Urban Geology of Canadian Cities (P. F. Karrow and O. L. White, Editors)

Abstract

To those well read in urban geology, Canada is the ‘land of Legget.’ Robert F. Legget, to whom Urban Geology of Canadian Cities is dedicated, created the domain of urban geology by writing the classic text Cities and Geology, which McGraw-Hill published in 1973. According to articles in the Special Paper reviewed here, interest regarding urban geology in Canada declined significantly after 1973 and did not re-emerge until 20 years later. The editors of this volume, Paul F. Karrow and Owen L. White of the University of Waterloo, have been responsible for keeping that flame alive in Canada. This handsome volume of 500 pages begins with two introductory papers, the first by John Scott of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) and the second by the editors. Scott describes the difficulties of gaining commitments at the municipal level to compile geotechnical information, the need for development of user-friendly information systems, and the necessity of demonstrating the importance of geological knowledge to the resolution of urban geotechnical and geoenvironmental issues. Scott is candid about the fitful commitment of his own institution to urban geology, but he also describes the renaissance that the field underwent during the 1990s, when the GSC became re-involved in the matter, particularly in Vancouver and the National Capital Region of Ottawa and Hull, its sister city in Quebec. In their introduction, the editors lay the groundwork by identifying the four basic issues that they wished the invited authors to address: 1) general and historical information about the city, 2) its geological setting, 3) its geotechnical features, and 4) a review of geotechnical databases developed since the early 1970s. They then summarize the information provided …