The BGS Research Laboratories provide high quality laboratory expertise and specialist services for BGS projects as well as for commercial and public sector clients around the world. For further details can be found by following the links below.
The
Geo-microbiology laboratory facilities include specialised equipment
to study the processes and effects of microbes on contaminant breakdown,
transport and containment in a range of geological settings. Biological
processes are being increasingly recognised as an important part
of the subsurface environment having major implications on the interpretation
of geochemical and hydrogeological information.
The Hydrothermal laboratory is an experimental facility able to
simulate the chemical reactions occurring between minerals and fluids
at depth in the earth's crust. Rock overburden pressures equivalent
to depths of 2-3 km (50 MPa) and temperatures equivalent to depths
of 10 km (400°C) can be reproduced using specialist pressure vessels.
The
Hydrates Laboratory is relatively young, having been ‘spun out' from
the Hydrothermal Laboratory in 2002. It was created to study the
behaviour of gas hydrates within sediments under conditions commonly
found in relatively shallow sediments in deep water.
Previous study areas include:
- Gas hydrate dissociation within sediments, and its impact on slope stability and global climate.
- Investigation of CO2 hydrate within sediments, and its potential importance for underground storage of CO2.
The Transport properties research laboratory (TPRL) undertakes R&D to quantify fluid flow of water, gas and solutes, in low permeability materials (clay rich media, bentonite, landfill liner clays, mudrocks and shales) using custom designed experimental apparatus.
The Radiochemistry laboratory includes instrumentation for the use of natural and anthropogenic radioactive materials for a wide range of environmental investigations.
The Gamma spectrometry Laboratory includes a range of instrumentation for environmental investigations of radionuclides, in a wide range of matrices, both geological (e.g. rocks, soils, sediments, waters) and biological (e.g. vegetation)
