Geologic Publications and Data

The Pennsylvania Geological Survey has been collecting and disseminating geologic and topographic data since the First Pennsylvania Geological Survey was formed during 1836.

Over the years, the Survey has published hundreds of reports and maps, many in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey.

The current (fourth) series of publications includes printed and digital products, mostly technical, but also many popular and educational in scope.

Statewide Geologic Map and GIS Datasets

The Pennsylvania Geological Survey’s most popular group of datasets -- Bedrock Geology of Pennsylvania (ZIP) -- consists of 1:250,000-scale ArcGIS shapefiles for geologic units, geologic contacts, dikes, and faults that were created and slightly modified from the materials used to produce the 1980 printed Geologic Map of Pennsylvania (ZIP).

Pennsylvania Geology Magazine

Pennsylvania Geology is the Pennsylvania Geological Survey’s free online magazine. It includes articles about the geology of Pennsylvania, earth science education, topographic mapping, and announcements of new publications, conferences, and other geologic and topographic items of interest.

To receive a hyperlink to each new issue as it becomes available, email the Pennsylvania Geological Survey.

To view past editions of the magazine, use the hyperlinks provided in this list of magazine volumes (PDF).

Obtaining Geological Publications

Online

The Fourth Pennsylvania Geological Survey assigns reports to different publication series according to their content, technical complexity, and intended audience. These publications are available as ZIP or PDF files.

Pennsylvania Geological Survey Publications (ZIP) contains descriptions of each series, individual report information, and hyperlinks to all publications. Publications can also be selected and downloaded through geographical searches on PaGEODE.

The American Geosciences Institute maintains a database of Geological Survey publications, and the U.S. Geological Survey's National Geologic Map Database includes close to 700 of our publications. Both websites offer useful search options and link to the publication landing pages in PaGEODE for the downloading of our reports.

In Libraries

Almost all formal Pennsylvania Geological Survey publications can be borrowed from the Survey library or through an interlibrary loan.

Free Publications

In addition to being available online or in libraries, free publications that are still in print may be ordered from the Survey by email. These include most of the:

Educational series booklets
Park guides (now part of the trail of geology series)
Page-size maps
Poster maps
Information circulars

When emailing your request, please include:

The publication series and number
The quantity you desire
The ship-to address
A telephone number where you can be reached if necessary
The school affiliation if relevant

New Publications From the Survey

Check out these publications from the past six months:

November 2023

Map 23–08.0 (ZIP), Bedrock-Topography and Drift-Thickness Maps of the Beaver Falls, New Galilee 7.5-Minute Quadrangles, and Pennsylvania Part of the East Palestine 7.5-Minute Quadrangle, Beaver and Lawrence Counties, Pennsylvania
Atlas 23–02.0 (ZIP), Bedrock Geology of the Albion, Fairview, and Swanville 7.5-Minute Quadrangles, Erie County, Pennsylvania

October 2023

Atlas 23–01.0 (ZIP), Geology of Northern Portions of the Ambler, Hatboro, and Langhorne 7.5-Minute Quadrangles, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Data Release 23–01.0, Bedrock Surface Topography Digital Elevation Raster of Pennsylvania
Data Release 23–02.0, Modeled Pennsylvania Hydrography Dataset for Allegheny County

September 2023

Pennsylvania Geology (v. 53, no. 3) (PDF), featuring the articles “Group Effort Rock-Core Description – How a Legacy Core Can Help Inform Today’s Research” and "Summer Camp in the Devonian – The International Symposium on the Devonian System”

August 2023

Map 23–05.0 (ZIP), Bedrock Geologic Map of the Fannettsburg 7.5-Minute Quadrangle, Franklin, Fulton, and Huntingdon Counties, Pennsylvania
Map 23–06.0 (ZIP), Surficial Geologic Map of the Fannettsburg 7.5-Minute Quadrangle, Franklin, Fulton, and Huntingdon Counties, Pennsylvania
Map 23–07.0 (ZIP), Distribution of Sinkholes and Karst-Related Closed Depressions Within the Fannettsburg 7.5-Minute Quadrangle, Franklin, Fulton, and Huntingdon Counties, Pennsylvania

July 2023

Map 23–04.0 (ZIP), Water Depth of Chapman Lake -- Chapman State Park, Warren County, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Geology (volume 53, number 2) (PDF), featuring the articles “The Perkiomen Mines of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania” and "PAGEODE Grows – Groundwater Data and Quarries Added”

May 2023

Map 23–03.0 (ZIP), Karst-Feature Density Map of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania–Using Lidar-Derived Closed Depressions

Databases and GIS Datasets

GIS datasets are included with many of the geologic maps and reports released since the year 2000. Databases exist for the following:

PaGEODE Web-Mapping Application

PaGEODE stands for Pennsylvania Geologic Data Exploration. In addition to the publication-searching capability mentioned above, it can be used for geographical searches of Survey data.

With PaGEODE, GIS datasets related to bedrock or surficial geology, mineral resources, or geologic hazards can be viewed in your web browser and downloaded for specified areas.