New project mapping UK Continental Shelf provides boost to offshore infrastructure and development

The UK’s seabed plays a vital role in promoting economic growth, enabling the transition to net zero and supporting diverse marine habitats. Seabed and subsurface geological data provide the important evidence needed to plan and support offshore renewable energy, marine conservation and subsea infrastructure development.

BGS is leading a new joint-industry project on behalf of The Crown Estate to develop a new suite of national-scale seabed geology and shallow subsurface datasets that will provide essential information across multiple marine sectors, including offshore renewables, linear assets and environmental management.

The project will also provide geoscientific evidence to The Crown Estate’s innovative Marine Delivery Routemap which is due to launch next year. With demand upon the UK’s seaspace increasing, Marine Delivery Routemap is a new digital tool designed to dynamically model and map potential use scenarios and opportunities for the seabed and coastline around England, Wales and Northern Ireland over the coming decades.

The project, ‘Seabed Geoscience for Marine Planning’ (Seabed GeoMaP), will deliver new knowledge and information about the seabed and shallow subsurface across the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS). Over the next three years, the project will develop national-scale seabed datasets that will cover themes such as seabed geomorphology, Quaternary sediment thickness, sediment variability, submarine landslides and the likelihood of seabed change.

The deliverables have been based on feedback gathered from the marine community during a stakeholder consultation in 2024, which included more than 80 responses representing 60 different organisations.

Acquiring and integrating high-quality geoscience data is fundamental to our approach to multi-sector seabed spatial optimisation. Through this collaboration with BGS, we’re combining extensive existing datasets with advanced analytics to strengthen the evidence base for decision-making, helping to support safe and sustainable offshore development.

Michael Blair, Lead Engineering Manager, The Crown Estate.

This project will support the spatial optimisation capabilities of our Marine Delivery Routemap tool and allow us to bring to the market optimised, lower-risk project opportunities, driving value for the nation through considered use of the seabed to support positive outcomes for nature, energy, infrastructure and jobs.

Olivia Thomas, Head of Planning & Technical, The Crown Estate.

Over the next three years, BGS scientists will combine existing geological information and marine survey data with extensive mapping experience and new analytical techniques to develop the datasets. They will provide an upfront understanding of seabed characteristics, geological hazards and shallow subsurface conditions across the UKCS, to support stakeholders across multiple sectors in their early-stage planning decisions.

We are delighted to be working with The Crown Estate on this project, which represents an important step forward to better understanding the UK’s seabed and shallow subsurface. During the scoping phase, we received valuable input from across the marine community and we hope that the datasets will be a useful resource for a wide range of stakeholders.

Andrew Finlayson, head of BGS Marine Geoscience.

Once complete, the datasets will be available on the Marine Data Exchange, created by The Crown Estate, as well as the BGS GeoIndex.