8/14/2019 Historic Timescale of the Alberta Geological Survey

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1970 - Alberta Geological Survey celebrates 50 years.

1990 - Map 213, Quaternary Geology, Central Alberta is published.

 AGS History ERCB HistoryLegend

1920 - The First Annual Report on the Mineral

Resources of Alberta, by John Allan, is published,

and he is a one-man geological survey. This

is 5 years after the Board of Public Utility

Commissioners is created, the rst regulatory

tribunal in Alberta.

1921 - First AGS eld party near Drumheller.

1924 - John Allan and

Ralph Rutherford are

responsible for surveying

the entire province (photo

from U of A archive).

1926 - First Geological Map of Alberta is published.

1929 - The hot

water extraction

plant designed by

Karl Clark, east

of Fort McMurray.

Test runs of 

bituminous sand

were processed

here until 1930.

1930 - First groundwater study for parts of the

Peace River and Grande Prairie districts.

1931 - Long term oil sands and coal classication projects are abandoned due to

the Depression and a small group of senior scientists are retained and double as

professors at the University of Alberta.

1941 - Funding resumes after the Depression and new researchers are hired.

Ralph Rutherford (below) cooks a meal on a gas are at Pakan, east of 

Redwater in 1917. This search eventually led to the discovery of oil at Leduc.

1947 - Leduc #1 is discovered (right),

setting the scene for major changes in

province-wide geological survey work

(photo from U of A archive).

1952 - An exploratory soil survey

program is started to outline areas

suitable for agricultural development

and roads. 1,150,000 acres are coveredusing pack horses. A study of the

surcial geological deposits of the area

was made at the same time.

1955 - Lou Bayrock (below) studies surcial geology throughout the

province. This leads to reports and maps being produced throughout the

next 3 decades.

1958 - Detailed mapping of the Precambrian Shield in NE Alberta is started by

John Godfrey. Samples (now stored at the MCRF, below) would be used during

the MDA project in the 1990s and are considered to represent the best mapping

and sampling of the Precambrian Shield anywhere in the world.1956 - The rst 3 groundwater 

observation wells are established and

equipped with water-level recorders to

begin the Groundwater Observation-Well

Network.

1932 - The government sets up the Turner Valley Gas Conservation

Board to prevent the huge wastage of natural gas in the area.

1933 - Milk is declared a ‘public utility,’ with prices under Public Utility Board jurisdiction.

This results in improved prices to farmers and the licensing of milk distributors/producers.

1937 - The Board of Public Utility Commissioners makes new

regulations prescribing safety measures for pipelines.1938 - Amendments to federal

legislation pave the way for the Alberta

government to take control of its

own energy resource development.

The Petroleum and Natural Gas

Conservation Board is established

(P&NGB).

1947 - The Leduc #1

well signals a period

of major revisions to

petroleum and natural

gas regulation to keep

pace with the rush of oil

development.

1949 - The Survey expands to

include investigations of clay, water 

and sand resources. Work also

continues on coal and iron studies.

1954 - Gas reserves increase and P&NGB allows TransCanada PipeLines to

export gas from Alberta for the rst time.

1957 - P&NGB becomes the Oil and Gas

Conservation Board (O&GCB). The year also

marks the rst enhanced oil recovery scheme.

1962 - Detailed petrological study by Barry

Mellon provides insight in the genesis of the

oolitic ironstones.

1949 - A tar sands experimental

plant (right) is set up for testing the

extraction of bitumen from oil sands.

1960 - An extractive metallurgical

program is developed to produce high

purity iron powders from low-grade iron

deposits in the Clear Hills area.

1961 - The groundwater well observation

program extends to all of the populated parts

of Alberta. The old practice of searching for 

groundwater supplies by a horse-drawn boring

rig is gradually replaced by using a hydraulic

rotary well-drilling rig.

1965 - The rst major placer gold report is issued.

1962 - The O&GCB opens a Core Storage

Centre in northwest Calgary and centralizes

raw energy data.

1968 - Construction of the rst in situ oil sands

recovery simulator based on Karl Clark’s water 

process is started.

1969 - Soil surveying of major agricultural areas

is completed and leads to the classication of 

agricultural and forestry regions of Alberta.

1970 - A series of hydrogeological studies are star ted and produced asEarth Sciences Reports containing reports/maps for the entire province.

1972 - A new Geological Map of Alberta is published.

1971 - O&GCB gains regulatory control over coal, pipelines, and

hydro and electric projects, in addition to oil, gas, and oil sands.

1971 - The O&GCB changes to the Energy

Resources Conservation Board (ERCB).

1973 - A comprehensive program is initiated to

test the ceramic properties of Alberta clays and

shales.

1976 - An aggregate inventory project

evaluates Alberta’s sand and gravel resources

and provides data for long-term planning andland use.

1976 - A province-wide review of Alberta

springs is initiated.

1979 - AGS is contracted by AE&NR to

collect mineral drillcore and prepare a

facility to store and manage the collection. It

would develop into the current Mineral Core

Research Facility (MCRF).

1980 - Major geological investigations for all

of Alberta’s oil sands and heavy oil deposits

are restarted.

1981 - Using ERCB data on the Athabasca oil sands deposit,

 AGS staff develops a computer mapping technique to convert

data to regional maps to better dene and understand the

deposit.

1983 - Some surface coal mines in Alberta

experience serious instability of highwalls,

threatening the safety of mine workers

and equipment. Geologists work toward

the advance detection of these hazardous

faults.

1983 - ERCB opens a world-class Core

Research Centre and the Energeum,

 Alberta’s only energy-related visitor 

centre.

1986 - A project to map, inventory and

evaluate the non-fuel mineral resources

of Alberta is initiated and called AMD/O

(Alberta Minerals Deposit/Occurrences). It is

the rst database for minerals.

1987 - Map 207, Quaternary Geology,

Southern Alberta is published (right).

1989 - First kimberlite core is received at

the MCRF on a condential basis from

the Mountain Lake area.

1981 - Aggregate inventory now includes an assessment of 

expandable clay, phosphate and limestone resources.

1990 - AGS is co-managed by the Alberta Department of 

Energy and the Alberta Research Council.

1991 - Geographic

Information System (GIS)

technology allows the coal

database and thematic maps

to be analysed, updated

and displayed with complete

exibility at any scale.

1992 - The Canada-Alberta

Partnership on Minerals

(MDA) agreement is signed.

It is a cooperative effort

between the GSC and AGS

to support research to help

identify and assess Alberta’s

mineral potential leadingto responsible mineral

exploration and development.

1994 - The Geological Atlas of 

the Western Canada Sedimentary

Basin is published. It is the most

comprehensive geological atlas

of the WCSB produced in North

 America .

1995 - ERCB and PUB

ofcially merge to form

the Alberta Energy and

Utilities Board (EUB).

1996 - AGS transfers to

the EUB.

2000 - Funding is received to

study the hydrogeology of the

post-Paleozoic succession in

the Athabasca Oil Sands area.

2000 - Study the coalbed

methane potential of the

province and the potential

Enhanced Coalbed Methane

production and associated CO2 

sequestration in coal seams.

2000 - AGS increases surcial

mapping efforts of northern

 Alberta.

2000 - A sand and gravel

database is created.

2001 - A third study of the

Mississippi Valley Type (MVT)

lead/zinc potential in carbonates

is undertaken as a cooperative

effort between AGS, GSC and

the Northwest Territories.

2001 - AGS staff provides

scientic support for decision

making.

2003 - AGS undertakes a major 

mapping effort in the Athabasca

Oil Sands Area as part of the

EUB’s Regional Geological Study.

2003 - AGS provides technical expertise

to implement the monitoring/early warning

system for Turtle Mountain.

2004 - A joint Geology and Reserves

Group and AGS oil sands study is

begun to map regional units in the

 Athabasca Oil Sands.

2005 - Alberta Geological

Survey celebrates 85 years.

1999 - First

digital

Geological

Map of Alberta

is published

(right, updated

from 1972

version).

1999 - First digital

Mineral Deposits and

Occurrences of Alberta

map (left) is published

from AMD/O database.

2005 - EUB celebrates 90

years.

Energy

    E    U    B

    E    R    C    B

2008 - Energy and Utilities

Board separates into

the Energy ResourcesConservation Board (ERCB)

and the Alberta Utilities

Commission (AUC) to reect

the evolution of energy and

utility regulation in Alberta.

2009 - ERCB sets its new

vision to become the best

non-conventional regulator 

in the world by 2013.

2005 - AGS assumes the long-term

monitoring of Turtle Mountain.2005 - New geohazard

program to focuses on

 Alberta’s geology and

identies geological

hazards to assist

decision making by the

ERCB and Albertans.

2005 - Co-operates

with the Canadian

Space Agency and

the Canada Centre

for Remote Sensing

to apply

space-basedtechnology to map

ground deformation.

2006 - Develops a program to

evaluate the uranium potential in

southern Alberta.

2007 - Unconventional

gas studies are

expanded to include

shale gas.

2007 - Initiates the digital atlas project,

which will focus on the upper 500 m.

2007 - Establishes

a memorandum of 

understanding with

 Alberta Environment

to map groundwater 

in Alberta.

2009 - Airborne geophysical surveys

completed for a portion of central Alberta.

Alberta Geological Survey 

Era Period Epoch

2007 - Begins

compiling the rstprovincial-scale

surcial geology map.

2008 - Dan McFayden

becomes the new chairman

of the ERCB.

2008 - Scanning

begins of past

 AGS publicationsto make them

available online.

2009 - As part of International

Year of Planet Earth, AGS

unveiled an interpretivegeological sign to raise

awareness and interest in

 Alberta’s geological wonders. Big

Hill Springs Provincial Park was

selected because of its amazing

tufa mounds.