The dataset comprises geochemical analyses of 1,269 soil samples collected in Greenland from 1974 onwards as part of systematic geochemical mapping and mineral exploration programmes. Soil samples were primarily collected in areas lacking developed stream channels where stream sediment sampling was not feasible. The samples represent surface material and have been analysed for major and trace elements using various laboratory methods including X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF), Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INA), Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP), and Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS). The dataset contains the original analytical results as received from the laboratories together with administrative information on sample location and analysed grain-size fraction. The data form part of the analytical basis for the Geochemical Atlas of West and South Greenland.

This dataset comprises regional geochemical stream sediment data from West and South Greenland and forms the basis of the Geochemical Atlas of West and South Greenland (Steenfelt, 2001). The Geochemical Atlas of West and South Greenland presents the results of a regional stream sediment geochemical mapping programme conducted between 1979 and 1998. A total of 7,122 stream sediment samples were collected from low-order streams with near-uniform spatial coverage across West and South Greenland. The <0.1 mm grain-size fraction of 500 g samples was analysed for major and trace elements using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA), delayed neutron counting (DNC) and loss on ignition (LOI). After systematic calibration and quality control to eliminate analytical bias between different methods and time periods, a harmonised and internally consistent dataset was established containing up to 43 elements per sample. The atlas provides a regional overview of the geochemical composition of the minerogenic fraction of stream sediments and constitutes a geochemical baseline dataset for geological mapping and mineral exploration in Greenland.