A Guide to Writing a Geological Map Report in
ESS241
Allison Enright and Charly Bank
Department of Earth Sciences
University of Toronto
Abstract
Your abstract should be a stand-alone summary of your report, and includes no figures, tables or
citations. It should be about 250 words long, but this requirement can change depending on the
length of the report (please do not use this length as a guide for other assignments). Abstracts are
generally one or two paragraphs, and provide a very concise summary of the content of your
report, including structural and regional geological information, as well as any relevant economic
or industrial information. Please include the geographic setting, geologic background/evolution,
and, if appropriate, a 1-2 sentence description of ore genesis. Note that the electronic version of
these guidelines are also a template for your report, please copy and paste your text, as most of
the organization and formatting has already been done for you. You will note that the template
includes both a description of what belongs in the section, and guidelines for submitted report.
Use it well.
1. Introduction
The goal of this report is to teach you how to prepare a geological map report by describing a
map area in terms of its structure, and making comments about how this area would have
evolved through geological time. You will present your observations and analysis in a document
designed to be useful to a community of interested professionals, such as other geologists,
engineers, mining industry professionals, and environmental scientists. You will work in groups
of 2 or 3 to complete this task. This document serves as a template, and saves you time in
formatting and layout. Submissions will only be accepted in the format of the template.
The introduction of your report should provide a brief description of the regional geology,
geologic setting, and geologic history of the map area, as well as a general description of the map
and map units. The goal of this section is to give the reader a clear picture of how the area
evolved through geologic time, and what processes were the most important in the formation of
this region however please keep in mind that many of these will be discussed in detail later in the
text, so save detailed descriptions and interpretation for later on. It is also important to mention
economic or industrial considerations so readers with a particular goal in mind (mining
companies, environmental consultants, engineers, planners, etc. can quickly determine if your
report is suitable for their needs. Describe the area of the map: where it is located, what
topographic features one can see, and provide a summary of the geology. You should also note
the scale and publisher of this map, what year (if available), and any information that can help
the reader retrieve this map. You may wish to compare the geologic map to satellite images
found on Google Earth. Please include a simplified sketch version of your map. This, as well as
the rock column and representative cross-section mentioned below, can be drawn by hand.
2. Regional Geology
This section is critical to your report because it lays the foundations for all of the analysis you
will present later. When approaching a complex mapping problem, it often helps to think of your
answer in two separate steps: the observations you have made based on the map you were
provided with and the interpretation you have performed (measurements and calculations), and
what conclusions you have drawn from these interpretations. As in any scientific field, no
problem is ever approached by a single researcher, and it is rare that only a single perspective is
considered. However, because scientific debates take place over years, and new methods of
analysis become available, later contributions often have more impact than early ones. This is
why your observations must be separate; these should stand the test of time.
2.1. Lithologies
This section summarizes the rocks found in the area, from old to young. You will need to
combine the many geologic units found on your map into a few (3-4) logical groups. For
example, if the rocks are significantly different in type and/or separated by time gaps
(unconformities) this is important to point out. For the most part, these separations will present
themselves logically, but if you are unsure, please ask for help before continuing. If you find an
uninterrupted sequence of rocks you may separate them into geologic periods (Archean,
Proterozoic, Cambrian Ordovician, Silurian,...). Your stratigraphic column should be presented
in this section. The main groups of rocks you identified should correlated to the units on your
simplified map.
2.2. Geological Structures
In this section, outline the tectonic features. For example, what is the strike and dip of layered
rocks and how does this change? Are unconformities present? Does the map show faults; and if
yes, what is their strike and dip? Can you identify folds? Make sure to convey which of the rocks
described earlier make up each of the structures you describe.
Often it is helpful to obtain a first overview of a map by assuming flat topography, then consider
the elevation changes and what these mean in a second pass. The purpose of this section is to
provide the reader with enough information that s/he can picture the map. A representative crosssection (not a copy of that shown on the map sheet) will be helpful.
Your cross section should be included in this section. Please make sure that your section, map,
and stratigraphic column match. This means that all colors and symbols are consistent in all three
documents.
3. Geological Interpretation and Analysis
Describe the regional and local geology in terms of rock types, geologic structures, and geologic
history. Pay particular attention to those features that provide a strong link between place and
people. This includes (though is not limited to) location, size of the area, topography, elevation
range, climate, infrastructure, population, and proximity to (other) centres. You need to clearly
highlight those features that will appear later in your paper.
3.1 Layout and editorial comments
Word-processing programs like LaTeX provide professional-looking typeset to scientific
documents. However, most undergraduate students do not have experience with this program, so
we have written this sample MS-Word document.
3.1.1 Text layout
Leave two blank lines before a section heading, and one line after. The text is 11 pt
Times New Roman, section titles are 12 pt and bold faced, while subsection titles are 12 pt. We
suggest you number your sections.
While the first paragraph of a section is not indented, subsequent paragraphs should be
indented 0.2 inches. The two columns are justified to add to the professional look.
3.2. Figures and tables
Each figure must have a stand-alone caption and include the reference they were lifted from
(unless
Figure 1: Idar-Oberstein, the town in Germany where Charly grew up. The 12th century “Church
in the Rocks” was built around a natural spring and is tied to a legend of two brothers who loved
the same lady... Three decades ago the city undertook a major construction to secure the
crumbling basalt of Permian age surrounding the church and threatening the medieval market
place below. (source of photo unknown).
it is a figure you created yourself). We suggest you be careful about the figure resolution: too
low and your figure will look grainy, to large and your document becomes so big that you no
longer can send it by email.
It will be easy to include a one-column figure into your paper (for example figure 1, note
that it looks best if the figure occupies the very top or bottom of a column). However, if you
want to show a figure that crosses the whole width of the page, you need to follow these steps:
(1) insert a textbox, drag across the whole page,
(2) tell word to wrap the text around it (click on the text box, then on Format -> format text box,
choose Layout -> Square),
(3) insert the caption of the figure,
(4) insert the figure itself, and
(5) make sure the figure is either at the top, or at the bottom of the page, and get rid of the line
around the textbox.
Sometimes information can be adequately shared as tables. We urge you to use the same
guidelines (stand-alone caption, referenced in text) as for figures.
3.4. References
In addition to the map, at least two other sources should be cited. In general, citations should
include paraphrasing from the original source; please ask if you require assistance differentiating
between quotations, summary, and paraphrasing. You should avoid using direct quotations
unless this really adds to your argument.
Ideally, these will both be academic journals which are relevant either to the region you
are mapping, or to regions with similar geologic features for comparison. However, text books,
field trip guides from conferences and geological meetings, and government websites (USGS,
GSC) may also be extremely useful. Please be aware that websites like Wikipedia, though
helpful in the early stages of your literature search, are unacceptable as text sources. You can
search for articles on the U of T library website, for example via the “subject search" tab on the
homepage which takes you to GeoRef. Our course website also has links to literature.
Use APA style for references (see http://link.library.utoronto.ca.myaccess.library.
utoronto.ca/eir/uoft/apa/style_reference.pdf ). Remember that even when you paraphrase you
must still cite the original source both in the text and in the end references.
4. Conclusions
This section should summarize the interpretations you have made and, ideally, put them in the
context of broader geological processes and systems.
Writing will be an important aspect of your work after graduation, and a critical skill to develop
in a field which relies heavily on observation for explaining aspects of the Earth system at a
variety of scales. We hope you will find this process both engaging and rewarding, as well as
educational. Finally, keep in mind that good writing is a difficult process, and we anticipate you
will be frustrated at times as you craft your report. We encourage you to seek help when you
need it; from TAs, the course instructor, from each other, and from the additional resources listed
below, should you need it.
5. References
Using the geologic principles and the information you provided in the previous sections on
lithologies and structures, piece together the geologic history of the area. Again, start with the
oldest event and move to the youngest. While the earlier sections convey observations, you are
now allowed to make informed guesses.
This section rounds off your paper; often authors try to link back to the introduction. Here,
mention areas of interest (economic geology, engineering issue, scientific research question) and,
if possible, tie into the broader regional Earth and environmental science areas of significance.
Acknowledgements
References
Canadian Institute of Mining?, NI 43-101 form F1. downloaded from website xxx on date xxx
Landes, K. K., 1951. A scrutiny of the abstract, Bull. Am. Assoc. of Petroleum Geol., vol. 35
(no. 7), pg. 1660.
Mahrer, K., 2005. The threads of writing. The Leading Edge, January 2005, pg. 42.
Appendix A: Mark Allotment and Additional Guidelines (total 100 pts)
Title Page (2 pts)
Identify which map you are describing, as well as the authors. Please also include the course
code and the submission date.
Cross Section (10 pts)
Final Map (10 pts)
Introduction and Initial Description (10 pts)
Lithologies (6 pts)
Structures (6 pts)
Interpretation (10 pts)
Synthesis, and Geological Evolution (10 pts)
Conclusions and Significance (8 pts)
References (5)
In-Text Citation (5)
Writing: Sentence and Paragraph Structure (5)
Writing: Organization and Over-All Unity (5)
Writing: Tone, elegance, and conciseness (5)