Chemical composition of soil and lake sediments - an indicator of geological processes in Lithuania

Long-term multipurpose geochemical studies in Lithuania show that the chemical composition of surface sediment can be used as an indicator of geological process: duration of weathering, soil formation and thickness of sediment. The chemical composition of upper and lower soil layers and of lake sediments gives information on past sedimentation: the type and age of Quaternary deposits and the location and depth of Pleistocene glaciolacustrine basins. We therefore have a baseline to predict changes in surface chemistry provoked by current anthropogenic pressures.