New soil composition data for Europe and Australia: Demonstrating comparability, identifying continental-scale processes and learning lessons for global geochemical mapping Original Research Article

New geochemical data from two continental-scale soil surveys in Europe and Australia are compared. Internal project standards were exchanged to assess comparability of analytical results. The total concentration of 26 oxides/elements (Al2O3, As, Ba, CaO, Ce, Co, Cr, Fe2O3, Ga, K2O, MgO, MnO, Na2O, Nb, Ni, P2O5, Pb, Rb, SiO2, Sr, Th, TiO2, V, Y, Zn, and Zr), Loss On Ignition (LOI) and pH are demonstrated to be comparable. Additionally, directly comparable data for 14 elements in an aqua regia extraction (Ag, As, Bi, Cd, Ce, Co, Cs, Cu, Fe, La, Li, Mn, Mo, and Pb) are provided for both continents. Median soil compositions are close, though generally Australian soils are depleted in all elements with the exception of SiO2 and Zr. This is interpreted to reflect the generally longer and, in places, more intense weathering in Australia. Calculation of the Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) gives a median value of 72% for Australia compared to 60% for Europe. Element concentrations vary over 3 (and up to 5) orders of magnitude.