The Feature Layer made available to the Living Atlas has been adapted from the 625k Geology dataset freely available from the BGS website. The attribution and labels of the geological areas (or polygons) have been simplified to make the data more available to a wider audience. The dataset is aimed at students with an interest in Earth Sciences and amateur geologists who want to find out more. The LEX_RCS & LEX_ROCK codes have been preserved to allow users to reference the layers to to the 625k Geology Dataset.

About BGS Geology 625k:

BGS Geology 625k is a generalised digital geological map dataset based on BGS’s published poster maps of the UK (north and south). Bedrock-related themes were created by generalisation of 1:50 000 data to make the 2007 fifth edition bedrock geology map. Superficial geology-related themes were digitised from the 1977 first edition Quaternary map (north and south). Many BGS geology maps are now available digitally. The Digital Geological Map of Great Britain project (formerly known as DiGMapGB) has prepared 1:625 000, 1:250 000, 1:50 000 and 1:10 000-scale datasets for England, Wales, and Scotland. Work continues to upgrade these. Geological maps are often the foundation for many other earth science-related maps and are of potential use to a wide range of end users. This dataset uses the themes:

Bedrock Geology Superficial Geology Linear features (faults)

More information on the BGS 625k Geology Dataset can be found on the BGS website.  The 625k Geology data can also be viewed alongside other BGS datasets in the GeoIndex viewer. The currency of this data is August 2022, while there are no planned regular updates, BGS continuously reviews its data products and will release new versions of the BGS Geology 625k when available.

The 1:63 360 / 1:50 000 scale map series are the most useful scale for most purposes. They provide almost complete coverage of onshore Great Britain. The BGS collection of 1:63 360 and 1:50 000 scale maps comprises two map series: - Geological Survey of England and Wales 1:63 360 / 1:50 000 Geological Map Series [New Series]. These maps are based on the Ordnance Survey One-inch New Series topographic basemaps and provide almost complete coverage of England and Wales, with the exception of sheet 180 (Knighton). The quarter-sheets of 1:63 360 Old Series sheets 91 to 110 coincide with sheets 1 to 73 of the New Series maps. These earlier maps often carry two sheet numbers which refer to the Old Series and the New Series. - Geological Survey of Scotland 1:63 360 / 1:50 000 Geological Map Series. These maps are based on the Ordnance Survey First, Second, Third and Fourth editions of the One-inch map of Scotland. The maps used the most recent topographic basemap available at the time. In the Western Isles, one-inch mapping was abandoned and replaced by maps at 1:100 000 scale, which are associated with this series. Sheets were traditionally issued at 1:63 360 scale, with the first 1:50 000 maps appearing in 1972. Sheets at 1:50 000 scale may be either facsimile enlargements of an existing 1:63 360 sheets, or may contain new geology and cartography. The latter bear the additional series designation '1:50 000 series'. Within the Scottish series, new mapping at 1:50 000 scale was split into east and west sheets. For example, the original one-inch sheet 32 became 1:50 000 sheets 32E and 32W. A number of irregular sheets were also introduced with the new 1:50 000 scale mapping. There are a number of irregular special sheets within both series. Geological maps represent a geologist's compiled interpretation of the geology of an area. A geologist will consider the data available at the time, including measurements and observations collected during field campaigns, as well as their knowledge of geological processes and the geological context to create a model of the geology of an area. This model is then fitted to a topographic basemap and drawn up at the appropriate scale, with generalization if necessary, to create a geological map, which is a representation of the geological model. Explanatory notes and vertical and horizontal cross sections may be published with the map. Geological maps may be created to show various aspects of the geology, or themes. The most common map themes held by BGS are solid (later referred to as bedrock) and drift (later referred to as superficial). These maps are, for the most part, hard-copy paper records stored in the National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC) and are delivered as digital scans through the BGS website.

For much of the Geological Survey's existence, the County Series of maps were the standard large-scale maps on which geological mapping was undertaken. These maps are based on the Ordnance Survey County (or six-inch to the mile) series of maps. These maps were cut up to be used in the field to record geological observations, and on return to the office, the geology was transferred to a complete County Series map, which after approval was known as a 'standard' (England / Wales) or 'clean copy' (Scotland). This dataset contains the 'standard' or 'clean copy' County Series maps held by BGS. Geological maps represent a geologist's compiled interpretation of the geology of an area. A geologist will consider the data available at the time, including measurements and observations collected during field campaigns, as well as their knowledge of geological processes and the geological context to create a model of the geology of an area. This model is then fitted to a topographic basemap and drawn up at the appropriate scale, with generalization if necessary, to create a geological map, which is a representation of the geological model. Explanatory notes and vertical and horizontal cross sections may be published with the map. Geological maps may be created to show various aspects of the geology, or themes. The most common map themes held by BGS are solid (later referred to as bedrock) and drift (later referred to as superficial). These maps are hard-copy paper records stored in the National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC) and are delivered as digital scans through the BGS website.

Geological map 'Standards', manuscript and published maps of Great Britain produced by the Survey on County Series (1:10560) and National Grid (1:10560 & 1:10000) Ordnance Survey base maps. Maps produced since the 1860's, current holdings over 41,000 maps, all now available internally as image files.

Index to BGS geological map 'Standards', manuscript and published maps for Great Britain produced by the Survey on County Series (1:10560) and National Grid (1:10560 & 1:10000) Ordnance Survey base maps. 'Standards' are the best interpretation of the geology at the time they were produced. The Oracle index was set up in 1988, current holdings are over 41,000 maps. There are entries for all registered maps, but not all fields are complete on all entries.

A series of maps at the detailed scale of 1:25 000 have been produced for areas of outstanding geological interest in Great Britain. Some maps are accompanied by explanatory booklets. The maps were published between 1954 and 2007. About 60 maps have been published, some showing solid geology, some drift geology and some combined solid and drift. Most of the maps include geological cross sections and generalised vertical sections. Geological maps represent a geologist's compiled interpretation of the geology of an area. A geologist will consider the data available at the time, including measurements and observations collected during field campaigns, as well as their knowledge of geological processes and the geological context to create a model of the geology of an area. This model is then fitted to a topographic basemap and drawn up at the appropriate scale, with generalization if necessary, to create a geological map, which is a representation of the geological model. Explanatory notes and vertical and horizontal cross sections may be published with the map. Geological maps may be created to show various aspects of the geology, or themes. These maps are hard-copy paper records stored in the National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC) and are delivered as digital scans through the BGS website.

This layer of the GeoIndex shows the location of available 1:50000 scale digital geological maps within Great Britain. The Digital Geological Map of Great Britain project (DiGMapGB) has prepared 1:625 000, 1:250 000 and 1:50 000 scale datasets for England, Wales and Scotland. The datasets themselves are available as vector data in a variety of formats in which they are structured into themes primarily for use in geographical information systems (GIS) where they can be integrated with other types of spatial data for analysis and problem solving in many earth-science-related issues. Most of the 1:50 000 scale geological maps for England & Wales and for Scotland are now available digitally as part of the DiGMapGB-50 dataset. It integrates geological information from a variety of sources. These include recent digital maps, older 'paper only' maps, and desk compilations for sheets with no published maps.

Scanned images of Geological map 'Standards', manuscript and published maps produced by the Survey on County Series (1:10560) and National Grid (1:10560 & 1:10000) Ordnance Survey base maps. Current holdings over 41,000 maps for Great Britain. The majority of maps were scanned in 2004, any new maps produced are scanned and added to the collection.

Index to manuscript geological maps produced by the Survey geologists or other recognised geologists on County Series (1:10560) and National Grid (1:10560 & 1:10000) Ordnance Survey base maps. The index was set up in 1991. Current holdings for Great Britain are over 35,000. There are entries for all registered maps but the level of detail depends on nature of original Survey, ie not all fields are complete for all entries.

The UTM series of maps are based on 1:250 000 base maps published by the Ordnance Survey. Mapping is divided into squares which cover 1 degree by 1 degree of latitude / longitude in the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) projection, and coverage extends offshore and onto the continental shelf. The UTM series are available in three different themes: - Solid geology (complete coverage within the mapped area, including most of the UK continental shelf) - Sea bed sediments (coverage for most offshore areas) - Quaternary geology (coverage for the UK sector of the North Sea, Irish Sea and the Atlantic margin) Also included within this series are two small-scale (1:500 000) bedrock geology maps of the Central Rockall Basin and North Rockall Basin. These maps supersede the older quarter-inch series of maps which were published for England / Wales and Scotland. Geological maps represent a geologist's compiled interpretation of the geology of an area. A geologist will consider the data available at the time, including measurements and observations collected during field campaigns, as well as their knowledge of geological processes and the geological context to create a model of the geology of an area. This model is then fitted to a topographic basemap and drawn up at the appropriate scale, with generalization if necessary, to create a geological map, which is a representation of the geological model. Explanatory notes and vertical and horizontal cross sections may be published with the map. These maps are, for the most part, hard-copy paper records stored in the National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC) and are delivered as digital scans through the BGS website.

Note: This dataset is designed for the 1:50000 scale but can be viewed in this WMS between 1:100000 and 1:25000 (Only). The 1:50 000 DiGMapGB data covering the whole of the United Kingdom is available in this OGC WMS service for your personal, non-commercial use only. Separate bedrock geology, superficial deposits, artificial ground, mass movement deposits and geological linear features layers are available in this service. For information about more of the British Geological Survey's maps that are available digitally please visit http://www.bgs.ac.uk/products/digitalmaps/digmapgb.html.

Manuscript geological maps produced by the Survey geologists or other recognised geologists on County Series (1:10560) and National Grid (1:10560 & 1:10000) Ordnance Survey base maps of Great Britain. A small number are produced at larger scale. Similar maps compiled from other sources. Maps produced since the 1850's, current holdings over 35,000 maps, all now scanned and available internally as image files.

The BGS collection of 1:10 560 / 1:10 000 National Grid Series geological maps. These maps are based on the Ordnance Survey National Grid series of maps, which are defined by the 10 km intervals of the larger 100 km square identified by a specific two-letter code. Each map is thus denoted by a unique reference, e.g. SP 29 NW. SP=100 km square; 29=10 km square; NW=5 km square. Since field mapping is generally undertaken at the scale of 1:10 000 (or equivalent), these maps are the largest-scale main series of geological maps that BGS holds. A small number of remote areas were mapped at 1:25 000 scale, the subsequent maps are also at 1:25 000 scale and are included in this series. The equivalent to the National Grid Series prior to the 1960s is the County Series (at 1:10 560 scale). In the 1960s, this series started to be replaced by 6 inches to 1 mile (1:10 560 scale) National Grid sheets based on the four quadrants (NW, NE, SW, SE) of a 10 km Ordnance Survey National Grid square. Areal coverage provided by the National Grid series of large-scale maps is limited in extent and the preceding County series of six-inch maps can still be the most up to date map available for some areas. Geological maps represent a geologist's compiled interpretation of the geology of an area. A geologist will consider the data available at the time, including measurements and observations collected during field campaigns, as well as their knowledge of geological processes and the geological context to create a model of the geology of an area. This model is then fitted to a topographic basemap and drawn up at the appropriate scale, with generalization if necessary, to create a geological map, which is a representation of the geological model. Explanatory notes and vertical and horizontal cross sections may be published with the map. Geological maps may be created to show various aspects of the geology, or themes. The most common map themes held by BGS are solid (later referred to as bedrock) and drift (later referred to as superficial). These maps are, for the most part, hard-copy paper records stored in the National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC) and are delivered as digital scans through the BGS website.

This dataset contains the .tif (Tag Image File Format) scans of all the applied geology maps (otherwise known as thematic or environmental) and sections produced as part of "Geological background for planning and development" and preliminary sand and gravel projects carried out by the British Geological Survey for the Department of the Environment, Scottish Development Department and Scottish Office from 1975 to 1996. The maps and sections cover a number of themes for specific areas relating to the project area within the United Kingdom. Metadata on the maps, sections and project reports are in the associated excel spreadsheet. The geological line work and the methods used to produce the maps are those current at the time of production. Map scales are 1:10 000, 1:25 000 and 1:50 000. The maps have Ordnance Survey map bases and are bounded by the project area. The maps could be used for geological, engineering geological, environmental and resources research, as an information and reference resource and for inclusion in reports and papers. There are no access or usage constraints for BGS staff for BGS purposes. The scans are .tif files and can, therefore, be displayed using any suitable package. The original file size varies between 170 kb to 250 Mb. The dataset is stand-alone.

This dataset comprises scanned images of the manuscript geological maps produced by the Survey geologists or other recognised geologists on County Series (1:10560) and National Grid (1:10560 and 1:10000) Ordnance Survey base maps. The collection also includes similar maps compiled from other sources. Currently the dataset contains over 35,000 scanned images. Original maps date from the 1860s, and cover surveys in Great Britain, scanning started in 2003.

This layer of the GeoIndex shows the availability of 1:25000 scale Classical Areas Geological Maps. The maps themselves show the occurrence, nature and stratigraphic age of rocks. They are available for selected areas of outstanding geological interest in the United Kingdom, and in a number of versions (Solid, or Solid and Drift combined, Bedrock or Superficial). Maps are normally available in both flat and folded format. 1:25000 scale maps are also available for the Channel Islands. To order maps, take note of the map name and use the BGS Internet Shop.

The Feature Layer made available to the Living Atlas has been adapted from the 625k Geology dataset freely available from the BGS website. The attribution and labels of the geological areas (or polygons) have been simplified to make the data more available to a wider audience. The dataset is aimed at students with an interest in Earth Sciences and amateur geologists who want to find out more. The LEX_RCS & LEX_ROCK codes have been preserved to allow users to reference the layers to to the 625k Geology Dataset.

About BGS Geology 625k:

BGS Geology 625k is a generalised digital geological map dataset based on BGS’s published poster maps of the UK (north and south). Bedrock-related themes were created by generalisation of 1:50 000 data to make the 2007 fifth edition bedrock geology map. Superficial geology-related themes were digitised from the 1977 first edition Quaternary map (north and south). Many BGS geology maps are now available digitally. The Digital Geological Map of Great Britain project (formerly known as DiGMapGB) has prepared 1:625 000, 1:250 000, 1:50 000 and 1:10 000-scale datasets for England, Wales, and Scotland. Work continues to upgrade these. Geological maps are often the foundation for many other earth science-related maps and are of potential use to a wide range of end users. This dataset uses the themes:

Bedrock Geology Superficial Geology Linear features (faults)

More information on the BGS 625k Geology Dataset can be found on the BGS website.  The 625k Geology data can also be viewed alongside other BGS datasets in the GeoIndex viewer. The currency of this data is August 2022, while there are no planned regular updates, BGS continuously reviews its data products and will release new versions of the BGS Geology 625k when available.

This layer of the map based index (GeoIndex) shows the availability of 1:63360 scale geological maps. The maps are available for most of England and Wales and show early geological mapping covering the OS Old Series one inch map sheet areas.

This layer of the map based index (GeoIndex) provides an index to a sub set of the BGS Report Series. The reports themselves describe the local geology and are designed to be read in conjunction with their complementary map or maps. Additional information such as hydrogeology, engineering geology, geological hazards, economic minerals and made and worked ground or other specialist topics of local interest may be included.

BGS 1:625,000 Digital Geological Map (DigMapGB), published as linked data (http://data.bgs.ac.uk/ref/625KGeologyMap)