ECRR > Member organisations > BGS

British Geological Survey

BGS in Edinburgh has a staff of 200 with UK-wide and northern Britain programmes together with strong international linkages. It has a policy of forming partnerships with industry, universities, Government and public bodies to enhance its core activities, taking particular benefit from Scotland's oil sector, and it engages in related consultancies to ensure widespread application of its results and databases. The location of Edinburgh, close to the geographical centroid of the UK's offshore and onshore domain, is a considerable advantage in much of the work. A key-point summary is given below.

BGS responsibilities include:

• Land Survey of northern Britain
• Marine geological survey, UK-wide
• Seismological monitoring, UK-wide
• Geomagnetic monitoring, UK-wide
• Petroleum advice to Government and industry, UK-wide information and databases for these activities.

It exports specialists and specialist services from these programmes to industrial and Governmental projects, worldwide.

The onshore survey of northern Britain maintains up-to-date geological maps and related datasets and uses these to provide information and advice to Government, industry, the education sector and the general public. It facilitates informed decision making and cost-effective operations by, for example, mineral developers, construction industry, land-use planners and conservationists.

The Marine Programme has, uniquely, achieved a comprehensive mapping of the continental shelf and slope and is now engaged in the survey of the Rockall continental margin in partnership with industry. It addresses, for this large territory (equal to the UK land area), resources, hazards, sovereignty issues and environmental monitoring.

Close links with oil industry operations , focused in Scotland, facilitate support of the DTI regulatory function, exploration in frontier areas, and hazard assessment. Homegrown expertise is being exported to the Falkland Islands Government and the Papua New Guinea Government for development of their oil prospects.

Seismic monitoring is conducted for the whole of the UK and is linked to Europe and the rest of the world. It provides a comprehensive information service for earthquake hazard assessment(in critical industries such as nuclear, oil, chemical) and provides objective data in the face of public alarm on natural and man-made seismic events. Future potential is to add multi-functional environmental monitoring sensors to each of the 140 automated seismic sites.

The Geomagnetism Group is the national centre responsible for long-term geomagnetic field monitoring, a source of scientific expertise used by Government, academia and many sectors of industry ranging from hydrocarbon exploration and production to spacecraft management, and is a leading player in the organisation of the international network for geomagnetic data exchange and management.

BGS Edinburgh also promotes programmes in onshore and offshore geochemistry and pollution studies and in hydrogeology, calling in support from its Keyworth centre as required.

For further information, please contact:

Dr Martin Smith
British Geological Survey, Murchison House
West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3LA

website: British Geological Survey