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  • Published paper from grant NE/I010734/1, Modeling the melting of multicomponent systems: the case of MgSiO3 perovskite under lower mantle conditions by Cono Di Paola and John P. Brodholt doi: 10.1038%2Fsrep29830 Two published papers from NERC grant NE/I010947/; Thomson et al AmMin 2014 Experimental Determination of Melting in the systems Enstatite-Magnesite and Magnesite-Calcite from 15 to 80 GPa http://dx.doi.org/10.2138/am.2014.4735 Lord et al EPSL 2014 The Melting Curve of Ni to 1 Mbar http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2014.09.046 Grant Abstract: Melting in the Earth has a huge effect on its chemical and physical state. For instance, the chemistry of the crust, the mantle and the atmosphere are largely controlled by melting and crystalisation at mid-ocean ridges, hotspots or island arcs. There has, therefore, been an enormous effort in the last decades to understand these shallow melting processes. Yet much deeper melts may have been equally influential in the evolution of the Earth. For instance, it is generally accepted that a deep magma ocean perhaps extending to the Earth's centre, existed early its history. This was the result of multiple impacts as the Earth accreted. From this magma ocean, iron melts separated from silicate melts to form the core, volatiles degassed to form an early atmosphere, and a proto-crust may have formed. It is also accepted that the Earth was hit by a Mars-sized body to create the moon; this too would have caused enormous amounts of melting in the deep Earth. Moreover, there is some evidence for melting in the deep Earth now. It is possible, therefore, that melts in the deepest Earth have existed throughout Earth's history. However, many basic data on the physical and chemical properties of deep melting do not exist. For instance, we don't know the melting curves for mantle minerals and rocks at the pressure and temperatures of the deep Earth. We don't know which minerals crystalise from these melts first (the liquidus phases). We don't know the composition of partial melts of deep mantle rocks or rocks which have been subducted. We don't know the relative densities of the rocks and their melts, and so we do not even know whether minerals float of sink in these deep melts. This lack of data has led to much speculation on the effect of deep melts on the Earth's evolution. For instance, it has been suggested that geophysical and geochemical anomalies in the Earth's mantle have deep early melts as their origin. But these models depend of the chemical and physical properties of the melts and crystalline solids, properties that are simply not known. This project will use novel experiments in conjunction with ab initio modelling obtain these data. The data will provide the chemical and physical foundation on which all future models of the Earths early crystallization and subsequent evolution will be based.

  • The BGS Estimated Ambient Background Soil Chemistry Scotland digital soil chemistry data indicates the estimated geometric mean topsoil concentrations (mg kg-1) of Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Nickel (Ni) and Lead (Pb). The soil chemistry data is based on GBASE (Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment) stream sediment data converted to top soil equivalent potentially harmful element(PHE) concentrations. This dataset covers Scotland but data is available for the whole of Great Britain, with the exception of the London area where an inadequate number of geochemical samples are available at the moment.

  • 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.

  • The Estimated Ambient Background Soil Chemistry England and Wales dataset indicates the estimated geometric mean topsoil Arsenic(As), Cadmium (Cd), Cr (Chromium), Nickel (Ni) and Lead (Pb) concentrations (mg kg-1). The soil chemistry data is based on GBASE (Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment) soil geochemical data where these are available. Elsewhere the stream sediment data are converted to surface soil equivalent potentially harmful element (PHE) concentrations. This dataset covers England and Wales but data is available for the whole of Great Britain, with the exception of the London area where an inadequate number of geochemical samples are available at the moment.

  • This dataset has now been superseded, please see the Estimated Urban Soil Chemistry dataset. There are two themes to BGS urban soil chemistry, the point source dataset and the estimated dataset. The point source 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 Estimated Urban Soil Chemistry data indicates the estimated geometric mean concentrations (mg kg-1) of As, Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb in topsoil derived by spatial interpolation of the Point Source Urban Soil Chemistry data. Both urban soil chemistry datasets are derived from high resolution urban soil geochemical data from the BGS Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE) project. 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 dataset is based on, and limited to, an interpretation of the records in the possession of the BGS at the time the dataset was created.

  • This dataset has now been superseded, please see the Estimated Ambient Background Soil Chemistry England and Wales dataset. This dataset indicates the estimated topsoil Arsenic(As), Cadmium (Cd), Cr (Chromium), Nickel (Ni) and Lead (Pb) concentrations (mg kg-1) derived by spatial interpolation of the point source urban soil PHE (potentially harmful elements) data. Urban soil geochemical data generally have large positive skewness coefficients so were transformed by taking natural logarithms. To overcome the bias associated with traditional measures of location (mean) and scale (standard deviation) for log-normal data, the inverse distance weighted (IDW) mean and standard deviation of log transformed element concentrations were used for mapping the spatial variation in As, Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb concentrations. The soil chemistry data is based on GBASE (Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment) soil geochemical data where these are available. Elsewhere the stream sediment data are converted to surface soil equivalent potentially harmful element(PHE) concentrations. This dataset covers England and Wales but data is available for the whole of Great Britain, with the exception of the London area where an inadequate number of geochemical samples are available at the moment.

  • NERC Grant NE/M011488/1 Electron microprobe analyses of Mn-oxyhydroxide phases as elemental percentages per point analysis. Mn-oxyhydroxide phases were within limonites from Acoje (Philippines), Caldag (Turkey), Nkamouna (Cameroon), Piaui (Brazil) and Shevchenko (Kazakhstan) laterite deposits. The data were acquired during the NERC SoS Minerals CoG3 project between 2015 and 2018 using a Cameca SX100 electron microprobe at the Natural History Museum, London, UK. Point analyses were performed on samples set within epoxy resin blocks, polished and coated with carbon. All elements were analysed using wavelength dispersive X-ray spectrometers. These data were used to identify the Co and Ni bearing host minerals within each natural resource and to assess the amount and variability of these elements within specific Mn-oxyhydroxide phases. This may be useful within the mining sector, resource assessment, processing or prospecting, geo- or material scientists and processing engineers / metallurgists. The data were acquired in the Core Research Laboratories, Natural History Museum by the NHM CoG3 team. NERC grant: CoG3: The geology, geometallurgy and geomicrobiology of cobalt resources leading to new product streams

  • The Estimated Urban Soil Chemistry data are derived by spatial interpolation of the Measured Urban Soil Chemistry data. A unique feature of this dataset is the inclusion for the first time of estimated bioaccessible arsenic and lead data. The Estimated Urban Soil Chemistry data indicates the estimated geometric mean concentrations (mg kg-1) of Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium, Nickel and Lead in topsoil derived by spatial interpolation of the Measured Urban Soil Chemistry data. Estimated bioaccessible As and Pb concentrations are derived using linear regression models of the relationship between total and bioaccessible concentrations. The Estimated 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 potentially harmful element (PHE) concentrations in topsoils can be attributed to geogenic or anthropogenic sources. The dataset is based on, and limited to, an interpretation of the records in the possession of the BGS at the time the dataset was created. This dataset consists of two shape files Estimated Urban Soil Chemistry (As, Cr, Ni) and Estimated Urban Soil Chemistry (Cd, Pb).

  • This dataset has now been superseded, please see the Estimated Ambient Background Soil Chemistry Scotland dataset. The BGS digital soil chemistry data indicates the estimated geometric mean concentrations (mg kg-1) of Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Nickel (Ni) and Lead (Pb) in surface soil. The soil chemistry data is based on GBASE (Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment) soil geochemical data where these are available. Elsewhere the stream sediment data are converted to surface soil equivalent potentially harmful element(PHE) concentrations. This dataset covers Scotland but data is available for the whole of Great Britain, with the exception of the London area where an inadequate number of geochemical samples are available at the moment.

  • The BGS digital estimated urban soil chemistry data (GB_EstimatedUrbanSoilChemistry_v3) indicates the estimated geometric mean concentrations (mg kg-1) of Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Nickel (Ni) and Lead (Pb) in topsoil derived by spatial interpolation of the point source urban soil chemistry data. 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 assessing ecological risks. Estimated topsoil PHE (Potentially Harmful Element) concentrations above respective SGVs (Soil Guideline Value) do not necessarily imply a significant health risk but they do highlight the need to consider whether or not there may be a risk. Comparison of this spatially referenced geochemical data set 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 dataset is based on, and limited to, an interpretation of the records in the possession of the BGS at the time the dataset was created. An indication of high estimated PHE concentrations in soil does not necessarily mean that an individual site will have a high PHE concentration. Topsoil concentrations in urban areas are frequently characterised by strong spatial variation over short distances so this data should be interpreted and used with caution. The original urban topsoil samples were collected and analysed as part of the BGS Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE) project.