Heron DW (custodian). 2020. Geological map of New Zealand 1:250,000. 3rd ed. Lower Hutt (NZ): GNS Science. 1 USB stick. (GNS Science geological map; 1). doi:10.21420/03PC-H178.
Please note this product is now a USB stick not a CD
This dataset contains a digital representation of a geological map of mainland New Zealand and the Chatham Islands, suitable for use in specific Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software, specifically ArcGIS and QGIS. The first edition digital geological map was released in 2014 and was built from 21 GIS-based versions of the 1:250 000 geological maps published under the "QMAP" (for "Quarter-million MAP") project between 1996-2010. In 2018 the digital data was extensively revised and international standards (GeoSciML) and vocabularies (CGI Geoscience Vocabularies) were implemented where possible. This 2020 third edition builds on the 2018 digital data and includes new mapping from a number of regions together with data collected for the Chatham Islands as part of QMAP Christchurch.
The GIS format allows for organising and attaching information (attributes) to geometrical representations of geological features in thematic layers. Geological units are represented as polygons with attributes describing, for example, stratigraphic affiliation, rock type and emplacement age. Faults are represented by line features with attributes describing accuracy, type, orientation, name, and age, magnitude and sense of movement. Structural measurements are point features with attributes describing, for example, the type of structure and its orientation. There are many other polygon, line and point layers representing additional geological elements.
This dataset contains PDF versions of the geological map texts that accompanied the 21 individual geological maps. These texts provide explanatory information on the stratigraphic units and their rock composition, geomorphology, geological history, resources, hazards and engineering geology for each area.