BGS Seabed Geology 10k: Offshore Yorkshire version 1.0

The BGS Seabed Geology 10k: Offshore Yorkshire digital map provides detailed and accurate characterisation of the seabed geology, based on seabed and shallow-subsurface data. This dataset incorporates three complementary map components (Substrate Geology, Structural Geology, and Geomorphology) presented at 1:10 000 scale, provided as discrete layers for viewing within a Geographic Information System (GIS). The bedrock geology comprises Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous sedimentary rocks, with bedrock commonly outcropping in the northern and central parts of the map area. Triassic rocks of the Bacton, Haisborough, and Lias Groups are dominant in the north, whereas Cretaceous Chalk is dominant in the central areas. Extensive folding, fracturing, and faulting are observed at rockhead, indicative of the complex structural evolution of the Southern North Sea Basin. Superficial deposits comprise several Quaternary deposits, in particular, Late Pleistocene subglacial till of the Bolders Bank Formation. Post-glacial channel-infill deposits are also common as well as Holocene through modern unconsolidated marine sediments. The seabed geomorphology records a range of relict and active processes, including bedrock ‘Bedding ridges’, Late Pleistocene ‘Ice-marginal moraines’, and active marine sedimentary current-induced bedforms (e.g. ‘Sediment Waves’). Each theme is provided as distinct layers for viewing within a Geographic Information System (GIS). The “Substrate Geology” layer shows the distribution of bedrock and unlithified superficial deposits present at the seabed (below a thin veneer of seabed sediments, ‘one-metre principle’ described below) as a series of polygons; The “Structural Geology” layer represents the structural features observed at rockhead as a polylines layer, and “Geomorphology” theme consists of points, polylines, and polygons layers to portray the main seabed morphological and geomorphological features.