Western United States
AA-2026-6BBB0C
On the image
One man bends over a plane table, diligently mapping geological features with a compass and pencil, the primary tool for detailed fieldwork in the 1970s. This analogue approach required a level of patience and meticulous observation that modern digital tools have largely made obsolete, ensuring a certain type of person was drawn to this work.
His colleague sits nearby, perhaps taking notes or merely contemplating the vast, rugged landscape, which includes a faint, unidentifiable object in the distant sky. Such remote surveying was a slow, methodical process, where each line drawn was an act of personal interpretation and commitment, far from any instant satellite data.
The entire scene speaks to an era when scientific understanding of the land was built layer by painstaking layer, one hand-drawn contour at a time. The effort involved in gathering data across these hills was considered a core part of its validity.
The historian's note
This image documents geological fieldwork being conducted in the Western United States during the 1970s. The primary method visible is plane table surveying, an established technique for creating topographic and geological maps in situ. A plane table is a surveying instrument that consists of a drawing board mounted on a tripod, with an alidade for sighting and measuring angles.
Field geologists and surveyors of this period relied heavily on manual tools and direct observation to interpret and map terrain, rock formations, and mineral deposits. This labour-intensive process was fundamental to natural resource exploration, infrastructure development planning, and academic geological research before the widespread adoption of GPS, GIS, and satellite imagery.
The arid, mountainous landscape, characterised by scrub vegetation and exposed rock, is typical of many areas in the American West where such geological studies were, and continue to be, essential. The techniques shown represent the state-of-the-art for detailed ground-level mapping of the time.
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Geological Field Survey, Western United States, 1970s. 1970–1979. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-6BBB0C. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/geological-field-survey-western-united-states-1970s.
@misc{aaAA20266BBB0C,
title = {Geological Field Survey, Western United States, 1970s},
year = {1970–1979},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-6BBB0C},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/geological-field-survey-western-united-states-1970s}
}TY - ART TI - Geological Field Survey, Western United States, 1970s PY - 1970–1979 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-6BBB0C UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/geological-field-survey-western-united-states-1970s ER -
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