Towards a physical and chemical characterization of the shallow subsurface of the Netherlands

There is an increasing demand for detailed information on the spatial distribution of geological units and their physical and chemical properties. However, existing studies on sediment properties are scarce. The project TOPINTEGRAAL aims to build a geological model of the upper 30 to 50 meters of the subsurface and to characterize the lithological, hydraulic, geochemical and geotechnical properties of the sediments. A drilling campaign was launched in 2006 in order to obtain additional soil samples for the analyses and measurement of physical and geochemical properties. So far 157 cored wells were drilled. The results of the analysis and measurements of the samples are interpreted and published per GeoTOP-main area. In 2009 a first interpretation of the grain size and geochemical data of main area “Noord-Nederland” in the northern part of the Netherlands has been performed. The data and their interpretations will become a unique national database which will help researchers and planners to obtain better and more accurate results.