Geoscience BC and BC Geological Survey Announce Digital Archive of Regional Geochemical Survey (RGS) Maps
April 3, 2012 -Geoscience BC and the BC Geological Survey are pleased to announce that hardcopy maps showing sample locations for the Regional Geochemical Surveys (RGS) in BC have been scanned and digitally archived. In total, 875 maps are indexed and archived as "RGS Maps" collection in the Property File, accessible to the public at http://propertyfile.gov.bc.ca. This work is the result of a joint effort by the BC Geological Survey and Geoscience BC.
The RGS program in BC started in the 1970s and over the last 40 years has involved the Geological Survey of Canada, the BC Geological Survey, Geoscience BC and contractors. The original hardcopy maps used to locate the sample sites range in map scales from 1:250,000 to 1:50,000, and were stored in Ottawa, Victoria and other locations. While effort was made to archive the original hardcopy maps, other sources were retrieved and digitized if the original maps were not available. These secondary sources include the hardcopy maps used in the field, as well as Mylar and consolidated maps with transcribed sample locations.
The digital archive of the RGS maps not only helps to preserve this important source of data, but also makes these maps accessible to the public. These maps can be used to validate exact sample locations, within the context of streams and other geographic features shown on the original topographic maps used during sample collection. This is especially important at locations where streams have changed course over time, or where the streams shown on the original topographic map at a smaller scale do not match up with the streams shown on a more recent topographic map at a large scale. Errors may also be introduced when transcribing and transferring sample locations into the database.
Geoscience BC
Geoscience BC is an industry-led, industry-focused not-for-profit society. Its mandate includes the collection, interpretation and marketing of geoscience data and expertise to promote investment in resource exploration and development in British Columbia. Geoscience BC is funded through grants from the Provincial Government and works in partnership with industry, academia, government, First Nations and communities to attract mineral and oil & gas investment to BC.