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The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units (September 2017)

Publisher
British Geological Survey (BGS)
Updated
6 August 2026
Topic
Not set
Licence
Not set

Summary

The Lexicon of Named Rock Units provides definitions of lithostratigraphic, lithodemic, and litho-morpho-genetic geological units of the United Kingdom and its associated continental shelf. The Lexicon focuses mainly on units of Member, Formation, Group and higher rank (and equivalents) but it also includes information on some units of lesser rank, notably economically important coal seams and laterally extensive marine bands. It includes superficial and bedrock units. It includes synonyms and other names not currently recognised by the BGS or regarded as obsolete. Full Lexicon entries include geological unit name, a persistent unique identifier, map code, currency, rank, parent unit and rank, age, lithology, definitions of boundaries, thickness, previous and alternative names, geographical extent, type localities, and bibliographical references. This dataset is a snapshot of the live database taken on the 14th September 2017.

Data links

Link Format Preview Updated
Citation Information - Digital Object Identifier (DOI) 6/8/2026

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Additional information

Source Metadata
XML, HTML
Date added
06 August 2026
Harvest GUID
59aeeb35-ca40-3738-e054-002128a47908
Extent (Latitude)
60.8600° to 49.7700°
Extent (Longitude)
-8.6500° to 1.7800°
Dataset reference date (creation)
2017-09-14
Frequency of update
notPlanned
Access constraints
The copyright of materials derived from the British Geological Survey's work is vested in the Natural Environment Research Council [NERC]. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of the copyright holder, via the BGS Intellectual Property Rights Manager. Use by customers of information provided by the BGS, is at the customer's own risk. In view of the disparate sources of information at BGS's disposal, including such material donated to BGS, that BGS accepts in good faith as being accurate, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the quality or accuracy of the information supplied, or to the information's suitability for any use. NERC/BGS accepts no liability whatever in respect of loss, damage, injury or other occurence however caused.
Responsible party
British Geological Survey (distributor, pointOfContact)
ISO 19139 resource type
dataset
Metadata language
eng