Geochemical baseline surveys of Glasgow and the Clyde Basin : overview and soils

The distribution of potentially harmful substances in the environment is of growing concern under current environmental protection legislation. Recently the British Geological Survey (BGS) has carried out extensive surveys of rural and urban soil and stream quality in the Clyde Basin to aid land and water management/protection. The results reveal metal concentrations in urban soils are typically up to 2.5 times (median values) that of rural soils as a result of pollution. These newly available datasets demonstrate the impacts of urbanisation and the post-industrial legacy of the Glasgow conurbation as well as of historical mining activities on environmental quality.