This data release is a compilation of data that characterize Alberta groundwater springs. It was compiled from several government datasets and reports, and fieldwork conducted by Alberta Geological Survey (AGS) staff members. The source datasets include the digitized Alberta Research Council (ARC) Hydrogeology Map Series, the AGS Springs of Alberta report, ARC water chemistry data, Groundwater Resources Information Services (GWRIS) Index, Alberta Environmental Protection (AEP) springs, AGS Northeastern Alberta (NEALTA) project springs, field work conducted by Dr. J. Toth and R. Stein, and other more recent spring sampling projects. The data release includes field measurements and water chemistry analyses, as well as some isotope data. Where they are available the dataset also includes references to reports for further information. The data is housed within two primary tables that are related to each other in a one-to-many relationship through the unique identifier field, UID. Also included in the data release are four reference tables containing descriptions of certain data attributes.

This dataset accompanies Open File Report 2009-02. Between 1971 and 1983, the Alberta Research Council created a series of hydrogeological maps of Alberta. The geologists examined the sediment types present and used existing water well information to assign yield values to distinct zones within the mapped areas. They also looked at the materials, generally to a depth of 305 metres (1000 feet) below ground surface, and added the yields of the sediments encountered within this interval to arrive at a yield value for the whole. Alberta Geological Survey compiled the shapefiles for the yield polygons, digitized by the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Agency, and then digitized the remaining linework for the remaining map areas. Afterwards, we created a geodatabase of the yield polygons for the entire province and assigned yield values to the polygons based on the original maps. We also assigned the most likely formation name, age and lithology to the yield polygon.

This GIS dataset is a compilation of existing surficial map information for Alberta tiled into one layer. It was an interim product to produce the generalized polygon dataset (Alberta Geological Survey DIG 2013-0002), which is suitable for presentation and use at 1:1,000,000 scale. We prepared the data by appending existing GIS datasets of each surficial map of Alberta into one provincial layer with a standard attribute table. Data sources included published Alberta Geological Survey and Geological Survey of Canada maps, one master's thesis, and ecological (biophysical) land-classification maps of the mountain parks. When possible, we transferred all of the legend data from each map source into the standard schema. As part of our 1:1,000,000-scale map project, we completed mapping the unmapped areas of Alberta at roughly 500,000 to 1,000,000 scale. This dataset includes those previously unpublished data. With this dataset users can, for the first time, view the surficial geology of different map areas done at different scales and map projections by different geologists according to different legends in one GIS layer. We exported the feature class as an Esri shapefile (SurfMosaic_py_ll.shp) for public distribution. The layer file 1M_scale_legend.lyr is also included for the convenience of Esri software users (version 9.2) to render the map according to the common legend shown on Alberta Geological Survey Map 601.

This GIS dataset is part of a digital compilation of the bedrock geology of Alberta. It is one of the datasets used to produce Alberta Geological Survey (AGS) Map 600. This dataset contains polygons of Canadian Shield mylonite zones (identified as either high-grade mylonite or low-grade mylonite). It also contains a polygon representing the Monarch Fault Zone in the southern Alberta Plains. The mylonite zones are modified after AGS Map 537 and the data source for the Monarch Fault Zone is Geological Survey of Canada Map 20-1967. The data were created in geodatabase format and output for public distribution in shapefile format. AGS Open File Report 2013-02 presents additional information on data sources related to this dataset.

This GIS dataset is part of a digital compilation of the bedrock geology of Alberta. It is one of the datasets used to produce Alberta Geological Survey (AGS) Map 600. This dataset contains lines representing linear structural elements. In the Rocky Mountains and Foothills these include thrust faults, normal faults and transverse faults as well as the axes of folds (anticlines and synclines). In the Canadian Shield and the Athabasca Basin all faults are given the same symbol (i.e., fault, type unspecified). The data were created in geodatabase format and output for public distribution in shapefile format. AGS Open File Report 2013-02 presents additional information on data sources related to this dataset.

The Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin was designed primarily as a reference volume documenting the subsurface geology of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. This GIS dataset is one of a collection of shapefiles representing part of Chapter 5 of the Atlas, Precambrian Basement Beneath the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, Figure 12, Relation of the Precambrian lithostructural units. Shapefiles were produced from archived digital files created by the Alberta Geological Survey in the mid-1990s, and edited in 2005-06 to correct, attribute and consolidate the data into single files by feature type and by figure.

The Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin was designed primarily as a reference volume documenting the subsurface geology of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. This GIS dataset is one of a collection of shapefiles representing part of Chapter 5 of the Atlas, Precambrian Basement Beneath the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, Figure 12, Relation of the Precambrian lithostructural units. Shapefiles were produced from archived digital files created by the Alberta Geological Survey in the mid-1990s, and edited in 2005-06 to correct, attribute and consolidate the data into single files by feature type and by figure.

This GIS dataset is part of a digital compilation of the bedrock geology of Alberta. It is one of the datasets used to produce Alberta Geological Survey (AGS) Map 600. This dataset contains 1) geological units that are represented by lines because they are too narrow to represent as polygons at 1:1 000 000 scale. 2) stratigraphic terminology boundaries that represent the approximate locations of where the names applied to intervals of strata change. These commonly correspond to lateral facies changes, which are gradational. The data were created in geodatabase format and output for public distribution in shapefile format. AGS Open File Report 2013-02 presents additional information on data sources related to this dataset.

This GIS dataset is part of a digital compilation of the bedrock geology of Alberta. It is one of the datasets used to produce Alberta Geological Survey (AGS) Map 600. This dataset represents the compilation of existing geological maps and original geological mapping by AGS staff. Mapping in support of the dataset included field observations and creating three-dimensional models of subsurface stratigraphy based on the interpretation of geophysical logs from oil and gas wells. Each three-dimensional formation surface was projected to a model of the bedrock surface, and the intersection formed the first approximation of the position of the geological contact at the base of the surficial deposits. We adjusted these preliminary contacts to honour outcrop data and the interpretation of the bedrock unit immediately below surficial deposits in individual wells. The data were created in geodatabase format and output for public distribution in shapefile format. AGS Open File Report 2013-02 presents additional information on data sources related to this dataset.

This GIS dataset represents a reclassification of existing surficial map information for the purpose of portraying the distribution of sand and gravel deposits in Alberta. The surficial geology of Alberta ungeneralised digital mosaic (Alberta Geological Survey DIG2013-0001) represents the primary source of information used in this reclassification. This dataset was updated with more recently published 1:100,000 scale surficial geology maps, and where appropriate new polygon features that were digitized from line features in the Glacial Landforms of Alberta (Alberta Geological Survey Map 604 and DIG2014-0022). The updated surficial geology mosaic was then reclassified using a thematically-based attribute table which categorizes the original surficial geology features based on their sand and gravel component. Attributes within this table comprise: (1) an approximation of the material type (MATERIAL). (2) the aerial proportion that this material represents of the polygon, as a percentage (PROPORTION). (3) an indication of whether the sand and gravel unit is mapped at the land surface or is buried (SRF_BURIED). (4) the depositional environment relating to the sand and gravel unit (GENESIS). (5) the reference source to the original data (SOURCE_MAP). (6) the GIS dataset from which the features were derived (DATASET). and (7) the mapping scale (SCALE). The MATERIAL honours the original surficial geology polygons when sufficiently precise texture/material information was provided. Otherwise MATERIAL is based on the typical range of materials that are associated with each surficial geology unit on a litho-genetic basis, using the standard Alberta Geological Survey surficial geology legend. When multiple surficial geological units that contain sand and gravel are present within a single polygon (i.e. 60% eolian deposits and 40% fluvial deposits), MATERIAL reflects the unit with the greatest proportion. For geological units whose material properties are of marginal significance as a sand and gravel deposit, particularly those that contain a mixture of silt and sand, a hierarchy was used to determine whether they are included as sand and gravel deposits. Fluvial deposits, littoral and nearshore deposits, and eolian deposits with a silt textural modifier in the original mapping data were included as potential sand and/or gravel deposits because these units are often interspersed with sand and/or gravel materials. Glaciolacustrine deposits with a silt textural modifier were not included because this environment generally does not result in the deposition of extensive sand and gravel sediments. After all of the attributes had been updated, all polygons that may contain some component of sand or gravel were extracted from this dataset to create the sand and gravel potential for Alberta digital mosaic. With this dataset, users can view the extent of surficial sand and gravel deposits in the province in a single GIS layer without the need to interpret this information from a variety of legends in the original surficial geology datasets. Users can further highlight polygons that may represent more suitable targets for sand and gravel based on the estimated material type (i.e. by eliminating polygons that typically contain large amounts of silt and fine sand), the estimated proportion of sand and gravel within the polygon, and depositional environment. This dataset best portrays sand and gravel potential that occurs at the land surface or in the very near surface, and does not attempt evaluate the sub-surface distribution of sand and gravel units. This dataset also does not provide any direct assessment of aggregate quality or thickness, and the material information is mostly inferred from the general association between certain surficial material types and their geological, depositional environment. Furthermore, the sand and gravel potential dataset is based on surficial geology maps produced at different scales and using different legends,