Paper Number: 4633
The historic evolution of the global geological mapping of Africa
Rossi, Ph1., et al
1Commission for the Geological Map of the World, 77 rue Claude-Bernard, 75005 Paris, France. ccgm@sfr.fr
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To make understandable our complex geological environment needs to
make enter its image in the surface of a paper or of a screen, that is
to say to simplify and reduce the nature as an image having a human
scale, and, to reach this aim, to use science through hypotheses and
models. The history of drawings of geological maps is rooted in the
history of geology. Every progress and advance fed the maps 
and, maps have in turn
participated to the progress of the general knowledge. If geoscientists
feel more comfortable using GSP for geocoded data, and if a pad often
replaces paper, the principles of surveying techniques, data collection,
and map reading maps did not change drastically. However, a geological
map is not but paint full of nice colors to be exposed on a wall. The
power of geological maps was fostered by data processing techniques,
giving access to spatial information and access to record on the sources
maps. The geological map remains, more than ever, a key tool for every
geoscientists, business planners and decision makers. It therefore
remains the place where academic research and educational purpose
converge. But as science progresses, geological maps act as a mirror of
the general knowledge and have to be periodically updated. As an
illustration of this statement, a special lecture will be provided by
CGMW using a set of synthetic maps of Africa to illustrate the progress
of the knowledge of the geology of the continent from the first
beginnings to nowadays. From the tentatives of world maps of Ami Boué
(1843)
and Jules Marcou (1861) to the first complete geological map of Africa at 1:5 million scale achieved for the IGC 19 in Algiers (1952), the ASGA-UNESCO 2nd edition (1964), the 1:10M scale map in the CGMW-UNESCO geological atlas of the world (1976); the CGMW 3rd edition (1985-1990) and the 1:10 M scale prepared for the IGC 35 in CapeTown.
Geological Map of Africa all throughout the
XIX, XX and XXI centuries