CARG Project - Geologic and geothematic cartography

At the end of the 80's, thanks to special regulations, the Project for the realization of the national geological cartography at the scale 1:50.000 was started, first as part of the annual Program of urgent environmental protection interventions (L.67/88), then in the three-years Program for the protection of the environment (L. 305/89), allocating dedicated resources in both cases and thus starting the CARG Project (CARtografia Geologica).

The CARG Project provides for the realization and computerization of 636 geological and geothematic sheets at the scale 1:50,000 that make up the puzzle of the 50,000 coverage of the entire national territory (out of a total numbering of 652, taking into account the sheets with multiple numbering that contain portions of other neighboring sheets and those with duplicate numbering). The Project is carried out in collaboration with the Regions and Autonomous Provinces, the CNR and the Universities and is coordinated by the Geological Survey of Italy as the cartographic organ of the State (Law 68/60).

The state resources provided to date, amounting to about € 81,260,000.00, together with the financial commitments borne by the Regions and Autonomous Provinces, have allowed, in addition to the realization and computerization of 254 geological sheets, also the realization of 14 geological sheets, 6 geology sheets of the Adriatic continental shelf at the scale 1:250,000.

In addition to the 254 geological sheets financed within the CARG Project, 5 sheets entirely financed by some regions such as Puglia, Lazio and Liguria and 22 geological sheets produced by SGI have been realized or are in progress, for a total of 281 geological sheets, equal to about 44% of the total coverage.

The Project provides for the creation of a database from which to obtain geological and geothematic maps of greater detail for the use of the cartographed data in multiple applications. In this way the cognitive tools will be available, such as geological data, essential for proper planning and management of the territory and, more specifically, for the prevention, reduction and mitigation of hydrogeological risk.

In this section are reported all the useful indications for the Project's realization.

The geological sheets are on sale at ISPRA and can be consulted at the ISPRA Library.

Documents and useful links