Live on the web

See the links page for an up to date listing of database web links. Most of the rest of this page describes how we got to the present day situation, and provides links to downloadable files compiled some years ago.

Over the decades, and latterly due to the efforts of Simon Nathan, the Geological Society and GNS compiled the FRED, STRATLEX and BIBLIOGRAPHIC databases related to the geology of New Zealand. These were made available as paper publications as well as files downloadable from this site (see below). In late 2003, GNS made live versions of the three databases searchable on the web (FRED requires registration):

FRED: Fossil Record File. See also the GSNZ's FRF page
STRATLEX: NZ stratigraphic lexicon and timescale. See also the GSNZ's STRATLEX page
BIB: NZ earth science bibliographic database

FRED, STRATLEX and BIB have a long history of development with the Geological Society, and the Society's GEOCHRON database and analyses from the List of Compilations of Chemical Analyses have been incorporated into PETLAB.

GSNZ databases to the year 2000

• Geological Maps
• Theses
• Geochronology
• Geochemistry

Database compilation has largely been done by volunteers, and we are very grateful to everyone who has taken part. The files below are made freely available to all interested members of the earth science community, but we do ask that you let us know if you find errors or omission, or have difficulty reading files. Although considerable care has been taken to be as accurate as possible, there are always errors in any database, and the Society can take no responsibility for these. Remember the golden rule in any research - check your data! 

While the information is freely available, the Copyright remains with the Geological Society of New Zealand, and permission is required for commercial use.

Bibliography of field guides 1891-1990. GSNZ Misc Pub 51

Thompson, B.N.; Hayward, B.W. (compilers) 1991. Bibliography of New Zealand earth science excursion guides, 1891-1990. GSNZ Misc Pub 51, 85 pp. Download 490kb Excel file.

595 field guides are categorised by author, year, title, source, conference, conference location, region, start and end points, localities visited, NZMS260 map sheet, data type, subject area, keywords and library holdings. Thanks to Bruce Hayward for supplying the file.

UNION LIST OF ARCHIVAL, MANUSCRIPT AND THESES GEOLOGICAL MAPS OF NEW ZEALAND
Compiled by Claren Kidd, 1996
GSNZ Miscellaneous Publication 93

Describes and lists the whereabouts of 4250 unpublished and early geological maps of New Zealand, its outlying islands and the Ross Dependency. Includes author, map title, scale, sheet size, insert or figure number, title of the larger work (e.g. thesis or report), keywords, NZMS map sheets and library or institution where the map is held.

Query online or download the list as a 2.8Mb Endnote (.enl) file or a 1.8Mb Excel (.xls) file

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF NEW ZEALAND EARTH SCIENCE THESES
3rd edition: Up to 2008.
compiled by E. Leaming, S. Nathan, B.N. Thompson & B.W. Hayward, 2009

GSNZ Miscellaneous Publication 127

This database consists contains almost 5000 entries, including all known theses on New Zealand earth science as well as theses on overseas geological topics undertaken within New Zealand Universities. The link above takes you to a zipped file containing an Excel spreadsheet and a Word document describing the database.

If you want to download the previous 2nd edition (GSNZ Misc. Pub. 113) go here.

GEOCHRONOLOGY DATABASE
2nd edition: Up to December 1961-1999

This is a zipped folder that accompanies IGNS Science Report 2000/11, "Geochronology database for New Zealand rocks: 2nd edition, 1961-99". Users are referred to the report for information on compilation of the database and content of the fields.

The folder contains the following files:

• README file, describing the folder
• Table 3: Published radiometric ages from onshore (and nearshore) New Zealand
• Table 4: Published radiometric ages from the Chatham Islands
• Table 5: Published radiometric data from outlying islands and offshore New Zealand

Download the database (0.5 Mb zipped folder). The geochronology database records are also in the online PETLAB database.

LIST OF COMPILATIONS OF CHEMICAL ANALYSES ON NEW ZEALAND ROCKS    

This list includes all compilations of chemical analyses of New Zealand rocks known to us that are readily available to the scientific community apart from those given in scientific papers and theses. The list has been restricted to analyses after about 1975, when modern, high-quality instrumental data started to become available.

Read the list. The actual analyses are in the online PETLAB database.