A. Regional Geological Investigations
| (1) Geological Map Sheet investigation and publication |
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The series of 1:50,000 scale geological map sheets constitute the most fundamental basic reference in land
use planning. Engineering geological investigation conducted to satisfy specific purposes for various
specific engineering projects for hazard prevention and major development concerns are all based on the
1:50,000 scale geologic map sheets. Taiwan Province is divided into 76 map sheet quadrangles, inclusive of
the Penghu Archipelagos, the off-shore islands of Lanshu and Lutao. Each map sheet quadrangle covers an
area of 700 square kilometres. In addition, geologic map sheets for Kinmen and Matsu will be in 1:25,000
scale, thus, the total number of basic geologic map sheets comes to 78. Up to fiscal year 91,
forty seven (47) geologic map sheets had been completed. Current status on geologic amp investigations and
their publication is shown in Table 1. With one exception of a southwest Taiwan alluvial plains map sheet,
all of the areas not yet investigated are located in the Central Mountain Range. These areas are densely
traversed by deep valleys and high mountains, these extremely rugged and precipitous areas demand more
manual work and longer time than the rest of the geologic map sheets, for this reason, they hold a lower
priority, and will be executed in the later phase of the current geologic map investigation project. It is
projected that in the coming five years, all geologic map sheets outside of the Central Mountain Range area
will be completed and published. In the current 91 fiscal year, geologic map sheets under investigation
include the Potze,, Chiali, Tainan, Kinmen, Hsincheng, Nantou, Chungpu, Chishan, Touchang, Neipu, Taitung,
Chihpen and Lishan sheets. Three geological sheets, the Chiayi, Yunlin, and Hsinhua, had been completed,
and all pre-publication reviews had also been performed. The Chungli map sheet (2nd ed.) and the Wusheh map
sheet had also been officially published and released.
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| (2) Quaternary Geology Investigation in Central Taiwan |
Geological Boring and Investigation Project for Fiscal Year 2003 – The Changhua Fault
This project is a daughter project performed in conjunction with the Government's mother project in active
fault investigation and study. The main purposes of the active fault investigation include: procurement of
active fault data for establishing a data bank on active faults. The data bank will be the major reference
in sustained study on land use. The ultimate goal is to avoid hazards and mitigation in loss of live and
properties to the nation's public sector.
Stratigraphic Distribution of Quaternary Formations in Central Taiwan
The Toukoshan Formation constitutes the major Quaternary stratigraphic unit in central Taiwan. Rocks of this
formation are distributed west of the Shuangtung Fault in the Western Foothills geologic province. In time
stratigraphic terms, the Hsianshan Member of the Toukoshan Formation is early Pleistocene; whereas the
Toukoshan rocks outcropping further to the west are late Pleistocene in age.
Geoloogic Investigation on Terraces in Central Taiwan Area
Terraces of fluvial origin in Central Taiwan Area do not have any valid means of chronological dating, at
present these terraces are classified according to their relative elevation. They will be correlated in
the future when sufficient data become available for a meaningful detailed correlation. In the present 91
fiscal year, data on river terraces belonging in the Houli Terrace group, Chianghsilin Terraces, Hsintsoti
Terraces, and the Tungpunahsi Terraces had been collected.
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| (3) Establishing a Thermal Fluorescent Laboratory |
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At the end of 2001, due to operation requirements arising from field investigation and researches a
thermal fluorescent laboratory was started. This laboratory will lend support to various research
projects from various divisions in the Survey. Procurement processes for an analyzing system, the
analytical program and the supportive peripheral systems and equipment had been completed during the
end of 2001. In November 2002 the laboratory was inspected by the Atomic Committee for safety measures
regarding radio-active Sr90 used in the laboratory. The laboratory successfully passed the inspection
and was granted permission to operate. Equipment set up and test runs then followed, and were also
duly completed, a basic data bank for the relevant tests had also been completed in pace. The most
important piece of equipment that forms the core of the laboratory is the thermal fluorescent analyzer,
the new piece of equipment in the new laboratory is the state of the art TL/OSL-DA-15BC analyzer. This
analyzer was developed and made in Denmark by the Danish National Laboratory RISO. The equipment
includes a laser source apparatus that allows thermal as well as laser tests for various geoscientific
purposes. The analyzer spans the gap left behind by carbon isotope dating method, thus will be an
important tool in Quaternary research and study.
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