The UK foremost research agencies and institutes have come together to launch the National Research Organisations (NRO) Group. The NRO Group is a trusted partner for government, academia and industry, providing a unified and authoritative perspective on science, policy and research investment to make research matter.

The NRO Group has been formed to address fragmentation across the UK research landscape and unlock the full potential of national research organisations. This will involve clearer governance, strategic alignment and better visibility of these unique capabilities. By creating an authoritative, collegiate voice and a trusted interface, the NRO Group ensures science-based insight informs decisions and connects major national priorities to improve people lives, boost growth and ensure security and resilience, while also driving progress toward net zero and UK environmental goals.

Research and development are essential to building a better Britain. From new treatments for cancer to breakthroughs in clean energy or developing the computers of the future, the path to a stronger economy and society will be dependent on science and innovation.

There has never been a better time for the UK’s research institutes and public research bodies to pull together. By aligning their capabilities to deliver maximum impact, the NRO Group will be a key part of our efforts to ensure that science and technology benefits everyone.

Lord Vallance, Science Minister.Ìý

51ÁÔÆæ has a long history of working closely with fellow research institutes and organisations, and we are delighted to be part of the National Research Organisations Group. Geoscience has a crucial role to play in addressing societal challenges and enabling economic growth and we look forward to continuing our work as part of this initiative, delivering geoscience for benefit of society.

Dr Karen Hanghøj, BGS Director.

The NRO Group brings together many agencies and institutes that provide unique national and international capabilities. Their principal purpose is to perform curiosity-driven and focused full-time research, from searching for new antibiotics to the clean jet engines of the future. The group is underpinned by a formal partnership agreement, to generate maximum value for the economy, security and the lives of people.

I’ve worked with many national research organisations over the last 25 years and have consistently been inspired by how their science improves lives, drives growth and ensures our national security. Through the new NRO Group, we aim to do even more good for the nation and our people.

Dr Stuart Wainwright, director of the NRO Group and CEO of the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.

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At over 1000 km long and 40 km deep, the Great Glen Fault is the largest geological fault structure in the UK. As part of ground investigations for SSE Renewables’ proposed pumped hydro storage scheme at the Coire Glas site on the shores of Loch Lochy in the Highlands, deep drill core was extracted from beneath the Great Glen. BGS scientists were granted a unique opportunity to study the newly drilled fault rocks that are part of the Great Glen Fault Zone. These ‘first of their kind’ core samples have lived up to their billing, with experts claiming that they give unprecedented insight into the inner workings and behaviour of crustal-scale faults worldwide.

The Great Glen Fault formed around 400 million years ago in a massive mountain-building event, as the ancient continental plates ofÌýLaurentia (North America and Scotland) and Baltica (Scandinavia, England, Wales and Europe)Ìýcollided. This tectonic event is known as theÌý. The fault stretches from Ireland, all the way through Scotland, to Norway. Today, the fault underlies the major valley of the Great Glen, which crosses the whole of Scotland and was scoured out by glaciers during the last ice age. Generally, rocks associated with the Great Glen Fault Zone remain mostly hidden to the human eye by the waters of Loch Ness, Loch Oich and Loch Lochy, along with ice age deposits along the valley floor.

The new drill core from the Coire Glas Project offers the tantalising prospect of furthering our understanding of how these fault systems work and how fluids emerging from deep within the Earth crust change the properties of the rock. Over 1500 m of core were recovered, reaching depths of 650 m below ground level. Core was drilled on the shore of Loch Lochy and from within an underground tunnel at the base of the mountain. Drilling geological core is expensive and is normally only justifiable to such extensive depths as part of major energy or infrastructure projects. The added difficulty in relation to the Great Glen Fault is that, in addition to being located in remote parts of the Highlands, fault rock can be very weak and presents a technical challenge to drill successfully.

The new geological samples provide an opportunity to understand the geological processes happening deep in the Earth crust. This is also relevant for understanding other major crustal faults, such as the San Andreas and Anatolian faults. Several key questions remain:

• does this fault connect all the way to the Earth’s mantle, thought to be at more than 30 km depth?
• what is the source of fluids in crustal fault zones?
• how do hot fluids interact and change the mechanical properties of the rocks in a fault zone?
• how many times has the fault moved in its long geological history?
• how have the hundreds of earthquakes that likely made the fault zone changed the properties of the rock?

I have had the privilege to study the first samples of these Great Glen Fault rocks using state-of the-art microscope facilities at BGS. Our findings give strong clues as to how ancient deformation processes and fluid/rock chemical reactions caused the fault to initially weaken associated with displacements of hundreds of kilometres. Remarkably, it then appears to have been cemented following later tectonic movements that channelled deeply sourced carbonate mineralisation. Much more remains to be discovered, but it is clear that these cores have the potential to elevate the Great Glen Fault to one of the great natural laboratories for fault zone studies worldwide.

Professor Bob Holdsworth, Durham University

Newly drilled core from the Coire Glas site has provided a unique opportunity to study fundamental geological processes occurring in the UK biggest fault zone. The storage of the Coire Glas core at BGS will allow access for the scientific community and will ensure that these rocks are preserved for future generations.

Romesh Palamakumbura, BGS Geologist

SSE Renewables is delighted to support the advance in scientific understanding of the Great Glen Fault and similar structures worldwide, thanks to the core that was recovered during the ground investigation for Coire Glas.ÌýAs well as being of scientific value, the recovered core has been critical for understanding ground conditions and managing ground risk as the project progresses towards a final investment decision.

SSE Renewables

The Coire Glas core will be stored and made available for future research purposes at the 51ÁÔÆæ National Geological Repository, a bespoke facility that is publicly funded through 51ÁÔÆæ and houses the UK foremost collection of geological samples. This will enable long-term preservation of the core, allowing scientists to study and attempt to unlock its secrets long into the future.

The core has the potential to help us answer fundamental geological questions about the history of the Earth as well as better understand major crustal-scale faults in seismically active regions elsewhere. It will also enable us to understand rock properties that are important for major renewable infrastructure projects, energy storage and geothermal targets. These cylinders of rock truly are one-of-a-kind windows back into our distant geological past.

Landslides cause significant disruption to the road and rail network across Great Britain and can lead to fatalities. Identifying active slope failure is a difficult task, as monitoring is costly and time consuming, especially at a national scale.

In collaboration with the University of Florence in Italy, BGS has used a new, semi-automated method that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to identify the slopes that are actively moving, highlighting areas potentially at risk.

Previously, BGS has used interferometric synthetic aperture radar, or InSAR, for monitoring landslides. One of the benefits of InSAR is the large amount of information available, especially at a national scale; but analysing all these data present a challenge for scientists. To help tackle this problem, we have developed a semi-automated method that combines a type of AI called machine learning with clustering tools. The benefit of this approach is that we can analyse data for the whole of Great Britain, which wouldn’t have been possible before.

Results from this recent analysis highlighted around 3000 slopes that showed consistent movement of over 2.5Ìýmm per year between 2018 and 2022. These actively moving slopes affect approximately 14Ìý000Ìýkm of road and 360Ìýkm of railway — 2.4Ìýper cent and 1Ìýper cent of the entire national network, respectively.

The slopes deemed unstable are not all linked to landslides. Rather, they show the areas that should be focused on not only for future landslide research and mapping but also for the effect on local infrastructure, such as buildings and roads.

Our new, semi-automated approach supports the work of landslide specialists and provides a practical solution for large-scale geohazard management. The tool has helped to classify more than 300Ìý000 slopes around the UK and has highlighted 3000 slopes that have moved in a four-year period.

Satellite InSAR data has enormous potential for understanding ground deformation, but its complexity and the volume of data require advanced automated tools to extract meaningful information. Our semi-automated method helps bridge this gap by identifying the most critical areas to focus on, enabling efficient monitoring and helping to prevent serious damage.

Dr Alessandro Novellino, BGS remote sensing geologist

This approach already provides a powerful disaster-management tool, allowing decision makers to quickly identify areas that are currently at risk from ground motion. By highlighting these vulnerable areas, it supports smarter prioritisation of detailed field surveys, maintenance, and mitigation strategies, reducing costs and improving safety.

Next steps will focus on refining this national-scale analysis by integrating more detailed topographical data, to move from identifying unstable slopes to automatically mapping individual landslides within those slopes. This will enable more precise classification of landslide types and extents and the likely triggering mechanisms. The results will be shared with key stakeholders, including local authorities, infrastructure owners and the Natural Hazards Partnership.

Camilla Medici, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Florence

The research paper, , is now available to read.

First launched in July 2000, the BGS GeoIndex is a professional digital geological map application and receives over one million views each year.

The current iterations of the GeoIndex Onshore and GeoIndex Offshore applications are now 10 years old and approaching the end of their technical lifespans. The transition to the updated viewer has allowed us to unify the platforms into a single, streamlined tool and increase awareness of the geological data available from BGS. 

Alongside the integration of onshore and offshore data, the includes a number of other notable additions. The refreshed and upgraded user interface has been designed to enhance the user experience, with improved find and filter tools to make it easier to access the relevant data. Direct links to full records have been added to provide deeper insights and there are expanded basemap options, including the latest Ordnance Survey maps and high-resolution satellite imagery.

The beta release also includes core geological data layers, such as 625K- and 50K-scale digital geological mapping and borehole datasets, to allow for focused user testing. We are looking at eventually streamlining some of the other currently available data layers as part of the review, to ensure the new platform is as user friendly as possible.

The BGS GeoIndex is our flagship map viewer and we’ve spent the last few years planning how we can improve the application for our users.

We are excited to share this beta version for testing and to gauge users’ reactions and hope the updated interface will bring many welcome usability improvements.

Steven Richardson, BGS Geospatial Applications Developer.

We would welcome user feedback during this beta phase, and comments can be submitted through the .

Please note: commercial, research and public good level users should continue to use the existing BGS GeoIndex (onshore) and GeoIndex (offshore) applications for professional use until the new platform is formally launched.

Characterising the distribution of seabed sediments (SBS) is critical for a wide range of applications, including:

• habitat mapping
• marine ecosystem science
• mineral and aggregates assessments
• offshore infrastructure siting and monitoring
• defence
• shipping
• coastal management

51ÁÔÆæ has developed the new national-scale 51ÁÔÆæ Predictive Seabed Sediments (UK) dataset aimed at supporting these applications. The dataset comprises four digital maps that portray SBS composition, including a classified map of sediment types, as well as the predicted proportions of gravel, sand and mud across the UK continental shelf.

These detailed maps are based on about 40 000 sample measurements, as well as numerous physical covariates that relate to the spatial distribution of SBS. They were generated with the assistance of machine learning.

Understanding the nature of the seabed is fundamental for many offshore activities, from understanding benthic habitats and carbon stores to effectively designing and installing offshore infrastructure, including wind turbines and submarine cables.

Seabed sediments lie at the interface between the water column above and the variable geological substrate below. To an extent, they can be considered similar to the soil layer on land, but offshore sediments are exposed to dynamic marine conditions and are therefore potentially transitory and mobile over variable timescales, for example, during tidal, seasonal and storm cycles.

We hope that the release of the new BGS Predictive Seabed Sediments (UK) dataset will provide a useful free resource for many users, including researchers, developers and marine managers.

Dayton Dove, marine geoscientist at BGS.

The BGS Predictive Seabed Sediments (UK) dataset is now freely available to download under the Open Government Licence (OGL) and can be used in combination with other thematic 51ÁÔÆæ 250K datasets that are also now available via OGL, such as bedrock geology. It can also be used with our more recently produced, high-resolution seabed geology mapping.

The Joint Nature Conservation Committee provided initial co-funding and supported this project.

Scientists at the 51ÁÔÆæ (BGS) have published UK regional hazard maps revealing the most susceptible local authority regions around the country. The maps provide regional decision makers with an overview of the relevant hazards in their local area and provide an important indication of where more detailed hazard data may be required.

The analysis considers the occurrence of eight key geohazards relating to natural subsidence, the presence of the ground-gas radon, and the possibility of legacy mining in an area (excluding coal).

Regions in the south (Devon; Dorset; Hampshire; Kent; Surrey; Wiltshire; West Sussex) and north (Cumbria; North Yorkshire; Northumberland) of England are shown to be the most susceptible, with some regions affected by all eight hazards. The Outer Hebrides and Halton (south of Liverpool) were revealed to be the least susceptible, with exposure to three or fewer hazards.

Various geological properties and processes are associated with each hazard but the majority result in some form of ground movement, causing similar societal impacts and damage to infrastructure and homes. For example, collapsible deposits, compressible ground, running sands and shrink-swell subsidence can all result in damage to roads and pathways, breaks in utility pipes and damage to foundations and buildings. Former underground workings and soluble rocks can both cause larger underground cavities that may be prone to collapse, causing more significant and sudden movement and damage. Radon is the exception; it is a natural radioactive gas that can enter buildings from the ground and can increase the risk to human health where there is exposure to high concentrations.

Figures released by the show thousands of claims relating to ground movement such as subsidence are being made annually, costing millions of pounds to remediate. costs tens of millions pounds a year to repair and there are dramatic examples of and soluble rock collapses causing sudden and catastrophic damage to residential areas. Radon gas is linked to in the UK each year.

It is important to note that there are other active hazards such as river and coastal erosion affecting some local authority regions, not yet included in this study. 

To create these maps, BGS has simplified and summarised its geological information. In this generalised form they give an indication as to which geohazards are most prevalent per region. For a more detailed view of specific areas that are most prone to particular geohazards risks please visit the BGS data product webpages for mining hazards (non including coal), ground instability and radon gas to find out how to access higher-resolution data.

51ÁÔÆæ has compiled its most comprehensive and authoritative datasets in this way to provide the maximum support for a diverse range of stakeholders, ranging from regulators to policymakers and planners.

Presenting the data in this generalised manner provides a quick and convenient indication as to which geohazards are most prevalent by region, informing mitigation strategies and the acquisition of higher resolution data. We would encourage anyone interested in our hazard data to contact us or visit our dataset webpages for more information.

Katy Lee – BGS Product Portfolio Manager

The underlying BGS geohazard datasets from which these statistics are derived are each presented as five susceptibility classes per hazard. The summary maps shown here present statistics relating the upper three classifications which represent areas most likely to be impacted by the respective hazards. For the BGS GeoSure and mining hazard (not including coal) ground instability hazards these upper three classes represent areas where susceptibility to ground instability is possible, probable or known.  The BGS Radon Potential upper three classes cover 95 per cent of homes estimated to be at or above the threshold guideline for radon levels (200 becquerels per cubic metre).

For full details of the classification breakdown, please refer to the respective dataset product user guides:

• 51ÁÔÆæ GeoSure
• Mining hazard (not including coal)

Download the maps

• Geohazard susceptibility in each British local authority
• Most prevalent geohazards per local authority

Further information on the assessed hazards:

If you have any queries about the BGS data available to support hazard susceptibility assessments please get in touch (digitaldata@bgs.ac.uk) or visit our dataset webpages for more information.

Geothermal technologies, which use heat from the ground, have the potential to decarbonise heating and cooling, playing a role in the energy transition to net zero emissions in the UK. The ability to identify which parts of the subsurface have the necessary conditions to realise this potential is an important first step.

51ÁÔÆæ has launched the , which provides national- to local-scale information on geothermal potential across shallow and deep technology options. It allows users to explore and assess the geothermal potential of an area and make more informed decisions. The platform draws together diverse information and synthesises it to deliver the information needed by heat policy, heat networks, national zoning model and planning specialists. The platform can be used by regulators, developers and researchers.

Included in the platform is an overview of geothermal energy potential for four geothermal technologies (Great Britain coverage):

• shallow, vertical closed-loop with ground-source heat pump
• shallow open-loop with ground-source heat pump
• deep, hot sedimentary aquifers (hydrothermal)
• deep, engineered geothermal systems in granites (petrothermal)

For instance, the platform highlights that closed-loop systems can technically be deployed almost anywhere across Great Britain (local planning and regulatory constraints apply). Up to 55Ìýper cent of the population has the potential to extract up to 15Ìý000ÌýkWh of thermal energy (the typical annual energy of a gas boiler), via a single, 150 m-deep, closed-loop system.

Towns, cities and industrial sites can be assessed for the potential to retrofit geothermal technology and new development zones can be quickly assessed for strategic use of geothermal energy from the start of the development or planning cycle. For example, planned development for the Liverpool–Manchester–Leeds–Sheffield growth corridor can take advantage of multiple geothermal energy technologies.

The openly available platform features a user-friendly map explorer and a data access page that also enables you to view more detailed geoscientific information from several organisations, including BGS, the Mining Remediation Authority, environmental agencies, the North Sea Transition Authority and the UK Onshore Geophysical Library.

For the first time, the UK Geothermal Platform makes a large volume of national-scale geothermal data and information available and digitally accessible.

It supports a wide range of users in understanding at high level the potential for a range of geothermal energy options, supporting decarbonisation of heating and energy security.

Dr Alison Monaghan, head of geothermal at BGS.

The first release of the UK Geothermal Platform has been funded by the UK Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) through the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio. It is delivered and maintained by BGS.

North Lanarkshire has an industrialised past, including a significant coal mining legacy. Created by BGS alongside WSP UK and North Lanarkshire Council (NLC), the new coal mine gas risk decision-support tool helps to provide a preliminary risk assessment of coal mine gas emissions in North Lanarkshire. The tool utilises publicly available data and information from BGS and the Mining Remediation Authority on the subsurface to inform an instant risk zone rating for any 50 × 50 m grid cell within the North Lanarkshire area.

The tool is now live and being used by NLC to identify areas at potential risk of coal mine gas emissions and communicate them to relevant planning applications for new building or housing developments, helping to manage the risk.

After two years of research and development, we are pleased that the coal mine gas risk decision support tool is now live. It is underpinned by data and geoscience and enables NLC to identify and communicate potential risks so that these can be managed by planning applications for new builds.

We will continue to update and enhance the tool and hope to be able to expand it to be used by other councils across Scotland in the future to help manage risk.

Darren Beriro, principal geoscientist at BGS who led the development of the tool.

The new tool provides information about the risk of mine gas emissions on land across North Lanarkshire, helping inform development decisions and planning applications. By giving consistent, accurate information, the tool avoids the need for additional investigations where there is a negligible risk and allows development to progress more quickly. Where there is an increased risk from mine gas, the tool helps direct developers to expertise, advice and support on the actions required to address the risks and put in place controls to allow the development to progress.

Mark Findlay, pollution control and public health manager at North Lanarkshire Council.

In addition to the best available data from the BGS and MRA, WSP UK have developed Risk Zone Advisories within the tool and it is the combination of these items that enables NLC to consistently and efficiently screen and communicate preliminary risks to planning applicants and developers.

We are excited to see the tool in use after a long collaborative effort and hope to introduce it across other areas with significant coal mining legacy.

Aliyssa Glen, principal consultant at WSP who led the development of the tool within WSP.