The first geological maps of the continent of Australia

Two factors limited the compilation of geological maps of the Australian continent during the nineteenth century, the problems of geological mapping over large areas and the fact that Australia was divided into a group of independent colonies. Only four such maps were compiled and published during this period and all others are mere copies of three of these four.

On the first map, compiled by J. B. Jukes and published in London in 1850 at a scale of 225 miles to an inch, the geological colours are.confined to the coastal areas and a small portion of the interior which had been examined by explorers. The second, compiled by R. B. Smyth and published by the Victorian Department of Mines in 1875 at a scale of 110 miles to an inch, was drawn up from a large number of published and unpublished geological maps including those of Victoria and Queensland. Large areas were filled in from information in explorers’ journals and from their maps. A revised reprint was issued in 1876. The third map, compiled by Arthur Everett who was closely associated with the production of the 1875 map, was again published by the Victorian Mines Department in 1887 at a scale of 50 miles to an inch. Geological maps of the colonies of Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania, and South Australia were used, together with large scale maps and data previously gathered for the 1875 map of Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The fourth map, compiled by H. Berghaus and published in Gotha in 1888 at a scale of 1:30 000 000, was drawn up from sources similar to those used by Everett.

The compilation of the 1875 and 1887 maps is analysed in detail and annotated lists of the actual source maps used are given in Appendix 1. Mention is made of the numerous copies of these two maps issued in the nineteenth century. A complete list of all known geological maps of the Australian continent, published to date, is given in Appendix 2.