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Marine geotechnical data from around the UK (1975 onwards)

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

Summary

Results of geotechnical testing carried out, at various depth intervals, on shallow cores or boreholes collected by BGS from the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS). The bulk of the data north of 56N are in digital form and result from testing carried out onboard survey vessels using hand-held test equipment (penetrometers and shear vanes). These values are averaged for each test interval, and are expressed in kilopascals (kPa). There are approximately 6,000 test results in the dataset. Some more detailed test information, in non-digital and report form, is held for selected sites. For most sites where digital data are not available, geological descriptions of core material contain semi-quantitative information on the stiffness of the material. Geotechnical knowledge is required to understand and interpret the results if they are to be used as a basis for engineering studies. Core material is managed as part of the BGS materials collection and is available for examination, testing or subsampling. The data are stored as part of the National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC) and the Marine Environmental Data and Information Network (MEDIN) Data Archive Centre (DAC) for geology and geophysics. Data are delivered via the 'Offshore samples: geotechnical data' layer on the BGS GeoIndex. Reference: Fannin, NGT. (1989) Offshore Investigations 1966-87. British Geological Survey Technical Report WB/89/2, British Geological Survey.

Data links

Link Format Preview Updated
GeoIndex_Offshore_offshore_data 13/8/2026
GeoIndex_Offshore_offshore_data 13/8/2026
GeoIndex Offshore HTML 13/8/2026

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Additional information

Source Metadata
XML, HTML
Date added
13 August 2026
Harvest GUID
c35e3405-9dae-6d8b-e044-0003ba9b0d98
Extent (Latitude)
64.0000° to 55.0000°
Extent (Longitude)
-10.0000° to 2.0000°
Dataset reference date (creation)
1975
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