Geochemical Baseline Atlas of India’ released

News:CSIR- National Geophysical Research Institute has released the Geochemical Baseline Atlas of India for environment management purpose.

Facts:

About the Atlas:

• The atlas aims to document the concentration and distribution of the chemical elements in the soils of India.
• The work of atlas was started in 2007.It consists of 45 maps of metals, oxides and elements present in top and bottom soils across India.
• The atlas traces elements from top soil i.e top 25 cm depth and bottom soil at 100 cm depth from the year 2006 to 2011.Across India,over 545 samples were collected.

Significance of Atlas:

• Soil is a vulnerable geological medium which sustains the human activities.Hence,it is important to determine the present abundance and spatial distribution of the chemical elements across the earth’s surface.
• The atlas will serve as a reference against which future generations of the country who would be able to assess the chemical compositional changes on Earth’s surface.
• These maps will also help in finding out future contamination caused by industries or other bodies which cause pollution.
• This map will also form the backbone for environment management.It will help in finding out future contaminations due to industries across the country.
• Further,the map will also support in choosing the right soil that’s rich in certain micronutrient elements required for each plant growth.

Additional information:

About CSIR-NGRI:

• The National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) is a geoscientific research organization established in 1961 under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
• It is supported by more than 200 scientists and other technical staff whose research activities are published in several journals of national and international interest.