Datasets

BGS Civils is a suite of national maps of engineering properties based on geological data and the digital 1:50 000 scale geological map – BGS Geology 50k.

• Premium
• 1:50 000
• Great Britain

The BGS corrosivity dataset is a GIS layer supporting the management of underground iron assets that has been created in response to the growing awareness of the cost of maintenance of structures such as pipelines and building foundations.

• Premium
• 1:50 000
• Great Britain

This theme provides information on the discontinuities in bedrock and superficial deposits as part of a suite of GIS layers for different engineering parameters.

• Premium
• 1:50 000
• Great Britain

This theme provides information on the suitability of a geological material to be used as engineered fill.

• Premium
• 1:50 000
• Great Britain

This theme provides information on the excavatability of geological deposits at surface.

• Premium
• 1:50 000
• Great Britain

This theme provides information on the suitability of a geological material for foundations as part of a suite of GIS layers for different engineering parameters.

• Premium
• 1:50 000
• Great Britain

This theme provides information on zones of rock strength and the local factors controlling it, as part of a suite of GIS layers for different engineering parameters.

• Premium
• 1:50 000
• Great Britain

The BGS Civils: sulfates and sulfides dataset is a GIS layer that supports the management of underground assets

• Premium
• 1:50 000
• Great Britain

The BGS Geology datasets are digital geological maps of Great Britain based on the different series of published BGS geological maps.

Our most detailed dataset is provided at 1:10 000 and 1:25 000 scale. This digital geological data is based on BGS’s highest-resolution survey mapping. Many urban centres and transport routes are covered by this dataset. Lithostratigraphic nomenclature is updated to current usage.

• Premium
• 1:10 000 – 1:25 000
• Partial Great Britain coverage

This generalised digital geological data is based on our 1:250 000-scale, bedrock-only maps. Data and lithostratigraphic re-classifications are derived from maps published between 1977 and 1993.

• Premium
• 1:250 000
• Great Britain

This generalised digital geological data is based on BGS’s 1:50 000 and 1:63 360-scale maps. Covering almost all of Great Britain, it provides a detailed local to regional description of geology and underpins many of our national map services and products. Lithostratigraphic nomenclature is updated to current usage.

• Open / Premium
• 1:50 000
• Most of Great Britain

This generalised digital geological dataset is based on our published ‘poster’ maps of the UK (north and south). This dataset covers all of Great Britain and includes additional map data from Northern Ireland. It provides an excellent national overview of the UK’s geology and is commonly used as a teaching resource.

• Open
• 1:625 000
• Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Data outputs from 3D geological framework models are available at three different scales for parts of the onshore area of Great Britain.

• Open / Premium
• Varied
• Great Britain (partial coverage)

BGS is engaged in surveying the country for former mineral sites due to their importance for planning purposes and as potential sources of currently scarce resources such as building stone, in addition to hazard checking.

• Open / Premium
• Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands

G-BASE is a major BGS project that surveyed the surface geochemistry of the entire UK. Soil and stream-sediment geochemistry data is available for south-west England as a standalone dataset.

• Open
• SW England

This dataset contains hand-drawn boundaries showing mineral related planning permissions and land use collated from the 1940s to the mid 1980s.

• Premium
• 1:50 000
• England and Wales

London Earth is the systematic, high-density, geochemical soil dataset of the Greater London Area (GLA) aiming to give insight into the environmental impacts of urbanisation and industrialisation on the UK’s most populous city.

• Premium
• Greater London and surrounding area

This dataset contains the geological distribution of all onshore mineral resources.

• Premium
• 1:50 000
• England, Wales, central belt of Scotland

SOBI has over one million records of boreholes, shafts and wells from all forms of drilling and site investigation work.

• Open
• Great Britain

This dataset contains estimated ambient background concentrations of potentially harmful elements for rural and selected urban topsoils.

• Premium
• 1:50 000 (or as defined below)
• Great Britain

Frequenty asked questions for the BGS Soil Chemistry for environmental assessments dataset.

The Soil Parent Material Model details the distribution of properties of the weathered and unweathered soil parent materials of Great Britain.

• Premium
• 1:50 000
• Great Britain

• Open / Premium
• Partial Great Britain coverage: south-west England

The BGS superficial thickness hex grid map shows the variation of the thickness of superficial deposits across Great Britain.

• Open
• 1 km hex grid (approx. 1:1 000 000)
• Great Britain

The superficial thickness model shows the depth of the bedrock surface below unconsolidated deposits

• Premium
• 1:50 000
• Great Britain

The British Geological Survey (BGS) has one of the largest databases in the world on the production and trade of minerals.

• Open
• Worldwide

The UK stream sediment geochemistry maps present data compiled from the G-BASE and TellusNI geochemical projects.

• Open / Premium
• Great Britain and Northern Ireland

The UK Compiled Topsoil Dataset (UKTS), is the most extensive topsoil geochemistry dataset for the UK.

• Open / Premium
• Partial UK Coverage

A national-scale network of intersecting cross-sections providing a unique visualisation of the complex rocks and structures that make up the UK landmass.

• Open
• 1:625 000
• UK