The IGME5000-EU (INSPIRE) represents the pre-quaternary bedrock geology (onshore and offshore) of the European map on a scale of 1:5,000,000. According to the Data Specification on Geology (D2.8.II.4_v3.0) the geological map provides INSPIRE-compliant data. The WMS IGME5000-EU contains layers of the geologic units (GE.GeologicUnit) and faults (GE.GeologicFault) mostly displayed according to the INSPIRE portrayal rules. The geologic units are represented graphically by stratigraphy (GE.GeologicUnit.AgeOfRocks) and lithology (GE.GeologicUnit.Lithology). For different geochronologic minimum and maximum ages, e.g. Ordovician - Silurian, the portrayal is defined by the color of the geochronologic minimum age (olderNamedAge). The portrayal of the lithology is defined by the first named rock or rock group. In case of the geologic units the user obtains detailed information via the getFeatureInfo request on the lithology and stratigraphy (age).

The European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) consists of more than 100 organisations assembling marine data, products and metadata to make these fragmented data resources more available to public and private users relying on quality-assured, standardised and harmonised marine data which are interoperable and free of restrictions on use. EMODnet is currently in its fourth phase. BGR participates in the EMODnet Geology theme and is coordinating the “seafloor geology” work package from the beginning. In cooperation with the project partners BGR compiles and harmonises GIS data layers on the topics geomorphology, pre-Quaternary and Quaternary geology and provides those, based on INSPIRE principles, via the EMODnet Geology portal https://www. emodnet-geology.eu/map-viewer/. These map layers present the pre-Quaternary and Quaternary sea-floor geology and Geomorphology of the European Seas, semantically harmonized based on the INSPIRE data specifications including the terms for lithology, age, event environment, event process and geomorphology. The data are compiled from the project partners, the national geological survey organizations of the participating countries. The data set represents the most detailed available data compilation of the European Seas using a multiresolution approach. Data completeness depending on the availability of data and actual mapping campaigns. This open and freely accessible product was made available by the EMODnet Geology project (https://www.emodnet-geology.eu/), implemented by EMODnet Geology Phase IV partners, and funded by the European Commission Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. These data were compiled by BGR from the EMODnet IV Geology partners. All ownership rights of the original data remain with the data originators, who are acknowledged within the attribute values of each map feature.

The dataset includes the locations of OBS stations (Ocean Bottom Seismometers) operated in the German Bight during cruise MSM100 with R.V. Maria S. Merian. The time interval from 13.05.2021 to 15.05.2021 has been analysed in a phase without airgun operation for passive recording with 4.5 Hz geophones. Furthermore, the dataset contains locations of 3 broadband OBS systems which were operated during an experiment at the Darss ramp in the German Baltic Sea. The records were analysed in the time interval 23.01.2018 to 01.04.2018.

Considering water as the primary resource necessary for social life, agriculture, industry, and wealth, the importance of groundwater investigation is clear. Apart from many other pollutants, this work focusses on geogenic uranium (U) and radium (Ra), which both stand for natural radionuclides (NORM) that need to be considered frame of groundwater exploration and monitoring programmes due to their specific mobility and chemo-/radiotoxicity. As investigation of U and – to a lesser extent - Ra is done by an increasing number of scientific working groups, the global dataset is improving continuously. In order to give a summarized overview on available and recent literature, scientific papers, reports, and governmental documents have been reviewed for U-238 mass concentrations and Ra-226 and Ra-228 activity concentrations and collected in tables and global maps. Further natural isotopes of U and Ra have been rarely subject of investigation. The collected data were evaluated and interpreted in frame of an associated scientific publication (see citation). From the available data it can be concluded that high geogenic U occur mainly under oxidizing conditions and carbonate rich groundwater, which might be seen as indicator for elevated U concentrations. Certain geological formations, as for example sedimentary, granitic, and volcanic host rocks, promote high U concentrations in groundwater. For geogenic Ra, the search for definite indications proved difficult, since less clear correlation is given for any observed factor. In a global perspective, the most promising evidence for elevated Ra are highly reducing redox conditions, as well as the occurrence of Fe/Mn mineral phases. Furthermore, barite represents a sink for Ra due to its ability to incorporate Ra isotopes. Dissolution of those mineral phases eventually results in co-dissolution of Ra, when Ra is found in host rocks of investigated aquifers, or downstream of such groundwater reservoirs. Furthermore, cation exchange might enhance Ra mobility process, especially in case of sedimentary aquifers with low sorption capacity and/or aquifers with high salinity. Given those chemical requirements for the occurrence of U and Ra, a negative correlation between mother and daughter nuclide can be established. When knowledge on present geological and geochemical constraints is available, elevated U and Ra concentrations might be predictable, as long as anthropogenic influence is excluded.

The WMS KOR250 (INSPIRE) 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 derived from the KOR250, 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 mines are not included in the KOR250 (INSPIRE) as often the headquarters of the mining company and not the mining site itself is displayed as well as in many regions the dataset is outdated. 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 point data displayed in KOR250 (INSPIRE) indicate very small, but worth mentioning prospects of certain raw materials. The WMS KOR250 (INSPIRE) contains the two layers MR.MineralOccurence.Commodity.Polygon (mineral resources as polygons) and MR.MineralOccurence.Commodity.Point (mineral resources as points). Via the getFeatureInfo request the user obtains additional information on the mineral resources. Notes: The colouring of the raw material occurrences in the KOR250 (INSPIRE) largely corresponds to the colouring of the original KOR250. In the INSPIRE Data Specification on Mineral Resources (D2.8.III.21) there are no portrayal rules for building raw materials and dimension stones, which constitute a large part of the raw material occurrences. It should be noted that according to the INSPIRE commodity code list, most magmatites and metamorphites were assigned to the two values "granite" and "basalt". From a geological point of view and with regard to its origin, this assignment is often misleading. For more information on the outcropping rock of a specific raw material occurrence, the German name from the original KOR250 was mapped to the attribute name of the class GeologicFeature. Link KOR200: https://www.bgr.bund.de/EN/Themen/Min_rohstoffe/Projekte/Rohstoffverfuegbarkeit_laufend_en/KOR_200_en.html

The WMS of the map „Organic Matter Content of Top-Soils in Germany 1:1,000,000 (INSPIRE)“ highlights the results of a Germany-wide compilation of typical soil organic matter contents in top-soils differentiated according to groups of soil parent material, four climatic areas and the main land use. The evaluation is based on more than 9000 soil data profiles with information about Soil Organic Matter (SOM) from a period of about 20 years. The report 'The Organic Matter Content of Top-Soils in Germany', BGR Archive, No. 0127036 (in German) documents the methodology. To transform the organic matter content (of the original dataset HUMUS1000OB) into INSPIRE-relevant organic carbon content (CORG), we applied the van Bemmelen factor (1.724). According to the “Data Specification on Soil“ (D2.8.III.3_v3.0) and the “Guidelines for the use of Observations & Measurements and Sensor Web Enablement-related standards in INSPIRE“ (D2.9_v3.0) the map “Organic Matter Content of Top-Soils in Germany 1:1,000,000“ provides INSPIRE-compliant data. The data has been transformed into the following INSPIRE-Feature Types (Spatial Object Types): “SoilDerivedObject“, “OM_Observation“ and “OM_Process“.

The WMS D-AERO (INSPIRE) comprises airborne geophysical surveys for mapping the shallow subsurface in Germany. Since the eighties BGR carries out helicopter borne measurements in Germany as well as in neighbouring and distant countries. In particular a series of continuous areas on the German North Sea coast are flown during the last years within the context of the D-AERO project. The helicopter of type Sikorsky S-76B is operated for the airborne geophysical survey of the earth's subsurface. Usually airborne electromagnetic, magnetic and radiometric measurements are carried out. According to the Data Specification on Geology (D2.8.II.4_v3.0, sub-theme Geophysics) the information with respect to the airborne geophysical surveys is INSPIRE-compliant. The WMS D-AERO (INSPIRE) contains for each airborne geophysical survey one layer, e.g. GE.flightLine.G081Cuxhaven. The flightlines are displayed correspondingly to the INSPIRE portrayal rules. Via the getFeatureInfo request, the user obtains the content of the INSPIRE attributes platformType und profileType. Additionally, the WMS contains a campaign layer (GE.airborneGeophysicalSurvey) with the INSPIRE attributes campaignType and surveyType.

Storage of CO2 in deep geological formations is one possibility of reducing CO2 emissions from industry that are difficult to avoid. High-quality geological models and capacity estimates are crucial for the successful planning and implementation of safe storage projects. This study analyses the storage potential of the Middle Buntssandstein (Lower Triassic) and Lower to Middle Jurassic within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the German North Sea. Link https://geostor.cdrmare.de/

The General Geological Map of the Federal Republic of Germany 1:200,000 (GÜK200) provides detailed information on the stratigraphy, petrography and genesis of the geological units shown. In this revised GÜK200-DN, the onshore surface geology is shown in up to two overlays. The thin overlying soil is not shown. In the marine environment, only the petrography of the recent seabed is shown, which comprises the uppermost 20 cm of the seabed. In accordance with the original GÜK200 map sheets, the seabed is referred to stratigraphically as the recent seabed. According to the Data Specification on Geology (D2.8.II.4_v3.0) the geological map provides INSPIRE-compliant data. A base layer and two overlay layers are displayed correspondingly to the INSPIRE portrayal rules. The geologic units are represented graphically by stratigraphy (GE.GeologicUnit.BaseLayer.AgeOfRocks, GE.GeologicUnit.OverlayLayer1.AgeOfRocks, and GE.GeologicUnit.OverlayLayer2.AgeOfRocks) and lithology (GE.GeologicUnit.BaseLayer.Lithology, GE.GeologicUnit.OverlayLayer1.Lithology, and GE.GeologicUnit.OverlayLayer2.Lithology). The user obtains detailed information via the getFeatureInfo request on the lithology, stratigraphy (age) and genesis (event environment and event process).

The WMS InSpEE (INSPIRE) provides information about the areal distribution of salt structures (salt domes and salt pillows) in Northern Germany. Contours of the salt structures can be displayed at horizontal cross-sections at four different depths up to a maximum depth of 2000 m below NN. The geodata have resulted from a BMWi-funded research project “InSpEE” running from the year 2012 to 2015. The acronym stands for "Information system salt structures: planning basis, selection criteria and estimation of the potential for the construction of salt caverns for the storage of renewable energies (hydrogen and compressed air)”. Taking into account the fact that this work was undertaken at a scale for providing an overview and not for investigation of single structures, the scale of display is limited to a minimum of 1:300.000. Additionally four horizontal cross-section maps display the stratigraphical situation at a given depth. In concurrence of maps at different depths areal bedding conditions can be determined, e.g. to generally assess and interpret the spread of different stratigraphic units. Clearly visible are extent and shape of the salt structures within their regional context at the different depths, with extent and boundary of the salt structures having been the main focus of the project. Four horizontal cross-section maps covering the whole onshore area of Northern Germany have been developed at a scale of 1:500.000. The maps cover the depths of -500, -1000, -1500, -2000 m below NN. The four depths are based on typical depth requirements of existing salt caverns in Northern Germany, mainly related to hydrocarbon storage. The shapes of the structures show rudimentary information of their geometry and their change with depths. In addition they form the starting point for rock mechanical calculations necessary for the planning and construction of salt caverns for storage as well as for assessing storage potentials. The maps can be used as a pre-selection tool for subsurface uses. It can also be used to assess coverage and extension of salt structures. Offshore areas were not treated within the project. All horizontal cross-section maps were adjusted with the respective state geological survey organisations. According to the Data Specification on Geology (D2.8.II.4_v3.0) the WMS InSpEE (INSPIRE) provides INSPIRE-compliant data. The WMS InSpEE (INSPIRE) contains two group layers: The first group layer “INSPIRE: Salt structures in Northern Germany“ comprises the layers GE.Geologic.Unit.Salt structure types, GE.GeologicUnit.Salt pillow remnants, GE.GeologicUnit.Structure-building salinar and GE.GeologicUnit.Structural outlines. The layer GE.GeologicUnit.Structural outlines contains according to the four depths four sublayers, e.g. GE.GeologiUnit.Structural outlines 500 m below NN. The second group layer „INSPIRE: Horizontal cross-section maps of Northern Germany“ comprises according to the four depths four layers, e.g. Horizontal cross-section map – 500 m below NN. This layer, in turns, contains two sublayers: GE.GeologicFault.Relevant fault traces and GE.GeologicUnit.Stratigraphic Units. Via the getFeatureInfo request the user obtains additional information on the different geometries. In case of the GE.Geologic.Unit.Salt structure types the user gets access to a data sheet with additional information and further reading in German for the respective salt structure via the getFeatureInfo request.