DiGRock250k is a digital geological map showing the distribution of bedrock types in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) area, representing the natural continuation of the onshore bedrock geology into the offshore. The bedrock divisions on the map represent the principal lithostratigraphical units (e.g. formations and groups) in the UK, ranging in age from Proterozoic to Cainozoic in age, as defined in the BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units. This dataset can be used in conjunction with other BGS offshore datasets that include: DiGSBS250k (Sea-Bed Sediments), DiGBath250k (Bathymetry) and the DiGHardSubstrate250k datasets. The bedrock geology below the sea-bed is of importance to a range of groups, including marine habitat mappers, marine spatial planners, the offshore construction and development sector, and the dredging and aggregate industries.

Water samples have predominantly been collected by the G-BASE (Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment) project at an average sampling density of one sample per 1.5 km square. Samples have been collected from approximately 85% of Great Britain but it is only from Wales and Humber-Trent southwards that a wide range of analytes have been determined. Currently G-BASE stream water samples collected from high order streams are determined by ICP-AES for 27 elements - Sr, Cd, Ba, Si, Mn, Fe, P, S (as SO42-), B, Mg, V, Na, Mo, Al, Be, Ca, Zn, Cu, Pb, Li, Zr, Co, Ni, Y, La, K and Cr; and by quadrupole ICP-MS for 24 trace elements - Li, Be, Al, V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, As, Rb, Y, Zr, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb, Ba, La, Ce, Tl, Pb, Th and U. Automated colorimetric methods are used to determine Cl and NO3- and ion selective electrode is used to determine F. Waters are also analysed for non-purgeable organic carbon (NPOC) to determine dissolved organic carbon content. All samples have routinely been analysed for pH, conductivity and bicarbonate. Much of the UK coverage also includes uranium and fluoride analyses.

The data consist of the results of geotechnical testing carried out at various depth intervals on shallow cores or boreholes collected BGS from the UK Continental Shelf. The bulk of the data north of 56N are in digital form and result from testing carried out on board survey vessels using hand-held test equipment (penetrometers and shear vanes). These values are averaged for each test interval, and are expressed in kiloPascals. There are approximately 6000 test results in the data set. Some more detailed test information, in non-digital and report form is held for selected sites. Also for most sites where digital data is not available, geological descriptions of core material will also contains semi-quantitative information on the stiffness of the material. Geotechnical knowledge is required to understand and interpret the results if they are to be used as a basis for engineering studies. Core material are managed as part of the BGS Materials collection and are available for examination, testing or subsampling. The data are stored as part of the National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC) and the Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN) Data Archive Centre (DAC) for Geology and Geophysics. Data are delivered via BGS Offshore GeoIndex www.bgs.ac.uk/GeoIndex/offshore.htm geotechnical layers. Reference: Fannin, NGT. (1989) Offshore Investigations 1966-87. British Geological Survey Technical Report WB/89/2, British Geological Survey.

This layer shows data collected mainly by the Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE) programme. Geochemical data are available for soil samples for the Humber-Trent and East Anglia atlas areas (see the Geochemical atlas areas layer). Samples for East Midlands and part of Southeast England have been collected and are currently either undergoing analysis or data conditioning. More than twenty urban areas have also been sampled and top soil analyses are available for these urban areas (Belfast, Cardiff, Corby, Coventry, Derby, Doncaster, Glasgow, Hull, Ipswich, Leicester, Lincoln, Manchester, Mansfield, Northampton, Nottingham, Peterborough, Scunthorpe, Sheffield, Swansea, Stoke, Telford, Wolverhampton and York). Regional samples are collected at an average density of one site per 2 square kilometres, urban sampling is at a density of 4 samples per square kilometre. Top soil samples are collected at a depth of 5 - 20cm. It is sieved through a 2mm mesh and milled to less than 150 microns. The data include analyses for some or all of the following elements by XRFS: Mg, P, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, V, Cr, Co, Ba, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Pb, Bi, Th, U, Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb, Cs, La, Ce, Ge, Sc, Se, Br, Hf, Ta, W, Tl, Te and I. Loss on Ignition (LOI) and pH (in a slurry of 0.01 M CaCl2 ) is now routinely determined on 50% of regional and all urban samples.

BIRPS (the British Institutions Reflection Profiling Syndicate) acquired almost 650 km of offshore seismic data and 300 km of onshore seismic data over the Chicxulub impact crater. The data were recorded to 18 s two-way time.

This layer of the map based index (GeoIndex) shows sites where regularly monitored rest water level data are available, usually covering a long time period. The data shows seasonal fluctuations in the water table and responses to periods of high or low rainfall.

Data identifies landscape areas (shown as polygons) attributed with type of artificial or man-made ground. It indicates areas where the ground surface has been significantly modified by human activity. The scale of the data is 1:10 000 scale. Onshore coverage is partial with approximately 30% of England, Scotland and Wales available in the version 2 data release. BGS intend to continue developing coverage at this scale; current focus is to include all large priority urban areas, along with road and rail transport corridors. Types of artificial ground include: Infilled ground areas where original geology has been removed and then wholly or partially back filled includes waste or landfill sites. Landscaped ground areas where surface has been reshaped includes former sand and gravel workings for recreation and amenity use. Made ground man made features including embankments and spoil heaps. Reclaimed ground are areas of land fill, where new ground is created, usually in coastal margins, may be for example a consequence of draining of submerged wetlands and beach rebuilding. Worked ground areas where ground has been removed including quarries and road cuttings. Disturbed ground areas of ill-defined shallow or near surface mineral workings where distinction cannot be made between made and worked ground. Whilst artificial ground may not be considered as part of the 'real geology' of bedrock and superficial deposits it does affect them. Artificial ground impacts on the near surface ground conditions which are important to human activities and economic development. Due to the constantly changing nature of land use and re-use/redevelopment caution must be exercised when using this data as it represents a snapshot in time rather than an evolving picture hence the data may become dated very rapidly. The data are available in vector format (containing the geometry of each feature linked to a database record describing their attributes) as ESRI shapefiles and are available under BGS data licence.

The Quaternary deposits summary lithologies dataset is a digital geological map across the bulk of the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), for areas up to a water depth of 200 m, which groups the deposits into classes based on similar engineering geology characteristics. The map is derived from (unpublished) BGS 1:1,000,000 scale Quaternary digital geological mapping, so is effective at that scale. The map was produced in 2014 in collaboration with, and co-funded by, The Crown Estate as part of a wider commissioned project to assess seabed geological constraints on engineering infrastructure across the UKCS. The data are held by the BGS as an ESRI ArcGIS Shapefile The divisions on the map combine the Quaternary deposits into 7 categories of similar strength and lithological variability, each with a ‘Category’ title that summarises their main lithological character: diamict; firm to hard interbedded (layered); firm to hard mud; sand and gravel; soft interbedded; soft mud; undifferentiated. These categories can be used as a basis for assessing, in conjunction with a range of other geological factors, the geological constraints on engineering structures at or close to the seabed.

This dataset comprises data from Wessex Archaeology surveys which were conducted over various wreck sites between 2003 and 2010. Three of these datasets were acquired in English waters, one in Welsh waters and one in Scottish waters. The geology and geophysics component of the data are archived by British Geological Survey (BGS) in the Marine Environmental data and Information Network (MEDIN) Data Archive Centre (DAC) for Geology and Geophysics. The data include multibeam echosounder, single-beam echosounder, sidescan sonar, sub-bottom profiler, magnetometer, and geological data (vibrocore logs and photos). Data were also provided to other archive centres as appropriate - UKHO (bathymetry), Royal Commission Ancient and Historic Monuments Wales (geophysics), Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (geophysics and diving/ROV), Archaeology Data Service (diving/ROV). Although generated for archaeological purposes, these high quality and resolution data are capable of re-use by marine surveyors and scientists from a range of different fields. Data are delivered via the BGS Offshore GeoIndex www.bgs.ac.uk/GeoIndex/offshore.htm and additional data are available on request enquiries@bgs.ac.uk.

Data identifying landscape areas (shown as polygons) attributed with geological names and rock type descriptions. The scale of the data is 1:10 000 scale providing bedrock geology. Onshore coverage is partial with approximately 30% of England, Scotland and Wales available in this version 2 data release. BGS intend to continue developing coverage at this scale; current focus is to include all large priority urban areas, along with road and rail transport corridors. Bedrock geology describes the main mass of solid rocks forming the earth's crust. Bedrock is present everywhere, whether exposed at surface in outcrops or concealed beneath superficial deposits or water bodies. The bedrock geology of Great Britain is very diverse and includes three broad classes based on their mode of origin: igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary. The data includes attribution to identify each rock type (in varying levels of detail) as described in the BGS Rock Classification Scheme (volumes 1-3). The bedrock has formed over long periods of geological time, from the Archean eon some 7500 million years ago, to the relatively young Pliocene, 58 million years ago. The age of the rocks is identified in the data through their BGS lexicon name (published for each deposit at the time of the original survey or subsequent digital data creation). For stratified rocks i.e. arranged in sequence, this will usually be of a lithostratigraphic type. Other rock types for example intrusive igneous bodies will be of a lithodemic type. More information on the formal naming of UK rocks is available in the BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units. Geological names are based on the lithostratigraphic or lithodemic hierarchy. The lithostratigraphic scheme arranges rock bodies into units based on rock-type and geological time of formation. Where rock-types do not fit into the lithostratigraphic scheme, for example intrusive, deformed rocks subjected to heat and pressure resulting in new or changed rock types; then their classification is based on their rock-type or lithological composition. This assesses visible features such as texture, structure, mineralogy. The data are available in vector format (containing the geometry of each feature linked to a database record describing their attributes) as ESRI shapefiles and are available under BGS data licence.