38,000 seabed sediment samples were used to generate predictive maps of sediment composition across the UK Continental Shelf. The British Geological Survey produced this dataset using a Distributional Random Forest model, constrained by bathymetry and hydrodynamic variables, and it was last updated in April 2026. It includes one classified vector map and three raster layers showing the proportions of gravel, sand, and mud at an approximate 110-meter resolution.
Use Cases
- Predicting seabed habitat suitability based on sediment composition maps
- Modeling sediment transport and erosion using gravel, sand, and mud proportion layers
- Validating regional geological models against the classified Folk sediment map
- Integrating bathymetric and hydrodynamic covariates for coastal zone management
Strengths
- Model trained on over 38,000 physical seabed sediment samples
- Predictions incorporate multiple covariate variables like bathymetry and tidal currents
- Output reviewed via a qualitative assessment protocol by subject-area experts
- National-scale coverage of the UK Continental Shelf at ~110m resolution
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
- Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the UK Continental Shelf area
Provenance
- Source
- British Geological Survey (BGS)
- Collection Method
- Generated using a Distributional Random Forest machine learning algorithm applied to collated sample data and covariate layers.
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-04-09 08:28:36.315308; freshness should be verified
- Geography
- UK Continental Shelf (slightly modified area based on data availability)