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COMMITTEE ADVISORY TO THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
M.GORDON WOLMAN,
The Johns Hopkins University,
Chairman
G.ARTHUR BARBER,
Deep Observation and Sampling of the Earth’s Continental Crust, Inc.
LLOYD S.CLUFF,
Pacific Gas & Electric Company
ALLAN V.COX†,
Stanford University
DONALD J.DEPAOLO*,
University of California, Los Angeles
CHARLES L.DRAKE,
Dartmouth College
ARTHUR R.GREEN,
Exxon Production Research Company
PRISCILLA C.GREW*,
California Public Utilities Commission (now at Minnesota Geological Survey)
JOHN P.HUNT,
Hunt Exploration, Inc.
CARL KISSLINGER,
University of Colorado
MORRIS W.LEIGHTON,
Illinois Geological Survey
MALCOLM C.McKENNA*,
American Museum of Natural History
MEREDITH E.OSTROM*,
Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey
FRANK RICHTER,
University of Chicago
LEON T.SILVER,
California Institute of Technology
BRIAN J.SKINNER,
Yale University
JOHN E.TILTON,
Colorado School of Mines
NRC Staff
WILLIAM E.BENSON
JOSEPH W.BERG, JR.
THOMAS M.USSELMAN
U.S. Geological Survey Liaison Representatives
RAYMOND D.WATTS
BENJAMIN A.MORGAN, III
BOARD ON EARTH SCIENCES
W.GARY ERNST,
University of California,
Chairman
P.ROBIN BRETT,
U.S. Geological Survey, Reston
RANDOLPH W.BROMERY,
University of Massachusetts
LAWRENCE M.CATHLES,
Chevron Oil Field Research Co.
LARRY W.FINGER,
Carnegie Institution of Washington, Geophysical Laboratory
ROBERT N.GINSBURG,
University of Miami
ALEXANDER F.H.GOETZ,
University of Colorado
KATE H.HADLEY,
Exxon Company, U.S.A.
MICHEL T.HALBOUTY,
Michel T. Halbouty Energy Company
JOSEPH V.SMITH,
University of Chicago
SEAN C.SOLOMON,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
STEVEN STANLEY,
The Johns Hopkins University
DONALD L.TURCOTTE,
Cornell University
Ex-Officio Members
PAUL B.BARTON, JR.,
U.S. Geological Survey
DONALD M.HUNTEN,
University of Arizona
Liaison Members
MIRIAM BALTUCK,
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
JERRY BROWN,
National Science Foundation
PHILIP COHEN,
U.S. Geological Survey
BRUCE R.DOE,
U.S. Geological Survey
BRUCE B.HANSHAW,
28th International Geological Congress
JAMES F.HAYS,
National Science Foundation
JOHN G.HEACOCK,
Office of Naval Research
DONALD F.HEINRICHS,
National Science Foundation
MARVIN E.KAUFFMAN,
American Geological Institute
WILLIAM M.KAULA,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
BEN KELLY,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
GEORGE A.KOLSTAD,
Department of Energy
IAN D.MacGREGOR,
National Science Foundation
ANDREW MURPHY,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
DALLAS L.PECK,
U.S. Geological Survey
JOHN J.SCHANZ, JR.,
Congressional Research Service
COMMISSION ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES, MATHEMATICS, AND RESOURCES
NORMAN HACKERMAN,
Robert A.Welch Foundation,
Chairman
GEORGE F.CARRIER,
Harvard University
DEAN E.EASTMAN,
IBM, T.J.Watson Research Center
MAYRE ANNE FOX,
University of Texas
GERHART FRIEDLANDER,
Brookhaven National Laboratory
LAWRENCE W.FUNKHOUSER,
Chevron Corporation (retired)
PHILLIP A.GRIFFITHS,
Duke University
J.ROSS MACDONALD,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
CHARLES J.MANKIN,
University of Oklahoma
PERRY L.McCARTY,
Stanford University
JACK E.OLIVER,
Cornell University
JEREMIAH P.OSTRIKER,
Princeton University Observatory
WILLIAM D.PHILLIPS,
Mallinckrodt, Inc.
DENIS J.PRAGER,
MacArthur Foundation
DAVID M.RAUP,
University of Chicago
RICHARD J.REED,
University of Washington
ROBERT E.SIEVERS,
University of Colorado
LARRY L.SMARR,
National Center for Supercomputing Applications
EDWARD C.STONE, JR.,
California Institute of Technology
KARL K.TUREKIAN,
Yale University
GEORGE W.WETHERILL,
Carnegie Institution of Washington
IRVING WLADAWSKY-BERGER,
IBM, Data Systems Division
RAPHAEL G.KASPER, Executive Director
LAWRENCE E.McCRAY, Associate Executive Director
Preface
As a part of its continuing function of advising the Director and Chief Geologist, the Committee Advisory to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), at its meeting of January 10–11, 1985, created a Subcommittee on Geologic Mapping. The decision to form the subcommittee grew from the perceptions of the committee, based on program reviews, that there appeared to be no well-defined geologic mapping program direction in the USGS and that the rate and amount of geologic mapping appeared to be declining.
The subcommittee was charged to determine the status and extent of the geologic mapping program and activities in the USGS and to report back to the committee with a summary of findings and recommendations.
Dr. M.E.Ostrom (chairman), Dr. Priscilla Grew, and Professor Leon T.Silver served on the subcommittee. The subcommittee is grateful to Professor Allan Cox who filled in when Dr. Grew was unable to attend Regional meetings in Denver and Menlo Park. The full committee is responsible for the contents of this report.
Three meetings—in Reston, Denver, and Menlo Park—were held with representatives of the USGS offices of Regional Geology; Mineral Resources; Energy and Marine Geology; and Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Engineering. Programs covered in these discussions included the following:
Office of Regional Geology
Geologic Framework and Synthesis
COGEOMAP
Eastern, Central, and Western Geology Branch Programs
Isotope Geology Program
Office of Mineral Resources
Wilderness
CUSMAP, AMRAP
Strategic and Critical Minerals
BLM Lands
Eastern, Central, Western, and Alaskan Branch Programs
Office of Energy and Marine Geology
Coal Resources
Marine Geology, Pacific and Atlantic
Oil & Gas Resources
Energy and Minerals
Office of Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Engineering
Volcanic Hazards and Geothermal
Engineering Seismology and Geology
Engineering Geology and Tectonism
Igneous and Geothermal Processes
The subcommittee sincerely appreciates the cooperation of the USGS, the Director and his staff, and particularly Drs. Eugene Roseboom, Benjamin Morgan, and Fred Miller who helped to coordinate the agenda and the various staff inputs. We quickly recognized that we are allies in our concern for the character and prospects for geologic mapping in the U.S. Geological Survey.