Colophon, Contents, Review of Survey activities

Abstract

One of the last visible relics of the pre-fusion history of the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), the two separate Bulletin series for Greenland and Denmark, respectively, ceased to appear in late 2003. Almost a decade after the merging of the Geological Survey of Denmark (DGU) and the Geological Survey of Greenland (GGU), the two Bulletin series were merged to form the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland Bulletin, the first issue of which is the monumental The Jurassic of Denmark and Greenland. With the closure of the two old series, a long-standing tradition of publishing an annual Review of Greenland activities was brought to an end. Everyone in GEUS, not least those who grew up within the former DGU, agree that the Review of Greenland activities was a high-quality, enjoyable-to-read review of the new Survey s Greenland activities. It was therefore a natural progression to publish a review volume covering the full spectrum of activities of the entire institution, a Review of Survey activities intended for a professional, but not specialist, readership. In order to keep the volume to a manageable size, all articles have been restricted to a four-page limit.

Thanks to the diverse geology of Denmark and Greenland, and the reliance of society on resources hosted in the subsurface, GEUS as a survey has been generously endowed by nature. However, as for many other geological surveys in western Europe direct financial government appropriations for GEUS have decreased significantly during the past several years. Increasing funding from external scientific foundations and commercial sources has proved to be a partial compensation. Furthermore, the Survey has extended the traditional scope of its activities to also include capacity-building projects in several developing countries within the fields of institutional development, geological mapping, petroleum geology, mineral exploration and hydrogeology. Despite recent hardships, including an inevitable loss of personnel, the size, relevance and quality of the geological output of the Survey are still undergoing a healthy development.

The articles contained in this bulletin review many of the principal activities of the Survey in 2003; they reflect the diversity of our Survey, from the microbial to the plate tectonic level. Of the 23 articles, 20 measure directly the extent to which the Survey s activities have been driven by external demand, inasmuch as they describe activities which have been undertaken for external customers or rely on external sources for a significant funding contribution. Funding for these 20 projects has come from national and international research funds, from the petroleum industry, from ministries and counties, from the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum of the Greenland Home Rule Government, and from national and international funds for aid to developing countries. It is expected that the focus on applied geological projects will also be reflected in future volumes of Review of Survey activities.