SOME GEOSPATIAL TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES FOR GEOLOGIC MAPPING IN WEST VIRGINIA'S PLATEAUS

In a 1987 UK Department of Environment Report titled Handling Geographic Information Lord Chorley stated “Such a system (GIS) is as significant to spatial analysis as the invention of the microscope and telescope were to science, the computer to economics, and the printing press to information dissemination." We embraced this view soon after and began developing simple geospatial tools for our geologic work.

In 2001 we began geologic mapping in the relatively flat lying rocks of West Virginia’s plateaus. Most recently we are mapping much of the lower New River Gorge and the surrounding Fayette Plateau. We are fortunate to have access to a wide range of data sources including Lidar and photos flown by the US Army Corps of Engineers, West Virginia’s SAMB DEM datasets, various generations of air photos, numerous coal exploration cores, some similar cores drilled for scientific purposes, numerous oil and gas well logs, numerous older field observations, and an area where detailed history is available. Our current tools include GIS, GPS, and an inexpensive hunter’s laser range finder, plus mundane field tools like rock hammers, rulers, a homemade jacobs staff, and acid bottles. Through all of our work we have found local history important in interpreting some otherwise confusing problems.

Our poster details several vignettes from the field and office such as automated outcrop generation, Lidar cliff line enhancement, and WV elevation control options to illustrate both the strong points and limitations of current geospatial technology in interpreting geology and producing geologic information in the plateaus of both northern and southern West Virginia.