British Geological Survey
The British Geological Survey ( BGS ) is a partly publicly-funded body which aims to promote the geoscientific knowledge of British land surface and the upstream continental shelf, by performing a systematic recording, monitoring and research. The headquarters of the BGS in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, various other offices are located in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Eskdalemuir, Gilmerton, Hartland, Lerwick, Loanhead, London and Wallingford. The current motto of the BGS is: Geoscience for decision making (Earth Science as a basis for decisions). The current Director of the BGS is John Ludden and thus the supervisor of 730 employees of that authority.
History
The Geological Survey was founded in 1835 by Henry Thomas de la Bèche as Ordnance Geological Survey, he is therefore the world's oldest geological service. 1965, the Ordnance Geological Survey was merged with the Geological Museum and the Overseas Geological Surveys under the name of " Institute of Geological Sciences". On January 1, 1984, it has been renamed to " British Geological Survey ."
Since the year 2009, the Directorate is in the William Smith Building in Keyworth. The official opening of this energy-efficient ( BREEAM ) structure was carried out on 25 June, with the participation of a member of the British royal family. The building was clad with elements of cedar and terracotta, the thermal insulation is ensured by sheep wool items. The partially curved window panes made of ethylene - tetrafluoroethylene.
Tasks
The BGS advises the British Government on all geoscientific questions and available to the public, academia as well as industry as an impartial adviser on such issues available. The BGS is a sub-organization of the Natural Environment Research Council ( NERC ), which is the UK's leading organization in the field of environmental science and is responsible for basic as well as strategic monitoring and exploration of the environment.
The main areas of work of the BGS include editing of geological, geophysical, geochemical and hydrogeological maps, the publishing of regional geological descriptions and the provision of related topics with this digital data and databases. One of the main objectives of the BGS for the next decade is the transition from two-dimensional cartography in three-dimensional data acquisition and modeling using CAD and GIS systems.
The BGS has an annual budget of 57 million pounds. One half of it comes from the science budget of the government, the other half generated by the BGS contract work for public and private clients.