Geochemical data as a standard reference data set for the SIGMA project

Geochemical data are considered to be a standard reference data set identified by the SIGMA project that could be used before and after fieldwork and which should be available within a project GIS. The currently active Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE) project and the former Mineral Reconnaissance Programme are the main contributors of data to the corporate Geochemistry Database. These data and their application are described, as are the methods for accessing and retrieving the data from the Geochemistry Database. This report is not a course in geochemical data interpretation but informs geoscientists on how the geochemical data can be presented and the geological problems to which different elements and their associations can be applied. It also describes the limitations on the use of the geochemical data highlighting the issues of data quality and suitability. The appendices list summary references to fields and codes in the Geochemistry Database and summarises the progress of geochemical baseline mapping to-date by atlas sheet area.