The Pennsylvania Geological Survey or Bureau of Topographic and Geologic Survey (BTGS), is a geological survey enacted by the

Pennsylvania General Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania ...

"to serve the citizens of Pennsylvania by collecting, preserving, and disseminating impartial information on the Commonwealth's geology, geologic resources, and topography in order to contribute to the understanding, wise use, and conservation of its land and included resources." The geological survey operates under the

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), established on July 1, 1995, is the agency in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania responsible for maintaining and preserving the state's 124 state parks and 20 state forests; pr ...

History

In total, four surveys have been conducted in the commonwealth. The first survey was created in 1836, making it one of the oldest

geological survey A geological survey is the systematic investigation of the geology beneath a given piece of ground for the purpose of creating a geological map or model. Geological surveying employs techniques from the traditional walk-over survey, studying outc ...

s in the United States. It was followed by the Second Survey,Penn State University Library
which ran from 1874 to approximately 1895; and the Third Survey, which ran from 1910 to 1919. The fourth, and current, survey was created in 1919 and continues today.

Activities

The Survey has provided orthoimagery and digital topographic data derived from lidar through the PAMAP program. The Survey provides oil and gas well information through PA*IRIS. BTGS participates in federally funded StateMap program to produce 1:24000 geological maps.

References

External links

Official web site
Geology of Pennsylvania Geological surveys {{geology-stub