One world, one map... OneGeology is here

Last year at GSA, I saw one of the most evangelical presentations I've ever seen about technology. (I realize that I've never been to Macworld or a Linux conference, but hang with me here.) Ian Jackson of the British Geological Survey talked about bringing geologic maps to the web, through a project called OneGeology. The goal was to create an online geologic map of the world, at a scale of 1:1 million. It's a more difficult job than it might seem - geologic maps can be considered classified information, because they provide information about a country's natural resources. And on a more petty level, geologists working across borders have a tendency to give the same rock different formal names, which makes compiling simplified regional maps difficult. (The boundary between Vermont and New Hampshire isn't exactly along a fault, but it sure seems like it is from the names and interpreted ages of the units.)

Last year, they were still in the process of getting countries to participate.

And now, the map is live. The web site says it will be officially launched next week, on August 6, at the International Geological Congress in Oslo, Norway. But some maps are already available.

For instance, here's the 1:1.5 million geologic map of Europe, zoomed in on the Alps:


On the map of Afghanistan, I can choose an "information" (well, metadata) tool, click on a unit, and read its description.

This is so cool. When I was in college, one of my favorite jobs as a departmental assistant was filing the maps. It was like taking little trips all over the world. As a teacher, I'm constantly waving my arms about some place that the students have never been, without the aid of a map. (Not effective pedagogy, though perhaps good practice for playing charades.) And worse, sometimes students ask questions about places I know only the broadest tectonic information about. (Afghanistan, for instance, or Iraq. Some of my students have been there. I haven't.) And now I'll be able to pull up a web page and show them the maps, and we will be able to try to figure out what's going on together.

This is so cool. (I wonder if this is what it felt like when Bruce Heezen and Marie Tharp first published their beautiful painting of the topography of the ocean floor?)