WHAT'S NEW in the GEOSCIENCE ATLAS

See the list below for what's new in the Geoscience Atlas, but note that Map Staked Claims, in the Mineral Lands Group, is updated in real time and the other layers in the Mineral Lands Group and Mineral Occurrences (MODS), in the Map Layers Group, and are updated daily.

HELP files for the Geoscience Atlas are available through these links: Atlas Tutorial, Atlas Help (Tools etc.), Frequently Asked Questions,  and List of Layers (descriptions).
Help files for individual layers or groups are available through the blue, underlined layer or group name in the Contents panel.

REST services are available to view Geoscience Atlas layers in your GIS without having to download the layers: https://dnrmaps.gov.nl.ca/arcgis/rest/services/GeoAtlas.

Please help us improve the Geoscience Atlas by directing questions, comments and database errors to GeoscienceOnline@gov.nl.ca.


Latest Updates or Additions as of: March 2024


Map Layers Group
  • Map Labels — updates made to some map labels to reflect Provincial changes to placenames
  • Resource Roads — updated to show newest resource roads data administered by the Dept. of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture (last updated 2023 Nov.)
  • Drill Hole database — location adjusted for several records
Land Use Group Indexes Group
  • Indexes for Bedrock Geology, Surficial Geology, Till Geochemistry, Geochemical Surveys, Geophysics updated
  • new survey types (indicator minerals, humus) added to Index — Geochemical Surveys
Surficial Geology Group
  • 14C Dates updated
  • Striations updated
  • Landform Lines 50K updated
  • Detailed Surficial Geology udpated
Geochemistry Group
  • Till Geochemistry updated
Geophysics Group


Updates or Additions as of: April 2023

Map Layers Group:
-updated the Drill Core layer (listing drill holes with core in the provincial Core Storage Libraries; over 9000 records)
-added the Drill Hole layer (listing drill holes from Assessment and other reports - over 17000 records, under construction)
-updated the Forest Access Roads

Indexes Group:
-updated the Index layers: Bedrock Geology Maps, Surficial Geology Maps, Till Geochemical Surveys, Other Geochemical Surveys (rock surveys updated), and Airborne Geophysical Surveys

Geochemistry Group:
-updated the Till Sediment Geochemistry - added Fluoride in Labrador

Bedrock Geology Group:
-updated the Lines Newfoundland subgroup, Detailed Faults layer - added a Names field (under construction)
-added the 'Newfoundland Detailed Author Reference' layer to the Polygons Newfoundland subgroup, providing the extents of each map used in the compilation layers

Surficial Geology Group:
-updated the Landforms layers and applied new symbology
-updated the Detailed Surficial Geology maps in western Labrador

Geophysics - Labrador Group:
-added the Qipuqqaq-Postville Compilation raster images

Updates or Additions as of: October 2022

Indexes Group:
-updated the Index layers: Bedrock Geology Maps, Surficial Geology Maps, Other Geochemical Surveys (rock surveys updated), and Airborne Geophysical Surveys

Land Use Group:
-updated the Municipal Boundaries and Planning Areas (2021)

Geochemistry Group:
-updated the Detailed Stream Sediment Geochemistry

Surficial Geology Group:
-updated the Detailed Surficial Geology maps
-added the scanned Peatland Maps of Newfoundland

Geophysics - Newfoundland Group:
-added the Burin - 2022 raster images

March 2022

Coastal Monitoring Group:
-updated the SE Labrador Coastal Indices and Coastal Characterization layers

Indexes Group:
-updated the Index layers: Bedrock Geology Maps, Surficial Geology Maps, Other Geochemical Surveys (lake, rock, soil, stream), and Airborne Geophysical Surveys

Land Use Group:
-updated the Public Water Supplies (as of January 2022)

Surficial Geology Group:
-updated the Carbon Age Dates, Striations, Landforms and the Detailed Surficial Geology

Geophysics Group:
-split the raster Geophysics Group into Geophysics - Labrador and Geophysics - Newfoundland Groups
-added three new raster sub-groups to the Geophysics - Newfoundland Group:
  •        Twillick Brook - 2019
  •        Compilation - North-Central Newfoundland
  •        Compilation - West-Central Newfoundland

June 2021

Map Layers Group:
-updated the Drill Core layer
-updated the Forest Access Roads layer

Coastal Monitoring Group:
-added SE Labrador information for the Coastal Indices and Coastal Characterization subgroups

Indexes Group:
-updated all Index layers: Bedrock and Surficial Geology Maps, Till Geochemical Surveys, Other Geochemical Surveys (lake, rock, soil, stream), and Airborne Geophysical Surveys

Geochemistry Group:
-updated the Till Sediment Geochemistry layer

Bedrock Geology Group:
-udpated the southeast Labrador geology polygons, linking to Geofile pdf maps

Surficial Geology Group:
-udpated the Carbon Age Dates, Striations, Landforms and the Detailed Surficial Geology

Help Files:
-updated all the help files


June 2020

Land Use Group:

-added the "Protected Areas Plan - 2020" layer from WERAC and the Dept. of Fisheries and Land Resources

-updated the Land Use layers help file links


November 2019

Geophysics Group:

-added the "Hopedale - 2018" subgroup with 3 geophysics raster layers as well as a digital terrain model

-added the "St. Alban's - 2015" subgroup with 20 geophysics raster layers as well as a digital terrain model

July 2019

Map Layers Group:
-updated the Forest Access Roads layer (2017)

Indexes Group:
-updated the Airborne Geophysical Surveys layer

Land Use Group:
-updated the Public Water Supplies

Geochemistry Group:
-updated the Till Sediment Geochemistry layer with the 2016 survey in south-central Newfoundland
-added Fluoride field (F9_ppm)  to the Till Sediment Geochemistry layer (for Island till samples)

Bedrock Geology Group:
-added detailed geology contacts, faults and polygons for southeast Labrador (part of C. Gower database in  Lab/1752)

Help Files:
-updated various help files including the Atlas Tutorial pdf slide show, linked from the Atlas Help icon ('?') > Atlas Help

June 2019

Geoscience Atlas Program Updates

Contents Panel: the 'expanded' groups are now retained in memory, so the Contents panel will display the previously expanded groups each time the Geoscience Atlas is opened

Coordinate String: at the bottom of the main map window, will now explicitly display that the datum is NAD27

Download Data: features (e.g., Regional Stream Sediment Sites) that are north of 58.7° (northern Labrador) can now be downloaded

Internet Explorer 11: mouse scrolling issues in the Contents panel and absent Custom Query lists have been corrected

Measure Tool - Draw Point: the lat-long and UTM point coordinates are now the same as the coordinates at the bottom of the main map window (datum NAD27)

Overview Window: the regional map in the inset window (lower right corner) has been rescaled to display the main map window extents more favourably (red box), especially when zoomed in to small scales

Search Results window: if a query or spatial search finds more than 1000 features the Search Results window will list only the first 1000 but will now explicitly indicate the total number found (e.g. ‘Returned 1000 out of 1387’) – note that only a maximum of 1000 records can be downloaded from the Search Results window


October 2018

Map Layers Group:
-added Nalcor and CanVec Transmission Line routes
-updated the Drill Core layer

Coastal Monitoring Group
-updated the Coastal Monitoring Sites with new sites and links to 3D models

Indexes Group:
-updated the Bedrock Geology Maps, Geochemical Surveys and Airborne Geophysical Surveys
-added Surficial Geology Maps and Till Geochemistry surveys

Land Use Group:
-added Specified Material Lands

Mineral Lands Group:
-in Map Staked Claims, note that the WorkDue field has been changed to RptDue

Geochemistry Group:
-updated the Till Sediment Geochemistry layer with data from central Newfoundland

Bedrock Geology Group:
-added a preliminary Geochronology layer for all of Newfoundland and Labrador

Surficial Geology Group:
-updated the Carbon-14, Striations, Landforms and Detailed Surficial Geology layers

Updated various help files.

July 2016

Added a new Detailed Stream Sediment and Water Geochemistry layer (8000 samples in Newfoundland AND Labrador) and help file in the Geochemistry Group.

Updated the Drill Core layer in the Map Layers Group.

Updated the Index of Geochemical Surveys database in the Indexes Group.

Updated the Till Sediment Geochemistry layer (NTS 2D/04, 11 and 12, 1M/13 and 12A/01) in the Geochemistry Group.

Updated the Detailed Lake Sediment and Lake Water Geochemistry layers (around NTS 23J/16 and SE Labrador) in the Geochemistry Group.

Updated the Detailed (and associated) Bedrock Geology polygons database with links to the Geofiles source map and/or report.

Updated the Striations database (around NTS 12A/14) in the Surficial Group.

Updated the Aggregate databases in the Surficial Group.

Updated various help files and the Atlas Tutorial.

February 2016

Updated the Atlas Tutorial with a hyperlinked contents slide (in Help > Atlas Help).

Atlas Application Interface Updates:
  • Atlas Contents panel now has collapsible groups
  • updated the Print layout
  • Search Results window indicates the number of features found and retains memory of last Map Service (Group) and Results (Layer) viewed

September 2015

Added a new Regional Stream Sediments layer (northern Labrador) and help file, in the Geochemistry Group.

Updated the Index of Geochemical Surveys, in the Indexes Group.

Updated the Detailed Surficial Geology, Landform Lines and Points (50k), and Aggregate layers, in the Surficial Geology Group.

Updated the Atlas Tutorial pdf slide show, linked from Help > Atlas Help.

December 2014

Update to the Index of Airborne Geophysical Surveys layer.

Update to the Till Sediment Geochemistry layer, with additional samples from the Fogo and Red Indian Lake areas.

Updates to the Public Water Supplies, Municipal Boundaries and Planning Areas layers in the Land Use group.

Updates to help files, including Index to Airborne Geophysical Surveys, Geophysics Images, Bedrock Geology, Drill Core, Quarries,  and Mineral Lands.

Added a new Coastal Monitoring Group containing layers on Coastal Monitoring Sites, Coastal Indices (Erosion, Sensitivity, Petroleum Vulnerability), and Coastal Characterization (Points, Slope, Substrate, Width, Sediment)

Added a new Base Map: 'Scanned Topo Map' is a mosaic of the scanned paper NTDB maps of the province.

Added a Search and Query help file, with a link from the Atlas Help, to provide more instruction on the five methods of searching and querying the data.


Updates and/or Additions, April 2014

Hydro Geology layer (in the Bedrock Geology group) is now available to view. Click on the Hydro Geology text in the Contents window to link out to the help file.

Added elevation Contours to the Map Layers group. This layer is scale dependent; it is not displayed at small scales and will change from 1:250,000 to the 1:50,000 scale contours at larger scales.

Changes to various layers colours (e.g. UTM grid lines).

Updates to help files, adding recent contact information.

Added an Atlas Tutorial pdf slide show, linked from Help > Atlas Help.


March 2014

The New Geoscience Atlas is launched, based on a new platform, with new tools and layers. For an overview on how to navigate around the new Atlas, please review the Atlas Help under the question mark icon (top right in the Atlas window). Atlas Help also provides a link to the updated List of Layers (with a brief description of all layers) and a link to Frequently Asked Questions.

New tools in the Atlas include the ability to draw graphics on the map, more powerful search and query capabilities, download to different formats, download of raster layers, better print capabilities, and the ability to save and return to a specific map view and share this view with others. Many layers have been updated and new layers have been added (e.g., geophysics layers). Selecting an 'Active Layer' is no longer necessary as all layers are active; just turn the layer on in the Contents and click on a feature in the map window to see information about that feature in the Search Results window.

We are still working out some problems so please bear with us.


2013 Updates (after January)

Updated Layers:

Till Geochemistry and Volcanic Field Majors (in the Geochemistry Sites group) now have links to associated Geofiles, with subsequent links through the Geofiles to any available digital reports, maps and databases.

Till Geochemistry (in the Geochemistry Sites Group) has been updated with new samples in eastern and northeastern Newfoundland (parts of NTS map sheets 1N, 2D, 2E, and 2F).

1:50,000 Surficial Geology, Landform Lines and Landform Points (in the Surficial Geology Map Theme) have been updated with new information in NTS map sheets 2E/02, 2C/13 and 12A/10.

Striations (in the Surficial Geology Map Theme) have been updated with 82 new samples throughout Newfoundland.

Other:

Various help files have been updated, such as the Mineral Lands Help file and the Map Viewer HELP (updated answers to Frequently Asked Questions including issues with the Atlas, updated layer descriptions). 

On the GeoScience OnLine front page, along with the link to the Geogratis federal government site (providing access to free CanVec digital topographic data), a new link has been provided to the GeoBase site, which provides access to free regional Digital Elevation Data, Geographic Names, National Road Network, Satellite imagery etc.


January 2013

New Layers:

Petroleum Resources is a new group. It consists of the layers:
-Onshore Petroleum Wells,
-Onshore to Offshore Petroleum Wells,
-Onshore Seismic Lines,
-Onshore Permits and Leases, and
-Onshore Petroleum Basins

Updated Layers:

Detailed, Generalised, Lithofacies and Tectonic Assemblage Bedrock Geology and Contacts layers (in the Bedrock Geology Map Theme) have been completed for the Island of Newfoundland with detailed geology maps covering the Burin, Bonavista and Avalon Peninsulas. See the Help file in the Bedrock Geology Options Box for the User Guide to version 7 and the individual legends.

Map Staked Claims layer (in the Mineral Lands Group) has an additional link in the License_NBR field called "GEOFILE": this links out to non-confidential pdf assessment reports if available for the current licence. This is similar to the link in the Historical Claims layer for old licences.

Geochemical Surveys , under the Indexes Group, have been updated with new surveys (including rock surveys) and survey compilations in Labrador and on the Island. Links are now provided to the Geofiles collection, with subsequent links through the Geofiles to any available digital reports, maps and databases.

July 2012

Updated Layers:

Drill Core layer has been updated with core stored from drill holes within NTS map sheets 1M, 2D, 2E, 12A, 12B, 12H, and 23G.

Till Geochemistry (in the Geochemistry Sites Group) has been updated with new samples on the Avalon Peninsula (NTS map sheets 1N/07 and 1N/10) and in the east Gander Lake area (NTS map sheets 2D/16 and 2C/13).

Airborne Surveys (in the Indexes Group) have been updated.

Historical Claims (in the Mineral Lands Group) have been updated.

Striation layer (in the Surficial Geology Map Theme) has been updated with new sites on the Avalon Peninsula (NTS map sheet 1N/10) and in the northeast Gander Lake area (NTS map sheets 2E/08 and 2F/04).

Aggregate databases (in the Surficial Geology Map Theme) have been updated.

Surficial Geology - 1:50,000 (in the Surficial Geology Map Theme) has been updated with new mapping on the Island, within NTS map sheets 1M, 2E, 2L, 12A, 12H and 12I.

Other:
Various database fields and help files have been updated (e.g., Map Viewer HELP contains answers to Frequently Asked Questions).  New links have been provided on the GeoScience OnLine front page (e.g., NRCan Free Topographic Data, Energy Branch Services - Onshore Petroleum Maps and Data).

May 2011

New Layers:
 UTM Grid Lines -  1 km grid lines, based on NAD27 datum, become visible at larger scales

Landforms (in the Surficial Geology Map Theme) - provides the locations of regional and detailed glacial landforms such as moraines and drumlins

Topographic Base Map - when zoomed in, the most detailed base maps are from the federal governments "CanVec" data set, providing higher quality data

Updated Layers:
Drill Core layer has been moved from the Mineral Lands Group to the main Layers list (second from the top).  This database has been updated and a new help file added, which includes location maps for each of the Core Storage Libraries.

Transportation layer is now called the National Road Network

Plutonic Sites (in Geochemistry Sites Group) has been reorganized and a comprehensive help file added

Till Geochemistry  (in Geochemistry Sites Group) has been updated with new samples on the Avalon Peninsula

Airborne Surveys (in the Indexes Group) have been updated; note the GEM program north and west of the Smallwood Reservoir

Quarry Sites (in the Mineral Lands Group) has been reorganized and symbology for six permit/lease types have been added

Striation layer (in the Surficial Geology Map Theme) has been updated

Other:
Print Map Tool (second from the bottom, left side) - legend problems have been fixed to produce better maps

Mineral Lands Group has been reorganized with the Map Staked Claims layer at the top

Various help files have been updated and bugs fixed

May 2010

Documentation 
-improved documentation for many layers (updated help files for Municipal Boundaries and Planning Areas and Sensitive Wildlife Areas)

Map Viewer HELP
-updated with brief outline of how to use the tools and a description of all the layers

Drill Core layer
-hyperlinks added to the File field, linking to the Geofile bibliographic information and any digital pdfs

October 30 2009

Documentation
-improved documentation for many layers with emphasis on the Geochemistry layers

Functionality
-improved methods of turning on layers and sublayers

Mineral Occurrence layer has been updated

Map Labels have been improved at larger scales

Transportation layer is now from the National Road Network

Geochemistry Layers:

Indexes:


Land Use:


Surficial Geology:


July 31 2008

Historical Claims:
 19000 historical ground and map staked claims have been added with links to the Mineral Rights Inquiry Report and the Geofile record for any assessment reports filed. This layer is still under construction.

Land Use layers:
  • Forest Access Roads
  • LIL - Labrador Inuit Lands
  • LISA - Labrador Inuit Settlement Area
  • Public Water Supplies
  • Municipal Boundaries
  • Municipal Planning areas

Documentation
-improved documentation for many layers with emphasis on the Bedrock Geology help and legend files

Mineral Lands layers updated with name changes:
-Excluded Land is now 'Mineral Rights Cancelled'
-Lands Coming Open is now 'Notices Gazetted'

Geochemistry layers:
  • Geochemical Index added
  • Rock Geochemistry added

Mineral Occurrence layer has been updated