Washington DGER Announces Online Release of Nine Complete Series of Geological Publications

The Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources has announced the availability of a large variety of geologic data via online access. For details, here is the email I received from them on this subject:

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geology and Earth Resources (DGER), is happy to announce that our complete series of Annual Reports (AR), Bulletins (B), Geologic Maps (GM), Information Circulars (IC), Reports of Investigations (RI), and Open File Reports (OFR) are now available online in PDF format. These join our Digital Reports (DR), Field Trip Guides (FTG), and Resource Maps (RM) series that were already available online.

All of our online publications may be accessed through our Publications List at http://www.dnr.wa.gov/Publications/ger_publications_list.pdf. Look for the blue link(s) at the end of each publication listing.

Publications are organized by series in the publications list. Some types of publications, such as geologic maps, occur in several series and may be hard to locate this way. We are developing indexes to make geologic publications easier to find. For example, we have developed a index of geologic mapping of 7.5-minute topographic quadrangles from all sources (not just DGER), which includes a graphical index on a map of Washington, a list of maps by sorted by quadrangle name, and a list of maps by author (citation). Find this index at http://www.dnr.wa.gov/Publications/ger_24k_mapping_status.pdf. Links to online publications, where known, are included. This index will be updated as we are made aware of new mapping.

Look for more DGER publications to be posted online soon!

When I clicked on the first link in the email, a .pdf file downloaded to my computer. This file is a 32 page catalog of geologic publications. Included are many out-of-print documents such as this item on page 5:

6. Geology and ore deposits of the Blewett mining district, by C. E. Weaver. 1911. 104 p., 10 pl., 1 fig. [ONLINE] Out of print

Clicking on the [ONLINE] link in the catalog listing downloads a copy of the bulletin as a .pdf file.

The second link in the email leads to an 11 page .pdf document that shows available geologic quadrangle maps and provides links, similar to those in the publications catalog, that download a copy of the associated map.

All in all, there is a tremendous amount of free information here that should prove useful to those who like to research the geology and mineral resources of an area before they go into the field.

Happy prospecting!