UPDATING TURKEY’S GEOLOGICAL MAP

Geology uses scientific research methods to study the earth’s crust and explore its structure. The research on Earth’s underground form requires a coordination of many scientific fields. A cumulative evaluation of diverse sources of information is necessary to understand and prevent threats coming from beneath the surface.
Geology maps, as the number one source of importance in geological research, provide explanations to rocks and earth on the surface, rocks that are rooted deeply underground, and points out the age of these formations. Indicates where earthquakes, faults and landslides exist. The research is conducted through the studying of rocks on the surface and the material and the knowledge gained is then transferred onto the maps.
Additionally, related fields of science are also used in geological map preparation such as;

• Geochemistry: Determines the chemical composition of rocks and their evolution
• Geophysics: Explains the rock and the earth’s physical conditions with gravity, magnetic and seismic methods.
• Isotope Geology: Using half-life of the natural isotopes that are radioactive, it determines the age and origin of rocks by their isotopic characteristics.
• Paleontology: Fossils are used to determine the age of rocks and it explains the previous environment that bacteria used to live.

Geological maps are the primary scientific documents that are referred to regarding programming and application of future studies as they can shine a light to a plethora of modern problems. Mining and many engineering projects are closely related to this field. Therefore, to explain the mechanism of mineral formation, exploration of new mining fields, to define environmental structures such as dams, roads that cross the mining fields or towns, certain geological map preparations are needed. The appropriate base scale for different scaled map preparations is set as 1/25.000.. 
Our country is located on a very distinct belt that houses a complex and bumpy terraform that has 5547 sections with a scale of 1/25.000. As a result, geological properties are needed to be investigated step by step. These investigations that require long and arduous field and lab work, are the primary duty of our department. As an addition to the preparation of the map, we do research to explore large geological structures, important regional factors, paleogeography and undercover geodynamic events of important eras.  We also prepare even smaller scaled maps.
224 small scaled 1/100.000 and 6 1/25.000 maps’ preparation is completed for the use of prospection in mineral exploration and macro planning of natural gas pipelines, high way, dams, urban and industrial area planning as well as for the use of private sector mining.
1/500.000 scaled geology maps of Turkey have the greatest importance for geology and natural resource exploration, representing the general situation of the country’s geological condition. 1/500.000 scaled geological map of Turkey, was initially prepared between the years of 1963-1968 and since then have been re-evaluated, reprinted in 2003 for the second time as the primary reference guide of the geology of Turkey for the users.

PRINTING OF THE GEOLOGICAL MAPS OF TURKEY

Maps and booklets produced by our institution since 1986, are used in search of underground resources, earthquakes, and other natural disasters, engineering services such as urbanization, road construction, dams, tunnels etc. as well as environmentally important detailed data. As needed, prints and copies of aforementioned material such as geology and thematic maps are presented to users, ready for print by our department of  Geological Research in small scales of 1/50.000, 1/100.000, 1/250.000, 1/500.000, 1/1.250.000. 

Creation of geological maps ready for printing and booklets require a long and hard process with steps such as compilation, creation of map casts (geological casts, trajectory casts, blue casts created by river, sea etc. and black casts created by urban areas, roads, hills and peaks). The compilation process itself and preparation in accordance with printing guidelines, digitization of maps, verifications and the printing process are all handled by Small Scaled Maps Unit of the related head department.