The BGS database of geological maps is an index into BGS holdings of modern and historical published geological maps, geological standards and field slips, and also contains a range of other map series, including geophysical maps, geochemical maps, hydrogeological maps, thematic maps and other small-scale miscellaneous non-series maps. Historical vertical and horizontal sections, as well as indices to colours, are also included. The database comprises map metadata, including the title, theme, survey and revision years, publication years, mapped geological theme, base material, map function, colouration, approval status and the spatial extent of each map sheet. An accompanying file store contains high-resolution JPEG2000 scans for delivery, as well as various digital master and delivery formats. For a small number of maps, no scan exists. In total, the database contains over 240,000 scans of over 130,000 maps and field slips. The majority of the maps in the database cover Great Britain, but other regions are also represented, including a historical series of 1-inch maps of Ireland, 6-inch maps of the Isle of Man, 1:25 000 scale maps of the Channel Islands, and various overseas maps. The database contains a record of all geological maps produced by the British Geological Survey and its predecessors since the commencement of systematic geological mapping in the 1830s. The BGS Maps Database is mostly an archive of previous BGS maps, and is not the same as the latest BGS digital mapping. The maps within the database may differ significantly from BGS digital vector mapping. Further information about BGS digital vector mapping is available on the BGS website, under 'BGS Datasets'. The database has evolved over time, originally being a series of discrete databases. These databases have now been aggregated into a single dataset. BGS published maps, as well as 1:10 560 and 1:10 000 large-scale geological maps of England and Wales, and Scotland, are available through the BGS Maps Portal. Field slips and some thematic maps are not included on the BGS Maps Portal. The information about a map is normally a transcription from the map itself. Sometimes key information such as the title may not be actually printed on the map. Where this is the case the information is supplied in square brackets, e.g. [Kirk Maiden]. Information in square brackets means the information is supplied by the cataloguer and is not transcribed from the item.

For much of the Geological Survey's existence, the County Series of maps were the standard large-scale maps on which geological mapping was undertaken. These maps are based on the Ordnance Survey County (or six-inch to the mile) series of maps. These maps were cut up to be used in the field to record geological observations, and on return to the office, the geology was transferred to a complete County Series map, which after approval was known as a 'standard' (England / Wales) or 'clean copy' (Scotland). This dataset contains the 'standard' or 'clean copy' County Series maps held by BGS. Geological maps represent a geologist's compiled interpretation of the geology of an area. A geologist will consider the data available at the time, including measurements and observations collected during field campaigns, as well as their knowledge of geological processes and the geological context to create a model of the geology of an area. This model is then fitted to a topographic basemap and drawn up at the appropriate scale, with generalization if necessary, to create a geological map, which is a representation of the geological model. Explanatory notes and vertical and horizontal cross sections may be published with the map. Geological maps may be created to show various aspects of the geology, or themes. The most common map themes held by BGS are solid (later referred to as bedrock) and drift (later referred to as superficial). These maps are hard-copy paper records stored in the National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC) and are delivered as digital scans through the BGS website.

This layer of the map based index (GeoIndex) shows the location of available Mineral Assessment Reports, the information for the index has been taken from the BGS UK Sand and Gravel Database. Each report studied the sand and gravel resources of an area of between one hundred and two hundred square kilometres. This layer shows individual polygons of the geographical areas covered by each report. Selecting the individual polygons via the map based index (GeoIndex) application gives details of the corresponding report title, number, author(s), subtitle and the date report was first published. The Department of the Environment commissioned this Report series from the British Geological Survey.

The BGS collection of 1:10 560 / 1:10 000 National Grid Series geological maps. These maps are based on the Ordnance Survey National Grid series of maps, which are defined by the 10 km intervals of the larger 100 km square identified by a specific two-letter code. Each map is thus denoted by a unique reference, e.g. SP 29 NW. SP=100 km square; 29=10 km square; NW=5 km square. Since field mapping is generally undertaken at the scale of 1:10 000 (or equivalent), these maps are the largest-scale main series of geological maps that BGS holds. A small number of remote areas were mapped at 1:25 000 scale, the subsequent maps are also at 1:25 000 scale and are included in this series. The equivalent to the National Grid Series prior to the 1960s is the County Series (at 1:10 560 scale). In the 1960s, this series started to be replaced by 6 inches to 1 mile (1:10 560 scale) National Grid sheets based on the four quadrants (NW, NE, SW, SE) of a 10 km Ordnance Survey National Grid square. Areal coverage provided by the National Grid series of large-scale maps is limited in extent and the preceding County series of six-inch maps can still be the most up to date map available for some areas. Geological maps represent a geologist's compiled interpretation of the geology of an area. A geologist will consider the data available at the time, including measurements and observations collected during field campaigns, as well as their knowledge of geological processes and the geological context to create a model of the geology of an area. This model is then fitted to a topographic basemap and drawn up at the appropriate scale, with generalization if necessary, to create a geological map, which is a representation of the geological model. Explanatory notes and vertical and horizontal cross sections may be published with the map. Geological maps may be created to show various aspects of the geology, or themes. The most common map themes held by BGS are solid (later referred to as bedrock) and drift (later referred to as superficial). These maps are, for the most part, hard-copy paper records stored in the National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC) and are delivered as digital scans through the BGS website.

This layer of the map based index (GeoIndex) shows the location, with basic metadata, of selected DECC (Department of Energy & Climate Change) offshore hydrocarbon wells. The source data for this layer was downloaded from the DECC website at www.og.decc.gov.uk/information/maps_offshore.htm. These are DECC owned data and information and supply of the actual data is through the DECC release agents.