FORTY YEARS OF USING DETAILED GEOLOGIC MAPS IN KENTUCKY

In 1978, the USGS and Kentucky Geological Survey completed an 18-year joint project which published detailed (1:24,000-scale) geologic map coverage for the entire Commonwealth. A subsequent study by the Illinois State Geological Survey examined the economic benefits of the program and demonstrated a conservative estimate of 25x to 39x return on investment from the published paper maps. The detailed map data has been vector digitized and is currently served to the public with other associated geologic data through the KGS web site (http://kgs.uky.edu). The statewide published paper maps and the resulting digital GIS data have provided an unrivaled information resource for education, science, and Kentucky’s economy.

The mapping program directly provided an improved understanding of the structural geology and stratigraphy of Kentucky; students and faculty from numerous institutions have built upon this framework to develop detailed understanding of many Kentucky rock layers, faults, and outcrops. Kentucky strata are used as analogs for depositional basins in Nova Scotia, the North Sea, and elsewhere. Two of the immediate applied uses of the published geologic maps were for soil mapping and for resource delineation (coal, limestone, clay, sand and gravel). Petroleum exploration benefited from the improved understanding of structural geology and stratigraphy. State government used maps of coal bed outcrops extracted from the geologic maps as the basis for resource regulation, valuation and taxation. The state transportation cabinet includes geologic map data in their highway planning process. Derivative map products have addressed such diverse issues as land-use planning, landfill siting, potential for karst development, radon potential, ecoregion delineation, seismic and landslide hazard assessment, and highway maintenance costs. The geologic map data are also providing a critical input for near-surface three-dimensional framework models and databases of Kentucky geology.