ABSTRACT: The Surficial Geology Map of Alberta: Year 1.

CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Abstract

One of the obstacles in Geological Heritage is overcoming a lack of public awareness of that heritage. A multiyear step toward building this awareness, started by the Alberta Geological Survey, is the production, storage and web dissemination of a digital Geological Atlas of the uppermost (<500m) strata, including drift, of the Alberta Basin, Foothills and Rocky Mountains plus those parts of the Canadian Shield, the Athabasca Basin, and the Williston Basin that extend into Alberta. One “page” of this atlas will be a surficial geology map and the subject of this poster. Presently there is no regional surficial geology map of Alberta. About 70% of the province is covered by an assortment of sort of surficial geology maps (>1:500,000 to 1:50,000 scale). “One map to rule them all” is required. As the first step a pilot area was chosen. Selection criteria included: 1) having at least portions of as many map and legend types as was possible, 2) incorporating portions of the few surficial geology maps covering larger portions of Alberta, 3) including at least one unmapped area, and 4) at least one map in vector and one in raster format. The pilot area lies southwest of Edmonton in the Nordegg region and includes portions of five existing surficial geology maps and one unmapped area and covers portions of the Rocky Mountains, Foot Hills and Plains. The legends from the various surficial geology maps were combined in a matrix and these used to derive a common legend for a 1:500,000 and 1:1,000,000 scale maps. Airphoto interpretation combined with some fieldwork was focused on the unmapped areas to produce a surficial map for digitizing. The common legend was applied to all six maps to produce the final integrated surficial map. When this project is finished one choice available to the user will be the surficial geology map draped over a DEM to provide a more easily understood “picture” of Alberta. Also geological heritage sites could be shown and pertinent information included. Having this information on the web will both encourage and facilitate people becoming aware of Alberta’s geological heritage sites and their significance. For example if someone is going on a trip through some portion of Alberta an inspection of the website will provide both the locations and information on the geological heritage sites along their route.

Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology