The geological map of the Emilia-Romagna Apennines

Surveying for the geological map of the hill and mountain areas of Emilia-Romagna began, in an experimental form, in 1978, through collaboration between the Geology Institute of the University of Bologna and the Geological Office of the Regional Emilia-Romagna.

The satisfactory results obtained permitted the Emilia-Romagna Region to start the systematic surveying to scale 1:10,000 of all the hill and mountain areas in its territory in 1982, with the co-operation of the Geology Institutes of the Universities of Bologna, Florence, Modena, Padua, Parma, Pavia and Pisa and the CNRs of Florence and Pisa.

In 1990, in the context of national laws n. 67/88 and 305/89, the Emilia-Romagna Region started work on the geological map of its territory, and the adjoining areas, to scale 1;50,000, for the new Geological Map of Italy project co-ordinated by the National Geological Service.

So far, over 50 surveying geologists and about ten experts in biostratigraphy and petrography have taken part in the geological cartography project, under the direction of about 40 university teachers. This has made it possible to train staff with a high level of expertise in the Earth Sciences field.

The surveys, the geological cartography projects and the point reached in the works are discussed by the Scientific and Technical Committee, consisting of one representative of each university and CNR working on the project, a representative of the National Geological Service, the head of the Emilia-Romagna Geological Cartography Project, and geologists employed by the Region.

The surveys for the Geological Map of the Apennines are carried out by surveyors (selected by the survey directors or trained by the Region through specialist courses) working on a freelance basis, while the scientific co-ordination is governed by a convention between the Region and the university or CNR with responsibility for the area.

The team for the 1:10,000 survey comprises a survey director who co-ordinates the work of surveyors in geological homogeneous sectors, assisted by experts in specific areas (e.g. laboratory analyses). The geologists of the regional Geological Office help with co-ordination, ensure the standardisation of the surveys, check the maps consigned for printing and oversee the various phases of publication, in collaboration with the Topographic and Technical Cartography Office.

The 1:50,000 map is produced by a research group comprising the sheet co-ordinator (generally the director of the 1:10,000 survey or one of the survey directors of the 1:10,000 maps which fall within the sheet), the most highly skilled of the surveyors who worked on the basic 1:10,000 map and any experts or consultants suggested by the co-ordinator or the Geological Office.

The survey is conducted on a lithostratigraphic basis (RER, 1982, 1985b and 1990b) as envisaged by the stratigraphic codes (AZZAROLI et al., 1968; HEDBERG ed., 1976; NACSN, 1983) and the survey guide for the new Geological Map of Italy (CNR-CCGG, 1992 and 1994).

• Webgis on geological cartography  (italian language)
  Geological maps in scale 1:50.000 and 1:10.000 of all the regional territory