Colonial Geological Surveys

Abstract

THE function and future of the Colonial Geological Surveys formed the subject of a recent article in NATURE (153, 273; 1944), in which a discussion on the matter, held under the joint auspices of the Geological Society of London and the Institution of Mining Engineers in November last, was summarized at some length. The subject has again been dealt with in the Bulletin of the Imperial Institute (41, No. 4, 255; 1943), by the 'intelligence staff' of the Institute, under the heading "A Review of Geological Survey Work in the Colonies". In this article the authors refer to all the Colonies except those small islands and groups where, it is stated, the question of establishing official Surveys scarcely arises. Particulars are given separately for each Colony as to area, the years, if any, during which geological survey work has been carried out, the amounts of money expended on such work, the staffs employed and the maps that have been published. Reference is also made to the question of water-supply and to mining activities. With few exceptions, it appears that in none of the colonies was a Geological Survey established earlier than 1918. In Ceylon, a mineral survey was commenced in 1903; and in British Malaya a Geological Survey has existed for forty years, though until 1912 it employed only one geologist. In certain other Colonies short-term mineral surveys were carried out in the early years of this century by the Imperial Institute, under the auspices of the Colonial Office.