Chemical elements are the Earth’s building blocks. The Earth (and everything on it) comprises different combinations and abundances of specific elements. However, they are not fixed in place. Natural cycles and human-induced processes cause elements to move and become incorporated into different materials. Desert winds winnow away all but silica sand, weathering of volcanic lavas rich in potassium and phosphorus yield rich farming soils, and industrial effluent or fertilizers filtering into the subsurface can degrade groundwater quality. Geochemistry is the study of the distribution and concentration of Earth’s elements.
In EGS, these topics are dealt with by the GeoChemistry Expert Group, which harmonises the collection of this data, providing a pan-European picture of near-surface earth materials such as soil.
GeoChemistry-related data and maps on EGDI:
