OpenGeoscience — Free data!
What is OpenGeoscience?
A free service where you can view maps, download photographs and other information.
Explore the OpenGeoscience sections below:
Who can use OpenGeoscience?
We encourage non-commercial users to use OpenGeoscience material free of charge for private study, research and educational activities.
Business users can use OpenGeoscience material for innovation purposes.
Contact us if you create something new and innovative that could benefit others.
Maps & spatial data
View the geology of Great Britain and other GeoScience maps from your web browser, mobile phone, a geobrowser (Google Earth) or GIS systems (MapInfo or ArcGIS).
Map browsing applications
Web browser maps
Pan and zoom to where you live, click on an area of interest and reveal the rocks beneath your feet.
Explore the Geology of Britain in your web browser.
See more map viewers
Smartphone Apps
iGeology is a free App for iPhone and Android that lets you take a geological map of Britain wherever you go.
Download it from iGeology
Spatial data
Map data viewing services
Street-scale (50k) UK geology map data is available to view using our Web Map Service (WMS). Smaller scale (625k) data is also available.
Many other geoscience map services are available.
View our mash-ups gallery to see how others use our geological map data.
Data downloads
- 625k UK geology digital map data for Great Britain now available for download.
- 625k UK geology and earthquakes KML for use in Google Earth and Google Maps.
- 625k hydrogeological data for the UK now available for download.
- Gravity and magnetic survey data for Great Britain now available for download.
- Chemical data in environmental samples: location index in KML (Google Earth).
Subscribing UK academic users may also access DiGMapGB-50 from the EDINA Geology Digimap service.
Map scans
View scans of paper maps:
- A collection of historical Irish maps
- Hydrogeology maps of the UK
3D models
Download 3D models of Britain's subsurface geology, 
Data collections
Online Data
Many of the BGS's most popular datasets are available to search and view, including:
- Borehole materials — British onshore borehole collection database and UKCS (offshore) hydrocarbon well collection
- Discovery metadata — Describes BGS key datasets
- Earthquake data — BGS manages over 100 seismometers across the country. Both real time and historic data are available.
- Earth science academic archive — access to results and data from NERC-funded earth science research
- GeoIndex — map-based index of the data we hold
- Geomagnetic data — BGS collects and provides access to a range of geomagnetic data.
- PalaeoSaurus — palaeontological collections
- Rock Collections — a million plus samples in mineralogy & petrology collections
- Strategic Environmental Assessment — Free access to available information and reports which have been produced through the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change SEA process.
- Taxonomy Online — fossil specimens held in our collections
- Water Watch — data holdings on groundwater
Vocabularies
- Lexicon of Named Rock Units — BGS definitions of terms that appear on our maps and in our publications.
- Rock Classification Scheme — system for classifying and naming geological materials
- Vocabularies — consistency in our classification systems by controlling the spelling and terms used in our data holdings
Downloads
Browse for more free data in Downloads
Digital images & scans
- Borehole core sample photographs: All BGS core samples are being photographed as high resolution colour images, commencing with the UKCS (hydrocarbon) well cores, as they are transferred from Gilmerton to Keyworth
- Borehole scans: Online access to the National Geoscience Data Centre collection of onshore scanned boreholes, shafts and well records.
- GeoScenic: View images from the National Archive of Geological Photographs.
Free download 1000×1000 pixel images (non-commercial use).
Search Geoscenic using a map - Hydrogeology maps of the UK: Maps of the hydrogeology of the UK that have previously been available in paper form through the BGS shop are now available to view online.
- Irish historical geological maps: A range of historical geological maps, sections and memoirs of Ireland, mostly 19th century.
- Magnetograms: BGS scanned collection of historical magnetograms. Recordings of the variations in the strength and direction of the Earth's magnetic field.
Education
Information and resources for schools and colleges, lifelong learners or anyone with an interest in geology. Find out more in Discovering geology
Popular resources include:
GeoScholar is a set of Free geological data for UK universities and the higher education sector, to support teaching and learning within the geosciences.
Make-a-Map
Make-a-Map is an interactive geological map of the British Isles. It is intended for amateur geologists, students and teachers looking for an overview of the geology of the British Isles.
Climate through time poster
Climate through time illustrates the links between our planet's changing climate, and the different rocks which formed as environmental conditions varied through geological time.
...more FREE Educational resources
Online maps for FE and HE
Online maps and spatial data of Great Britain for UK higher education and further education. Find out if your institution subscribes to EDINA Digimap Collections
Reports
Software and development
Mapping
BGS·SIGMAmobile is the BGS digital field data capture
system designed to run on rugged tablet PCs with integrated GPS units. Download BGS·SIGMAmobile
Open Geoscience Data Models
Free and open database designs for geoscience.
Join an international community of individuals and organisations interested in improving environmental data.
Funded by the Natural Environment Research Council knowledge exchange scheme.
Pumping tests
Programs to simulate and analyse pumping tests in large-diameter wells.
Download BGSPT — Analysis software
