752f87721f421608bb9bc4667ced5bff English series series NatureScot (HQ Inverness) data_supply@nature.scot pointOfContact 2025-06-10 MEDIN 3.1.2 EPSG Geodetic Parameter Registry 2021-01-06 revision WGS 84 NatureScot Geodatabase of Marine features adjacent to Scotland (GeMS) dataset 2023-01-01 publication GEMS V10 (i26) Version Records are attributed as to their qualification as protected geodiversity features of protected areas within the Scottish MPA network. Contains key geodiversity areas, Quaternary of Scotland, Submarine Mass Movement, Marine Geomorphology of the Scottish Deep Ocean Seabed, Seabed Fluid and Gas Seep, Cenozoid Structures of the Atlantic Margin, Marine Geomorphology of the Scottish Shelf Seabed, Coastal Geomorphology of Scotland, Biogenic Structures of the Scottish Seabed and Longitudinal Bedform Features. In comparison with the terrestrial environment, the conservation of geodiversity (the variety of geological and geomorphological features and processes) in the marine environment has been largely overlooked, despite a great wealth of accumulated information and clear links between many terrestrial and marine features. Legislation introduced through the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 and the UK Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 includes provisions for marine geoconservation in waters adjacent to Scotland (Marine Scotland, 2011a,b). NatureScot (HQ Inverness) NatureScot Data Manager data_supply@nature.scot owner Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), Headquaters Data Manager 01463 725000 data_supply@nature.scot owner NatureScot (HQ Inverness) NatureScot Data Manager data_supply@nature.scot custodian Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), Headquaters Data Manager 01463 725000 data_supply@nature.scot originator NatureScot (HQ Inverness) NatureScot Data Manager data_supply@nature.scot distributor continual Marine Environmental Data and Information Network MEDIN metadata record availability 2025-06-10 revision NDGO0005 NDGO0005 2025-06-10 revision Elevation Geology Hydrography GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0 2021-09-28 revision Coastal geomorphology Depositional environment Geological sample density Ice motion and related parameters Lithology Rock age Sediment age Sedimentary structure SeaDataNet Parameter Discovery Vocabulary 2021-09-28 revision otherRestrictions Not for navigational use; SNH copyright data which is available for re-use under government licence terms: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ otherRestrictions no restrictions to public access English 8-bit variable size UCS Transfer Format, based on ISO/IEC 10646 elevation geoscientificInformation oceans -23.1372 2.2632 54.0078 62.9352 SeaVox salt and freshwater body gazetteer 2021-01-06 creation Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland SeaVox salt and freshwater body gazetteer 2021-01-06 creation Irish Sea SeaVox salt and freshwater body gazetteer 2021-01-06 creation North Atlantic Ocean SeaVox salt and freshwater body gazetteer 2021-01-06 creation North Sea Charting Progress 2 Sea Areas 2021-01-06 creation Atlantic North-West Approaches and Rockall Trough Charting Progress 2 Sea Areas 2021-01-06 creation Irish Sea Charting Progress 2 Sea Areas 2021-01-06 creation Minches and Western Scotland Charting Progress 2 Sea Areas 2021-01-06 creation Northern North Sea Charting Progress 2 Sea Areas 2021-01-06 creation Scottish Continental Shelf 2024-01-01 SeaVoX Vertical Co-ordinate Coverages 2021-01-06 revision abyssobenthic SeaVoX Vertical Co-ordinate Coverages 2021-01-06 revision bathybenthic SeaVoX Vertical Co-ordinate Coverages 2021-01-06 revision circalittoral SeaVoX Vertical Co-ordinate Coverages 2021-01-06 revision deep circalittoral SeaVoX Vertical Co-ordinate Coverages 2021-01-06 revision infralittoral SeaVoX Vertical Co-ordinate Coverages 2021-01-06 revision littoral SeaVoX Vertical Co-ordinate Coverages 2021-01-06 revision soil and sediment SeaVoX Vertical Co-ordinate Coverages 2021-01-06 revision upper slope Brooks, Roberts, Kenyon and Houghton (2009). Accessing and developing the required biophysical datasets and data layers for Marine Protected Areas network planning and wider marine spatial planning purposes. ABP Marine Envionmental Research Ltd. Report Number 8; Task 2A: Mapping of Geological and Geomorphological Features. MB102 Marine Biodiversity R&D Programme. Contract administered by Defra. Defra, London; Gordon, J.E., Brooks, A.J., Rennie, A.G., James, B.D., Chaniotis, P.D., Kenyon, N.H., Leslie, A.B., Database Geodatabase Geographic Information System WFS / WMS https://opendata.nature.scot/datasets/0e722e3e911e424f8dacac5a587c0dfb GeMS Data portal download series Commission Regulation (EU) No 1089/2010 of 23 November 2010 implementing Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards interoperability of spatial data sets and services 2010-12-08 publication true From Brooks, et al. 2009: The mapping of seabed features was achieved following an extensive literature search for information on geomorphological and geological features in UK Continental Shelf waters and UK Territorial Waters. (The territorial waters of the Isle of Man were also included). Principal information sources included: -BGS 1:250 000 seabed sediment maps; -Scientific journal articles; -DTI Strategic Environmental Assessment Reports; -Various BGS publications (e.g. United Kingdom Offshore Regional Geology Reports, GEOSYNTH, The Eastern English Channel Marine Habitat Map etc); -The Coastal Geomorphology of Great Britain (GCR) series; -Published datasets e.g. BRITICE glacial features GIS database (Clark et al., 2004); English Heritage intertidal and coastal peat database (Hazell, 2008); JNCC submerged/partially submerged caves dataset (JNCC, 2007) -Institute of Oceanographic Sciences Publications (published and unpublished reports); and -UK Estuaries Database. A complete reference list of literature used in the compilation of the data layers is included in Appendix II of Brooks, et al. (2009). The approach to the mapping of seabed features adopted here focused on the consideration of publications which themselves have identified features. No attempt was made to identify geological or geomorphological features from raw, unprocessed survey data. Identified features have been classified into one of five Geomorphological/ Geological process units: 1. Glacial Process Features; 2. Marine Process Features; 3. Mass Movement Features; 4. Features indicating past change in relative sea level; and 5. Geological Process Features. Within each process unit, several process unit sub-categories were identified, each containing individual (or fields of) features. As with the main process units, these sub-divisions were based on similarities in the way in which the features have formed. Nationally and internationally important coastal sites have previously been identified through the Geological Conservation Review (GCR) (Ellis et al., 1996) and protected with Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). In total, there are approximately 100 GCR sites which belong to the Coastal Geomorphology GCR block and these have been included as a separate data layer (see Appendix V for site details). Whilst the vast majority of the coastal GCR sites have only been considered in detail above the low water mark, it is likely that many of the features or strata that are responsible for the award of GCR status will extend seaward. However, detailed site-specific sub-tidal mapping is absent from these sites and it is therefore impossible to identify their seaward extent. As such, the locations of these sites have only been indicated as a point on the shore. These GCR sites have not been incorporated into the five process units. This is because they have been established on the basis of assemblages of geomorphological and/or geological features whilst this project focused on the mapping of individual features (or fields of small features such as sand waves). The mapped geological and geomorphological features included in the GIS layers were derived from either previously developed GIS layers (e.g. the Irish Sea Pilot), scanned images sourced from hardcopy reports/papers etc or images clipped from electronic reports/publications. ArcGIS 9.3 was used to georeference each image into the correct geographic space using crosshair points of known spatial locations on each image. This process was completed using a minimum of 4 correction points however to enhance the spatial accuracy in this project, 10 or more correction points were commonly established. Where possible, UKHO Admiralty Charts and/or a digital bathymetric grid (defined on a 0.0017x0.0017 decimal degree grid) were used to more accurately fix the position of the digitised feature. Potential error sources introduced through spatial inaccuracies in the mapping process included: -The original image may contain existing inaccuracies; -Error may be introduced during the printing, photocopying and scanning of images; -Georeferencing may contain accuracy errors; -Inaccurate digitisation as a result of the source image being of low spatial resolution; -Inaccurate digitisation as a result of human error; -The georeferenced image may not be in WGS 1984 geographic projection. Conversion between projections in ArcGIS may introduce an additional spatial error term. Quantification of the overall accuracy error term is problematic. However, where possible, information has been provided to help users make a relative judgment on the precision and accuracy of the mapped feature. Information on the nominal scale of the source map is given in the feature attribute table whilst further details are also included in the accompanying metadata (which are provided in .xml format and conform to the internationally recognised MEDIN standard, see MEDIN (2009)). Despite the above, these spatial error terms need to be viewed both in the wider context of the mapping exercise and in particular, the specific features being mapped. It is the case that a large proportion of the mapped features have had their positions corroborated by either (digital) UKHO Admiralty Charts or with a digital bathymetric grid. In such instances, positional accuracy will almost certainly be well within 1km. Features that have not had their positions cross-checked may have a spatial error term in excess of 1km. It is worth noting that the vast majority of features that fall within this category either cover a significant geographical area (e.g. a sediment drift), have a diffuse or poorly defined boundary (e.g. a prograding wedge) and/or are transient (e.g. a sand wave field). Mapped features were derived from a large number of different georeferenced images which have been compiled at a range of scales. The largest scale Admiralty Charts used to map features were the 1:75 000 series. The smallest seabed features mapped were sand waves. Owing to time constraints, these features were mapped as bedform fields and this approach was repeated elsewhere in the mapping of other small and meso-scale bedforms (e.g. sand ribbons, gravel furrows, ice-berg plough marks etc) found during the study. A number of the original Irish Sea Pilot (Vincent et al., 2004) GIS layers were incorporated although these have been updated with more recent published research carried out in the period 2003 to 2009 (see Appendix II for details). Each identified feature has an associated attribute table accessible within the GIS. Full details of the attribute table structure are provided within Appendix VI. All the GIS layers have been generated using ArcGIS 9.3 and contain shape files which have been mapped using a WGS 1984 geographic coordinate system.