History of the Hungarian Geological Maps – An Overview from the 18th Century to Nowadays

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The first geological map about Hungary was published by Robert Townson in 1797. He mapped the geological features along his route only. The map of the French Sulplice Beudant was issued in 1818. This is the first geological map that covers the whole territory of Hungary, using number codes to indicate the different features. The usage of the colors and surface symbols were rather random selected in these maps. The 2nd Geological Congress held in Bologna, 1881, brought change in the color codes of the geological maps, introducing an internationally accepted system. The later geological maps of János Böckh (M=1:1,000,000; 1896) and Lajos Lóczy sen. (M=1:900,000; 1922) were compiled according to this new system, showing the whole Carpathian Basin, the historical Hungary. Between the two WWs, only parts of Hungary were mapped (the map of the Great Hungarian Plain by József Sümeghy, 1944, should be mentioned). From the 1950s, the maps were using unified symbol system. An official age table and the color and surface signs connected to the geological features became widely used. This progress is clearly seen on the geological maps of Balogh (M=1:300,000; 1956) and Fülöp (M=1:500,000; 1984). Nowadays, the official geological map of Hungary is an electronically designed map with GIS background, developed by the Geological Institute of Hungary; its printed version has a scale of 1:100,000. Relational databases of lithology, boreholes and outcrops are connected to this vector-based electronic map product.