Feel free to download our PGS publications and fieldtrip guidebooks in pdf format which are viewable with Adobe Acrobat Reader. Just click on the file name in the Download column. Note that these are large files and are best downloaded with a faster connection. Publications that were published by the Geological Society of America or the Pennsylvania Field Conference must be ordered.

For more information or to purchase any of the PGS publications, contact: 

John A. Harper

Pennsylvania Geological Survey

400 Waterfront Drive

Pittsburgh, PA 15222-4745

Telephone: (412) 442-4230

Fax: (412) 442-4298

jharper.pgs@gmail.com

 

Please be aware that when field trips are designed, permission to enter sites is requested from the landowners. Safety equipment is also used by field trip participants. Some of the field trip stops are in dangerous or high traffic areas. Therefore, the PGS recommends caution and responsible behavior if our field trip guides or field trip guides from other sources are used.

The following should be noted:

1. PGS acquired permissions to enter sites, both privately and publicly owned, and anyone using these guides is advised to do the same, providing they don't wish to be arrested for trespassing.

2. While the guidebook information was accurate at the time of printing, the quality or accuracy of the information may have changed over time. It should be noted that although some of the older publications may no longer be accurate, their historical significance can be especially valuable.

3. Safety practices (hardhats, steel-toed boots, and safety glasses) are fostered on PGS field trips and readers are encouraged to do the same as serious injury can result from carelessness. Nobody benefits from a rock shard to the eye or a cascade of rocks on the head. PGS waives responsibility for the use or misuse of these guidebooks.

YOU MUST OBTAIN PERMISSION BEFORE ENTERING PRIVATE PROPERTY, HIGHWAY STOPS, OR RAILROAD CUTS.
No. Title Price Download
1. Geology of the Northern Portion of the Appalachian Basin  
Pittsburgh Geological Society, 1948,. Guidebook, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Midyear Meeting, Pittsburgh, October 4-9, 1948,121 p. 
OOP*  
2. (No title) 
A. I. Ingham, W. S. Lytle, F. Preston, C. E. Prouty, and R. E. Sherrill, 1950, Guidebook, 16th Annual Field Conference of Pennsylvania Geologists, Pittsburgh, May 26-28, 1950, 47 p. 
OOP  
3. Geologic Cross-Section Across Northern Ohio 
J. F. Pepper, G. T. Thomas, and J. R. Lockett, 1953, Pittsburgh Geological Society, scale approx.  1 in. = 11 mi. 
OOP  
4. Field Guidebook of Appalachian Geology, Pittsburgh to New York; Pittsburgh Geological Society, 1955, Guidebook, American 
Association of Petroleum Geologists, Annual Meeting, New York, 1955, 119p 
$4.00 
+1.50 S&H
 
5. Tectonics and Cambro-Ordovician Stratigraphy in the Central  Appalachians of Pennsylvania  
W. R. Wagner and R. P. Nickelsen, 1963, Guidebook, Pittsburgh Geological Society and Appalachian Geological Society Field Conference, September, 1963, 129 p. 

Free Download

Overview
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3

6. A Field Guide to Allegheny Deltaic Deposits in the Upper Ohio Valley with a Commentary on Deltaic Aspects of Carboniferous Rocks in the Northern Appalachian Plateau 
J. C. Ferm and V. V. Cavaroc, 1969, Guidebook, Ohio Geological Society and Pittsburgh Geological Society, Spring Field Trip, 1969, 19 p. 
Free Download

FieldGuide

7. Environmental Geology in the Pittsburgh Area 
R. D. Thompson, ed., 1971, Guidebook, Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 1971, Field Trip 6, 47 p. 
4.00 +1.50 S&H  
8.  "Lots" of Danger: Property Buyer's Guide to Land Hazards of Southwestern Pennsylvania  
J. L. Freedman, ed., 1977, Pittsburgh Geological Society, 85 p. 
$4.00+1.50 S&H  
9. Land Use and Abuse: The Allegheny County Problem  
W. R. Adams, R. P. Briggs, H. F. Ferguson, N. K. Flint, and W. S. Skinner, 1980, Guidebook, 45th Annual Field Conference of Pennsylvania Geologists, Pittsburgh, October 3-4, 1980, 116 p.  Available on CD-ROM from The Field Conference of Pennsylvania Geologists, Inc., 3240 Schoolhouse Road, Middletown, PA 17057, telephone 717-702-2017, http://www.paonline.com/gfleeger/fcopg/. Cost: $10.00.
OOP  
10. Stratigraphic Analysis of Carboniferous Rocks in Southwestern  Pennsylvania Using a Hierarchy of Transgressive-Regressive Units; Brezinski, D. K., and Busch, R. M., 1984,.  Guidebook, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Eastern Section Meeting, Pittsburgh, October 13-14, 1984, 104 p. OOP  
11. Geology of McConnells Mill and Moraine State Park Areas 
D. W. Watson, 1990, Guidebook, Pittsburgh Geological Society Spring Field Trip, May 19, 1990, variously paginated.
Free Download

Guidebook

12. Fossil Collecting in the Pittsburgh Area 
J. A. Harper, 1990, Guidebook, Pittsburgh Geological Society Summer Field Trip, July 29, 1990, 50 p. 
Free Download

Guidebook

13. Subway, Tunnels and Scenery 
R. P. Briggs and C. D. Parke, 1991, Guidebook, Pittsburgh Geological Society Spring Field Trip, April 27, 1991, 34 p.
Free Download

Guidebook

14. Measuring and Predicting Reservoir Heterogeneity in Complex Deposystems: The Late Cambrian Rose Run Sandstone of Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania 
R. A. Riley, J. A. Harper, M. T. Baranoski, C. D. Laughrey, and R. W. Carlson, 1993, Appalachian Oil and Natural Gas Research Consortium, West Virginia University, 257 p. 
$10.00 
+2.00 S&H
 
15. 1994 Spring Field Trip Field Guide to Monroeville Landfill,  
Monroeville, PA;
P. J. Hutchinson and J. Santangelo, 1994, Guidebook, Pittsburgh Geological Society Spring Field Trip, May 21, 1994, 22 p. 
OOP  
16. Pittsburgh Geological Society Golden Anniversary (1945-1995) Field Guide Book; P. J. Hutchinson, ed., 1995, Guidebook, Pittsburgh Geological Society Spring Field Trip, May, 1995, three separate trips paginated separately.  Free Download

Geology Day One
Day Two
Day Three
References
Appendix

17. Cambrian and Ordovician Rocks of the Birmingham Area, Blair and Huntingdon Counties, Pennsylvania; J. A. Harper, C. D. Laughrey, and B. Tormey, 1996, Guidebook, Pittsburgh Geological Society Spring Field Trip, May 4, 1996, 54 p. Free Download

FieldGuide

18.* The Atlas of Major Appalachian Gas Plays; J. B. Roen and B. J. Walker, eds., 1996, West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey Publication V-25, 201 p. $75.00 + 5.00 S&H  
19.* Gas Atlas Database (a digital ASCII file of data on > 5,100 Appalachian reservoirs to accompany The Atlas of major Appalachian Gas Plays); J. B. Roen and B. J. Walker, eds., 1996, West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey Publication V-25. $40.00 + 1.50 S&H  
20. Conquest of the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania:  
The Engineering Geology of Forbes Road, 1758-1764  
R.P. Briggs, 1997, Guidebook, Pittsburgh Geological Society Spring Field Trip, May, 1997, 29 p. plus l3 p. of illustrations. 

Free Download

Guidebook

21. The Geology of Pennsylvania, C.H. Shultz, ed., 1998, co-published by the Pittsburgh Geological Society and the Pennsylvania Geological Survey, 900+ pages.  Order from Pa. State Bookstore  
22. Rocks, Oil, Gravel, Iron: The Bedrock, Surficial, and Economic Geology of Venango County; J.A. Harper and A.N. Ward, Jr., 1999, Guidebook, Pittsburgh Geological Society Spring Field Trip, May, 1999, 29 p., plus 13 pages of illustrations.  Free Download

FieldGuide

23. Pittsburgh Geological Fieldtrip in the Morgantown Area, May 6, 2000 ; H. Rauch, N. Fedorko, L. Avary, R. Smosna , May 6, 2000, Pittsburgh Geological Society, 41 p.   Free Download FieldGuide
24. History & Geology of Allegheny Portage Railroad, Blair and Cambria Counties, PA, Pittsburgh Geological Field Trip, May 11, 2002 ; John Harper, May 11, 2002, Pennsylvania Geological Survey, 38 p.   Free Download FieldGuide
Roadlog
Plates
25. Building Pittsburgh - A Walking Tour of Pittsburgh's Building Stones ; J. Neelan, C.H.Shultz, R.Burger, J. Harper, J. Smith, April 2003, Pittsburgh Geological Society, 47 p.   $5.00 + 1.50 S&H  
26. An Examintation of Methods for Glacial Margin Mapping and Paleoflood Reconstruction in the Slippery Rock Creek Basin, Western Pennsylvania, Oct 23, 2004 ; Gary D'Urso, Patrick Burkhart, Jack Livingston, Christine Iksic, Sponsored by Pittsburgh Geological Society, 28 p.   Free Download FieldGuide

*OOP = Out of Print

* If 18 and 19 are purchased together $100.00 + $5.00 S&H