London Basin Research Articles

Iron-rich sandstones in medieval churches in the Cambridge region, UK: distribution, sources and significance

ABSTRACT England’s 13,000 medieval churches are a distinctive landscape feature, not least because they were mostly constructed of local building materials. Especially prominent are churches incorporating iron-rich (ferruginous) stone, in a range of yellow-brown colours. This study investigates churches in an 1,800 km2 area centred on south Cambridgeshire, and interprets the distribution of three iron-rich building stones in space and time. Over 120 churches have been studied in the field, and a further sixty churches provisionally assessed using only photographs. The study confirms existing views that two iron-rich walling stones — the Ely and Gamlingay sandstones — were quarried from the bedrock Woburn Sands Formation (Lower Cretaceous). However, a third walling stone — the Cottenham Sandstone — is re-interpreted as a ferricrete (ironpan) formed by cementation of Quaternary river sediments by iron-rich ground-water. The churches containing ferricrete are shown to lie on the relict floodplains of the ancestral River Cam, rather than following the Woburn Sands outcrop. Cottenham ferricrete was used most commonly during the twelfth to fourteenth centuries with some reuse in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. This result conflicts with a hypothesis based on churches in the London Basin that ferricrete walling indicates a twelfth-century or earlier date. There is no evidence in the Romanesque and later churches of the study area that iron-rich and iron-poor building stones were used to create patterned rubble walling as a visual feature. The lack of patterning supports the view that such walls were not meant to be seen and were usually rendered or lime-washed.

Record of a pioneering geothermal borehole in London

This paper records the results of a pioneering exploration borehole drilled in 1984 to a depth of 403.84 m in the London Basin and underlying London–Brabant basement high. The key objectives of the project were to measure the equilibrium temperature in the Paleozoic basement, estimate the temperature gradient after climate impact corrections and assess the heat flow in the area. From this, estimates of temperature at depths of 2000 m could be made with a view to evaluating potential geothermal resources. From the downhole measurements, a temperature gradient of 16°C km −1 was estimated with a temperature range between 46°C and 51°C at a depth of 2000 m, considered to be consistent with other UK sites where there is no contribution from high heat production granites. The results of the Thamesmead exploration borehole suggested that the geothermal potential of the Devonian and the Paleozoic basement below London is poor, and no further work was carried out. The work has remained unpublished until now but in view of the current renewed interest in geothermal resources it is appropriate to make the work public. Although the results were not encouraging, they do remain as a contribution to the revitalized assessment of geothermal resources in the London area and the UK in general.

The distributions and variations of Quaternary Thames River Terrace deposits of Greater London

A database containing c. 27 000 records of Quaternary lithostratigraphy extracted from c. 5800 boreholes drilled to a variety of depths has been compiled from information contained in logs recorded and held by the British Geological Survey (BGS) and from the Crossrail project. After ‘cleaning’ and quality assessment the raw borehole log data have been investigated for patterns in distribution, and variations in the Quaternary facies across Greater London. In particular, the analysis of Quaternary River Terrace Deposits has been focused on here and a summary of relevant published terminology and nomenclature is also included in this Technical Note, as an aid to understanding. The spatial distributions of each major Quaternary lithostratigraphic interval, as identified in the log descriptions, are also presented as point locations in map form, and in comparison with the corresponding BGS mapped outcrop patterns of the respective lithostratigraphic units. The presence of various specific clasts in the log descriptions (e.g. cobbles and chalk clasts) is also presented at stratigraphic member levels against their apparent source outcrops. For instance, cobbles recorded from the Boyne Hill Terrace intervals are concentrated in the eastern outcrops and reflect the Wealden source and former river system of the Darrent–Wid towards the Essex coast at Maldon. Similarly, the presence and distribution of shell and chalk clasts within river terrace sands and gravels reflect the geology of the underlying subcrop strata of Lower Shelly Clay and Chalk respectively. The Crossrail data also include some grain-size information from sieve analysis and some engineering in situ test values, which require careful analysis beyond the scope of this work but are potentially useful. The grain-size distributions for some of the samples from the river terrace sands and gravels show fining-up and coarsening-up sequences, and geographical grain-size trends in various stratigraphic intervals. The recorded presence of faults, fractures and fissures, as identified by the drilling contractors or logging geologists, is also extracted and mapped. Supplementary evidence, from repeated stratigraphy or improbable spatial proximity changes in subcrop depths, suggests a cause other than deposition for such changes and, on the presumption that their cause is natural, is interpreted as likely to be representative of faulting of some kind, including low-angle thrust faults. Faulting is also considered to have controlled the distribution of several interglacial silt members and is the subject of considerable research in the deeper intervals of London stratigraphy, so is only briefly dealt with here. To define the period over which tectonic structures, now known to exist within the strata of the London Basin, were active requires an analysis of Quaternary deposits that overlie them. This Technical Note provides an initial review of the data available from boreholes for such work and for any other studies requiring knowledge of these deposits. Supplementary material : Spreadsheets (and other files), and notes on the name and significance of each, are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6700313 Thematic collection: This article is part of the Geology of London and its implications for ground engineering collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/topic/collections/geology-of-london-and-its-implications-for-ground-engineering

New exposure of the Cretaceous–Paleogene unconformity and Paleocene–Eocene pebble bed in the Paleogene outlier at Collier's End, Hertfordshire, UK

The Paleogene outlier at Collier's End, Hertfordshire lies on the northern rim of the London Basin. This small outlier has archaeological and geological significance. Silica-cemented concretions of Hertfordshire Puddingstone lie within a regionally mappable pebble bed. The first discovery of a Roman quarry to recover puddingstone for manufacture of querns was made in the outlier. A rare complete section from the Chalk Group up through the Paleogene was temporarily exposed in 2021 and is recorded here. The Paleogene shows features that may be associated with the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). The chalk in the new exposure is Late Coniacian. This age provides further evidence of relatively deep erosion of the chalk in this area, as erosion of chalk at the crest of a regional dome preceded advances and retreats of the western shore of the Paleogene North Sea. These events may be linked to the early development of the Icelandic mantle plume.

Contribution of stratigraphy to groundwater motion understanding in chalk: examples of karstogenic horizons of the Pointe de Caux, France

Abstract Chalk groundwater is the main renewable drinking water resource for many cities of the Paris–London Basin. Understanding karst groundwater motion enhancement appears to be a major issue in order to better protect drinking water, to define hydrogeological surveys and to explore the aquifer. In Normandy, the stratigraphy of chalk was investigated in the 1970s and 1980s but this newly developed stratigraphy was not introduced to hydrogeology where chalk aquifers are studied without considering the sequence boundaries and key event surfaces. Upper Normandy is a unique hydrogeological region where both stratigraphy and hydrogeology can be studied together. In this article we focus on field observations and their direct application to scientific theory. Eight hydrogeological surfaces, linked to sequence boundaries or key event surfaces, are identified. They increase porosity and permeability sufficiently to develop karstic features, hereafter called karstogenic horizons. These field observations lead us to propose a new stratified chalk groundwater model. Palaeokarsts and perched springs not aligned to the current base level can be explained from a geodynamic perspective. Global eustatism and regional uplift during the Quaternary Period have to be taken into account with the hydrogeological stratified model, as the controlling factors of the groundwater motion and the karstogenic horizon development. This theory will help hydrogeologists to determine the probability of encountering palaeokarsts above the piezometric level and thereby define well locations with a greater degree of confidence according to the karstogenic horizon drilled. Chemical studies may also be applied to show if this stratified model can enhance water quality by a new well design.

Using environmental tracers to evaluate the preservation of palaeoclimate signals in aquifers of the London Basin, UK

The concept of aquifer basins as palaeoclimate archives has existed for some decades, yet few detailed studies comparing aquifer types have been carried out. To assess the potential of a particular aquifer as an archive, its hydrogeochemical characteristics must be thoroughly investigated, ideally in comparison to an adjacent aquifer which can be shown to substantially preserve its ice-age endowment at depth. The London Basin (UK) presents such an opportunity, containing two main aquifers of contrasting type: the Chalk, a fractured microporous limestone, and the Lower Greensand, a porous sandstone. Despite intensive exploitation of both, evidence for Devensian (late-glacial) water remains at depth, though this differs between aquifer type. To understand the reasons for this, a suite of environmental tracers has been applied. In addition to hydrochemistry, stable isotopes (δ18O, δ2H), carbon isotopes (δ13C-DIC, 14C-DIC) and noble gases (He, Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe), two tracers new to the basin (CFCs and 14C-DOC) have been used. In effect the Lower Greensand appears to be the ‘reference aquifer’, preserving recharge from prior to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), while the Chalk contains mixed water, with no remaining trace of the undiluted pre-LGM end member even at depth in remote parts of the confined basin. Whereas both aquifers had in the past given maximum 14C-DIC model ages ≥ 30kyr (the effective limit of that method), in the present study the use of 14C-DOC has reduced this to 23.4 kyr (Lower Greensand) and 17.2 kyr (Chalk). Similar contrasts in maximum stable isotope depletions (−8.2 ‰ and −7.8 ‰ δ18O) and noble-gas-derived recharge temperature minima (2.6° and 4.1 °C) were also observed. CFCs were found at all Chalk sites, with traces detectable even at 40 km from outcrop, so some climate signal degradation appears inevitable throughout the Chalk aquifer of the basin. A correlation between 14C activity and excess 4He suggests that deep saline water in the Lower Greensand could be ≥ 50kyr old. The use of 14C-DOC in particular appears to be key to understanding how reliable these individual aquifers are as palaeoarchives.

Clay stratigraphy of the Lambeth Group of borehole IOD8R

The clay mineralogy of the Lambeth Group is shown to be highly variable, demonstrating a strong correlation with palaeoenvironment. The principal causes of this variability are changes in intensity of contemporaneous weathering (pedogenesis) and possible input of volcanic tephra. Previous studies have suggested that smectite is the dominant clay throughout the Lambeth Group in the London Basin, but we show that this is not the case in borehole IOD8R. Absolute clay mineral abundances are also highly variable, reflecting changes in sediment grain size and environment of deposition. The engineering properties of the Lambeth Group are largely controlled by the distribution of clay minerals, and in particular, the abundance of smectite. The data we present for borehole IOD8R illustrate the importance of assessing the scale of variability of such factors as swelling clay abundance when planning and supervising a site investigation.

Construction geological logging of the Thames Tideway Tunnel beneath central London: unearthing the ground truth

Large-scale underground structures excavated during the construction of the Thames Tideway Tunnel have facilitated observations of the in situ geology and revealed sedimentary characteristics that were not fully evident in disturbed samples from ground investigation boreholes or laboratory tests. These have led to significant improvements in the understanding of groundmass behaviour of several strata within the London Basin geological sequence that are not easily studied by intrusive ground investigations, especially those involving sand channels and the ‘Pebble Bed’ within the Lambeth Group deposits. Further validation of the ground model and geology projected over the scheme during the preconstruction design has been gained from logging the geology within deep shafts, open-face connection tunnels and the main 8.8 m-outer-diameter tunnel from behind the tunnel-boring machine cutterhead. It is recommended that an archive of field logs, as obtained during construction, be established to augment archives of borehole logs. Thematic collection: This article is part of the Geology of London and its implications for ground engineering collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/london-basin

Artesian conditions in the Chilterns Chalk aquifer (NW of the London Basin) and the implications for surface water–groundwater interactions

AbstractThe Chalk is a principal aquifer which provides an important resource in SE England. For two centuries, it allowed the establishment of a thriving watercress-growing industry, indirectly through diverted stream flow and directly through the drilling of flowing artesian boreholes. The distribution of artesian boreholes across different catchments, suggests a regional control of vertical groundwater flow within the New Pit and Lewes Chalk units. Interrogation of location-specific information points to the confining role of a few key marls within the New Pit Chalk Formation, which can be traced up-catchment to where they naturally outcrop or have been exposed by quarrying. Evidence is found in geophysical logging of a number of boreholes across catchments, confirming a consistent pattern of the spatial distribution of such key markers. When tectonic stress was applied to the various Chalk formations, the marl bands would have reacted, producing more plastic deformation and less fractures in comparison with rigid rock strata. Such a scenario would have created the conditions for secondary aquifer units, giving the Chalk confining or semi-confining hydraulic characteristics on a regional scale. This conceptual understanding helps explain why the river flow response to reductions in groundwater abstraction varies across the flow duration curve.

The deformation history of southern England, and its implications for ground engineering in the London Basin

Structures in the basement beneath the London Basin affect the geology of relevance to geotechnical engineering within London. Unfortunately, the basement beneath London is covered by Cretaceous and Tertiary sediments. It is cut by major faults linked to the compressive phases of the Hercynian and Alpine orogenies and to the regional extension that occurred during the Mesozoic between these compressive events. Evidence is presented that movement on basement fractures beneath London played a major role in the distribution and deformation of sediments within the Basin, causing local folding and faulting significant to engineering works. Basement rocks are exposed in SW England, where the type and orientation of these fractures (faults and joints) can be examined in outcrop. This study, complemented by seismic sections in the southern UK, allows the architecture of this fault network within the basement to be determined. Understanding the fracture system in the basement provides a basis for (1) interpreting the lateral facies variations of sediments in the Basin and hence provides a means for predicting from a ground investigation the likely presence, activity or influence on site of such structures at depth and (2) understanding the extent of local, steeply inclined and subhorizontal planar zones of shearing when encountered on site. Thematic collection: This article is part of the Geology of London and its implications for ground engineering collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/london-basin

Hydrogeochemical indications of regional flow in the Lower Greensand aquifer of the London Basin

The Lower Greensand (LGS) forms the second most important aquifer in the London Basin but, being largely absent beneath the city itself, has received much less attention than the ubiquitous overlying Chalk aquifer. While the general directions of groundwater flow in the Chalk are well established, there has been much less certainty about flow in the LGS owing to regionally sparse borehole information. This study focuses on two hitherto uncertain aspects of the confined aquifer: the sources of recharge to the west-central London Basin around Slough, and the fate of LGS water where the aquifer thins out on the flank of the London Platform in the Gravesend–Medway–Sheppey area on the southern side of the basin. The application of hydrogeochemical techniques including environmental isotopes indicates that recharge to the Slough area is derived from the northern LGS outcrop, probably supplemented by downward leakage from the Chalk, while upward leakage from the LGS in north Kent is mixing with Chalk water to the extent that some Chalk boreholes on the Isle of Sheppey are abstracting high proportions of water with an LGS fingerprint. In doing so, this study demonstrates the value of re-examining previously published data from a fresh perspective. Thematic collection: This article is part of the Hydrogeology of Sandstone collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/hydrogeology-of-sandstone

Londinium's Landward Wall: Material Acquisition, Supply and Construction

ABSTRACTThe construction of a free-standing stone wall was a significant occasion in Londinium's history, remarkable for the quantity of masonry used and for the continuing additions to the defences over at least three identifiable phases. Since the local geology in the London Basin does not offer suitable building stone, Londinium's walls offer an exceptional example by which to examine the logistics of construction and the transportation of materials in the context of Romano-British building projects. We examine the sources of the materials used, their transport and the scale of labour and investment involved in the construction of the Landward Wall using an energetics-based methodology. Finally, we provide new insights into Londinium's Landward Wall and the socio-economic and practical implications of its construction. Supplementary material is available online (https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X21000088) and comprises technical data related to the architectural energetics.

Detrital zircon U-Pb ages and source of the late Palaeocene Thanet Formation, Kent, SE England

The sources of the Paleocene London Basin marine to fluviodeltaic sandstones are currently unclear. High analysis number detrital zircon U-Pb age investigation of an early-mid Thanetian marine sand from East Kent, reveals a large spread of zircon age peaks indicative of a range of primary sources. In particular, a strong Ediacaran age peak is associated with the Cadomian Orogeny, while secondary peaks represent the Caledonian and various Mesoproterozoic to Archean orogenies. The near absence of grains indicative of the Variscan orogeny refutes a southerly or southwesterly source from Cornubia or Armorica, while the strong Cadomian peak points to Avalonian origin for a major component of the material. Furthermore, the relatively well expressed Mesoproterozoic to Archean age components most likely require significant additional Laurentian input. Comparison to published data shows that both Devonian Old Red Sandstone and northwesterly (Avalonia-Laurentia) derived Namurian-Westphalian Pennine Basin sandstones show strong similarities to the Thanetian sand. This pattern is consistent with derivation of Thanetian material via a SE draining proto-Thames River system that was initiated in the Paleocene due to uplift of western and northwestern Britain. This river system would have incised and eroded cover sandstones and potentially also Avalonian basement of mid to north Wales and England. However, the possibility of a contribution of Laurentian grains directly from the north via longshore drift cannot be excluded by the data, and the extent to which the sediment source signatures of Paleogene sands of the London Basin are variable both geographically and over time remains unclear.

Geological and Geotechnical Characteristics of London Clay from the Isle of Sheppey

The paper describes a series of experimental testing on natural stiff London clay samples retrieved from the New Hook Farm in the Isle of Sheppey, UK. The experimental program includes determination of macroscopic and microscopic properties, chemical compositions, Atterberg limits, permeability, and compressibility parameters in both intact and reconstituted states. The paper integrates the earlier studies, the new findings, and the commercial investigation results with the aim to extend the current knowledge of the geological and geotechnical characteristics of this stiff clay from the east of the London basin. Some comparisons are also made with shallow depth London clay from Heathrow Terminal 5 site.

Developing the 3D geological model for Crossrail 2, London, UK

A 3D geological model, referred to as the Project Stratigraphic Model, has been developed for Crossrail 2, a proposed £30 bn railway linking Surrey and Hertfordshire via 27 km long tunnels through London. The British Geological Survey 1:50 000 scale 3D model of the London Basin was adopted as the initial baseline. Over 1000 boreholes were collated, together with information from existing publications, such as tunnel face excavation records, to review and develop the Project Stratigraphic Model. Digital tools such as ArcGIS and Leapfrog Works facilitated the efficient development, interrogation and dissemination of the c. 40 km 2 model and helped to communicate geological uncertainty. The Project Stratigraphic Model was a key tool in identifying geological hazards along the route, designing the vertical alignment, informing early design decisions for the proposed structures and estimating third-party building foundation depths for obstruction risk assessments. Further refinement of the model will continue into future design and construction stages, including the addition of project-specific ground investigation, geotechnical parameters and construction data, and will provide an invaluable geotechnical risk management tool for the project. Thematic collection: This article is part of the Ground models in engineering geology and hydrogeology collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/Ground-models-in-engineering-geology-and-hydrogeology

Major faulting in London: evidence for inherited basement faults in the London Basin

The near-surface of London is faulted, although the locations, architecture and tectonic origins of the faults are broadly unknown. This presents serious issues for geotechnical engineering in London and has implications for our structural understanding of the London Basin. The region is a product of Alpine compression, yet it is unclear whether these major faults are new Alpine shears or reactivated basement faults. We assess the plausibility of Alpine reactivation and inheritance of basement faults in London through three investigations: analysing structures in the near-surface; mechanically assessing the feasibility of basement fault reactivation under Alpine stress conditions; and comparing inheritance mechanisms with observations in London and the Thames Estuary. Three major en echelon fault sets are identified. These appear to have compartmentalized London's near-surface geology and are all interpreted to be products of Alpine reactivation of the underlying basement faults. Fault interaction and linkage is evidenced by complex zones of intense faulting identified by tunnelling projects. The role of new structural development in accommodating Alpine compression is considered to have been comparatively minor. The lack of major faulting in the basin's interior may reflect the competence of the underlying Anglo–Brabant Massif in restricting Alpine strains to its margins. Thematic collection: This article is part of the Geology of London and its implications for ground engineering collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/london-basin

Groundwater monitoring of the deep aquifer for the construction phase of the Crossrail project

The Crossrail project is a new underground railway through the heart of London. It will connect with 110 km of new or upgraded sections of surface rail to Reading, Shenfield and Abbey Wood. The route runs through typical London Basin geology. Ground investigations began during the 1990s and continued to 2012. A total of 1314 groundwater monitoring devices were installed and monitored at regular intervals. The groundwater monitoring strategy adopted by the project in preparation for and during construction included (1) establishment of a robust baseline and system for measuring changes to the baseline, (2) establishment of a series of sentinel wells to monitor any possible migration of third-party contamination sources and provide advance warning for construction dewatering sites and (3) performance of pumping tests. The sentinel wells were located to provide sufficient time to allow mitigation measures to be put into place without cessation of construction dewatering, thereby minimizing risk to the project. The pumping tests were carried out to demonstrate constructability, aid in the design of construction dewatering systems and provide support for the consent submissions on the impact of dewatering. Instrumentation was transferred to, and monitored by, the construction contractors but data were collated centrally by Crossrail. Contractors added their own instruments located either within or immediately adjacent to the structure to confirm dewatering levels or risk of base heave. The data were used for regular reporting to the Environment Agency in support of the dewatering permits and ensuring no interruption of supply to licensed abstractors.

Exploitation of Satellite A-DInSAR Time Series for Detection, Characterization and Modelling of Land Subsidence

In the last two decades, advanced differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (A-DInSAR) techniques have experienced significant developments, which are mainly related to (i) the progress of satellite SAR data acquired by new missions, such as COSMO-SkyMed and ESA’s Sentinel-1 constellations; and (ii) the development of novel processing algorithms. The improvements in A-DInSAR ground deformation time series need appropriate methodologies to analyse extremely large datasets which consist of huge amounts of measuring points and associated deformation histories with high temporal resolution. This work demonstrates A-DInSAR time series exploitation as valuable tool to support different problems in engineering geology such as detection, characterization and modelling of land subsidence mechanisms. The capabilities and suitability of A-DInSAR time series from an end-user point of view are presented and discussed through the analysis carried out for three test sites in Europe: the Oltrepo Pavese (Po Plain in Italy), the Alto Guadalentín (Spain) and the London Basin (United Kingdom). Principal component analysis has been performed for the datasets available for the three case histories, in order to extract the great potential contained in the A-DInSAR time series.

Mineralogical and geochemical characterisation of warm-water, shallow-marine glaucony from the Tertiary of the London Basin

AbstractGlaucony is present in the Palaeocene sediments of the London Basin, from the Thanet Sand Formation to the gravel beds at the base of the Lower Mottled Beds of the Reading Formation. The Upnor Formation glaucony is a rare example of formation in warm, shallow, brackish water and this, combined with the ready availability of fresh material from boreholes, make this study important in developing our understanding of this mineral. Glaucony comprises up to 50% of the Upnor Formation, a grey to green sandstone, of variable thickness and composition, which was deposited in awarm, shallow, marine to estuarine environment, ∼55.6–56.2 Ma. Using morphological criteria, X-ray diffraction data and K+abundance, the Upnor glaucony may be defined as evolved. The underlying shallow marine Thanet Sand contains <5% of nascent to slightly evolved glaucony. The rare earth element (REE) data for the Upnor Formation suggest more than one source for the sediment from which the Upnor glaucony formed, while the ThanetREEdata are consistent with a large detrital clay component.In the Upnor Formation, the large proportion of glaucony that occurs as granule fragments rather than whole granules, and the high-energy estuarine to shallow-marine environment of deposition, are indicative of reworking. The Upnor glaucony is inferred to be intraformationally reworked, rather than derived from the Thanet Sand Formation. The glaucony may have formed in sediments deposited away from the main estuarine channel, and been subsequently reworked into higher-energy sediments.Warm seas with freshwater mixing are more typically characteristic of verdine formation than of glaucony. The shallow, brackish environment of deposition suggests that there is not a clear distinction between the environmental requirements of verdine (or odinite) and glaucony (or glauconite), as is often proposed. The highly fractured, delicate nature of some granules indicates that they have experienced somematurationin situ, after reworking.The oxygen and hydrogen isotopic compositions of Upnor Formation shark teeth and glaucony point to formation in low-salinity water at ∼23 ± 3°C, also consistent with formation in the Upnor Formation, rather than in a fully marine sediment and subsequent reworking. A higher than normal temperature of formation may have increased the rate of evolution of glaucony.Our multidisciplinary study considers many of the factors relating to depositional environment that must be considered when glaucony-rich facies are encountered in comparable palaeo-environmental settings elsewhere in the geological record.

Characterisation of hydraulic head changes and aquifer properties in the London Basin using Persistent Scatterer Interferometry ground motion data

In this paper, Persistent Scatterer Interferometry was applied to ERS-1/2 and ENVISAT satellite data covering 1992–2000 and 2002–2010 respectively, to analyse the relationship between ground motion and hydraulic head changes in the London Basin, United Kingdom. The integration of observed groundwater levels provided by the Environment Agency and satellite-derived displacement time series allowed the estimation of the spatio-temporal variations of the Chalk aquifer storage coefficient and compressibility over an area of ∼1360km2. The average storage coefficient of the aquifer reaches values of 1×10−3 and the estimated average aquifer compressibility is 7.7×10−10Pa−1 and 1.2×10−9Pa−1 for the periods 1992–2000 and 2002–2010, respectively. Derived storage coefficient values appear to be correlated with the hydrogeological setting, where confined by the London Clay the storage coefficient is typically an order of magnitude lower than where the chalk is overlain by the Lambeth Group. PSI-derived storage coefficient estimates agree with the values obtained from pumping tests in the same area. A simplified one-dimensional model is applied to simulate the ground motion response to hydraulic heads changes at nine piezometers. The comparison between simulated and satellite-observed ground motion changes reveals good agreement, with errors ranging between 1.4 and 6.9mm, and being 3.2mm on average.