The geological map of Sardinia (Italy) at 1:250,000 scale

<p>Over the last 25 years the Italian national geological mapping program of the Italian Geological Survey (CARG Project, italian: Progetto Carta Geologica) at 1:50,000 scale has led to significant improvements in the geological knowledge for the Island of Sardinia (Italy). As a result, about one half of the island now is covered by new geological maps with 1:10,000–1:25,000 accuracy and geological maps at the 1:50,000 scale whose explanatory notes are available electronically. At the beginning of the CARG Project a geological map for Sardinia Island at 1:200,000 scale was published [Carmignani, L. (1996). <i>Carta Geologica della Sardegna</i> (<i>1:200.000</i>)<i>. Servizio Geologico Nazionale, Regione Autonoma della Sardegna</i>], summarizing all the geological information available at that time, and a book with explanatory notes for the map was later published [Carmignani, L., Oggiano, G., Barca, S., Conti, P., Salvadori, I., Eltrudis, … Pasci, S. (2001). <i>Geologia della Sardegna: Note Illustrative della Carta Geologica della Sardegna in scala 1:200.000, Memorie Descrittive della Carta Geologica d'Italia</i> (Vol. 60). Roma: Servizio Geologico d'Italia, 283 pp]. The enclosed Geological map of Sardinia at 1:250,000 scale incorporates all maps of the CARG Project, unpublished author studies and recently published maps and represents the most updated synthesis of an area characterised by a complex geological evolution that, with few exceptions, can be considered continuous during the last 540 Ma. The main events that influenced the geology of the island are the Variscan orogen that deeply involved the passive margin of North Gondwana and then the complex episodes that occurred in the present-day Mediterranean area after the accretion of Pangea up to the opening of the Tyrrhenian basin.