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BGS Petrological Collection Database (Britrocks)

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

Summary

The Britrocks database provides an index to the BGS mineralogical & petrological collection. The computer database covers samples in the UK onshore mapping collection together with world wide reference minerals and the Museum Reserve collection. Currently circa 200k out of circa 300k samples are recorded in the computer database. A collection audit is ongoing, so availability of any particular sample is not guaranteed. The first England and Wales collection sample is from circa 1877, Threshthwaite Comb, Cumbria (collected by the Reverend Clifton Ward). The addition of new samples, transfer of records from registers and updates of existing records is ongoing on a regular basis. Internet access to the database is provided on the BGS web site.

Data links

Link Format Preview Updated
GeoIndex Onshore HTML 13/8/2026
BGS rock collections - Search form 13/8/2026
BRITROCKS: mineralogy and petrology collections database - Homepage 13/8/2026

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Additional information

Source Metadata
XML, HTML
Date added
13 August 2026
Harvest GUID
9df8df51-6320-37a8-e044-0003ba9b0d98
Extent (Latitude)
90.0000° to -90.0000°
Extent (Longitude)
-180.0000° to 180.0000°
Dataset reference date (creation)
1986
Frequency of update
irregular
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