PART VII OF: PLANIMETRIC MAPPING OF WORLD CONTINENTAL LAND SURFACES

by

Mary Lynette Larsgaard

Map and Imagery Laboratory, Davidson Library

University of California, Santa Barbara

mary@sdc.ucsb.edu

ANTARCTICA

Mapping of Antarctica was exploratory and planimetric in nature until the 1950s; indeed, new features continued to be discovered even into the 1980s. The continent was first sighted in 1819, and the first landing made in 1921. Toward the close of the nineteenth century, with only coastal mapping done, and that only in easy-access areas, a pattern began to be fixed - pursuit of national interest and glory combined with scientific investigation and national cooperation, characteristics whose relative value would vary from 1898 to 1955 but would always be there.

The only worse life he could imagine was that of an

emperor penguin condemned to Antarctica in perpetuity

... Titles of books on Antarctic exploration

frequently have an ominous ring ...

The feelings of Apsley Cherry-Garrard, a member of

Scott's second expedition, who saw polar exploration as

the most isolated way ever devised of having a bad time

(AGS 1975, p. 1).

Even to 1910, Antarctic exploration was still in its infancy; very little was known even about the margins of the continent. By 1920, the coastline had taken shape, from Wilhelm V Land to George V Land, including parts of the Victoria Land coast. The revival of polar exploration began in about 1925 and was based on new tools such as the airplane, which enabled explorers to avoid the obstacles of surface travel and to cover a large area in a short period of time. The first to use an airplane was Sir Hubert Wilkins, "who in November 1928 was the first to look at Graham Land from the air and in a matter of hours had seen many more hundred miles of coastline than had earlier sea-borne expeditions in a whole season's work" (Priestley 1965, p. 73). He or his crew also took hand-held photographs; Sir Hubert did erroneously report, on the basis of this flight, that a strait severed Graham Land from the continent. Richard E. Byrd pioneered techniques in communication, aerial photography, and aerial travel, beginning by flying over the South Pole in 1929 with a mapping camera. The first map of Antarctica of which even a very limited portion was compiled from aerial photographs was at a scale of 1:2,000,000 and was issued by the American Geographical Society in 1929; it incorporated data from the Wilkins-Hearst Antarctic Expedition of 1928-1929 and also apparently some data from the Byrd expedition. Since there was no ground control, the results was not as accurate as the society would doubtless have liked. Lars Christenson, a Norwegian whaling magnate, promoted Norwegian expeditions in 1930 to 1931 and 1936 to 1937; during the latter, aerial mapping was done of an area from 20øE to 82øE, resulting in eleven sheets at 1:250,000-scale and one at 1:500,000-scale, published in Oslo in 1946. Although the "aeroplane" was increasingly used, still the best mapping results were the the products of dog-team journeys, such as those taken by Blach to the Robert Scott Glacier, and by Moulton, Berlin, and Bursey to the Hal Flood Range in Marie Byrd Land. Generally speaking, there was still no ground control. In the ten years prior to 1937, about one-third of the coast was charted, as much as in all previous exploration. In 1938 and 1939 the German Antarctic Expedition obtained extensive aerial photography of Dronning Maud Land.

World War II effectively discouraged much expedition work in Antarctica, although the British did carry on Operation Tabarin from 1943 to 1946 in the Falkland Island Dependencies. By the end of the war, more than half of the coastline was still uncharted, and the interior was largely blank. From 1945 on, nations with interests in Antarctica produced maps and charts covering larger areas, with larger scales, extensive and intensive scales, and for wider distribution, as years went on and as activities were resumed on a massive scale. The U.S. Navy mounted Operations Highjump (the largest expedition to that date) and Windmill from 1946 to 1948. Perhaps as much as 700,000 square miles were discovered via the flying camera, and 40 percent of the coast was charted (using some of the 65,000 aerial photographs taken). By 1947, the outline of the coast and ice shelf were fairly well known.

By 1950, most of the mountainous areas had been explored. Also in that year, the United States urged the International Council of Scientific Unions to include Antarctica in its planned "Third Polar Year." The idea took hold, and "by 1954 the effort to set up bases and amass equipment and personnel for the greatest Antarctic 'expedition' of all time was under way" (U.S. Central Intelligence Agency 1978, p. 40). Because of the brutal weather, snow-covered surface, and the location of Antarctica around a magnetic pole, mapping of any kind is extremely difficult to perform, and topographic mapping is done only for areas with rock outcrops; topography of a shifting snow-covered surface is by definition approximate.

After about 1951, Great Britain put the emphasis on larger-scale mapping, for use on the ground and as bases for illustrating scientific work; the Britons therefore began work on a 1:200,000-scale series, to cover all areas north of 75øS. From 1954 to 1962, Australia put out 1:100,000-scale maps based on aerial photography and expedition work, and 1:250,000-scale sheets from 1956 to 1958. In 1955 and 1956 the U.S. Geological Survey issued eight 1:500,000-scale shaded relief reconnaissance maps in the coastal area between 52ø39'E and 135øE, covering some 142,000 square miles. The intermittent nature of financial support and the sparsity of ground control made mapping progress sporadic.

The U.S.'s "Operation Deep Freeze," its goal to complete the aerial exploration and mapping programs begun on "Highjump," began in 1954 and continued to 1959. National expeditions such as this one and the Soviet Antarctic Expedition of 1956 to 1959 were the order of the day.

The USSR began its concerted work in Antarctica in 1955, concentrating on eastern and specifically coastal Antarctica. Aerial photography, siting of astronomical stations, traverses to determine elevations geodetically or barometrically, and production of maps were the chief activities.

Two-fifths of the continent had yet to be viewed by man for the first time in 1956, so the International Geographical Year (IGY; 1956-1958) arrived at a good time. Before IGY, at least three nations had produced general maps of the continent, and several areas (albeit small) were quite well mapped, such as the coast from 15øE to 170øE, and from 95øW to 130øW (work done by the U.S. Navy). Norway, Sweden, Australia, and France had issued some maps, as had the British (for the Falklands, 1945-1955 surveys), and Argentina and Chile had worked in Graham Land. But IGY was the first major world scientific effort involving Antarctica, for the First and Second Polar Years (1882-1883 and 1932-1933) had stressed the Arctic. Over 10,000 scientists and support staff from more than 67 countries were working at 2,500 IGY stations around the globe by 1958; fifty of these stations, maintained by 12 countries, were in Antarctica. Japan's Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) began work in the Antarctic in 1956, with a first sheet (at 1:5,000 scale of East Ongul Island) in 1957 and the next sheets in 1963; during IGY, Japan received the area of 30øE to 45øE to work on. Japan crews would concentrate on mapping exposed-rock areas along the coasts, and inland mountainous districts of that area.

The United States began work on its 1:250,000-scale series in 1957. A major problem was the weakness of aerial navigation and photomapping in the Antarctic; there were no aids to navigation except fleeting glimpses of the sun, and compasses behave erratically so close to the south magnetic pole. There still at this time remained the longest unexplored coast in the world (as long as the west coast of the United States) between the Shackleton Ice Shelf and Adelie Land; control work (upon which aerial photography for mapping must be based if the results are to be accurate) was limited by the weather and by the fact that the primary foci of the trips were geophysics and geology. During and because of IGY, tremendous strides were made in mapping - well-detailed maps of about 30 percent of the coast and reconnaissance maps of about 60 percent of the continent were produced. Of especial value was the use of electronic measuring equipment. Between 1957 and 1959 the U.S. Navy obtained mapping photographs of about 400,000 square kilometers of the coastal and inland masses south of 70øS. The obvious problem, in spite of electronic equipment, continued to be that of ground control, for the phrases "ground traverse" and "field work" take on an awesome new meaning in the Antarctic.

Cartographic activities during IGY included:

1. mapping of land areas and coastal in Antartida

Argentina;

2. 1:1,000,000-scale and 1:500,000-scale sheets for

coastal regions of Australia's Antarctic Territory;

3. 29 1:200,000-scale sheets (DOS 610) of the

Falklands, thus completing coverage for most of the

Antarctic Peninsula (sheets issued 1956 to 1960)

4. Mawson Glacier to Mulock Glacier (about 20,000

square miles), Miller Range area, Mulock Glacier

to Byrd Glacier mapped by New Zealand; from 1955 to

1960, 50,000 square miles surveyd and mapped, 2

maps published, 14 in compilation by the end;

5. compilation of 8 maps at a scale of 1:100,000 (for

publication at 1:250,000-scale) of an area between

71øS and 74øS and 6øW to 3øE; done by

the Norwegians;

6. several thousand square miles of topographic

mapping, and 8 sheets at 1:500,000-scale, by

the United States;

7. 5 sheets at 1:1,000,000-scale for coastal areas

between 72øE and 120øE, by the Russians; 23 sheets

at 1:100,000-scale and 8 at 1:50,000-scale

in the same area

An area almost as big as New Mexico, formerly shown as land on maps, was discovered to be part of the Filchner Ice Shelf.

In 1958, 12 nations involved in IGY - Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the USSR, the United Kingdom, and the United States - formed the Special Committee on Antarctic Research (usually called SCAR; later on, "Special" was changed to "Scientific"), under the auspices of the International Council of Scientific Unions; membership (which by the mid-1980s was at 18) is restricted to nations involved in extensive research in the Antarctic. By the second SCAR meeting in 1958, members had realized that topographic mapping was an essential basis for all scientific studies, so a temporary Working Group on Cartography (later the Working Group on Geodesy and Cartography) was formed. The committee first began to work on the ways and means of producing a 1:3,000,000-scale map, and avoiding duplication of efforts. Since this time, each SCAR member annually distributes to the other members its plans for future mapping activities, and designates an Antarctic mapping center, which may exchange mapping information with other centers.

The very important Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 by the nations that had worked in Antarctica during IGY, providing for "freedom of access to any part of the continent for scientific expeditions," the interchange of information, the banning of military activities, and a system of inspection designed to discourage military activity (Conference on Antarctica 1960, p. 61).

By the end of 1961, large areas of the continent had been photographed from the air, and reconnaissance mapping - largely a matter of plotting accurately portions of the outcropping rock features or special large ice features such as glaciers - was available for major features.

1960 through 1965 saw marked increases in map production, aerial photographic coverage, and geodesy (Lambert 1967b, p. 703). The United States set up long-range plans early in the decade: 1:1,000,000-scale topographic maps covering the continent (using shaded relief), and working initially in west Antarctica, from 20øW to 160øE. More specifically, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) outlined a six-year mapping program:

1. a continental map at 1:5,000,000-scale;

2. 1:1,000,000-scale maps covering the continent

3. 1:250,000-scale maps for the mountain ranges and

certain areas of the coastline;

4. special-purpose maps of small areas, at scales

larger than 1:250,000, for features as individual

glaciers, dry valleys, ice-free mountainous

areas, crevasse areas, portions of ice-shelf

edges, and areas of geological or biological

importance

Radlinski (1961, p. 329) states a basic problem well:

The procurement of source data such as aerial photography is one of the most difficult phases of the Antarctic mapping program. Not only must aircraft have certain performance characteristics, but there are problems of fuel, bases, and weather. A study is currently underway to determine the exact photographic needs of the so-called 'featureless' areas of the vast continental ice cap. These areas are gently rolling, snow-covered expanses whose only features are sastrugi, crevasses, and rivers of ice ... East Antarctica, for example, an area of about 4 million square miles, is primarily featureless except for a mountainous band about 200 miles wide along the coast. Similarly in west Antarctica there are several hundred thousand square miles that are devoid of rock exposure.

By 1962, the era of primitive exploration in Antarctica had long ended. Nonetheless, there was still an aura of uncertainty about some exploration reports:

Several mountain ranges were observed and located, and

it is thought that the Sweeney, and Latady, and the

Lowell Thomas Mountains are among them. There is

considerable variance between the positions of these

ranges as reported from sightings by early explorers

and these recently observed geodetic positions.

(U.S. Geological Survey 1962, p. A65)

USGS had issued three 1:500,000-scale topographic maps of an area along the coast of Wilkes Land (making a total of 11), and three 1:250,000-scale sheets of the Sentinel Range in the Ellsworth Mountains. Whitmore had presented an overall plan to SCAR of 80 sheets at 1:1,000,000-scale, plus some 1:250,000-scale and 1:100,000-scale sheets.

In about 1963 the Soviets had issued new large-scale maps of their region. Japan issued its first two 1:250,000-scale sheets, of Ltzow-Holm Bay east of 37øE and of the Prince Olav coast; it would also issue between then and 1968 some 1:25,000-scale and 1:5,000-scale sheets. Probably no more than 10 percent of the continent had been covered cartographicallly. Certain sections of the coastline (such as the area from Thurston east to Charcot Island, in the southern reaches of the Bellingshausen Sea in particular) had never been seen by man, and a good proportion of what little mapping was extant was inaccurate, due to lack of ground control and difficulty in interpreting existing aerial photography. Many U.S.-taken aerial photographs had remained in storage boxes for up to 20 years because no ground control was ever established:

Usually all that resulted from many undoubtedly well-intentioned flights were several thousand more fine photographs and a cover diagram of a system of flight lines radiating from a central base camp.

(Searle 1961, p. 2).

Brandenberger states the whole irritating problem well:

If there is to be a complete and exact survey and mapping operation, a prerequisite is a sufficiently dense network of fixed points. But in applying this knowledge to Antarctica, one immediately runs up against the problem of 'shifting fixed points,' because most of these selected are of necessity on the ice- or snow-surface - surfaces which cannot be regarded as stationary, in view of the horizontal and vertical movement of the inland ice. The laying down of a closed network of fixed points, in the sense of a geodetic triangulation, is further complicated by the fact that most of the astronomic points of fixing a position either fail to work or produce inexact results in these southern latitudes; furthermore, it is impossible to find stable positions for the instruments used and the conditions under which the work has to be carried out are extraordinarily severe because of the frequent and often enduring blizzards ... the topographical surface is in constant motion ... This shifting nature makes contour-maps worthless in a short time in greater or less degree, depending on the size of the ice-flow, the scale of the map and the degree of exactitide desired.

(Brandenberger 1966, p. 161)

Mapping had reached somewhat of a status quo in its modus operandi; geographical positions were fixed by astronomical observations taken with a theodolite (but because of the effects of refraction, the fixes were not of a high order of accuracy), distance measuring was done with electronic instruments (first used in 1959 by the British), and elevations were taken either by optical leveling (accurate but slow and laborious - only the USSR had used this extensively), or by trigonometric leveling (using reciprocal vertical angles in conjunction with traverse distances; quite effective when line-of-sight is above the refractive effects of the snow surface). Barometric leveling techniques were seldom satisfactory due to inaccuracies caused by the almost constant presence of temperature inversions in the lower stratum of air cooled by the ice sheet. Aircraft radio altimeters worked well and rapidly.

Between 1958 and 1964, the coast of Wilkes Land was mapped. To 1964, Great Britain had issued 40 sheets at a scale of 1:200,000 of the Falkland Island Dependencies, and a new 1:500,000-scale series (whose sheet lines matched those of the 1:200,000-scale series) was being prepared, while the United States had obtained acceptable mapping aerial photography for a massive project, to cover about one half of the 700,000 square miles, and had published 13 1:250,000-scale sheets, covering the Executive Committee Range in Marie Byrd Land, the Sentinal Range in the Ellsworth Mountains, and the eastern portion of the Transantartic Mountains; 51 additional maps (of McMurdo Sound and the Transantarctic Mountains from 120ø W northwest along the western edge of the Ross Ice Shelf to Antarctica's northern boundary) were in various stages of preparation. The United States' aerial photography had lagged due to equipment breakdown, poor weather, and budget problems.

Overall, the mapping status in late 1963 and early 1964 was almost nothing at scales from 1:16,000 to 1:35,000 except for small patches on the peninsula and the Ross Sea coasts, very little at scales from 1:75,000 to 1:375,000 except for the American Highland (58øE to 80øE) in Wilkes Land, and at scales from 1:175,000 to 1:375,000, mapping around the coasts.

From 1960 to 1965, the following mapping was completed:

Australia: 6 sheets at 1:250,000-scale (mountainous regions in Enderby Land; Mawson area); 20 1:250,000-scale sheets covering coastal regions from 42 degrees E to 69 degrees E, and part of the north Prince Charles Mountains and the Grove Mountains

France: 4 1:100,000-scale maps in the Kerguelen archipelago; miscellaneous large-scale maps of the islands

Japan: 2 1:250,000-scale sheets, of Ltzow-Holm Bay and Prince Olav Coast; 1:1,000,000-scale reconnaissance map of Mitzuho Plateau;

New Zealand: 18 provisional and 3 full-color 1:250,000-scale sheets (NZMS 166), covering regions between Mawson Glacier and Axel Heiberg Glacier, in the Ross Sea area, using ground control survey and USGS aerial photography

Norway: 12 sheets at 1:250,000-scale, covering much of the mountainous ranges of Fimbulheimen and east Maudheimvidda; compiled from 1951-1952 and 1958-1959 aerial photography and field work

Great Britain: a 1:5,000,000-scale map of the continent; almost the whole of British Antarctic Territory north of 74øS; 14 of 17 sheets at 1:500,000-scale (DOS 710) of the Falklands; 33 sheets at 1:200,000-scale of British Antarctic Territory

United States: new editions of the 1:3,000,000-scale and 1:5,000,000-scale maps of the continent; 3 sheets at 1:500,000-scale (coastal area from 112ø30'E to 127ø30'E); 19 1:250,000-scale sheets (those previously mentioned plus the Horlick and Thiel Mountains, South Victoria Land Mountains, and Ross Island)

USSR: 2 general maps (1:12,000,000; 1:3,000,000); 39 1:200,000-scale sheets of the coastal regions from Davis to Wilkes Land; 3 1:1,000,000-scale sheets of the coast from 36øE

By 1966, 11 1:500,000-scale sheets issued by the United States had been completed and 31 sheets at a scale of 1:250,0000 (the latter being the most important series for exploration purposes). The United States mapping program was at this time by far the most comprehensive; it had also issued a four-sheet 1:3,000,000-scale map, a one-sheet 1:5,00,000-scale sheet, aeronautical charts at 1:1,000,000-scale and at 1:2,000,000-scale, and topographic maps at different scales for various scientific purposes, usually based on specially flown aerial photography and fourth-order field surveys for horizontal and vertical control, generally done by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Antarctic Research Program (USARP). The first objective of U.S. mapping of Antarctica was to produce as rapidly as possible 1:250,000-scale maps with 200-meter contours of all the mountainous and coastal areas of West Antarctica and to produce 1;1,000,000-scale sheets for all of that area.

The Soviet Union was concerned with mapping the great unexplored wastelands of eastern Antarctica, as it had been since its entry in Antarctic research in 1956. The Soviets had managed to outline and approximately to contour a huge ice plateau extending from Komsomol'skaya Station to Queen Maud Land, and to outline the greater part of the eastern Antarctic shoreline "as accurately and in as much detail as the Arctic regions" (Dubovskoi 1966, pp. 1, 4, 13). Yet with all these efforts the Soviets estimated that nine-tenths of the continent was covered only by a skeleton route framework. In 1967 the last three sheets at 1:250,000-scale of Queen Alexandra Bay were published, and 35 sheets at that scale were available.

Between 1955 and 1968 New Zealand had surveyed 150,000 square miles and published 36 maps, covering from west of the Matusevich Glacier (69øS, 156øE) to Bowman Glacier (85ø30'S, 162øW), from aerial photography supplied by the United States.

Four 1:250,000-scale and two 1:100,000-scale maps had been issued by Australia (Advisory Committee 1969, p. 482). During the 1950s and the 1960s New Zealand (under a program set up in 1958 and carried out by the Ross Dependency Research Committee) issued a number of 1:250,000 reconnaissance maps without contours. U.S. mapping was working toward 263 1:250,000-scale maps in the next decade; for mountainous areas from 15øE to 158øE (excluding the Antarctic Peninsula). By 1969, discoveries of large-scale topographic features seemed unlikely, and detailed mapping was limited to areas of specially planned field work. This year marked an important advance for future mapping of the continent - the advent of satellite geodesy, with the setting up of four U.S. geodetic satellite-observation stations, to link Antarctica up with a world-wide network.

The U.S. Geological Survey completed 14 1:250,000-scale maps in 1970, and had under production 19 more and a 1:500,000-scale sketch map. Of the 169- (down from 264-) sheet total in the 1:250,000-scale series, 72 had been published; seven had been published in the 1:500,000-scale series. The program still called for mapping from 158øE to 8øW. The U.S. mapping team was mapping the Lassiter coast of the Peninsula, one of the most remote coastal regions. The Soviet Union had discovered that the Lazarev Mountains were horizontally much more extensive than previously believed, and had refined the position of the coastline and islands of the north part of Victoria Land.

In 1971 the United States was mapping Marie Byrd Land, and preparing for a reduction in funding that would reduce the number of maps issued per year to about two or three, down from an average of eight or nine per year in the previous year (79 in nine years). No maps were published in 1971 and 1972, although 18 of Marie Byrd Land coast, between Thurston Island and the Ford Ranges, were being worked on. Satellite imagery was used to supplement aerial photography in the compilation of a Ross Ice Shelf map. In 1972, the Soviets issued 28 sheets (18 original), and had 140 sheets available. Between 1966 and 1972 the Argentinian Instituto Geogr fico Militar issued 1:1,000,000 (interior) and 1:500,000 (Antarctic Peninsula) mapping of the Argentinian sector; the South Orkneys, South Georgia, and South Sandwich islands are also covered by the 1:500,000-scale series.

The big news in mapping Antarctica was the use of ERTS-1 imagery. The first ERTS satellite had been launched in July of 1972. Experiments demonstrating the feasibility of using ERTS images to revise the coastlines of Antarctica detected gross changes in the northern limits of the three largest ice shelves and led to the discovery of uncharted ranges along the ocean. Imagery was available for all of the continent except 80øS to 90øS. While imagery did greatly improve the positioning of map features such as shoreline configurations and ice tongues, the lack of control points and the large number of conventional aerial photographs used in the experiment did not allow constant scale and position to be maintained throughout the map compilation. The main application of ERTS (Landsat) imagery for Antarctica at the time was the compilation of 1:1,000,000-scale maps and photoimage mosaics; a 1:500,000-scale of the latter was being compiled to serve as source data for future revisions of the 1:250,000-scale Ellsworth Mountains maps. ERTS products would be used for such compilation, but it seemed unlikely that they would replace standard large- and small-scale maps; instead, they would serve as a "valuable first pictorial look (orthoimage) for unmapped and poorly mapped regions" (William MacDonald 1974, p. 1020).

In 1973 the United States issued five more sheets at 1:250,000 scale, of Saunders Coast of Marie Byrd Land, Boyd Glacier, the Alexandra Mountains, Guest Peninsula, the Gutenko Nunataks, and Mt. McCoy, with 19 more sheets (along Marie Byrd Land Coast between Thurston Island to Jones Mountain andHobbs Coast) in various stages of compilation.

By this time, about 1,000 maps had been published since IGY, about half at scales of 1:375,000 or larger. Elevation control included the use of traverses with geometric and trigonmetric leveling, barometric leveling, aeroradiobarometric leveling using statoscope and radioaltimeter, and similar leveling with meteorography; the first three methods were used in coastal sections, and aeroradiobarometric in the interior. Errors were likely to occur in such determinations, especially in flights over the continental shelf, where even a small error in the positioning of the aircraft could mean considerable error during flight, with the end result that surface elevations calculated for the interior tended to be too low.

In 1974, the United States had 17 maps in the 1:250,000-scale series in various stages of compilation and four published, all of Hobbs Coast, Marie Byrd Land. By 1975 the United States had issued 81 1:250,000-scale sheets, covering 872,000 square miles, and 7 sketch maps at 1:500,000-scale; 12 of the former were in compilation that year and 4 were issued.

Between 1957 and 1975, Norway had issued 23 1:250,000-scale sheets of Dronning Maud Land. The British had issued 68 of a planned 106 sheets at 1:200,000 scale, 7 of 49 at 1:250,000 scale for 65øS to 81øS of territory not completely ice-covered, and 2 of 69 at the same scale of all territory in the British Antarctic Territory not completely ice-covered; the Australians had issued 24 of 76 at 1:250,000-scale of Australian Antarctic Territory; and the French 4 of 4 at 1:100,000-scale of Terre Adelie. The Soviets had issued about 300 sheets between 1956 and 1975, including general maps at 1:5,000,000 and 1:3,000,000, sheets at 1:1,000,000 for coastal regions and regions with bedrock outcrops, sheets at 1:200,000 for coastal strips, and sheets at 1:100,000 and 1:50,000 or larger for areas of special interest.

The Australians had concentrated their work on the coastal and western areas of Australian Antarctic Territory, mainly at the scales of 1:1,000,000 and 1:250,000, although some few sheets had been published at 1:100,000 and 1:50,000 scale.

By mid-decade, the United States had obtained aerial photography of approximately 3,250,000 square kilometers; with what was still called ERTS-1 (later Landsat-1), 100 images could cover the same area as 100,000 aerial photographs. USGS thus had as an objective the compilation of 1:1,000,000-scale image mosaics of coastal western Antarctica, and eventually of all coastal areas; in addition, ERTS imagery was to be used for planimetric revision of 1:250,000-scale sheets of Victoria Land, and for compilation of 1:1,000,000-scale sheets. ERTS-1 imagery had already proved its work in location of geographical features, such as correcting the positions of Franklin Island and the Ross Ice Shelf; the location of the island had been a matter of contention for some years. New Zealand and the Britons also were working with satellite image for 1:250,000-scale reconnaissance maps. All of this effort meant that by 1975 knowledge of the limits of the land mass was complete.

Maps of Antarctica were still somewhat primitive, with position errors of more than 100 kilometers, and for most of the continent there were no maps made even to minimum standards for air navigation. Geodetic control remained limited (with fixed points for only 4 percent of the surface), expensive, and difficult to establish. In 1977 USGS finished its twentieth year on USARP, with 88 sheets at 1:250,000 scale covering 950,000 square kilometers.

The decade ended with satellite imagery and satellite geodesy being looked to with hope. Although few major discoveries were yet to be made, the far side of the Moon was better mapped than some parts of Antarctica; the Ellsworth Mountains were not completely explored, and the Ronne Ice Shelf remained the last extensive unexplored area on Earth.

In the early through mid 1980s, the New Zealanders researched the possibility of using Landsat as a basis of 1:250,000-scale mapping, and found it to be workable for updating the Ross Sea sheets. The Australian Division of National Mapping carried out surveys and mapping of Antarctica, assisting ANARE (Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions); mapping was restricted to those areas in Australian Territory not containing features obscured by the ice-sheet. To 1981, 1:1,000,000-scale sheets covered the coastal region from 36øE to 168øE, in a band about 8 degrees wide (generally 64øS to 72øS); the 1:250,000-scale topographic sheets were concentrated from 45øE to 72øE, 65øS to 71øS; the 1:250,000-scale photomaps stretched along the coast from 48øE to 117øE, mainly between 50øS and 53øS; and the 1:500,000-scale photomaps were of an area from 42øE to 120øE, no further south than 76øS.

The U.S.'s activities in 1984-1985 were dominated by aerial photography, with about 77 hours of flying time. Three large-scale photoimages, of Hut Point Peninsula, McMurdo Station, and the Amundsen-Scott South Station, were published. USGS and NSF signed a Memorandum of Understanding concerning the operation of the SCAR library at USGS's National Center in Reston. USGS had embarked on a program of using digitally enhanced, MSS Landsat images to furnish accurate planimetric composite-image maps. Landsat data was processed digitally to produce 1:1,000,000- and 1:250,000-scale sheets.

To the mid-1980s the Britons had published about 150 sheets since 1955, concentrating on the British Antarctic Territory (south of 60øS) and the Falkland Islands (north of 60øS); DOS 610/Series D510 at 1:200,000 and DOS 710/Series D401 at 1:500,000, based on aerial photography from 1955-1957, had been superseded in most cases by BAS 250 (1:250,000) which began in 1973 as a contoured series and became a satellite-image map series. Several of the islands in the British Territory were mapped at larger scales, such as 1:25,000 (DOS 310) and 1:10,000 (DOS 210). About 20% of the continent had been covered by maps at 1:250,000 or larger, with a trend toward using Landsat image mapping, a policy endorsed by the SCAR Working Group on Geodesy and Cartography, which works on coordinating mapping, and specifies a range of approved scales (including 1:250,000, 1:200,000, 1:100,000, 1:50,000 and 1:25,000). In the 1980s, the Japanese became increasingly active in their mapping; in 1981, they completed the last of eleven 1:250,000-scale sheets of the Yamato Mountains, and the coastal area of the Japanese sector was covered in 4 sheets at 1:250,000 scale. Between 1986 and 1989, the Japanese Geographical Survey Institute issued sheets at 1:25,000, an active series used to map areas of exposed rock, of areas in Queen Maud Land. The gap between 30øE and 33ø30'E was to be bridged by Landsat image-maps. The Germans were also interested in producing photomaps, in their case at 1:50,000 of selected areas; areas of Neuschwabenland and the Transantarctic Mountains (the latter in the eastern and southern boundary zone of the Filchner ice shelf) were areas of interest.

From the topographic point of view, Antarctica remained poorly mapped, with coverage restricted to coastal and mountainous areas; contoured maps at 1:250,000 were available only for a few of the latter. Few as they were, the accuracy of many of these maps was poor because of the scarcity of geodetic ground control points. The ice sheets remained poorly mapped; a contoured 1:6,000,000-scale map (based on radio-echo sounding measurements plus balloon and aircraft radar-altimeter data) did not cover all of the continent.

During the 1988-1989 season, USGS worked on:

- 1:250,000-scale satellite image mapping (McMurdo

Sound region; 6 prepared);

- 1:250,000-scale reconnaissance mapping (3 prepared);

- 1:1,000,000-scale mapping on the IMW format

(northern Victoria Land; 1);

- 1:50,000-scale topographic mapping (McMurdo Dry

Valley in southern Victoria Land; 5); and

- ground control surveys, aerial photography, and

South Pole Station mapping needs.

By the end of the decade, USGS, in cooperation with NSF, had published more than 100 maps at 1:250,000-scale of the Transantarctic Mountains and western Antarctica, and was planning on producing additional 1:50,000-scale sheets, some prepared jointly with New Zealand. The Japanese continued to be active through the 1980s, publishing sheets at 1:25,000, 1:50,000, and 1;250,000 scales. In 1990 it was reported that the Soviets were mapping the continent at a scale of 1:100,000; 1:1,000,000 seems more in keeping with the mapping history of the area. During 1991, Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), working with Analytical Surveys Inc., worked on putting together a GIS (geographical information system) for the United States Antarctic Program, using the software ARC/INFO; the British Antarcitc Survey, the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, the Scott Polar Research Institute, the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, and BP (British Petroleum) are all involved in this project. Data was to be issued in 1992 or 1993 on CD-ROM as part of ESRI's ArcData program.

(AGS 1965; AGS 1975; Antarctic journal 1:40-50, 204, 205 (1966); Antarctic journal 7:210-11 (1972); Antarctic journal 8:278-79 (1973); Antarctic journal 9:247-49 (1974); Antarctic journal 10:318-19 (1975); Antarctic journal 12:126 (1977); Antarctic journal 20:256-57 (1985); Antarctic journal 24:278-79 (1989); Australia. Division of National Mapping 1981; Australia. Surveying and Land Information Group [1988?]; Bazheyeva, Zhdanov & Dubovskoy 1978; Brandenberger 1966, pp. 161, 163; Byrd 1930; Calkins & Hansen 1992; William H. Chapman 1963, pp. 29-30; Child 1984; Christenson 1939; Conference on Antarctica 1960, p. 61; Dubovskoy 1966, pp. 1, 4, 13; ERTS-1 1976, pp. 37-43; "Filling ..." 1963; Finlayson 1965; Forster 1972; Fuchs 1951; "Geologists ..." 1980; Great Britain. Antarctic Survey 1991; Hatherton 1965; Hobbs 1943; International Council 1974 and 1988; Japan. National Institute of Polar Research 1991; Koblents 1971; Koblents 1973, pp. 452-54; Koblents 1974, p. 513; Kosack 1961, p. 32; Lambert 1967a; Lambert 1967b; P. G. Law 1970; Phillip Law 1957; Lock 1969, pp. 397, 400; Edwin A. MacDonald 1963; William R. MacDonald 1968, p. B185; William R. MacDonald 1974, p. 1,020; McHugo 1964 and 1965; "Mapping in Antarctica" 1970, p. A237; Mapping research in Antarctica 1991 p. [1]; North 1990 p. 17; Parry & Perkins 1987, pp. 562-64; Priestley 1964, pp. 73, 75; Radlinski 1961, pp. 328-29; Rainey 1968, p. 197; Remote sensing ... 1979, p. 3; Schmidt-Falkenberg 1984, pp. 443, 46; Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research 1988; Searle 1961, p. 2; Seelig 1964, pp. 2, 6; Siple 1956, pp. 13-14; Southard 1970, p. 63; Southard & MacDonald 1974, pp. 373-80; Sullivan 1957, pp. 205, 245; Swithinbank 1988, p. B2; Swithinbank & Lane 1977, p. 212; Takahashi 1983; Topographic Science Working Group 1988 p. 28; UN 1979; UN. Dept. of Economic and Social Affairs 1976, pp. 24, 44, 53; U.S. Central Intelligence Agency 1978; U.S. Geological Survey 1958; U.S. Geological Survey 1962, pp. A65-66; Whitmore and Southard 1966)