomalous element concentrations.
• Establishing environmental baselines to assess industrial contamination.
• Modeling the natural surface chemistry of a region for geological mapping.

Strengths

• Analytical precision is described as high with strict quality control for countrywide consistency.
• Data includes concentrations for over 50 chemical elements, providing a multi-element profile.
• Sampling density for stream sediments is approximately one site per 2km square.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Soil sample density is variable, ranging from 1 per 2km square to one per 5km square.

Provenance

Source

British Geological Survey (BGS)

Collection Method

Systematic sampling and chemical determination of stream sediment, stream water, and soil samples.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-28 13:00:44.569515; freshness should be verified.

Geography

South west England, United Kingdom