HC Deb 25 November 1970 vol 807 cc170-1W
Mr. Laurance Reed

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether, in view of the evidence found to date, she will provide the Institute of Geological Sciences with funds to drill additional boreholes in Cardigan Bay.

Mrs. Thatcher

A five-year programme for the drilling of shallow boreholes in the United Kingdom Continental Shelf was started this summer by the Institute of Geological Sciences. So far 11 boreholes have been drilled in the North Irish Sea, two of them in Tremadoc Bay, and it is proposed to drill in Cardigan Bay in 1971. The case for additional funds will be considered by the Natural Environment Research Council in the light of the results of the 1971 drillings and commercial exploration in the area.

Mr. Laurance Reed

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she will summarise the mineral-bearing potential of different areas of the British Continental Shelf as ascertained to date by the Institute of Geological Sciences.

Mrs. Thatcher

A substantial amount of such information is derived from commercial sources and some of it is still confidential. The I.G.S. has already published a geophysical report on Cardigan Bay and other areas. A map of the Continental Shelf at the scale of 1:1½ M will be published during 1971. Further reports on the structure and composition of parts of the United Kingdom Continental Shelf will be issued as the information becomes available.

Mr. Laurance Reed

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether, in view of its importance to the national economy, she will expand the work of the Institute of Geological Sciences on the geological investigation of the British Continental Shelf.

Mrs. Thatcher

The work of the Institute of Geological Sciences on investigation of the structure and composition of the United Kingdom Continental Shelf is regarded by the Natural Environment Research Council as a task of primary importance. The institute's programme has expanded over the last three years. It will continue at a level consistent with the financial resources available to the N.E.R.C., and in balance with other important activities of the institute.