EGDI Marine Geology
About two-thirds of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. In line with this, Europe’s seas cover about 15 million square kilometres, 50 per cent more than its land area. Given the high cost of collecting marine data, it comes as no surprise that only a fraction of the ocean floor has been surveyed. From trenches that are more than five kilometres deep to coastal waters with intermittently dry intertidal margins, vast areas still need to be explored.
Both spatially and thematically, there are enormous gaps in accessible information. Filling these gaps is essential because the marine environment is becoming ever more valuable as a resource. Aside from enabling or supporting traditional activities such as fishing, global trade, hydrocarbon extraction, and sand mining, it provides valuable space for giant windfarms that are controversial onshore. The seabed is also home to some of the largest reserves of metals and rare-earth elements used in solar panels and wind turbines. Mining these with as little impact as possible is a significant challenge.
Marine geological data is instrumental in preventing or mitigating pollution and in shedding light on the likelihood of potential geohazards such as submarine volcanic eruptions, storm surges, and earthquake- and landslide-related tsunamis. They matter not only in the highly dynamic coastal zone, where onshore and offshore human activities put enormous pressure on the environment, but also in deep oceans, far away from where we live.
In EGS, these topics are addressed by the Marine Geology Expert Group.
On EGDI, a number of layers about Marine Geology are present, primarily from the European Observation and Data network (EMODnet). See, for example, Seabed Substrates.
Marine geology for coastal resilience and sustainable offshore use
Marine geology provides insights into Europe’s coastal zones and offshore environments, where human activities and natural processes interact in highly dynamic settings. EGDI helps users discover harmonised marine and coastal geology information and related metadata, enabling consistent cross-border use for research, planning and communication.
Key coastal challenges supported by this theme
- Coastal vulnerability: geological and geomorphological context supporting coastal sensitivity assessments.
- Coastal flooding and extreme sea levels: data layers that help contextualise impacts and adaptation planning.
- Coastal erosion and shoreline change: seabed/coastal material and settings that influence erosion patterns.
- Sea level rise: background information supporting risk discussion and long-term coastal management.
What EGDI provides for Marine Geology
- Map layers for visual exploration in the EGDI ecosystem, including marine geology layers that reference contributions such as EMODnet Geology (e.g., seabed substrates).
- Structured metadata to understand coverage, methods, scale/resolution and constraints before reuse.
- Connections to tools (Map Viewer, Data Search, Metadata Catalogue) so users can move from a topic to specific layers and records.
Typical use cases
- Coastal planning and adaptation: support background geological context for resilience measures and coastal management.
- Offshore environmental assessment: improve understanding of seabed setting and constraints for offshore activities.
- Research and education: reliable European-scale context and discoverability across providers.
Recommended workflow (3 steps)
- Explore marine/coastal layers in the EGDI Map Viewer and identify the layers relevant to your coastline or offshore area.
- Check metadata records in the Geological Metadata Catalogue to confirm suitability (methods, scale, constraints).
- Use Data Search to discover related datasets and documentation for deeper analysis.
