The data set includes meta data from sedimentary samples taken within the exclusive economic zone of Germany that are affected by the Geological Data Act. Also includes information on applied laboratory methods.

The idea to represent the main features of the European Quaternary was first discussed at the Second Congress of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) held in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) in 1932. Compiled by the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) in cooperation with the INQUA, the International Quaternary Map of Europe 1:2,500,000 was finished in 1995. It is jointly published by the BGR and UNESCO. Several Quaternary features such as end moraines, ground moraine hillocks, kames, drumlins, eskers and ice border lines are represented on the map. Additionally, the map shows the directions of ice movements, limits of marine transgressions and tectonic faults. Important localities of Quaternary discovery relating to both geology and prehistory, bathymetric lines and recent deposits covering the sea floor are also indicated as well.This web service is based on raster data with a resolution of 300 dpi.

Between 1977 and 1983, the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) took approx. 80,000 water samples and 70,000 sediment samples from streams and rivers in several sampling campaigns on the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany at that time and examined them geochemically. In addition to the geochemical prospection of areas with potentially deposits, the aim of the investigations was also to record indications of anthropogenic environmental pollution. The results of these investigations were published in the Geochemical Atlas of the Federal Republic of Germany (Fauth et al., 1985). The data collected within the framework of the Geochemical Atlas of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1985 is a geochemical survey of the former territory of the Federal Republic of Germany which is unique in its high sampling density. All later geochemical investigations were carried out with a much lower sampling density. This valuable and irretrievable data is now being made generally available via the BGR geoportals. In addition to the digital provision of the original data material, the texts from Fauth et al. (1985) and distribution maps produced according to the method used in 1985, the data were reprocessed using modern methods. The downloads show the distribution of the measured element concentrations and parameters in stream waters and stream sediments in five different coloured point and colour shaded contour maps for each element or parameter. In addition, the brief explanations on the respective element or parameter from Fauth et al. (1985) are included.

The Geological Map of Germany 1:1,000,000 (GK1000) represents the geology of Germany and adjacent areas. The Quaternary units of Northern Germany and the Alpine foreland are described by their genesis.The older sedimentary rocks are classified by age (stratigraphy); igneous and metamorphic rocks are classified by their composition (lithology).

The KOR250 in the scale of 1:250,000 shows occurrences and deposits of mineral resources in Germany, which lie close to the Earth’s surface, i.e. can be mined in open-pits, quarries or near-surface mines. These mineral resources include industrial minerals, aggregates, peat, lignite, oil shales, and natural brines. The map is the digital successor of the map series KOR200 „Map of Near-Surface Deposits of the Federal Republic of Germany 1:200,000”, which has been published since 1984. The KOR200 and KOR250 have been published by the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources together with the State Geological Surveys of the federal states on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. Primary purpose of the KOR250 is to display Germany’s potential of domestic raw materials in a comparable way. The explanations given in the printed booklets accompanying the KOR200 are not available in the digital KOR250. In the KOR250 besides the defined deposits and differently coloured areas of raw materials, "active mines" (= operations) at time of publication or "focal points of several active mines" are marked with one symbol each. These symbols often display the headquarters of the mining company and not the mining site itself. As the map sheets of the KOR200 have been generated over more than three decades the timeliness of data is extremely different. For more detail, the current large-scale raw material maps of the Federal State Geological Surveys should always be consulted.

The data set includes meta data of boreholes that are affected by the Geological Data Act and are located within the exclusive economic zone of Germany.

GEMAS (Geochemical Mapping of Agricultural and Grazing Land Soil in Europe) is a cooperative project between the Geochemistry Expert Group of EuroGeoSurveys and Eurometeaux. In total, more than 60 international organisations and institutions worldwide were involved in the implementation of the project. During 2008 and 2009, a total of 2219 samples of agricultural (arable land soils, 0 – 20 cm, Ap samples) and 2127 samples of grazing land (pasture land soils, 0 – 10 cm, Gr samples) soil were collected at a density of 1 site/2 500 km² each from 33 European countries, covering an area of 5,600,000 km². All samples were analysed for 52 chemical elements after an aqua regia extraction, 41 by XRF (total), TC and TOC. In addition, the agricultural soil samples were analysed for 57 elements in a mobile metal ion (MMI®) extraction and Pb isotopes. All analytical results were subject to tight external quality control procedures. The GEMAS project thus provides for the first time fully harmonised data for element concentrations and bioavailability of the elements at the continental (European) scale. The downloadable files present the areal distribution of the element contents determined by different analytical methods in the shape of colour shaded contour maps with a classification in 7 and 72 levels each.

GEMAS (Geochemical Mapping of Agricultural and Grazing Land Soil in Europe) is a cooperative project between the Geochemistry Expert Group of EuroGeoSurveys and Eurometeaux. In total, more than 60 international organisations and institutions worldwide were involved in the implementation of the project. During 2008 and 2009, a total of 2219 samples of agricultural (arable land soils, 0 – 20 cm, Ap samples) and 2127 samples of grazing land (pasture land soils, 0 – 10 cm, Gr samples) soil were collected at a density of 1 site/2 500 km² each from 33 European countries, covering an area of 5,600,000 km². All samples were analysed for 52 chemical elements after an aqua regia extraction, 41 by XRF (total), TC and TOC. In the agricultural soil samples, 57 elements in a mobile metal ion (MMI®) extraction and Pb isotopes ratios were also analysed. In addition to the chemical element contents, soil properties and soil parameters such as pH, particle size distribution, effective cation exchange capacity (CEC), MIR spectra and magnetic susceptibility were investigated and some coefficients were calculated. All analytical results were subject to tight external quality control procedures. The GEMAS project thus provides for the first time fully harmonised data for element concentrations and bioavailability of the elements at the continental (European) scale. The geochemical maps provided in the data series “GEMAS - Single element maps” and “GEMAS - Parameters and indices” show an unbiased representation of the distribution patterns of the investigated elements and parameters. The data series “GEMAS - Supporting information” provides additional information to support the interpretation of these geochemical maps. The data set “Land cover” belonging to this data series provides maps of land cover in the project survey area (data source: CLC, 2020; EEA, 2012).

Within the joint project „Geopotenzial Deutsche Nordsee“ (geopotential german north sea) (GPDN) a number of 3D-models of the subsurface in the german north sea were created by BGR. The generalized structural model of the central german north sea sector (GSN) comprises the most significant basal horizons from “Namur” (Carboniferous) up to the Mid-Miocene Unconformity. It also features a simplified structural model of the central german north sea. The GSN-Model forms the base for further modelling within the project GPDN. Based on the „Geotektonischen Atlas von Niedersachsen und dem deutschen Nordsee-Sektor als geologisches 3D-Modell“ (GTA 3D) (Bombien et al. 2012), the „Petroleum Geological Atlas of the Southern Permian Basin Area“ (SPBA) (Doornenbal & Stevenson 2010) and further references (Röhling 1988, Brückner-Röhling 1999, Krull 2005) a data base for further modelling in the central german north sea area was created. The horizons were generalized and inconsistencies (e.g. crossing horizons) were removed. For example the flanks of salt structures were modelled a vertical walls and faults were only incorporated into the model if they matched certain criteria (fault heave 100m; fault length 5 km).