Sound geologic research is based on geography. Without a good topographic
map geology cannot even be thoroughly studied, and the publication of the
results of geologic investigation is very imperfect without a good map;
but with a good map thorough investigation and simple, intelligible
publication become possible. Impelled by these considerations, the Survey
is making a topographic map of the United States. The geographic basis of
this map is a trigonometric survey by which datum points are established
throughout the country; that is, base-lines are measured and a
triangulation extended therefrom. This trigonometric work is executed on a
scale only sufficiently refined for map-making purposes, and will not be
directly useful for geodetic purposes in determining the figure of the
earth. The hypsometric work is based upon the railroad levels of the
country. Throughout the greater part of the country, there is a system of
railroad lines, constituting a net-work. The levels or profiles of these
roads have been established with reasonable accuracy, and as they cross
each other at a multiplicity of points, a system of checks is afforded, so
that the railroad surface of the country can be determined therefrom with
all the accuracy necessary for the most refined and elaborate topographic
maps. From such a hypsometric basis the reliefs for the whole country are
determined, by running lines of levels, by trigonometric construction, and
in mountainous regions by barometric observation.
The primary triangulation having been made, the topography is executed by
a variety of methods, adapted to the peculiar conditions found in various
portions of the country. To a large extent the plane-table is used. In the
hands of the topographers of the Geological Survey, the plane-table is not
simply a portable draughting table for the field; it is practically an
instrument of triangulation, and all minor positions of the details of
topography are determined through its use by trigonometric construction.
The scale on which the map is made is variable. In some portions of the
prairie region, and in the region of the great plains, the topography and
the geology alike are simple, and maps on a comparatively small scale are
sufficient for practical purposes. For these districts it is proposed to
construct the sheets of the map on a scale of 1-250,000, or about four
miles to the inch. In the mountain regions of the West the geology is more
complex, and the topography more intricate; but to a large extent these
regions are uninhabited, and to a more limited extent uninhabitable. It
would therefore not be wise to make a topographic or geologic survey of
the country on an excessively elaborate plan. Over much of this area the
sheets of the map will also be constructed on a scale of 1-250,000, but in
special districts that scale will be increased to 1-125,000, and in the
case of important mining districts charts will be constructed on a much
larger scale. In the eastern portion of the United States two scales are
adopted. In the less densely populated country a scale of 1-125,000 is
used; in the more densely populated regions a scale of 1-62,500 is
adopted, or about one mile to the inch. But throughout the country a few
special districts of great importance, because of complex geologic
structure, dense population, or other condition, will require charts on
still larger scales. The area of the United States, exclusive of Alaska,
is about three million square miles, and a map of the United States,
constructed on the plan set forth above, will require not less than 2,600
sheets. It may ultimately prove to require more than that, from the fact
that the areas to be surveyed on the larger scale have not been fully
determined. Besides the number of sheets in the general map of the United
States, there will be several hundred special maps on large scales, as
above described.
Such is a brief outline of the plan so far as it has been developed at the
present time. In this connection it should be stated that the map of the
United States can be completed, with the present organization of the
Geological Survey, in about 24 years; but it is greatly to be desired that
the time for its completion may be materially diminished by increasing the
topographic force of the Geological Survey. We ought to have a good
topographic map of the United States by the year 1900. About one-fifth of
the whole area of the United States, exclusive of Alaska, has been
completed on the above plan. This includes all geographic work done in the
United States under the auspices of the General Government and under the
auspices of State Governments. The map herewith shows those areas that
have been surveyed by various organizations on such a scale and in such a
manner that the work has been accepted as sufficient for the purposes of
the Survey.
Much other work has been done, but not with sufficient refinement and
accuracy to be of present value, though such work subserved its purpose in
its time. An examination of the map will show that the triangulation of
the various organizations is already largely in advance of the topography.
The map of the United States will be a great atlas divided into sheets as
above indicated. In all of those areas where the survey is on a scale of
1-250,000, a page of the atlas will present an area of one degree in
longitude and one degree in latitude. Where the scale is 1-125,000, a page
of the atlas-sheet will represent one-fourth of a degree. Where the scale
is 1-62,500, the atlas-sheet will represent one-sixteenth of a degree. The
degree sheet will be designated by two numbers--one representing latitude,
the other longitude. Where the sheets represent fractional degrees, they
will be labeled with the same numbers, with the addition of the
description of the proper fractional part.
The organization, as at present established, executing this work, is as
follows: First, an astronomic and computing division, the officers of
which are engaged in determining the geographic coordinates of certain
primary points. Second, a triangulation corps engaged in extending a
system of triangulation over various portions of the country from measured
base-lines. Third, a topographic corps, organized into twenty-seven
parties, scattered over various portions of the United States. Such, in
brief outline, is the plan for the map of the United States, and the
organization by which it is to be made. Mr. Henry Gannett is the Chief
Geographer.