Google doodle marks father of geology's birthday

Today’s ‘Google doodle’ marks what would have been the 374th birthday of Nicolas Steno, known as ‘the father of geology’.

Nicolas Steno's Google Doodle

Steno is famous for his ‘principle of original horizontality’ – the theory that rocks are formed in horizontal layers.  From this, he concluded that unless they have been disturbed, the bottom layers are the oldest.  In his time, this was revolutionary thinking.

Horizontal rock formations, Petra, Jordan.
Picture copyright: Gill Lockett, 2011. Used with permission.

Were he around today, Steno would be dazzled by the range of geological data available online.  At www.findmaps.co.uk you can instantly access geology maps and datasets including Ground Stability, Boreholes, Areas of Potential Underground Mining, Areas of Potential Coal Mining and Areas of Potential Brine Extractions.  In addition, under our new MarineFIND service we now offer undersea geology maps and related datasets.

Find out more about Nicolas Steno:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Steno
Find out more about modern stratigraphy:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratigraphy

FIND's 29 free maps and datasets expanded by more maps from Ordnance Survey

Did you know FIND houses one of the largest free map and data libraries in the UK?

Our new release expands this with two new products released as a result of Ordnance Survey's OpenData initiative; Landform Panorama, a broad brush terrain model of the UK, and Street View, a 1:10000 scale map.

Street View can be viewed, printed and exported completely for free. Landform Panorama is also free to export and has even been made uniquely available as a hill-shade map layer. There are no 'express service' charges; with FIND remaining committed to providing free data that really is free.

Let us know what you will do with all this free map and data. See below for the massive list of 31 free maps and datasets currently available on FIND, from data providers including Ordnance Survey, Natural England, English Heritage, Scottish Heritage, Getmapping, Scottish Government, Countryside Council for Wales, Scottish Natural Heritage, RSPB and many more:

Free base maps

1:10 000 Ordnance Survey "Street View" (Free to View, Print and Export)

1:10 000 Ordnance Survey "Street detail" (Free to View up to 60+ sq km)

1:25 000 Ordnance Survey "Locale" (Free to View)

1:50 000 Ordnance Survey "Town” (Free to View) 

1:250 000 Ordnance Survey "GB” (Free to View, Print up to 1000 sq km and Export up to 1000 sq km)

Aerial Imagery base map (Free to View)

Free heritage data

Listed buildings (Free to View, Print and Export)

Battlefields (Free to View, Print and Export)

World heritage sites (Free to View, Print and Export)

Scheduled monuments (Free to View Print and Export)

Free environmental data

Agricultural land (Free to View, Print and Export)

Ancient woodland (Free to View, Print and Export)

Areas of outstanding natural beauty (Free to View, Print and Export)

Biogenetic reserves (Free to View, Print and Export)

Boreholes (Free to View)

Special areas of conservation (Free to View, Print and Export)

Source protection locations (Free to View, Print and Export)

Country parks (Free to View, Print and Export)

Important bird areas (Free to View, Print and Export)

Local nature reserve (Free to View Print and Export)

National nature reserves (Free to View Print and Export)

National parks (Free to View, Print and Export)

Parks and gardens (Free to View, Print and View)

Ramsar sites (Free to View, Print and Export)

Rights of way (Free to View, Print and Export) 

RSPB reserves (Free to View, Print and Export)

Sites of special scientific interest (Free to View, Print and Export)

Special protection areas (Free to View, Print and Export)

Free Geology and Mining data

Water wells (Free to View)

Free height data

50m Digital Terrain Model (Free to View, Print and Export)

Contours - Panorama 50m Ordnance Survey (Free to View, Print and Export)

See full FIND product list