Geological maps and publications
Frequently asked questions: Maps and Publications
The IGWS no longer provides printed copies of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) topographic maps.
The USGS provides digital topographic maps through their topoBuilder web application. Users can build a USGS-style topographic map of any U.S. location for free and immediate download. Historic U.S. topographic maps are available through the USGS topoView web application.
IndianaMap transferred to the Indiana Geographic Information Office (GIO) on May 18, 2022. It is available at indianamap.org.
In the late 1990s, the IGWS developed and hosted a map viewer to aggregate digital map information to support the planning and building of Interstate 69 in southwestern Indiana. Through a series of partnerships with the Indiana Geographic Information Council, the viewer grew to include hundreds of statewide geospatial layers in what is known collectively as IndianaMap.
Advancements in data hosting technology allowed the Indiana GIO to launch improved tools and update the site with web GIS standards. The IGWS will continue to contribute geological and hydrogeological data to IndianaMap through a GIS portal.
The Indiana Journal of Earth Sciences (IJES) is the primary outlet for scholarly communication of the IGWS since 2019. IJES was created as an online open-access journal to publish earth science research about Indiana and the surrounding region.
Prior to 2019, the Survey published its maps and scholarly research in traditional publication formats (Special Reports, Occasional Papers, etc.). Digital copies of these publications are available for free download from the IGWS Digital Collections portal.
All maps, reports, and articles published since 2019 are available for free download from our open-access journal, the Indiana Journal of Earth Sciences.
The IGWS does not provide digital copies of maps that are held under another organization's copyright.
Geospatial data is available through a number of IGWS web applications and databases here. If you are having trouble finding a specific data set, please email us.
Digital copies of illustrations and images can be downloaded, shared, and adapted for noncommercial use under an Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) copyright license. Please give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.
Reproductions of IGWS material for commercial use are considered on a case-by-case basis and fees may apply. Commercial use includes, but is not limited to, for-profit publications; textbooks, trade books, and reference books; motion pictures, commercial television, and video productions; large-circulation or mass-market magazines; printed or televised advertisements; calendars, posters, museum reproductions, postcards, and note cards; and other items made available to a relatively broad audience.
To request commercial use of an IGWS illustration, map, or specimen image, please email us for more information.
The IGWS no longer provides printed maps.
Field maps and maps published by the Indiana Geological and Water Survey prior to 2019 are available for free download from the IGWS Digital Collections portal.
All maps, reports, and articles published since 2019 are available for free download from our open-access journal, the Indiana Journal of Earth Sciences.
We sell waterproof trail maps and large, poster-sized copies of the Bedrock and Quaternary Geologic Maps of Indiana in the IGWS Store.
All published maps are available for free on our Digital Collections portal and open-access journal.
We are not accepting custom map orders at this time.
Not quite! Although the IGWS has produced geological maps since 1839, new technologies allow us to produce new, more detailed maps of the state's natural resources and hazards each year. Additionally, changes in societal issues prompt citizens, lawmakers, land use planners, emergency responders, and businesses to ask questions that can be answered by new, relevant geologic maps.