Chapter 27
Digital Geological Map of the Central Andes
between 20°S and 26°S
Klaus-J. Reutter · Kerstin Munier
27.1 Origin of the Digital Geological Map
Between1982 and 1993, a relatively small number of geo-
scientists from the Free University of Berlin and the Tech-
nical University of Berlin worked in collaboration with
colleagues from Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile on Andean
projects. In 1993, the much larger research program, the
Collaborative Research Centre (SFB 267), “Deformation
processes in the Central Andes”, began. It was recognized
very early in the life of the SFB that it would be useful to
have a geological map covering the Central Andean seg-
ment where field research was to be undertaken. Thus,
the program’s geoscientists would have a starting point
from which to base discussions, interpretations and plan
further studies.
This was the origin of the “Geological map of the
Central Andes between 20° S and 26° S”, at a scale of
1 : 1 000 000. It was first completed in 1986 and later pub-
lished in 1994 (Reutter et al. 1994b), together with
Bouguer and isostatic gravity-anomaly maps at the same
scale, in a volume dedicated to the tectonics of the south-
Central Andes (Reutter et al. 1994a).
The most important feature of this geological map
was its coverage across international borders and the
compilation of existing national maps, which were at
different scales, under a common legend. From its first
rough draft until its publication, the map was continu-
ally updated whenever new geological data became avail-
able. For the presentation of the map, the Lambert Coni-
cal Projection was selected with a reference meridian at
67° W and the two standard parallels of 21° S and 25° S.
Morphological and geographical data were taken from
the Operational Aviation Chart 1 : 1 000 000 (Reutter and
Götze 1994).
27.2 From Analog to Digital Mapping
As expected, the “Geological map of the Central Andes
between 20° S and 26° S” proved to be very useful to
27
the SFB 267, but in order to adapt it to the different
requirements of the working groups, it was necessary
to digitize it. This was done in two steps: (1) the orig-
inal transparencies of the map-printing process were
scanned and automatically vectorized; and (2) the lines
were corrected manually, if necessary, and converted
into polygons. Corresponding geological units were at-
tached to these polygons and a legend was created so
that the digital map could be visualized and further
modifications could be made. The original Lambert Con-
formal Conical projection was transformed into UTM
projection (zone 19).
There were certain obstacles to the further develop-
ment of the geological map. The main one was a result
of some incongruence with the satellite images of the
area. This was most probably caused by the different pro-
jections used by the analog topographical base maps. The
other was a lack of time and personnel for a thorough
revision, although the digitized map made corrections
easier. If corrections were introduced they usually con-
cerned small areas.
Nevertheless, the 1994 geological map, in its origi-
nal and digitized forms, continued to be an impor-
tant discussion and interpretation tool for the geoscien-
tists collaborating in the SFB 267 until its completion
in 2005. In addition, there has been international re-
quest from non-SFB-affiliated geoscientists for the
map and for permission to obtain and work with the
digitized version.
This demand for the map and its possible further
development by other groups were the deciding fac-
tors for including the digitized map on the DVD that
accompanies this final volume of the SFB 267. It is
included as an ArcGIS®-Project (version 8), and a
digital map version for ArcReader® is also stored on
the DVD (together with the necessary software). Thus,
the map is now available to all who are interested in
the geology of the Central Andes. The authors would
be delighted to be occasionally informed by the users of
this map about their experiences with it and its further
evolution.
554 Klaus-J. Reutter · Kerstin Munier

Reutter K-J, Scheuber E, Wigger P (eds) (1994a) Tectonics of the

References
Reutter KJ, Götze H-J (1994) Comments on the geological and geo-
physical maps. In: Reutter K-J, Scheuber E, Wigger P (eds) Tec-
tonics of the Southern Central Andes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin
Heidelberg New York
Southern Central Andes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg New
York
Reutter KJ, Doebel R, Bogdanic T, Kley J (1994b) Geological map of
the Central Andes between 20° S and 26° S, 1 : 1 000 000. In: Reutter
K-J, Scheuber E, Wigger P (eds) Tectonics of the Southern Cen-
tral Andes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg New York