Mapping the geology of Colombia

The Geological Map of Colombia at a scale of 1:1 500 000 has been a task carried out for more than 20 years. To create the map, the working team compiled geological maps at scales of 1:100 000, 1:50 000 and 1:25 000 published by the Servicio Geológico Colombiano, along with data from technical reports, peer-reviewed papers, books, masters and doctoral theses, proceedings of geology conferences and geological maps of neighbouring countries. Chronostratigraphic units were grouped according to age and lithology. For age, the International Chronostratigraphic Chart 2022 was used as a reference, and rocks and deposits were differentiated for the lithological division. The rocks were classified into their principal types: igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary, with volcanoclastic rocks as a separate category. The team harmonized the chronostratigraphic units, faults and folds with a shaded relief image of Colombia, created with a spatial resolution of 30 m for this purpose. The Geological Map of Colombia includes layers of chronostratigraphic units, faults, folds, volcanoes, mud volcanoes, high-pressure rocks, ultra-high-temperature rocks and tectonic elements. Users can consult the map in various formats: GIS (File Geodatabase, MXD, style files), PDF, TIFF, PNG, web service, ArcGIS Online service, and Google Earth.