OR/14/045 Model limitations

From MediaWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Price, S J, and Waters, C N. 2014. Model metadata report for Swansea-Neath-Port-Talbot. British Geological Survey Internal Report, OR/14/045.

There has been no quantitative assessment of model uncertainty undertaken for the Swansea-Neath-Port-Talbot 3D geological model. A qualitative assessment of the limitations of the geological model is described in Table 5.

Table 5    Limitations within the Swansea-Neath-Port-Talbot 3D geological model
Limitation Description
1 The 3D geological model provides a city-wide assessment of the thickness, distribution and geometry of natural and artificial superficial deposits. It is not intended for site-specific use or as a replacement for ground investigation.
2 Borehole data distribution. Boreholes were selected for the creation of the 3D geological model on the basis of those that were previously selected for interpretation and coding. There are many more boreholes available in the region that could be interpreted and used to update the 3D geological model.
3 Of those digital borehole data selected, they are generally distributed along linear routes within and crossing the Swansea and Neath Valleys or in small clusters associated with local development including Swansea docks. Further borehole selection, processing and coding should be focused on increasing the density and distribution of data in-between those areas. The distribution of boreholes and the location of cross-sections considered in the creation of the 3D geological model of superficial deposits is shown in Figure 2.
4 Artificially modified ground is not subdivided. Classification and subdivision on the basis of lithology, age and geomorphology would improve the representation of made ground and other classes of artificially modified ground.
5 Coastal and estuarine deposits are not subdivided. It may be possible to further subdivide this unit to differentiate variation in lithology.
6 The geological model was constructed using baseline digital geological data published in 2002. It could be updated to consider its integration with recent published digital geological map data.
7 The offshore extent of natural superficial deposits is unknown as marine borehole records were unavailable during model construction.
Figure 2 Location of cross-sections and boreholes considered for the creation of the Swansea-Neath-Port-Talbot 3D geological model of superficial deposits. Red borehole locations — boreholes considered in the creation of the 3D geological model but not included on cross-sections, as of 2002. Blue borehole locations — boreholes selected and considered in the creation of cross-sections. Cross-section locations shown in green.