: Relationship between mineralogy and the physico-chemical properties of till in central Finland. Bull. Geo!. Soc. Finland 64, Part 1,.The chemical and physical characteristics of the fine fraction of till were examined in the area of the Raahe-Ladoga metallogenic belt in central Finland. Till, weathered bedrock and rock samples were collected from the area, where element concentrations of till abruptly ranged from high in an anomalous zone (NE) to low in a non-anomalous zone (SW). The grain size distribution, specific surface area and unit weight, and the leachability of elements measured with several chemical methods were determined from the fine fraction (<0.06 mm) of till. The mineralogical composition of the fine fraction of till and weathered bedrock was established with the X-ray diffraction method (XRD), and the chemical composition of rock samples with the X-ray fluorescence method (XRF).The main factor affecting the increased element concentrations in the anomalous zone is the variation in mica and clay mineral types. The abundance of trioctahedral micas (biotite) and vermiculitic clays carrying most of the trace metals dissolved in aqua regia, has affected to the geochemical pattern of till in the study area. The concentrations of trace metals in the iron precipitates extracted with acid oxalate were too low to be used as evidence of the hydromorphic origin of the anomalous zone. The abundance of main silicates (quartz, feldspars) does not vary much in the fine fraction of till throughout the study area.The absence of the swelling smectite component from the surface layers of till indicates that the source was not the underlying weathered bedrock. The till with a vermiculitic mixed-layer mineral in the anomalous zone contains more material from old sediments weathered during interstadial or interglacial time than does the till with a low clay content in the non-anomalous zone. The abrupt change in the mineralogical and physical properties of till in the study area is suggested to be attributed to the difference in the transport and accumulation dynamics of overburden during deglaciation.

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The geochemical baselines of nickel and chromium were studied from the data produced by the Barents Ecogeochemistry project, a large international regional geochemical mapping exercise. The project surveyed major and trace element distributions in stream water, organic and mineralogically‐modified soil horizons, and terrestrial moss in the northwestern part of Russia and in Finland. Other materials were collected during the pilot phase and later from thirty special sites. The results on respective materials by XRF, ICP‐MS and ICP‐AES showed that both geological and anthropogenic factors have an influence on the geochemical baseline concentrations of Ni and Cr in organic soil and stream water. The main explanation of the observed distribution patterns in terrestrial moss is human activity, but geological factors can also affect the baselines. The variation of geochemical baselines in the mineral‐rich soil horizon depends only on variations in bedrock. The mineralogy of samples mainly controls the leachability properties of soil samples.

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