The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...

by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. The BGS

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

are in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, England. Its other centres are located in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Wallingford,

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

and London. The current tagline of the BGS is: ''Understanding our Earth''.

History and previous names

The Geological Survey was founded in 1835 by the

Board of Ordnance The Board of Ordnance was a British government body. Established in the Tudor period, it had its headquarters in the Tower of London. Its primary responsibilities were 'to act as custodian of the lands, depots and forts required for the defence ...

as the Geological Survey of Great Britain, under directorship of

Henry De la Beche Sir Henry Thomas De la Beche KCB, FRS (10 February 179613 April 1855) was an English geologist and palaeontologist, the first director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, who helped pioneer early geological survey methods. He was the ...

. This was the world's first national geological survey. It remained a branch of the

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

for many years. In 1965, it was merged with the

Geological Museum The Geological Museum (originally the Museum of Economic Geology then the Museum of Practical Geology) was a museum of geology in London. It started in 1835, making it one of the oldest public single science collections in the world. It transfe ...

and Overseas Geological Surveys, under the name of Institute of Geological Sciences. In 1969,

Beris Cox Beris Mary Cox (2 August 1948–19 February 2023) was a British biostratigrapher and palaeontologist. She specialised in Jurassic era invertebrate macrofaunas, particularly ammonites, in the context of biozonization and chronostratigraphy. ...

was the first female palaeontologist employed by the IGS. On 1 January 1984, the institute was renamed the British Geological Survey (and often referred to as the BGS), a name still carried today. Since 1835, there have been 20 directors of the survey. In 2019, Karen Hanghøj was the first woman appointed to lead the survey. From the 1860s, the survey in Scotland operated under the identity of the Geological Survey of Scotland. Starting in 1975, female officers of the survey no longer had to resign upon getting married.

Competences

The BGS advises the

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

on all aspects of geoscience, as well as providing impartial advice on

geological Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...

matters to the public, academics and industry. BGS is a component body of

UK Research and Innovation UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom that directs research and innovation funding, funded through the science budget of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology ...

which "works in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and government to create the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish". The core outputs of the BGS include geological,

geophysical Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...

geochemical Geochemistry is the science that uses the tools and principles of chemistry to explain the mechanisms behind major geological systems such as the Earth's crust and its oceans. The realm of geochemistry extends beyond the Earth, encompassing the ...

and

hydrogeological Hydrogeology (''hydro-'' meaning water, and ''-geology'' meaning the study of the Earth) is the area of geology that deals with the distribution and movement of groundwater in the soil and rocks of the Earth's crust (commonly in aqui ...

maps A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...

, descriptions and related digital databases. Scientists at the BGS produced the first comprehensive map of African groundwater reserves. One of the key strategic aims for the next

decade A decade (from , , ) is a period of 10 years. Decades may describe any 10-year period, such as those of a person's life, or refer to specific groupings of calendar years. Usage Any period of ten years is a "decade". For example, the statement ...

is to complete the transition from

2-D 2D or 2-D may refer to: Related to two dimensions * Two-dimensional space * Two-dimensional Euclidean space * 2D geometric model * 2D computer graphics * 2D animation, or traditional animation * Two-dimensional correlation analysis Other uses ...

mapping to a 3-D modelling, to understand the 'architecture' of the subsurface. The current five-year strategy identifies four key priorities for the BGS: 'maps and models for the 21st century; a more secure energy transition; improved water security; and living with geological hazards'. The BGS has an annual budget of £57 million, about half of which comes from the government's science budget, with the remainder coming from commissioned research from the public and private sectors.

Northern Ireland

The Geological Survey of Northern Ireland (GSNI) is part of

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Department for the Economy The Department for the Economy (DfE, ) is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the department is the Minister for the Economy. DfE was renamed in 2 ...

(DfE). The British Geological Survey provides staff, under contract to DfE, for the GSNI.

References

External links

*
BGS Earthwise: The digital publication channel for the British Geological Survey

Landslides at BGS.ac.uk
{{authority control 1835 establishments in the United Kingdom Geological surveys Geology of the United Kingdom Natural Environment Research Council National geological agencies Scientific organizations established in 1835 Rushcliffe Science and technology in Nottinghamshire

History and previous names

Competences

Northern Ireland

See also

References

External links