Virtual borehole and section viewer

Virtual borehole

This application allows you to drill virtual boreholes or draw virtual cross-sections through a geological model in three selected areas of the UK; reflecting a range of geological settings.

This tool offers a glimpse into how geological models will be increasingly made accessible via web browsers without the need for additional software to be installed by the user.

Geological settings of the sample models

Try the virtual borehole and section viewer

Help using the virtual borehole and section viewer

1. Navigate to the model
To zoom to one of the models, either: double click on a blue flag or select an location from the drop-down list below.

Zoom to model:

2. Reveal geology
When zoomed into an area of interest, single click inside the model's grid to reveal the geology at that location.

3. Draw geology
When zoomed into an area of interest, inside the 3D model's grid, choose one of the two blue buttons:

   Place borehole and Draw cross-section buttons

Pop-ups must be enabled.

  • Place borehole: to generate virtual borehole logs
    1. click on the 'Place borehole' button and then click inside the model's grid at your area of interest
    2. a new browser window will open and show the virtual borehole log at the selected location
  • Draw cross-section: to generate virtual cross-sections
    1. single click inside the model's grid at your start position and then continue single-clicking to create a line-of-section.
    2. double click to finish; a new browser window will open to show the virtual cross-section

After using the 'Place borehole' and 'Draw cross-section' modes the application defaults back to the 'Reveal geology' mode.

Details

This virtual borehole and section viewer is based on a prediction of the geological sequence that would be encountered in a vertical borehole or section drilled at this location and should not be used as a replacement for site investigation.

The total depth of the borehole or section and the level to which the succession is subdivided is based on 3D geological modelling and may not represent the complete vertical borehole or section.

Lithological information is generalised for each geological unit, and local conditions may vary.

For comprehensive information of the Geology at this point or line, please use the BGS GeoReport service.

Contact

For further information contact enquiries@bgs.ac.uk