Our May Map of the Month is the 1960 publication, “Geology of the Arctic”, as prepared by the First International Symposium on Arctic Geology. This exquisite map is a compilation of geologic maps, global navigation charts, and bathymetric charts from countries in the northern hemisphere.
The First International Symposium of Arctic Geology was held in Calgary, Alberta from January 11th-13th, 1960. The symposium and the volumes of geologic abstracts, papers, and maps published following the event, were regarded as “a triumph of a community’s initiative” (Gilbert O. Raasch, 1960). Each country had dozens of pages written by different authors detailing the geologic history, past depositional environments, interpretations, and economic geology commentary. What began as a small group of self proclaimed “plain citizens, citizen-scientists, in an average metropolis of a typical prairie province of Canada” soon became a group of 1,100 scientists from universities, research institutions, field teams, and beyond, with a shared passion for scientific exploration.
Unlike the majority of our maps in the Map and Geospatial Hub’s collection, this look at the northern pole of the Earth is presented in a planar, or azimuthal, map projection. The use of a planar projection rather than the typical conical or cylindrical projections allows mappers to reduce the amount of distortion when viewing the poles of a planet. This unique map also provides scientific insight on the magnetic declination, or the variation of degrees between the north magnetic pole and the geographic north pole. Tucked in the top right corner of the map is another planar view of the Earth in a display referred to as the “Variation of the magnetic compass (degrees True) for 1955”. The curving lines of the easterly and westerly degrees of variation reflect the complex magnetism of the Earth’s magnetic field.
Shown in the bottom right of the map is a generalized tectonic map of the arctic region. Tectonic plates, which are large pieces of the lithosphere, or the Earth’s crust, glide around the surface of the planet at a rate of 5 to 10 cm per year. At the time of publication, the theory of plate tectonics and concepts of continental drift were still contested and not generally accepted until the mid to late 1960’s, therefore this publication’s inclusion of the generalized map is novel. Besides tectonic boundaries, areas of cratonic shields, platforms, coastal plains, and submarine depressions are shown; the intricacy and abundance of these geologic and geomorphic features reveal what complexities lie beneath the oceans. To independently document the submarine formations or trace the extent of continental shields would have been a behemoth task in the years prior the 1960 symposium, but the world-wide collaboration of geologists enabled the production of this remarkable map.
Besides outlining the Arctic ice sheets and displaying tectonic plate boundaries, this map does an excellent job contrasting the diverse ages of rock that make-up the continents. For example, Canada’s popping colors of pink, red, and magenta correlate to some of the oldest known rocks in the world from the Archean eon, at approximately ~4.6 billion years old. Contrasting Canada’s Archean and Proterozoic rocks, the western half of modern-day Russia (formerly the U.S.S.R) is extensively mapped as Quaternary in age, which spans in age from 2.58 million years ago to the present. Because this map is a compilation of data, it’s evident when countries have been mapped at variable scales as it influences the detail of the map. Overall, the map and its associated volumes and symposium represent the collaborative nature of geologic sciences, and reveals the strength and accuracy of publications from over 60 years.
We hope you enjoyed our May Map of the Month! This map and its accompanying details are now available to view in Drawer 31 of our 3D Explorer application. To request a high resolution scan of this map or to schedule an appointment to view the collection in person, please submit a service request to the Map and Geospatial Hub.
- Paityn Schlosser, Map and GIS Assistant