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Ministry of Energy, Mines and Pertoleum Resources

 

Geology Downloads

 

Readme File for Geology ArcView Data Files
 - Notes on Metadata / Mapcodes / Projections & ArcView

Note on Metadata:

This zipped package contains some pseudo-metadata for the digital compiled geology (1:250 000). This information describes all the geology files in this set. There are three types of information here:
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A dbase file containing all the possible mapcodes and their descriptions for the province (BC_codes.dbf & .dbt)

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A MS WORD document with a definition for all the numeric line type codes contained in the E00 files.

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A MS Word and an EXCEL file of the same information describing the 9 digit code we use to describe each map unit.

Note on Mapcodes:

The geology was compiled as a series of ten projects. Each project had slightly different legends and mapcodes. For this reason we have prefixed the mapcode for each region with a region designator. Over time, with revisions these regional differences will be removed.

Some 1:250 000 mapsheets contain portions of 2 or more regions and digital information will reside in several files for these sheets. So if you are missing information for a portion of a sheet check other regions for that sheet as well.

If you are unsure what the information for an area should look like visit our Web Site and view the information through The MapPlace.

Note on Projections & ArcView:

If using ArcView, download the geology E00 file in geographic coordinates not Albers.  The Albers projection is specific to B.C. and you will not be able to reproject to any other coordinate system in ArcView.  For a definition of the Albers projection go to http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/gis/bceprojection.html.  Arcview only allows you to reproject from a map in geographic coordinates (Lat-Long, decimal degress).  If you use the geographic download data, which is in decimal degress, then you can display the map in any projection you want, for example UTM or Albers or whatever. You can then save your data in this projection as a new shapefile.  To change projections in ArcView go to View/Properties and select the projection you want your map displayed in.