The Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Coalition was established in 1997 by the state
geological surveys of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio in partnership with the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS). More recently, the Coalition has expanded to include four additional states bordering the Great Lakes with similar geological issues—Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. These eight states have similar geologic conditions and must address common societal issues about land and water resources, the environment, and geologic hazards.
The mission of the Coalition is to create geologic products
that characterize glacial deposits and underlying bedrock and to apply that information to
solving critical earth science issues. The geological surveys of the Coalition draw upon
their collective knowledge, technical expertise, and physical facilities to discover and
map the glacial deposits of the Great Lakes region.
Cooperative efforts have been a cornerstone of the Coalition project. The complex character
of glacial geology in the Great Lakes region requires more resources that are
typically used for traditional geologic mapping. The state surveys and the USGS have
made new scientific discoveries, surpassed technological barriers, and initiated new
methodologies as a result of those cooperative efforts. Some of those items are
documented later in this work plan.
The long-term mapping plan for the Coalition is based on needs in priority areas that
have been determined by several criteria including:
• |
Societal issues in population centers and major transportation corridors; |
• |
Customer input provided at four public forums; |
• |
Resolution of regional scientific questions essential to geologic mapping; |
• |
Opportunities for interagency cooperation; |
• |
Opportunities for education and outreach. |
The plan emphasizes geologic mapping at a variety of scales, depending on the problems
being solved and available project resources. Specific elements of the plan are outlined in
the publication entitled “Mapping the glacial geology of the ventral Great Lakes region in
three dimensions—A model for state-federal cooperation” by Berg and others (1999).*
The plan also integrates the efforts and results of other federal and state mapping
programs such as the FEDMAP, STATEMAP, and EDMAP components of the National
Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program to ensure that mapping efforts are both cost
effective and not redundant. As the nation’s transportation hub, the Coalition states will
benefit from geologic mapping that has no political boundary.
* Berg, R. C., Bleuer, N. K., Jones, B. E., Kincare, K. A., Pavey, R. R., and Stone, B. D., 1999, Mapping the glacial
geology of the central Great Lakes region in three dimensions—A model for state-federal cooperation: U.S.
Geological Survey Open-File Report 99-349, 40 p.
