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Posted by: Lena Denis
The deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean can be found about 100 miles north of Puerto Rico, in a trench where two tectonic plates meet. This post discusses the Puerto Rico Trench's unique geology and efforts to map it.
Posted in: 19th century cartography, 20th century cartography, Exploration, Geographic Information Science, Physical Geography
Posted by: Tim St. Onge
Celebrate Geography Awareness Week and GIS Day at the Library of Congress on Thursday, November 21st from 5pm to 8pm with Mapping Our World, a special Live! at the Library event diving into ocean mapping and exploration! This event will feature a collections display, interactive games and crafts, and a talk by Dr. Vicki Ferrini of Columbia University on the history of ocean mapping.
Posted in: Events, Exploration, Geographic Information Science, Physical Geography
Posted by: Meagan Snow
Explore the fertile history of America's soil survey maps, which evolved alongside soil science over the course of the 20th century.
Posted in: 20th century cartography, American History, Physical Geography
Posted by: Amelia Raines
This post explores a unique geologic map. Ives's strata map, made up of 10 plates representing different geologic periods, was designed as a tool for instruction in schools and colleges in the late 19th century.
Posted in: 19th century cartography, American History, Physical Geography
Posted by: Meagan Snow
This blog post describes William "Buffalo Bill" Cody's attempt to irrigate Wyoming's Big Horn Basin through maps which detail the area.
Posted in: 19th century cartography, 20th century cartography, American History, Physical Geography
Posted by: Julie Stoner
A blog exploring the hottest place on earth, Death Valley California.
Posted in: 20th century cartography, Physical Geography, Series: Extremities of the Earth
Posted by: Amelia Raines
The dramatic eruption of Krakatoa (or Krakatau in Indonesian) in 1883 was, as our sister blog Headlines and Heroes describes it, “one of the first global catastrophes.” By its very destruction, this small Indonesian island was thrust onto the world stage, its name becoming almost shorthand for volcanic disaster. Geologist Rogier Verbeek, who had briefly …
Posted in: 19th century cartography, Asian History, Oceania, Physical Geography
Posted by: Amelia Raines
Growing up in Michigan, I was a lake enthusiast from a young age, and extremely proud that my home state was surrounded by North America’s most important inland bodies of water. These are, of course, the Great Lakes, so called because of their size – according to the 2020 National Geographic Atlas of the World, …
Posted in: 19th century cartography, 20th century cartography, African History, American History, Physical Geography
Posted by: Julie Stoner
If you were asked the location of the furthest point from the center of the Earth, you would likely be inclined to state the summit of Mount Everest as an obvious choice. Looking at the 1862 pictorial map below would seem to confirm that it would be in the Himalayan Mountains of Asia. Fascinatingly, due …
Posted in: Exploration, Physical Geography, Series: Extremities of the Earth