COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE

The History of Mapping

Issue Date: 19th March 1998






Isolated from other continents, ice-covered and inhospitable, and subject to months of total darkness, Antarctica was the last continent to be mapped. Early cartographers speculated on its size and shape, believing it to extend as far north as Tierra del Fuego. Not until January 1773, when Captain Cook sailed as far south as latitude 71° 10' S without sighting a major landmass, was it proven that the southern continent was much smaller than previously thought. Antarctica was first sighted in January 1820 by Edward Bransfield, at latitude 63° 29' S, on the north-western coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, part of the British Antarctic Territory (BAT). Subsequent expeditions later in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries explored the unknown territories farther south but systematic mapping of the mainland of the BAT did not begin until 1945. It was undertaken initially by the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS) and, after 1962, by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).

The five stamps in this issue depict the changing map of the Antarctic Peninsula since the beginning of the twentieth century and they detail the different techniques and instruments used by surveyors to map BAT.

The 1902-03 chart depicting the track of the Swedish South Polar Expedition vessel (16p) shows how little was known of the landmass south of 64° S at the beginning of this century. A permanent barrier of floating ice along the eastern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula (West Antarctica), which prevented the ship from sailing near the coast, is not defined on this chart. Theodolites were used used to establish the positions of headlands and other prominent features on land.

FIDS surveyors travelled long distances over snow-covered land in nothern BAT to prepare maps of the coast and hinterland, and they worked with American surveyors along the east coast of the southern Antarctic Peninsula to 75° S. These surveys led to the first modern map of the BAT, in 1949 (30p). The Larsen Ice Shelf, the large white expanse off the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, was known to exist but its eastern limit was only partially identified. Much of the large-scale detail on maps was plotted using plane-tables.

Aerial photography of northern BAT by the Falkland Islands and Dependencies Aerial Survey Expedition, 1955-57, combined with American aerial photography of southern BAT, improved the quality of mapping. All the ice shelves are recorded on this 1964 map (35p) although the coast south of 75° S is still ill-defined. After 1958 tellurometers (radio distance ranging instruments) were used to measure distances on all major survey traverses.

The launch of earth-observing satellites in the early 1970s, especially Landsat (40p), revolutionised Antarctic mapping. Large tracts of land never visted by map could be viewed on a single image and the relative positions of features and the real extent of ice shelves could be observed. The 1981 map of the BAT shows improvements in detail and accuracy to 80° S.

The first four stamps show apparent changes in the coastline due to improved knowledge. However, over the past two decades, there have been real changes along the seaward fronts of the floating ice shelves whenever huge icebergs broke away. The 1995 map (65p) was drawn after a major calving event along the eastern front of the Larsen Ice Shelf. Higher resolution satellite images and Global Positioning System satellite receivers allow greater accuracy in mapping Antarctica today.

The first seamless digital map of Antarctica, published in 1993, was prepared by merging data from over 200 paper maps and satellite images. The digital map was used to generate the hill-shaded images shown on the First Day Cover

Text by Mrs J Thompson, British Antarctic Survey.



Technical details:

Designer: Nick Shewring
Printer: Walsall Security Printers Ltd
Process: Lithography
Stamp Size: 28.45 x 42.58 mm
Sheet format: 50 (2 x 25)
Perforation: 14.1 per 2 cms
Watermark: CA Spiral Old




Copyright: FI Philatelic Bureau Created and Maintained by: Cyberpoint Limited