Geological Maps 111
cene volcanic rocks. Because the Eurasian continent contains an
Geological Map of Asia
and Europe
(1: 5,000,000)
Chief editor: LI Tingdong
Geological Publishing House, Beijing, China, 1997. US$450,
ISBN 7-116-02421-2.
I recently acquired a Geological Map of Asia and Europe
(1: 5,000,000), in 9 sheets, and I found it so impressive that I would
like to write some words about it. The map is immense in size, just
like the Eurasian continent itself. A large wall of at least 3 m wide
and 2.4 m high is needed to display it. The continent of Eurasia is the
largest of the world. It occupies about 36% of the total land area of
the globe. It is a mosaic of many large and small tectonic blocks,
welded by younger orogenic belts. To achieve a complete coverage
of geological features of the entire continent in a single map is evi-
dently a very difficult task. The production of this map is indeed
most admirable.
The map is compiled by a team of 17 members led by Prof. Li
Tingdong of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences. In the
accompanied brochure of 33-page explanatory notes, the authors
explain how the map project was initiated, compiled and set to the
final production. In all stages of their compilation, they have paid
extreme attention to meet the highest technical requirements and
accuracy for geological contents. They have achieved this goal.
The authors followed the standard procedure of preparation for
a geological map. The map legend includes (1) stratigraphy, (2)
igneous rocks, (3) genetic types of the quaternary deposits (marine,
lacustrine, loess, glacial, etc.), and (4) offshore isobaths. The
igneous rocks include (a) plutonic rocks with standard color desig-
nation for different rock types and chronological symbols, (b)
hypabyssal intrusive rocks, and (c) Pliocene-to-recent and pre-Plio-
Episodes, Vol. 25, no. 2
immense spectrum of geological features, not all of them can be
expressed in a single map. However, the key elements, such as rock
type distribution, principal tectonic/structural trends, major drainage
systems, and other geomorphic features are well demonstrated.
The map covers an area from 25˚W to near 170˚W (longitude),
and from 10˚S to the vicinity of the Arctic (latitude). The choice of
projection and land mass distribution are evidently very crucial in the
map-making. In the end, the team has chosen equal-area oblique
zenithal projection, with density of the graticule λ = ϕ = 5˚. The pro-
jection centre is set at 85˚E and 40˚N (in the Tarim Basin of NW
China) and th central meridian at longitude 85˚E. This design mini-
mizes distortion in area and maintains the proportion of areas of vari-
ous regions. The angular distortion for China is small with a maximum
of 2˚ or so.
Before the publication of this map, an old Geological Map of
Asia (1: 5M, in Chinese), published in 1975 by the Cartography Pub-
lishing House, Beijing, has been the most useful map that I have
used for my research work. The present map inherits all the strong
points, and is entirely in English. Furthermore, it extends its cover-
age beyond the Ural Mountains to the whole Europe. The continua-
tion of geological features across all national boundaries has an enor-
mous advantage over individual national map sheets.
This is the first geological map of Eurasia compiled by China
or any other countries. The map involves 49 Asian and 44 European
countries or regions. A good map must integrate scientific content
and artistic expression. The present map has met all the cartographic
requirements for a high-standard map of this scale. The detailed pro-
cedure of map preparation is fully explained in the Explanatory
Notes, and I am amazed by the highly sophisticated techniques the
team has employed. When I compare it with the old map of Asia,
plenty of new geological information up to 1994 is added to it. The
new information came not only from published late-edition maps,
but also from their own research effort by the team members.
I admire this map. If I have any suggestions to make, that
would be the follows: (1) add the national boundary lines (in half-
tone or grey); that would greatly facilitate the search of a particular
area, (2) distinguish different classes of faults with sense of move-
ment (normal, reverse, strike-slip, and undetermined), at least for the
major faults, like the Altyn Tagh and the Irtysh, (3) incorporate
available offshore and subsurface data in
geological interpretation. I recognize that
adding national boundaries for small
European countries is not practical, but a
boundary for Mongolia or China would
be most useful.
The map is digitized, produced by
the Regional Geology and Mineral
Resources Survey Institute of Hebei
Province, printed by the China Geological
Map Printing House, published and dis-
tributed by the Geological Publishing
House. Ministry of Geology and Mineral
Resources, Dept of Spatial Planning and
Regional Economy of the State Planning
Commission and National Natural Sci-
ence Foundation of China financed the
preparation of this map.
With the quality and the modest
price, I highly recommend this map to all
libraries and individual research workers.
Bor-ming Jahn
Géosciences Rennes
Université de Rennes 1
35042 Rennes
FRANCE
112
A new CGMW map released: The Seismotectonic
Map of the World, five millennia of earthquakes
around the world
The Commission for the Geological Map of the World (CGMW), an
IUGS affiliated body, has just published (end of May 2002) the first
edition of the Seismotectonic Map of the World. The scale
(1:25,000,000), projection (main map: Mercator; poles: stereo-
graphic) and format (2 m ✕ 1 m) are identical to those of the Com-
mission's recently published 2nd edition of the Geological Map of
the World (2000).
This new map is a co-publication of CGMW and UNESCO.
Dr. A. Haghipour, CGMW Vice-President for the Middle East (and
former President of the Geological Survey of Iran), coordinated the
realization of the map in conjunction with an international Scientific
Committee that included Profs. R. Madariaga, Ecole Normale
Supérieure, Paris, France; R. Funiciello, Università Roma III, Italy;
N.N. Ambraseys, Imperial College, London, U.K.; J.P. Cadet, Uni-
versité P. et M. Curie, Paris, France; H. Kato, Geological Survey of
Japan, Tsukuba; L. Whiteside, NOAA, Boulder, Colo., USA.
Cartographic guidelines
This map is the result of the compilation of worldwide seismic
data spanning five millennia, provided by historical (reaching as back
as the 3rd millennium BC) and instrumental data, plotted on a base
representing a schematic global tectono-structural pattern that
includes both continental (Precambrian shields, Phanerozoic orogens
and basins) and oceanic areas (age of the basaltic basement, structural
features and anomalous oceanic crust). For this background, rela-
tively light colours have been used so as to facilitate the legibility of
the seismic symbols, which represent the gist of the map. The age of
the oceanic crust is shown by a gradation of colours ranging from
warmer hues for younger crust to colder ones for older crust.
Plate boundaries with spreading axes (oceanic accretionary
ridges), convergence zones (subduction, collision), and transform
faults (strike-slip motion) are highlighted to provide a clear view of
the present-day plate tectonics framework.
Different types of major fault (thrust/reverse, strike-slip/trans-
form, normal/dip-slip, and unspecified) are also indicated. Thick lines
represent faults that are currently active or within present-day mobile
or deformation zones, particularly at plate or block boundaries, and
major faults possibly active during the Quaternary and/or capable of
reactivation; dashed lines represent concealed or inferred faults.
For active strike-slip and major transform faults, the approxi-
mate horizontal sense of motion and displacement rate (mm/year)
are indicated where known. Similarly, most present-day plate kine-
matics are shown by relative plate motion vectors and velocities
(mm/year), and by half spreading rates (mm/year) along axes of
active oceanic accretion. Where known, extinct spreading axes are
also shown.
Significant maximum horizontal stress orientations (within
± 10º–15º for 302 locations) are shown by a symbol coloured accord-
ing to the respective stress regime: brown for normal faulting
regimes (SV > SH max > Sh min), green for strike-slip faulting regimes
(SH max > SV > Sh min), pink for thrust faulting regimes (SH max >
Sh min > SV) and black for unknown stress regimes.
In order to avoid overloading the map with an excessive num-
ber of earthquake locations, it has been decided to plot only events
with a magnitude ≥ 6.0 (on the Richter scale) or an intensity
≥ VIII * (on the 12 grades MSK scale) when no magnitude record
* Intensity VIII corresponds to massive damages, destruction of the most vulnerable buildings and important damage to nearly all buildings.
was available, as is — of course — the case for historical events
(before AD 1900). In the latter case, the seismic events have been
ranked on the basis of the estimated intensity. As a matter of fact, the
number of earthquakes known over the past 5,000 years (from the
third millennium BC to the beginning of the third millennium AD)
amount to some 5 million of which approximately 120,000 events
were of magnitude ≥ 5, including the 18,068 events of magnitude
≥ 6.0 tabulated after elimination of duplicate and doubtful events.
In addition, 792 main Holocene and present-day active volca-
noes (including some submarine ones, although none related to
spreading axes) representing the selection plotted on the Geological
Map of the World (2000) from the Volcanoes of the World (Simkin
and Siebert, Smithsonian Institution, 1994) are represented respec-
tively by small and medium brown asterisks. A distinction is made
between volcanoes whose last known or probable eruption occurred
from 10,000 years BP to AD 1 (325 volcanoes) and those whose last
known eruption occurred during the last 2000 years or that are still
active (467 volcanoes).
The main sources of data used for the realization of the map are:
the NOAA Earthquake Data file (Whiteside, up to 2001), Current
Plate Motions (De Mets et al., 1990, 1994), the CGMW/UNESCO
Geological Map of the World (Bouysse et al., 2000), the ILP/USGS
World Stress Map (Zoback et al., 1992), the Scripps/UCSD/GSC/
GEMCO/UTIG Digital Age Map of the Oceanic Floor (Müller et al.,
1997), the Scripps/NOAA Marine Gravity Anomaly from Satellite
Altimetry (Sandwell and Smith, 1995), and the Smithsonian Institu-
tion Holocene Volcanoes file (Smithsonian Institution, up to 2001).
Representation of the seismicity
According to the representation of the seismicity status of the
recorded event (historical, instrumental before 1964, instrumental
after 1963) and to the 5 categories of focal depths, the earthquakes
are grouped in 11 columns, each of which is subdivided horizontally
in three categories of magnitude/intensity (see Table).
In order to ensure legibility of the background information
(area colours and structural features), three types of open symbol
have been used to represent epicentres based on the recording mode:
triangles for historical events (from 3000 BC to AD 1900), lozenges
for instrumental events from AD 1900 to 1963, and circles for more
recent instrumental events from AD 1964 to 2001. The symbol size
defines the magnitude range: small for 6.0–6.9, medium for 7.0–7.9,
and large for ≥ 8.0. In addition, the symbols representing instrumen-
tal seismic events are assigned five colours to differentiate the focal
depth range: red for 0–35 km, blue for 36–70 km, green for 71–300
km, brown for 301–700 km and pink where the focal depth is
unknown (this last case is relevant for both historical and instrumen-
tal events).
The 4 categories of focal-depth represented on the map are
based on the overall structural and physical characteristics of the
Earth's interior, approximate average layer thicknesses, and depths
to the discontinuities. Focal depths from 0 to 35 km include the
tectonosphere above the isostatic equilibrium level, with the differ-
ent oceanic crusts, mid-oceanic divergent zones, the uppermost part
of the subducion zone, and the continental crust of intermediate
thickness between the Conrad and Moho discontinuities. Focal
depths from 36 to 70 km include the oceanic lithosphere and rela-
June 2002

tively thick continental crusts beneath convergent mountain ranges.
Focal depths from 71 to 300 km include the continental lithosphere,
and collision and subduction zones. Finally, focal depths from 301 to
700 km comprise mobile and isostatic-adjustment zones related to
the asthenosphere (upper mantle) and the deepest part of the sub-
ducted or Wadati/Benioff seismic zone.
To complete the earthquake information on the map, the num-
ber of events represented by one symbol at a given location is indi-
cated by the symbol's line thickness: thin lines indicate a single
event, medium lines five events and thick lines 10 events of similar
magnitude and focal depth range and with epicentre locations that
coincide or are very close in terms of map scale. Single earthquake
events exist for all the magnitude ranges, clusters of five events are
plotted only for magnitudes of 7.0–7.9, and clusters of 10 events are
plotted only for magnitudes of 6.0–6.9. Statistics for each group of
events are also given in the "Earthquake Epicentres" Table on the
map legend (see above).
Comments
The map provides a general and worldwide view of the seismic zon-
ing of the Earth and underlines particularly the neotectonic activity
of the collisional Tethyan Alpine-Himalayan Belt, and the subduc-
tion-related Circum-Pacific Ring more complex on its western side
with its succession of island arcs and back-arc basin than on its east-
ern one, characterized by its cordilleran system. About 30% of the
major earthquakes are distributed along the neotectonically active
Tethyan Alpine-Himalayan Belt, and about 70% along the Circum-
Pacific Ring of continental margins/island arcs (43% in the west and
27% in the east), with two-thirds of these being located in the north-
ern hemisphere (as is also the case with the active and recent volca-
noes) due mainly to the distribution of the continental masses. The
distensive phenomena of the intra-continental rift such as the East
African Rift system or the Baikal rift are also underlined, despite the
relatively high level of magnitude discrimination chosen (≥ 6.0) for
the realization of the map. For the same reason, the widespread but
generally rather low seismicity of the some 70,000 km long spread-
ing axis system is, evidently, graphically under-represented on the
map, whereas this seismicity was actually one of the elements that
contributed to the elaboration of the plate-tectonics. Therefore, the
axes of oceanic accretion (in blue on the map) and the segments of
Episodes, Vol. 25, no. 2
113
true transform faults (in red) can be considered as substitutes of the
symbols representing this category of epicentres.
It is interesting to note the occurrence of some significant earth-
quakes in a continental intraplate context (see e.g. the Republic of
Guinea or the Brazilian craton).
Let us recall that the earliest known earthquake event was in the
Buyin Zahra district of Persia (now Iran) at lat. 35.60º N, long.
49.90º E. Archaeological excavations in the graveyard and mounds
of Sagzabad indicate that a devastating earthquake in the third mil-
lennium BC destroyed settlements in the district. During the last
hundred years or so (1900–2001), 298 earthquakes with a "cata-
strophic" magnitude of 8.0 or greater have been recorded. The
strongest event ever recorded up to now occurred on May 22, 1960
in Lebu, Chile, and its magnitude was 9.5 (seismic moment). During
the period AD 1964 to 2001, with its more technically advanced
worldwide instrumental seismic network, the mean annual total of
globally recorded earthquakes amounted to approximately 200
events of magnitude ≥ 6.0, including some 180 events of magnitude
6.0–6.9, 18 events of magnitude 7.0–7.9, and 1 or 2 events of mag-
nitude ≥ 8.0.
The publication of the Seismotectonic Map of the World by the
CGMW and UNESCO at the beginning of the third millennium AD
is a significant contribution to worldwide scientific communities and
educational institutions. Given the characteristics and frequency of
earthquakes and their effects on society, it is of crucial importance to
heighten awareness of these events and their secondary effects in the
aim of improving prevention policies and safety measures. This edu-
cational project was conceived as a contribution to the United
Nations – International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction
(UN-IDNDR), since superseded by the International Structure for
Disaster Relief (ISDR).
The distributers of the Map are the CGMW and UNESCO. The
retail price of the map is 42 Euros. The contact for ordering the map
is either <www.cgmw.org> or <ccgm@club-internet.fr>.
Philippe Bouysse
Former CGMW Secretary General
Abdolazim Haghipour
CGMW Vice-President for the Middle East
114

June 2002
 115

Episodes, Vol. 25, no. 2

116

Atlas of specialized maps of

Central-Kyzylkum uranium ore province
1:500000

The Atlas is prepared for one of the world’s largest uranium ore provinces covering an area of 180,000
km2. This set of specialized maps shows some regularities of the occrrence of exogenous epigenetic ura-
nium mineralization, which presents the main commercial type of uranium deposits connected with stratal
oxidation zones (sandstone type in IAEA’s classification) developed in Central-Kyzylkum uranium ore
province. The Atlas presents a result of many-years’ joint investigations by production-geological and sci-
entific organizations of Uzbekistan and Russia. Theory of exogenous stratal-infiltration mineralization and
methods of searching for uranium deposits poorly manifested on the surface, successfully worked out in
the end of 1950s, brought about the discovery of 25 commercial uranium deposits of this type after 40
years’ study of the Central-Kyzylkum uranium ore province. 11 of these deposits are large and unique.,
and 12 of them were turned over to production organizations and are now successfully under operation
using the most economic technique—in situ leach (ISL) from uranium ore-hosting rocks.

The Atlas consists of 11 lithologic-paleogeographical maps (from Aptian to Late Eocene), 10 lithologic-
geochemical maps with data on uranium mineralization abundance (from Lower Aptian to Upper
Eocene), a map of neotectonic structures, two hydrogeological and two radio-hydrogeological maps of
Upper Cretaceous, Paleozoic and Upper-Pliocene-Quaternary aquifers. The maps of helium, hydrogen,
methane and carbon dioxide gas halos present results of ground gas exhalation geochemical studies. A
specialized geological map with data on uranium abundance and lithologic-geochemical logs for uranium
ore regions is given as summarized materials. Presence of ore-forming infiltration process in different
stratigraphic intervals on the territory of Central-Kyzylkum uranium ore province defines the presence of
respective lithologic-paleogeographical and lithologic-geochemical maps in the Atlas.

The lithologic-paleogeographical maps of the Atlas allow to identify surficial settings favorable for epige-
netic mineralization and, respectively, favorable for mineralization formations occurred under these set-
tings. The horizon-to-horizon lithologic-geochemical maps reflect spatial distribution of ore-forming stratal
oxidation zones within thick productive measures of the sedimentary cover and allow predicting other
areas of infiltration mineralization.

The hydrogeological and radiohydrogeological maps characterize distribution of underground waters with
different mineralization, ionic-salt composition, temperature, and uranium contents. The summarized
specialized geological map generalizes main geological prerequisites defining formation and distribution
of infiltration uranium mineralization and reflects vista of uranium abundance in Central-Kyzylkum
province.

The Atlas comprises a set of various geological data interesting for geologists of different specialization,
and can be used as a basis for target selection and search for deposits of uranium and accompanying
element (selenium, molybdenum, scandium, vanadium and others) in areas with similar geology. The
Atlas also can be used as a visual aid in training geologists in uranium.

Totally the Atlas comprises 30 maps. Explanatory note is on the back of the maps, introductory and con-
clusion articles are presented as separate sheets. The Atlas can be made in boards or as a roll by request
of the subscriber.

For the price of the Atlas please contract:

E-mail: redhill@globalnet.uz., gicenter@online.ru
Address: 7a Navoi St., Tashkent, 700000, Uzbekistan. Att.: Korsakov Yu.F.
Fax: (+998-71) 413033

June 2002