What chemical elements are found in the topsoils of Switzerland? (FOEN)
What distribution and contents of potentially toxic and/or essential elements of mainly geogenic origin can be expected in Swiss topsoil?
Interpolated element concentrations (mg/kg fine soil) in the topsoil (0-20 cm) of Switzerland. For the Ordinary Kriging interpolations (1 km x 1 km), measurement data from a total of 1,201 sites of the Swiss Biodiversity Monitoring, the National Soil Monitoring and the European Geochemical Soil Atlas were taken into account. The element concentrations were analyzed in aqua regia digests (HNO₃:HCl:H₂O) of dried (40°C), sieved (< 2 mm) and subsequently ground soil samples using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Sites with known anthropogenic overprinting of element concentrations (point sources) were excluded in advance.
The results of the geochemical soil atlas are a snapshot of the element concentrations in the topsoils of Switzerland (sampling period 2011-2015). The interpolated maps serve to improve the visualization of regions with elevated or low concentrations. However, no plot-specific information or definitive conclusions on the geology, bioavailability, percentage distribution of geogenic and anthropogenic sources or soil contamination can be derived from them.
Citation: J. E. Reusser, M. B. Siegenthaler, L. H. E. Winkel, D. Wächter, R. Kretzschmar, R. G. Meuli: Geochemischer Bodenatlas der Schweiz. Agroscope, Zürich, 2023.
Link to the map: map.geo.admin.ch