Welcome to the knowledge and research centre of the Dutch subsurface

Energy transition

Geothermal energy, carbon and energy storage, and systems integration

Safe and liveable delta

Climate adaptation, groundwater, and the North Sea

Effects of mining

Induced seismicity and subsidence

Digital subsurface

Data management, artificial intelligence solutions, and mapping

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National Key Registry of the Subsurface (BRO)

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Energy storage

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Groundwater

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Subsurface data and portals

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Newsroom

Overview photo of one of the labs of Rijswijk Centre for Sustainable Geo Energy
GDN algemeen

Access to earth science laboratories in the Netherlands

9 August 2024

EPOS-eNLarge gives researchers worldwide the opportunity to access earth science facilities and laboratories in the Netherlands free-of-charge. TNO Geological Survey of the Netherlands (TNO-GDN) participates with the Rijswijk Centre for Sustainable Geo-energy (RCSG).

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A 3D rendering of underground infrastructure, with colored pipes and layers in an urban area
Digital subsurface

National Key Registry of the Subsurface wins special GIS award

31 July 2024

The Geological Survey of the Netherlands, part of TNO, won the Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award with BRO 3D webservices at the Esri User Conference 2024 in San Diego.

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Cable on the North Sea seabed
GDN algemeen

Geo-expertise deployed for North Sea safety

2 July 2024

Geophysicists from the Geological Survey of the Netherlands, together with other TNO colleagues, have developed a method to detect ships close to sea cables. This technology with dark fibers could make an important contribution to safety in the North Sea.

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Geological Map of the Kingdom of the Netherlands lying on a table
GDN algemeen

Geological map of the Netherlands presented to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK)

4 April 2024

On Wednesday April 3rd, the new geological map of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was officially handed over to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK). On behalf of the Geological Survey of the Netherlands (GDN), Tirza van Daalen, GDN director, and Paul Bogaard, GDN secretary, presented the map to Esther Pijs, Programme Director-General Groningen and the Subsurface at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK).

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Image of drilling for oil and gas at sea

Ten years of drilling activities in the Netherlands

7 March 2024

What does the data show when drilling for geothermal energy, oil, gas and salt in the Netherlands? An overview of drilling activities in the Netherlands show us a record in the number of geothermal wells being drilled in the past year. Wells drilled for oil- and gas also showed a record last year, though in

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A cross-cut drill pipe with a core sample from the North Sea seabed
Digital subsurface

Consortium with GDN searches for Stone Age remains in North Sea bed

8 December 2023

With six European scientific institutions, the Geological Survey of the Netherlands (GDN), part of TNO, will develop and test a method to find traces of Stone Age habitation in the upper North Sea bed.

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Agenda

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New overview map

The new geological map of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is available. The new map offers a greatly improved image of the mainland, an entirely new representation of the geology of the North Sea, and for the first time includes the Caribbean part of the Kingdom.

Order geological map

Projects

Aerial photo of landscape with trees and water

H3O programme

H3O stands for ‘(hydro)geological 3D modelling of the subsurface (ondergrond in Dutch)’. The H3O programme consists of a series of projects focused on the Dutch border regions. In border areas where (hydro)geological data, information, and models from different countries converge but do not match, the projects of the H3O programme will ensure that they do from now on.

Photo of a coastline with various layers of rock

Paleo-Five: the final frontier in North Sea exploration

As part of the cross-border Paleo-Five Project, researchers from the Geological Survey of the Netherlands (GDN) and the British Geological Survey (BGS) worked on mapping out ancient, deeply buried rock strata from the Carboniferous period. Experts from the fields of geology, geochemistry, paleo-ecology, and seismology studied the geological distribution and composition of these rock layers for an offshore area shared by five countries in the southern and central North Sea.

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