Maps
Geological Mapping
A major function of the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB), as mandated by its Act, is to prepare and publish different types of geological maps of the country. Its Cartography Unit is one of the main supporting branches.
Twenty-one (21) maps, titled ‘SRI LANKA 1:100,000 Geology (Provisional Series)’ cover the entire land area of the country. Of these, one (1) composite map at 1:250 000 scale featuring seven (7) 1:100,000 scale maps were published under the sponsorship of the British Geological Survey (BGS) in 1994 and another fourteen (14) maps published under Australian finance and technical assistance (AusAID) in 1999. The remaining seven (7) maps were completed and published through in-house expertise. As of now, the Cartography unit has completed the following maps.
Earthquake
Seismic Data and Tsunami Alert Centre
To reflect core activities and international obligations, it is proposed to rename as: SEISMIC DATA ANALYSIS CENTRE (SDAC)
Although GSMB has been involved in earthquake monitoring since the year 2000, there was no compelling reason to establish an earthquake monitoring facility on a 24/7 basis until occurrence of the 2004 disaster.
Having commenced with PALK seismic station (Fig. 2) and limited web based open monitoring facilities, two more stations, namely, MALK at Mahakandarawa in the north and HALK at Hakmana in the south (Figs. 3 and 4 respectively) have now been added.
The main function of SDAC is to provide accurate and prompt seismic activity data for relevant authorities especially of impending tsunamigenic events and to be used later for research purposes. After the 2004 tsunami disaster, the disaster management system in Sri Lanka was revised and the GSMB was mandated to perform functions related to earthquakes. Although the Mines and Minerals Act No. 33 of 1992 did not provide any provisions for the GSMB to carry out disaster management activities, when the required legal empowerment was received from the Mines and Minerals (Amendment) Act, No. 66 of 2009, the SDAC was ready to conduct systematic earthquake monitoring activities and deliver accurate information promptly.
Conducting research on Sri Lanka’s active faults and its diffuse boundary demarcating two major crystalline Complexes, suggestive of an extending mid Indian ocean platelet boundary is also another ongoing activity of the SDAC.
The SDAC is not only involved in data acquiring and data processing, but also is responsible for providing accurate earthquake parameters to relevant institutions. While developing the capacity for data acquisition and data analysing, the SDAC is in the process of increasing the number of other institutes, communities, media, etc. related to disaster management for exchanging related information.
The Centre runs on a 24/7 basis. After normal office hours, it is staffed by two officers drawn from a pool of Geophysicists, Geologists and Senior Technical Officers that have been trained either locally or overseas. They are tasked to monitor any seismic that occur specially within Sri Lanka and Indian ocean region.
Seismic Monitoring
The seismic network consists of three broadband stations including one station from Project IDA/IRIS network and other two from GEOFON seismic network. These three seismic stations are maintained by GSMB with assistance from respective parent networks. All three stations receive data globally and share with SDAC.
Note: Blue underline denotes URL access.
PALK Seismic Station
The PALK seismic station located at Pallekelle, Kandy was installed as a joint project between University of California, San Diego and GSMB in 1999.
Station Code |
PALK |
Location |
Pallekelle, Kandy |
Latitude |
7.2728 N |
Longitude |
80.7022 E |
Altitude |
460 m |
Commenced on |
August 22, 2000? |
Network Affiliation |
IRIS/IDA – GSN |
Network Contact |
IDA Seismographic Network |
Instrumentation |
STS6, Trillium 120PH, Q330 |
HALK and MALK Seismic Stations
Two GEOFON stations, MALK (Mahakanadarawa) and HALK (Hakmana) Fig. 3 were installed by GFZ under GITEWS in year 2010.
Station Code |
HALK |
MALK |
Location |
Umangala Temple, Hakmana |
Eithihaasika Gale Pansala, Mahakanadarawa |
Latitude |
6.08 N |
8.39 N |
Longitude |
80.68 E |
80.54 E |
Commenced on |
April 23, 2010 |
April 10, 2010 |
Network Affiliation |
GE |
GE |
Network Contact |
GEOFON / Section 2.4 |
|
Instrumentation |
STS-2, Q330 |
STS-2, Q330 |
The GSMB is the technical focal point in Sri Lanka to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) based in Vienna, Austria while the SDAC/EHAC has been identified as the Sri Lankan National Data Centre.
Sri Lanka’s PALK GSN station (jointly operated by GSMB and University of California, San Diego) was certified in February 2008 as an auxiliary station within their International Monitoring System and its data used for monitoring of nuclear activities.