Digital Geological Map Data of Great Britain - 625k Bedrock

A simplified 1:625,000 scale interpretation of bedrock geology across England, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Northern Ireland. The data, created by the British Geological Survey, identifies landscape areas as polygons attributed with geological names and rock type descriptions based on the BGS Rock Classification Scheme. Bedrock units range in age from the Archean eon to the Pliocene, identified through formal BGS lexicon names.

Use Cases

• Regional geological mapping based on polygon data attributed with rock type and age.
• Analyzing the distribution of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rock classes across the UK.
• Integrating bedrock data with other environmental layers for land-use planning.
• Studying lithostratigraphic and lithodemic hierarchies for geological research.

Strengths

• Covers the entire onshore area of Great Britain, including Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man.
• Attributes rock types using the detailed BGS Rock Classification Scheme (volumes 1-3).
• Includes geological time coverage from the Archean (7500 million years ago) to the Pliocene (58 million years ago).

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

British Geological Survey (BGS)

Collection Method

Likely compiled from original geological surveys and subsequent digital data creation.

Time Range

Bedrock formed from Archean eon (7500 million years ago) to Pliocene (58 million years ago).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-08 13:33:27.535260; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Onshore coverage for England, Wales, Scotland, Isle of Man, and Northern Ireland.