Quaternary Heterogeneities: geospatial products for scientists, industry and decision making

Glaciation and permafrost has had a profound impact upon the UK landscape during the Quaternary. Their impact is most relevant within the ‘zone of human interaction’, the surface and near-surface parts of the geological record that humans utilise and exploit for societal and economic gain (e.g. infrastructure development, groundwater, energy, storage and minerals). However, whilst the broad range of glacial and periglacial processes that have affected the UK are known, their spatial influence on the applied properties of the substrate are poorly-understood but have major implications for ground conditions and civil engineering. This lack of understanding is partly due to the complexity of the geological evidence, point or linear approaches to geological investigation and ‘lithostratigraphic’ approaches that have largely-overlooked the significance of heterogeneous products of glaciation and permafrost. Within this project, we are developing a range of national-scale GIS datasets that will highlight the ‘known’ distribution of specific ‘Quaternary Heterogeneities’ in the shallow sub-surface and identify zones of extrapolated susceptibility in areas where data coverage is limited using a series of genetic and geostatistical rules. Spatial data-sets are currently in development for glaciotectonic structure, buried valleys, drift-filled hollows, blockfields and frost weathering. These datasets are aimed at both scientific and applied users (e.g. civil engineers, insurers, hydrogeologists, planners and decision makers), enhancing scientific understanding of glacial and periglacial processes and their spatial influence on the properties of the landscape and sub-surface.