Geological Survey of Canada
Encyclopedia
The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) is part of the Earth Sciences Sector of Natural Resources Canada
. GSC is responsible for performing geologic
surveys of the country, developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the environment. The GSC is the country's oldest scientific agency and one of its first government organizations.
legislature passed a resolution that authorized the sum of 1,500 sterling
be granted to the monarchy for the estimated expense of performing a geological survey of the province. In 1842, the Geological Survey of Canada was formed to fulfill this request.
William Edmond Logan
was in Montreal
at the time and made it known that he was interested in participating in this survey. Gaining recommendations from prominent English
scientists, Logan was appointed the first GSC director on April 14, 1842. Four months later, Logan arrived in Kingston, Ontario
to compile the existing body of knowledge of Canada's geology. In the spring of 1843, Logan established the GSC's headquarters in Montreal. One of the prominent cartographers and the chief topographical draughtsman was Robert Barlow
who began his work in 1855. Chemist T. Sterry Hunt joined in the early days and the Survey added paleontological
capability in 1856 with the arrival of Elkanah Billings. After Aylesworth Perry
was appointed as acting librarian in 1881 he prepared the catalogue of reference works on geology
, mineralogy
, metallurgy
, chemistry
and natural history
. George Mercer Dawson
became a staff member in 1875, progressed to assistant director in 1883 and finally to director of the Geological Survey of Canada in 1895.
Natural Resources Canada
The Department of Natural Resources , operating under the FIP applied title Natural Resources Canada , is the ministry of the government of Canada responsible for natural resources, energy, minerals and metals, forests, earth sciences, mapping and remote sensing...
. GSC is responsible for performing geologic
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
surveys of the country, developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the environment. The GSC is the country's oldest scientific agency and one of its first government organizations.
History
In September 1841, the Province of CanadaProvince of Canada
The Province of Canada, United Province of Canada, or the United Canadas was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of...
legislature passed a resolution that authorized the sum of 1,500 sterling
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
be granted to the monarchy for the estimated expense of performing a geological survey of the province. In 1842, the Geological Survey of Canada was formed to fulfill this request.
William Edmond Logan
William Edmond Logan
Sir William Edmond Logan was a Scottish-Canadian geologist.Logan was born in Montreal, Quebec, and educated at the High School in Edinburgh and the University of Edinburgh . He started teaching himself geology in 1831, when he took over the running of a copper works in Swansea. He produced a...
was in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
at the time and made it known that he was interested in participating in this survey. Gaining recommendations from prominent English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
scientists, Logan was appointed the first GSC director on April 14, 1842. Four months later, Logan arrived in Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
to compile the existing body of knowledge of Canada's geology. In the spring of 1843, Logan established the GSC's headquarters in Montreal. One of the prominent cartographers and the chief topographical draughtsman was Robert Barlow
Robert Barlow
Robert Barlow was a cartographer and topographical draftsman from England who spent most of his career there with the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain....
who began his work in 1855. Chemist T. Sterry Hunt joined in the early days and the Survey added paleontological
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
capability in 1856 with the arrival of Elkanah Billings. After Aylesworth Perry
Aylesworth Perry
Aylesworth Bowen Perry, C.M.G. served as the sixth Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, from August 1, 1900, to March 31, 1923.- Early life :...
was appointed as acting librarian in 1881 he prepared the catalogue of reference works on geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
, mineralogy
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
, metallurgy
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
, chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
and natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
. George Mercer Dawson
George Mercer Dawson
Dr. George Mercer Dawson F.R.S., C.M.G., was a Canadian scientist and surveyor. He was born in Pictou, Nova Scotia, the eldest son of Sir John William Dawson, Principal of McGill University and his wife, Lady Margaret Dawson...
became a staff member in 1875, progressed to assistant director in 1883 and finally to director of the Geological Survey of Canada in 1895.
Geomagnetic monitoring
The Geological Survey Canada operates a network of 14 magnetic observatories throughout Canada, located as follows:- NunavutNunavutNunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
: AlertAlert, NunavutAlert, in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada, is the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world, from the North Pole. It takes its name from HMS Alert, which wintered east of the present station, off what is now Cape Sheridan, in 1875–1876.Alert was reported to have five permanent...
, Baker LakeBaker Lake, NunavutBaker Lake , is a hamlet in the Kivalliq Region, in Nunavut on mainland Canada. Located inland from Hudson Bay, it is near the nation's geographical centre, and is notable for being the Canadian Arctic's sole inland community...
, Cambridge BayCambridge Bay, NunavutCambridge Bay, named for Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, is a hamlet located in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada...
, EurekaEureka, NunavutEureka is a small research base on Fosheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Qikiqtaaluk Region, in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. It is located on the north side of Slidre Fiord, which enters Eureka Sound farther west. It is the second-northernmost permanent research community in the world. The...
, Iqaluit, Resolute BayResolute Bay, NunavutResolute Bay, Nunavut may refer to:*Resolute Bay a rocket launching site*Resolute, Nunavut, a common misnaming of the community*Resolute Bay Airport, the airport that serves the community...
, SanikiluaqSanikiluaq, NunavutSanikiluaq is a small Inuit hamlet located on the north coast of Flaherty Island in Hudson Bay, on the Belcher Islands, in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. Nuiyak School, with 23 staff, teaches Grades K-12, with 302 students enrolled. The principal is Tim Hoyt... - Northwest TerritoriesNorthwest TerritoriesThe Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...
: Yellowknife - British ColumbiaBritish ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
: VictoriaVictoria, British ColumbiaVictoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian... - AlbertaAlbertaAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
: MeanookMeanook, AlbertaMeanook is a hamlet in northern Alberta in Athabasca County, located east of Highway 2, north of Edmonton.... - ManitobaManitobaManitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
: BrandonBrandon, ManitobaBrandon is the second largest city in Manitoba, Canada, and is located in the southwestern area of the province. Brandon is the largest city in the Westman region of Manitoba. The city is located along the Assiniboine River. Spruce Woods Provincial Park and CFB Shilo are a relatively short distance...
, Fort ChurchillFort Churchill (rocket launch site)Fort Churchill is a rocket launching complex located in Churchill, Manitoba. The site has been used on and off since the mid-1950s for sub-orbital launches of various sounding rockets during several major studies... - OntarioOntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
: OttawaOttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario... - Newfoundland and LabradorNewfoundland and LabradorNewfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
: St. John'sSt. John's, Newfoundland and LabradorSt. John's is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is the oldest English-founded city in North America. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. With a population of 192,326 as of July 1, 2010, the St...
External links
- Official GSC Website
- Life of a Rock Star
- 1935 Dr. Alfred Jolliffe, Geological Survey of Canada NWT Historical Timeline, Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre
- Sir William E. Logan and the Geological Survey of Canada, including Logan's journals, scrapbook and photographs