The marine mineral resources of the UK Continental Shelf : final report

In 2011, The Crown Estate commissioned the British Geological Survey (BGS) to begin a two year research project to undertake a Mineral Resource Assessment of the UK Continental Shelf with the results being depicted as a series of maps, accompanying reports and associated GIS data. This report details the process behind the compilation of these maps. It outlines the data sources used in the project, the methodology used to compile the data, the confidence in the data and any caveats associated with the data and its use. This report focuses on the national model for sand and gravel, where relevant information on the data for other minerals is included for completeness. Knowledge of mineral resources is essential for effective and sustainable planning decisions. The marine mineral resource maps provide a comprehensive, relevant and accessible information base. This information will allow all stakeholders (planners, industry and members of the public) to visualise the distribution of offshore minerals to a common standard and at a common scale, an important requirement of an integrated marine planning system. The maps will also facilitate the conservation (safeguarding) of non-renewable mineral resources for future generations in accordance with the principles of sustainable development

The mineral resources of the East Inshore and East Offshore marine plan areas, southern North Sea

Minerals are naturally occurring raw materials essential for the development of a modern economy. However, mineral resources are finite and can only be worked where they occur. As their extraction is subject to many constraints, it is important that society uses minerals in the most efficient and sustainable manner. Identifying the distribution of known mineral resources on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) and presenting them in a consistent fashion at a national scale allows minerals to be considered in the marine spatial planning process and permits more effective and sustainable management strategies to be developed. The British Geological Survey (BGS) has undertaken a commission from The Crown Estate to prepare a series of mineral resource maps which cover the UKCS. Mineral resource information was compiled following a desk study of data held by the BGS and external sources. This report summarises the mineral resources depicted on the first of these maps - the East Inshore and East Offshore Marine Plan Areas in the southern North Sea. These are the first areas (Figure 1) for which the Marine Management Organisation is preparing marine plans (MMO, 2010). The map has been produced by the collation and interpretation of a wide range of information, much of which is spatially variable and not always available in a consistent and convenient form. The map depicts mineral resources of current or potential future economic interest in the area. It comprises a 1:500 000 scale map (which accompanies this report) depicting marine aggregate (sand and gravel) resources on the sea bed, and two 1:1 500 000 scale maps (as annexes in this report) depicting coal and evaporite resources at depth beneath the sea bed. These map scales are convenient for the overall display of the data. However, all the data are held digitally at larger scales using a Geographical Information System (GIS), which allows for revision, updating and customisation of the information, together with integration with other datasets

Mineral safeguarding areas for North York Moors National Park authority

This report describes work carried out by the British Geological Survey (BGS) on behalf of the North York Moors National Park Authority to delineate draft Mineral Safeguarding Areas (MSAs), the results of which will be used to undertake a mineral consultation safeguarding exercise. The approach taken is in accordance with the methodology outlined in ‘Mineral safeguarding in England: good practice advice’ (Wrighton et al., 2011). National policy for minerals safeguarding, at the time of the study, is contained within the ‘National Planning Policy Framework’ that was published in March 2012. The work undertaken in this study involved the production of maps showing the extent of mineral resources in the North York Moors National Park and the production of a recommended safeguarding methodology for each mineral resource informed by consultation. This report will be used to inform the establishment of MSAs through minerals planning policy, MSAs themselves are not finalised until relevant planning policy is adopted. Data depicted on the maps have been provided in digital format to the authority for use within a Geographical Information System

National geological screening : the Pennines and adjacent areas

This report is the published product of one of a series of studies covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland commissioned by Radioactive Waste Management (RWM) Ltd. The report provides geological information about the Pennines and adjacent areas region to underpin the process of national geological screening set out in the UK’s government White Paper Implementing geological disposal: a framework for the long-term management of higher activity radioactive waste (DECC, 2014). The report describes geological features relevant to the safety requirements of a geological disposal facility (GDF) for radioactive waste emplaced onshore and up to 20 km offshore at depths between 200 and 1000 m from surface. It is written for a technical audience but is intended to inform RWM in its discussions with communities interested in finding out about the potential for their area to host a GDF

Deep to shallow-marine sedimentology and impact of volcanism within the Middle Triassic Palaeo-Tethyan Semantan Basin, Singapore

The Middle Triassic Pulau Ayer Chawan Formation is a predominantly deep-marine, occasionally shallow-marine sedimentary succession, deposited in the Singapore sector of the Palaeo-Tethyan Semantan Basin. The formation provides an important record of the dynamic interplay between a siliciclastic sedimentary system and the products of an adjacent active volcanic arc. It is characterised by six sub-environments, including: deep-marine turbidite fan, deep-marine background sedimentation, subaqueous debris cone, shallow-marine, volcanically-sourced turbidite fan, and hyaloclastite mound or ridge. Turbidite fan deposits preserve the input of both siliciclastic and volcaniclastic sediments from the shelf, transported into the deep-marine environment by a suite of subaqueous sediment gravity flow processes, including: turbidity currents; mixed flow types (hybrid event beds); concentrated and hyper concentrated sediment gravity flows, and debris flows. Thick heterolithic successions of debrites were likely sourced through regular collapse of an unstable shelf. The presence of hybrid event beds, encountered within the deep-marine turbidite fans, supports a slope that was out-of-grade, and may have been actively retreating towards the hinterland. Together, these factors suggest regional-scale uplift of the eastern margins of the Semantan Basin during Triassic times, most likely facilitated through volcanic activity in the adjacent Palaeo-Tethys Sukhothai Arc. Evidence for contemporaneous, arc-related magmatism includes ubiquitous volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks within formation, including pyroclastic density current deposits and perhaps more-strikingly through the hyaloclastites of the Nanyang Member. The hyaloclastites formed through quenching of magmas delivered into the deep-marine setting from a series of sub-sea vents or mounds

Paleozoic to Cenozoic sedimentary bedrock geology and lithostratigraphy of Singapore

A new lithostratigraphical framework for Singapore is proposed, based on the analysis of c. 20,000 m of core recovered from 121 c. 205 m deep boreholes and augmented with 218 field localities from across Singapore. The new framework describes a succession dating from the Carboniferous to the Quaternary. New U-Pb detrital zircon dates and fossil analysis were used to constrain the ages of key sedimentary units. The oldest known sedimentary rocks in Singapore are found to be the deformed Carboniferous (Mississippian) Sajahat Formation. These are succeeded by the newly erected, Middle and Upper Triassic, marine to continental Jurong Group and Sentosa Group successions that accumulated in the southern part of the Semantan Basin. The Jurong Group comprises four formations: the Tuas Formation, the Pulau Ayer Chawan Formation, the Pandan Formation and the Boon Lay Formation. The Sentosa Group contains two formations: the Tanjong Rimau Formation and the Fort Siloso Formation. In Singapore, the depositional record during this time is related to late Permian to Triassic arc magmatism in the southern part of the forearc basin to the Sukhothai Arc. The Jurong and Sentosa groups were deformed and weakly metamorphosed during the final stages of the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic orogenic event, deformation that led to the formation of the syn-orogenic conglomerates of the Buona Vista Formation. Following this, two distinct Lower Cretaceous sedimentary successions overstepped the Jurong and Sentosa group strata, including the Kusu Formation and the Bukit Batok Formation, both deposited in the southern part of the Tembeling Basin. A series of Neogene to Quaternary formations overly the Mesozoic and Palaeozoic stratigraphy, including the Fort Canning Formation, Bedok Formation and the Kallang Group

National geological screening : Bristol and Gloucester region

This report is the published product of one of a series of studies covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland commissioned by Radioactive Waste Management (RWM) Ltd. The report provides geological information about the Bristol and Gloucester region to underpin the process of national geological screening set out in the UK’s government White Paper Implementing geological disposal: a framework for the longterm management of higher activity radioactive waste (DECC, 2014). The report describes geological features relevant to the safety requirements of a geological disposal facility (GDF) for radioactive waste emplaced onshore and up to 20 km offshore at depths between 200 and 1000 m from surface. It is written for a technical audience but is intended to inform RWM in its discussions with communities interested in finding out about the potential for their area to host a GDF

National geological screening : South-West England region

This report is the published product of one of a series of studies covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland commissioned by Radioactive Waste Management (RWM) Ltd. The report provides geological information about the South-west England region to underpin the process of national geological screening set out in the UK Government’s White Paper Implementing geological disposal: a framework for the long-term management of higher activity radioactive waste (DECC, 2014). The report describes geological features relevant to the safety requirements of a geological disposal facility (GDF) for radioactive waste emplaced onshore and up to 20 km offshore at depths between 200 and 1000 m from surface. It is written for a technical audience but is intended to inform RWM in its discussions with communities interested in finding out about the potential for their area to host a GDF

National geological screening : Central England region

This report is the published product of one of a series of studies covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland commissioned by Radioactive Waste Management (RWM) Ltd. The report provides geological information about the Central England region to underpin the process of national geological screening set out in the UK Government’s White Paper Implementing geological disposal: a framework for the long-term management of higher activity radioactive waste (DECC, 2014). The report describes geological features relevant to the safety requirements of a geological disposal facility (GDF) for radioactive waste emplaced onshore and up to 20 km offshore at depths between 200 and 1000 m from surface. It is written for a technical audience but is intended to inform RWM in its discussions with communities interested in finding out about the potential for their area to host a GDF