-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        SILS Bulletin 08-23 Digital Geologic Map Databases -North Coal
District Afghanistan
Date:   Wed, 5 Nov 2008 13:23:28 -0700
From:   Sheryle J Jackson <[log in to unmask]>




SILS Information Bulletin

Number: 08-23 Large-Scale Digital Geologic Map Databases and Reports of
the North Coal District in Afghanistan
Date: November 5, 2008
*Sap#: * *208572* (U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 317)
*Price: $32.00 *for the DVD plus *$5.00* handling per order

This report describes the Afghanistan coal resource maps and associated
databases that have been digitally captured along with the maps that
have been thus far converted to GIS databases. This digital data
preserves and greatly increases the utility of several decades of work
that has been compiled by various foreign agencies that were assisting
the government of Afghanistan in the first systematic inventory of their
coal resources. Many of the reports existed as unique paper copies that
remarkably survived the Soviet Invasion in 1979, and the ensuing civil
war and Taliban era, often a great personal risk to the Afghan
scientists who preserved them. As there are almost no published data on
the coal resources of Afghanistan, this data will form the basis for
coal exploration and development as hostilities cease and reconstruction
progresses. Coal is expected to play an important role in providing
energy and jobs to the Afghan economy, in particular to support
development of world-class indigenous iron and copper deposits

Most of the historical coal exploration has been concentrated in
north-central Afghanistan, a region referred to as the “North Coal
District,” and almost all of the coal-related maps found in the
Afghanistan Geological Survey (AGS) archives to date cover various
locations within that district as shown in the index map. The majority
of maps included in this report were originally scanned during U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS) site visits to Kabul in November 2004 and
February 2006. Many of these maps and associated reports exist as single
unpublished copies in the AGS archives, so efforts to provide a basis
for digital capturing, became a means for preserving these rare geologic
maps and reports.

The data included represents most of the coal-related reports and maps
that are available in the AGS archives. This report excludes the limited
cases when a significant portion of a report's text could not be
located, but it does not exclude reports with missing plates. The
efforts of the entire AGS staff to personally preserve these data during
war time, in the absence of virtually any supporting infrastructure, was
truly remarkable.

This dual-layer DVD-ROM is available for sale from USGS. A pdf. version
of this product is available at_ */http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/317//*_*/
/*.*/ /* For more information about this or other products offered by
USGS contact the USGS Science Information and Library Services (SILS) at
1-888-ASK-USGS, or online through the USGS store at
*/_http://store.usgs.gov_/**/_._/*


Sheryle Girk-Jackson 303 202 4176, FAX 303 202 4633, email:
[log in to unmask]






Sheryle J. Girk-Jackson
Technical Information Specialist/Business Acquisitions
USGS/ESIC