Identification

Title

Measured Urban Soil Chemistry

Abstract

The BGS digital Measured Urban Soil Chemistry data comprises the locations and concentrations (mg kg-1) of Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Nickel (Ni) and Lead (Pb) in urban topsoil samples. The data is derived from the national, high resolution urban soil geochemical data from the BGS Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE) project. The information is relevant for the first stage of any assessment of risks to human health required by regulatory authorities in relation to land use and also for assessing ecological risk. Although point source PHE (Potentially Harmful Element) concentrations above respective SGVs (Soil Guideline Value) do not necessarily imply a significant health risk, they do highlight the need to consider whether or not there may be a risk. The urban soil chemistry data can be used to assist Local Planning Authorities to identify those areas where a risk assessment may need to be carried out by developers. Comparison of this spatially referenced geochemical data with information on current or historic land use and geological information might help environmental professionals decide whether high PHE concentrations in topsoils can be attributed to geogenic or anthropogenic sources. The point source data is based on an interpretation of the records in the possession of the BGS at the time the dataset was created.

Resource type

dataset

Resource locator

http://www.bgs.ac.uk/

protocol: HTTP

name: BGS Homepage

description: The BGS Homepage is an entry point to the BGS data services.

function: information

Unique resource identifier

code

http://data.bgs.ac.uk/id/dataHolding/13605690

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

authority code

OGP

code identifying the spatial reference system

urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::27700

Additional information source

Report "User Guide for the BGS Soil Chemistry Data for Environmental Assessmentst" OR/12/050

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

originating controlled vocabulary

title

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2008-06-01

Keyword set

keyword value

Lead

Chromium

Cadmium

Soil chemistry

Nickel

Arsenic

originating controlled vocabulary

title

reference date

date type

revision

effective date

2011

Keyword set

keyword value

NERC_DDC

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

-8.6500

East bounding longitude

1.7800

North bounding latitude

60.8600

South bounding latitude

49.7700

Extent

Extent group

authority code

title

reference date

date type

revision

effective date

2009

code identifying the extent

GBN

Extent group

authority code

title

reference date

date type

creation

effective date

1979

code identifying the extent

GREAT BRITAIN [id=139600]

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

1968

End position

2012

Dataset reference date

date type

creation

effective date

2012

Frequency of update

asNeeded

Quality and validity

Lineage

The data is derived from soil geochemical surveys have been carried out at 24 urban centres in England, Scotland and Wales. Most of the surveys were undertaken by the BGS as part of the Geochemical Surveys of Urban Environments (GSUE) project (Fordyce et al., 2005), whereas Greater London, Wolverhampton, Manchester and Glasgow were sampled as part of larger multi-disciplinary projects. The concentrations of many potentially harmful elements including arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), and lead (Pb) are above 'natural' background in urban environments as a result of a range of contaminative processes. Urban geochemical surveying is based on the collection of samples on a 500 m grid at a density of approximately 4 samples per km2 across the urban areas. Samples were collected from open ground as close as possible to the centre of each 500 m grid cell. At each sample site, composite samples based on 5 sub-samples taken at the centre and four corners of a 20m square, were collected from the topsoil ('A' soil sample; 5-20 cm depth) and subsurface ('S'soil sample; 35-50 cm depth). Approximately 40 chemical elements were determined in the <2mm size fraction of the 'A' soils.

Conformity

Conformity report

specification

title

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2011

degree

false

explanation

See the referenced specification

Conformity report

specification

title

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2010-12-08

degree

false

explanation

See http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:323:0011:0102:EN:PDF

Data format

name of format

Shapefiles

version of format

Not applicable

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

The dataset is made available to external clients under BGS Digital Data Licence terms and conditions. Revert to the IPR Section (DigitalLE@bgs.ac.uk) if further advice is required with regard to permitted usage.

Limitations on public access

otherRestrictions

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

organisation name

British Geological Survey

full postal address

Environmental Science Centre,Keyworth

NOTTINGHAM

NG12 5GG

United Kingdom

telephone number

+44 115 936 3100 Ex:3207

email address

enquiries@bgs.ac.uk

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Responsible party

organisation name

British Geological Survey

full postal address

Environmental Science Centre,Keyworth

NOTTINGHAM

NG12 5GG

United Kingdom

telephone number

+44 115 936 3100 Ex:3579

email address

enquiries@bgs.ac.uk

responsible party role

custodian

Responsible party

organisation name

British Geological Survey

full postal address

Environmental Science Centre,Keyworth

NOTTINGHAM

NG12 5GG

United Kingdom

telephone number

+44 115 936 3143

facsimile number

+44 115 936 3276

email address

enquiries@bgs.ac.uk

responsible party role

distributor

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact

contact position

NERC-BGS Higher Scientific Officer

organisation name

British Geological Survey

full postal address

Environmental Science Centre,Keyworth

NOTTINGHAM

NG12 5GG

United Kingdom

telephone number

+44 115 936 3100 Ex:3568

email address

kal@bgs.ac.uk

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata date

2018-08-24

Metadata language