Austria 1999 "150^th anniversary of the Federal Geological Institute" (The Geological Survey of Austria)

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Issue Date	12.11.1999
ID	Michel: 2298, Scott: 1801, Stanley Gibbons: 2548, Yvert et Tellier: 2127, Category: pF
Designer	Design: Maria Siegl Artist: Wolfgang Seidel
Stamps in set	1
Value	s7 - Building, fossils, from left to right: ammonite Anolcites furcosus, gastropod Oolitica solitaria, ammonite Heraclites robustus.
Emission/Type	commemorative
Issue place	Vienna
Size (width x height)	42mm x 35mm
Layout	Sheet of 50 (5x10)
Products	FDC x1
Paper
Perforation	13 x 13
Print Technique	Lithography + photogravure, multicolor
Printed by	Österreichische Staatsdruckerei
Quantity	2,800,000
Issuing Authority	Post of Austria

On 12^th November, 1999, the Post of Austria, issued the stamp "150^th anniversary of the Federal Geological Institute" (The Geological Survey of Austria).
In the early 1840s, the mineral collections of the Royal and Imperial Court for Coinage and Mining was converted into the Royal and Imperial Museum of Coal and Steel through the support of Wilhelm Haidinger. The Imperial Academy of Sciences was founded in 1846. Even in those days a larger institute for the specific research of geologic conditions throughout the empire was already under consideration. The Geological Survey of Austria, founded in November 1849, represents the geo-management of the public sector of Austria. It is a government organization affiliated to the Federal Ministry of Science, Education and Arts. Its activities are based on the National Law of Research of 2000. Presently its staff comprises 45 scientists with university degree, 34 nonscientists and a fluctuating number of non-government personnel (around 40).

According to its mandate, the Survey undertakes the following core programmes:

• Geoscientific mapping of the Austrian territory at various scales
• Complementary mission-orientated basic research in biostratigraphy, geochronology and structural geology
• Collection and storage of unique types of rocks, minerals and fossils
• Monitoring the environment
• Administration and management of the most comprehensive geoscientific library of Austria
• Maintenance of related databases and voluminous archives of maps and unpublished reports collected over the past 150 years
• Source of advice and information in Earth Science to the government, local authorities, industry and the public in general

Traditional and applied tasks include such topics as

• Assessment and sustainable development of raw materials and industrial minerals
• Water management
• Natural hazard mitigation in Alpine terrains
• Feasibility studies for major civil engineering projects
• Contamination and waste deposal studies
• Nature conservation and land use planning
• Networking in global change programmes
• Membership in EuroGeoSurveys, Forum of European Geological Surveys and other international organizations

Products and associated philatelic items

FDC	Maxi Card	Example of circulated letters
Specimen	First-Day-of-Issue Postmark	Information Brochure (PDF, in German)

References

reverse side of an FDC, Wikipedia, Federal Geological Institute of Austria.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Dr. Peter Voice from Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Western Michigan University, for his help to find an information for this article, the draft page review and his very valuable comments.

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