Geologic map database of the Nevada Test Site area, Nevada

In August 1996, the USGS National Geologic Map Database Project and the Association of American State Geologists (AASG) formed working groups to devise standards for defining and using geologic map data One working group has been developing a geologic map data model. They produced a draft report in October 1997 that after public discussion, will be submitted to the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) for more public review and comment. At about the same time, the USGS decided to digitally compile traditionally collected geologic data from the Nevada Test Site (NTS) area, Nevada into a composite geologic map database. The current version of the digital geologic map database was built using a preliminary version of the data model. The proposed data model allows the easy extraction of different kinds of hierarchical geologic attribute data that can then be integrated with other geo-spatial data sets to help evaluate and possibly help ameliorate current environmental problems at the NTS. Queries against the NTS database have shown potential usefulness in interpreting geologic and hydrogeologic structure at the NTS.