Geological map of Antony Karol Giedroyc of the territory of Lithuania in the context of geological cartography of the 19th century

Abstract

The history of geological cartography of the present territory of Lithuania starts with a map published by Jean Etienne Guettard in 1764 and followed by maps by Stanisław Staszic in 1806, Ignacy Domeyko in 1837, and Frederic Dubois de Montpereaux in 1830. A new period of investigations and compilation of geological maps starts about 1840 and is closely related with the development of stratigraphic knowledge; therefore, this period marks the beginning of mapping using the stratigraphic concept (Helmersen 1841). The Geological Committee in St. Petersburg, founded in 1882, at the very beginning of its activities started the compilation of a geological map including the present territory of Lithuania. The works of Antony Karol Giedroyc (Antanas Karolis Giedraitis) were published in 1895 (Giedroyc 1895), and the volume included a map which displays the occurrences of Quaternary and Pre-Quaternary (Tertiary, Cretaceous, and Jurassic) sediments and rocks. The map is constructed on the basis of direct observations and descriptions of outcrops and exposures of Quaternary sediments and Pre-Quaternary rocks carried out by the author, also based on evidence by local people. The main occurrences (provinces) of Pre-Quaternary rocks mapped by Giedroyc are confirmed by the modern geological mapping of the 20th century; therefore, the map of Giedroyc (1895) is regarded as a pioneering work of modern geological mapping using international stratigraphic standards.