The geological mapping of central Australia

The geological mapping of central Australia – an area some 1500 km by 1000 km – began in 1950, was completed in 1979, and formed part of a program to map the continent at 1∶250 000 scale. The program arose out of the Australian Government’s realisation during the Second World War that knowledge of Australia’s petroleum and mineral resources was meagre and scattered, and that exploration for these commodities needed systematic geological maps. Aerial photography of the continent also started at this time, and proved indispensable to the mapping, as did four-wheel-drive vehicles. The procedure for making geological maps from a blank sheet of paper in the pre-digital age is set out, including the use of aerial photographs, planning a week’s work, the necessity for recording all the evidence at an outcrop, compilation, correction and printing of the map.