Data identifying landscape areas (shown as polygons) attributed with geological names and rock type descriptions. The scale of the data is 1:25 000 scale. Onshore coverage is partial and BGS has no intention to create a national coverage at this scale. Areas covered are essentially special areas of 'classic' geology and include Llandovery (central Wales), Coniston (Lake District) and Cuillan Hills (Isle of Skye). Superficial deposits are the youngest geological deposits formed during the most recent period of geological time, the Quaternary, which extends back about 2.58 million years from the present. They lie on top of older deposits or rocks referred to as bedrock. Superficial deposits were laid down by various natural processes such as action by ice, water, wind and weathering. As such, the deposits are denoted by their BGS lexicon name, which classifies them on the basis of mode of origin (lithogenesis) with names such as, 'glacial deposits', 'river terrace deposits' or 'blown sand'; or on the basis of their composition such as 'peat'. Most of these superficial deposits are unconsolidated sediments such as gravel, sand, silt and clay. The digital data includes attribution to identify each deposit type (in varying levels of detail) as described in the BGS Rock Classification Scheme (volume 4). 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 data shows superficial polygons, bedrock polygons and fault linear geological information, sourced from published Geological Survey of Northern Ireland 1:250 000 scale maps - superficial (Quaternary 1991) and bedrock (Solid 1997). Full Northern Ireland coverage is available (Bedrock extends west into RI). The data is available in vector format. BGS licensing terms and conditions apply to external use of the data.

The 1:250k Geological Maps of Northern Ireland comprise the Superficial Deposits Map (Drift, 1991) and the Bedrock Map (Solid Geology, 1997). These maps identify landscape areas based on their lithology. The scale of the maps is 1:250 000 and provides a simplified interpretation of the geology that may be used as a guide at a regional level, but should not be relied on for local geology. Superficial deposits are younger geological deposits formed during the most recent geological time; the Quaternary. These deposits rest on older rocks or deposits referred to as bedrock. The superficial deposits theme defines landscape areas with a geological name and their deposit-type or lithological composition. The Superficial map shows the deposits within the extent of the six Counties of Northern Ireland. The Bedrock map comprises the bedrock geology and contains dykes and geological faults. 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. Geological names are based on the lithostratigraphic or lithodemic hierarchy of the rocks. 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. Dykes defines small, narrow areas of a specific type of bedrock geology; that is igneous rocks which have been intruded into the landscape at a later date than the surrounding bedrock. Geological faults occur where a body of bedrock has been fractured and displaced by large scale processes affecting the earth's crust (tectonic forces). The Bedrock map shows the main bedrock geological divisions in Northern Ireland and coverage extends to the west into the Republic of Ireland. The printed map includes a stratigraphic column. Digital datasets have been derived from the maps and comprise three layers. 1. Superficial polygons, 2. Bedrock polygons and 3. Linear features. Attribute tables describe the polygon features. These data are generalised and superseded by the 1:10k Geological Maps of Northern Ireland.

The Quaternary deposits thickness dataset is a digital geological map across the bulk of the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), for areas up to a water depth of 200m, which shows the thickness of the deposits over bedrock in three categories: <5m, 5-50m, and >50m Quaternary cover. These depth bands were picked because they represent the horizons that have impact on offshore infrastructure deployment. The map is derived from (unpublished) BGS 1:1000000 scale Quaternary digital geological mapping. 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.

Data identifying landscape areas (shown as polygons) attributed with geological names. The scale of the data is 1:25 000 scale providing bedrock geology. Onshore coverage is partial and BGS has no intention to create a national coverage at this scale. Areas covered are essentially special areas of 'classic' geology and include Llandovery (central Wales), Coniston (Lake District) and Cuillan Hills (Isle of Skye). 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 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. The bedrock theme defines landscape areas (shown as polygons). The data are attributed with geological names and rock type descriptions. 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. Another batch of tiles was added to the data in 2012 to bring the total to 167 for this version 2 release.

WESTLINE was acquired by BIRPS (the British Institutions Reflection Profiling Syndicate). The seismic data image the faulted conjugate margins of the Rockall Trough and the intrabasinal sediments. The seismic data were shot to 18 s two-way time along a single 450 km-long transect.

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.

Profile soil analyses are available from a number of BGS programmes, notably the Mineral Reconnaissance Programme (MRP) and the Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE) programme. Sampling depth and range of analytes determined is very variable for the MRP. G-BASE samples are consistently from 35 - 50 cm though since 2003 it has become routine practice in the G-BASE project to collect a top soil and deeper profile sample from the same site but only analyses the top soil and store the profile soil. This also applies in urban areas. The G-BASE profile soils were generally sieved to 150 microns before analysis and determined by XRFS for some or all of: 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. MRP samples can include profile samples from greater than 1 meter collected using a power auger and also include till samples. The G-BASE samples are collected at a density of 1 sample per two square kilometres in rural areas and 4 samples every kilometre square in urban areas. MRP sampling was more site specific generally collecting soil samples along lines at spacing intervals generally 25 - 250 m.

This layer of the map based index (GeoIndex) shows the locations of over 12,500 rock samples from the land area of the United Kingdom gathered as part of the Mineral Reconnaissance Programme (MRP). The Mineral Reconnaissance Programme (MRP), funded by the DTI, carried out baseline mineral exploration in Great Britain between 1972 and 1997. The programme has been subsumed into the new BGS Minerals Programme, also funded by the DTI. The rock samples have been analysed for a variety of major and trace elements, mainly by XRF.

The map shows the localities where samples that form part of the BGS rock collections have been taken. Many of these samples are from surface exposure, and were collected by BGS geologists during the course of geological mapping programmes. Others are from onshore boreholes or from mine and quarry workings. The principal collections are the E (England and Wales), S (Scotland), N (continuation of the S collection) and the MR (miscellaneous). The collections, which are held at the BGS offices at Keyworth (Nottingham) and Edinburgh, comprise both hand specimens and thin sections, although in individual samples either may not be immediately available. Users may also note that the BGS holds major collections of borehole cores and hand specimens as well as over a million palaeontological samples. The Britrocks database provides an index to these collections. With over 120,000 records, it now holds data for some 70% of the entire collections, including the UK samples shown in this application as well as rocks from overseas locations and reference minerals. The collections are continuously being added to and sample records from archived registers are also being copied into the electronic database. Map coverage is thin in some areas where copying from original paper registers has not been completed. Further information on Britrocks samples in these and other areas can be obtained from the Chief Curator at the BGS Keyworth (Nottingham) office or from the rock curator at the BGS Murchison House (Edinburgh) office.