Scanned copies of Scottish 1 inch scale maps which are annotated with fossil locations and geology. Printed topography with hand annotated fossil locations and geology with cross sections and colour-wash with index and observations. Considered working material towards published geological maps.

This report describes fieldwork operations of the North Sea Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA2) Survey, Leg 3 (crests survey) conducted for he Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) from R/V Vigilance between 14 and 22 June 2001. The survey objectives were to carry out quantitative seabed sampling and seabed photography in SEA2 Survey Area 1 (sand bank / wave study areas, off the Norfolk coast). The report contains a brief description of seabed appearance and epifauna. 82 samples were collected.

A set of 78 maps covering 13 National Grid 1:10,560 map areas in the area of the Lothian oil-shale field. Each map shows the extent of a single oil shale seam. They were published between 1977 and 1982 by the Institute of Geological Sciences in Edinburgh.

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA2) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). SEA2 focuses on the mature areas of the North Sea UK continental shelf which is divided into 3 areas - Northern, Central and Southern North Sea. This paper provides an overview of cephalopods - squid, octopus, cuttlefish in the SEA2 area. Cephalopods are short-lived, carnivorous animals that have rapid growth rates and play an important part in oceanic and coastal food webs. They are preyed on by cetaceans, fish and seabirds, and are predators themselves, feeding on fish, crustaceans, molluscs and cephalopods. Knowledge of cephalopod distribution in Scottish waters is mainly based on information from commercial whitefish vessels that catch squid as a by-catch. The loliginid squid Loligo forbesi is the predominant species. English cephalopod landings are dominated by cuttlefish caught in the English Channel outside the area of interest. The benthic octopod Eledone cirrhosa, though a highly valued species in southern Europe, is usually discarded by fishermen in Scottish waters. Fishery management statistics indicate that the areas of highest abundance of Loligo forbesi and of Eledone cirrhosa lie outside the SEA2 area. Cephalopods naturally accumulate high levels of trace metals. The potential of drilling operations to introduce trace metals into the sea is discussed. It is concluded that the overall impact on cephalopods and cephalopod fisheries in the SEA2 area by further oilfield development would be slight.

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA7) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). The coastal and marine areas within the SEA 7 boundary are very extensive, longer and more varied than any other SEA area. Stretching westwards into the Atlantic Ocean, the region includes a very large area of relatively shallow continental shelf. There are also a few uninhabited islands to the west of the Outer Hebrides, including St. Kilda with its multiple conservation designations. The Outer Hebrides form one of the oldest geological provinces in Europe and is mainly based on Lewisian Gneiss. A major geological fault runs parallel to the east coast (The Minch coast), whereas the western side is normally a continuation of the continental shelf. These features are prominent in the southern islands, notably the Uists. Harris and Lewis present different topographies which include the high massif with Clisham at its centre and the low peat-covered plateaux of most of Lewis to the north. The east Minch coastline is generally steeper and falls to deeper inshore waters. It is also characterised by several transverse sea lochs which resemble similar fjords on the west mainland coast. Although the legacy of glacial processes are complex, the main effect has been to over-deepen sea lochs and inter-island straits (e.g. Sound of Harris) and deposit great masses of glacial debris, especially sands, on the shallow continental shelf to the west where, with the prevalence of strong onshore Atlantic waves and winds, vast beaches were formed in this post glacial period. Large quantities of organic sand (crushed shells) were added to this volume; as a consequence some of the larger beach and sand dune systems in Britain are found along the west coast. These extensive blown sand systems are called machairs, and provide a unique series of environmental and ecological systems with very high conservational status at European and international levels. The west coast of the Outer Hebrides contains many sites of archaeological interest and retains a distinctive cultural landscape as one of the last strongholds of a historical system of land tenure and working found nowhere else in Europe. This way of life is considered to be one of the prime reasons for the creation and maintenance of many of the significant conservational attributes of the Outer Hebrides.

As part of Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA1, sediment samples were collected from the area designated as the White Zone at the request of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as part of its sea-going research activities during summer 2000. The objective of the cruise was to provide a description of the current state of the seabed in the survey area, while providing baseline environmental data and identifying larger-scale environmental patterns and processes. The survey programme was conducted from Charles Darwin between July and September 2000, with samples for a number of chemical and biological analyses being collected. An Excel file containing detail of species abundance is available.

This report is a contribution to Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA2 conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) and it reviews the distribution and character of pockmarks - shallow seabed depressions - which are common in the area of the North Sea to the north-east of Scotland known as the Fladen Ground. Pockmarks are believed to be produced by the escape of fluids (gas or water, but generally gas in the North Sea) from the seafloor and are found in areas where the seabed sediments are soft, silty clays. Processes of pockmark formation, their geometry, age and distribution, and the sources of gas in the underlying geological strata are discussed. While the great majority of pockmarks are inactive at the present time, a few are observed to be actively seeping gas. In order to provide a stronger basis upon which the significance of pockmarks within mature oil and gas provinces of the North Sea might be assessed, the Department of Trade and Industry commissioned the acquisition of new data directed towards increasing the scientific understanding of sandbanks and pockmarks as part of the SEA2 process. The survey vessel Kommandor Jack was chartered in April 2001 and, among other operations, conducted high-resolution geophysical surveys of pockmarks in the Fladen Ground. Preliminary results from that operation are included in this report.

Sediment samples were collected during the Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA1 (White Zone) Environmental Survey in 2000 at the request of the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). This data report collates all the results generated by Gardline Survey Limited. The analysis undertaken on the sediment samples were: total organic carbon and total organic nitrogen; total hydrocarbon and n-alkane content and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) content.

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA4) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). The report describes the field of mud diapirs in the northern part of the SEA4 area, known as the Pilot Whale Diapirs, which were mapped during a multibeam survey carried out in 2002. A diapir is a fold or dome caused by more plastic rocks at depth, such as salt or mud, intruding overlying denser rocks, generally driven by their own buoyancy. Sometimes a diapir breaks through to the seafloor. The diapir field extends over an area some 60 km across, creating a very variable seabed terrain. The largest diapirs have produced elevations at the seafloor of more than 120m. The largest diapirs in the group are thought to have intruded to the seafloor from 500m or more beneath it. The evidence suggests that the diapirism was initiated between 5 and 1 million years ago, but it does not appear to be continuing at the present time.

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA5) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). This report describes the results of particle size and organic content analysis on samples obtained during the 'Biology' Leg of the SEA5 programme (RV Jean Charcot, September 17th - October 8th 2003; Outer Moray Firth and Northern North Sea). 216 samples sediment samples where analysed for particle size distribution and organic content. Standard geological methods were used to derive the following: percent total carbon, percent nitrogen, percent carbonate, percent organic material, particle size distribution and mud:sand:gravel ratio. Data are summarised within an Excel spreadsheet.