Environmental geology maps of Bath and the surrounding area for engineers and planners
AbstractIn March 1984 the British Geological Survey commenced an environmental geological study of parts of west Wiltshire and south east Avon for the Department of the Environment. The objective of this study was to collect the available geological data relevant to the area, and to present them as a series of thematic maps accompanied by a descriptive report and a database/archive of the data used.The output is intended to be used by land-use planners. It is designed simultaneously to be understandable by people not trained in geology and yet to contain detailed information required by specialists concerned with the environment and its development. The 14 maps which were produced describe themes which include solid lithostratigraphy, drift deposits, the inferred distribution of Great Oolite Freestone, the inferred distribution of fuller’s earth, groundwater, ground conditions in relation to groundwater, geotechnical properties of bedrock and superficial deposits, landslipped and cambered strata, distribution of slope angle, and mining.Although the task was primarily a desk study, it was found necessary to carry out a small amount of field survey to re-interpret the foundered strata to the north-west of Bath. This re-survey has been presented in a style consistent with the mapping of the rest of the study area. A fifteenth map showing the result of the re-interpretation of the foundered strata was produced as a supplement to the main report.This paper describes the methods and the results of this study and comments on the implications of the technique for land-use planning.