OR/14/027 Modelled volume, purpose and scale

Hulbert A G, Terrington R L. 2015. Metadata report for the south-west Pennine Basin and adjacent area 1:250 000 resolution geological model. British Geological Survey Internal Report, OR/14/027.

Figure 1 Modelled area (in red) Topological Map - Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2014.

This is a faulted GOCAD® regional model extending from north-east Wales in the west to Nottingham in the east and from Birmingham in the south to Manchester in the north (Figure 1). The model was constructed from digital data compiled for the south-west Pennines and adjacent area Subsurface Memoir (Smith et al., 2005). The results of the study are contained in the 1:625 000 scale structure contour, preserved thickness and subcrop maps (Figures 2 and 3) that accompany the Subsurface Memoir, so the data and model generated is regional to national in scale.

The model was developed as part of the Regional UK Lithoframe Programme, the aim of which was to convert the structural data interpreted in the subsurface memoirs into 3D models. Other models in this series include the Craven Basin, the Northumberland-Solway Basin, the East Midlands region of the Pennine Basin and Weald Basin models. The south-west Pennine Basin model provides an understanding of the regional bedrock structure in west central England (particularly for the Carboniferous rocks) and extends from +800 to -7200m OD.

As the south-west Pennine Basin Model was derived from digital data compiled for the Regional Subsurface Memoir series, tasks such as drawing seismic interpretation to well control have already been performed. This document describes the process of creating a GOCAD® model from derived digital contour data.

Figure 2 Example structural contour map of the Caledonian Unconformity from the south-west Pennine Basin Subsurface Memoir (Smith et al., 2005).

Figure 3 Modelled Caledonian Unconformity surface (depth range in metres).