The wider scientific community is set to benefit from Forewind’s years of surveys and research, as the organisation donates all the core samples collected on Dogger Bank to a national science facility today.
The core samples, cylindrical soil sections extracted from the seabed, will be entrusted to the National Geological Repository (NGR), located at the British Geological Survey headquarters in Nottinghamshire, for use by anyone with an interest, from consultants and contractors to academics and students researching within a wide range of earth sciences.
Contractors carried out detailed geophysical (seabed and sub-seabed) surveys; seabed sampling and video traverses; geotechnical testing, and meteorological, oceanographic and wind monitoring to select the most appropriate sites.
The work included more than 170 cone penetration tests to assess the properties of the seabed and sub-seabed soils, and 71 boreholes, to collect soil and water samples. The core samples to be donated to the NGR were extracted from the seabed as part of the borehole tests undertaken by contractor Fugro GeoConsulting.
Graham Tulloch, Scottish Collections Administrator from British Geological Survey said that the donation of the cores and samples collected by Forewind will augment those currently held in the NGR.
“The addition of a large number of boreholes within a closely defined area will add to the unique asset held by the British Geological Survey,” he said. “Additionally the sample locations will be added to the web based geographic information system, which will make them highly visible to researchers studying this area.”