Geological Survey of Great Britain, the first national geological survey
Servicio Geológico de Gran Bretaña, primer servicio geológico nacional
- Date
- 1835 · confidence high
- Place
- Devon, England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Henry De la Beche
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What it is
Henry De la Beche began in 1835, inside the Ordnance Survey, the systematic geological survey of Devon and Cornwall; this was the birth of the world's oldest permanent state geological survey. It served as a model for those of other countries.
Some US states had surveys of their own earlier (North Carolina, 1823), but not a permanent national body. The headquarters later moved to London and then to Keyworth.
What it led to
- national geological mapping at one inch to the mile
- colonial geological surveys (India, Canada, Australia)
- the Museum of Practical Geology and the School of Mines