This is the collection of cores and samples held by BGS for the sea areas around the UK. It includes material collected by BGS during its mapping projects and material donated to BGS by other organisations. The main core and sample types are grab samples (sea-bed), gravity cores, vibrocores and rock-drill cores (up to 6m in length), and borehole cores (up to 274m in length). The sea-bed grab samples are Holocene sediments present at the sea-bed and are stored in plastic jars. Where possible, sub-sample material has been retained after analysis. The bulk of the cores consist of Holocene and Pleistocene material. The rest are of bedrock ranging in age from Neogene to Pre-Cambrian. A lot of the core was collected in plastic liner tubing and the unlithified cores have been split vertically. The bulk of the material was collected in the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s and early 1990's with ongoing additions of new sample and cores each year. The distribution is very variable, but, in general, there are grab samples and/or shallow cores spaced about every 5 - 10km across the entire UK Continental Shelf. In some localised areas the sampling density is much higher. The samples and cores are applicable to a wide range of uses including environmental, geotechnical and geological studies.

Data from the British Geological Survey's GeoIndex Boreholes theme are made available for viewing here. GeoIndex is a website that allows users to search for information about BGS data collections covering the UK and other areas world wide. Access is free, the interface is easy to use, and it has been developed to enable users to check coverage of different types of data and find out some background information about the data. More detailed information can be obtained by further enquiry via the web site: www.bgs.ac.uk/geoindex.

The hydrogeological map indicates aquifer potential in generalised terms using a threefold division of geological formations: those in which intergranular flow in the saturated zone is dominant, those in which flow is controlled by fissures or discontinuities and less permeable formations including aquifers concealed at depth beneath covering layers. Highly productive aquifers are distinguished from those that are only of local importance or have no significant groundwater. Within each of these classes the strata are grouped together according to age or lithology. The 1:625 000 scale data may be used as a guide to the aquifers at a regional or national level, but should not be relied on for local information.

The collection consists of borehole drill logs, site plans, borehole location plans, geological plans and completion plans for opencast coal sites in Scotland and Northern England. It includes records deposited by the Directorate of Opencast Coal Production (DOCP) and its successors, National Coal Board (NCB), British Coal and numerous private and licensed opencast mine. The NCB Scottish Area records are arranged by the NCB opencast site number. Many records of cored 'diamond' boreholes are held in the BGS Scottish Borehole Journal records. Northern England opencast records are mainly held with the ex-Newcastle Borehole Records. Copies of completion plans for Scotland are also held in the Coal Mine Abandonment Plan collection available on microfilm aperture cards. Opencast sites are indexed in the Land Survey Record Index (LSRI) database. The cored 'diamond' boreholes are indexed on Single Onshore Borehole Index (SOBI).

The joint PHE-BGS digital Indicative Atlas of Radon in Great Britain presents an overview of the results of detailed mapping of radon potential, defined as the estimated percentage of homes in an area above the radon Action Level. The Indicative Atlas of Radon in Great Britain presents a simplified version of the Radon Potential Dataset for Great Britain with each 1-km grid square being classed according to the highest radon potential found within it, so is indicative rather than definitive. The joint PHE-BGS digital Radon Potential Dataset for Great Britain provides the current definitive map of radon Affected Areas in Great Britain.

This layer of the map based index (GeoIndex) shows the location of site reports covering a wide range of drilling and site investigation work. Some 2000 reports include the logs from over 10 000 boreholes in addition to those held in the borehole index. The rectangles shown are drawn using the SW and NE corners of the site maps.

The map shows the location and line-identifiers of reflection seismic profiles acquired by the former National Coal Board and British Coal during their exploration for coal in the UK. Ownership of UK coal exploration data was transferred to the Coal Authority following privatisation of the UK coal industry. The Coal Authority have appointed the British Geological Survey as custodian of this important national geological data archive. These data are, in general, publicly available; however, access to data within active mining licences is restricted in that it requires the consent of the mining licensee. The Coal Authority data archive includes hardcopy and digital data for the reflection seismic profiles, such as film and paper prints, original field tapes, demultiplexed data, processed stacked data, navigation (location) data and observers' and surveyors' acquisition reports. But please note that not all data types are available for all profiles. The BGS will be pleased to provide information on data availability for named profiles or within specified geographic areas, together with cost estimates and options for supplying copies.

The BGS has been commissioned by Defra to provide guidance on what are 'normal' levels of contaminant concentrations in English soils in support of the revision of the Part 2A Contaminated Land Statutory Guidance. The domain polygons and other data produced by this work are served as WMS here.

The database contains scanned photographs (at 1016dpi) of the UK and various locations around the world. Some are single band (black&white) others are 3 band colour. The images are stored in various formats on various types of magnetic media: .COT raw scans can only be used on the Intergraph ImageStation; .JPG (Intergraph format); .TIF. Processed scans may also be saved as stereomodels (with project data) and as orthophotographs. Mono coverage for most of the UK and we are constantly acquiring stereo data. Data is updated when unscanned areas are required by projects.

This layer of the map based index (GeoIndex) shows areas covered by explanatory sheet Memoirs, along with basic information such as memoir title and publication date. The memoirs themselves,compiled by BGS geologists, date from the late 1890s to present day and provide a comprehensive and detailed account of all aspects of the geology of the areas covered by the 1:50,000 (and 1:63,360) map series. Some memoirs may cover more than one geological sheet area and a few cover key geological themes (eg Jurassic rocks) across a large region. Sheet Descriptions are fully colour-illustrated, shortened accounts of the geology that are available for some of the newer published geological sheets.