THE GEOLOGIC AND MINERAL RESOURCE MAP OF AFGHANISTAN

The 1:500,000-scale Russian geological map of Afghanistan was digitized and attributed with ArcGIS. Topology was created and maintained in an ArcGIS geodatabase. The spatial data were converted to ESRI “shape” files to make a publication-quality map with Adobe Illustrator and MAPublisher from Avenza. A lookup table for the map was created from the ArcGIS geodatabase and then manually edited. The edited result is a one-table database that is the basis for drawing geologic maps as large as 1:250,000-scale maps as 1-degree x 2-degree sheets. Custom Illustrator graphic styles were linked to the map units in the joined spatial attributes and the lookup table through MAPublisher stylesheets. Faults and contacts were assigned graphic styles separately. The map units, faults and contacts were combined to produce the geologic part of the map. The mineral data on this map was broken into three catagories for plotting purposes: non-energy, energy, and gemstones. The final geodatabase will be useful in making mineral assessments, oil and gas assessments, hydrogeologic studies and as base information for road construction and environmental restoration.