Development of a national geophysical log data archive: legacy data as a national asset

Whenever questions around the UK deep subsurface are posed, geophysical log data form the cornerstone of understanding the issues and providing answers. The UK National Hydrocarbon data archive has been created incrementally and piecemeal over an extended period; originally derived from data collected on a project by project basis, this is now a significant archive from data deposits increasing in both volume and complexity. Critical datasets include: 1. Radioactive waste data: geographically limited but high quality data which form an excellent test data for complex analytical techniques. 2. UK Coal data archives: lower quality and highly diverse. 3. DECC UK onshore oil database: Widespread across the UK and of ever-increasing quality. Future requirements cannot be predicted, UK shale gas was not on the government’s radar a decade ago. Repurposing legacy geophysical log data provides UK PLC the capacity to understand the subsurface, influence decision and policy making, and highlight opportunities that may arise. Continuity of data collections can be damaged in an environment where records can disappear when companies failures. Crucial to preventing this are enforced standards and national data archival policies. These ensure that BGS are positioned to deliver synthesis studies as UK national needs develop.