Laboratory Manual for Introductory Geology 4e

EXERCISE 8.2
The Latitude/Longitude Grid (continued )
Name:
Course:
Section:
Date:
(e) Use the latitude/longitude grid to locate the following U.S. and Canadian cities as accurately as possible. For
reference, use a globe, map, Google Earth, or Google Maps.
City Location City Location
Nome, AK
Chicago, IL
St. Louis, MO
New York, NY
St. John’s, Newfoundland
Calgary, Alberta
Seattle, WA
Los Angeles, CA
Houston, TX
Miami, FL
Ottawa, Ontario
Victoria, British Columbia
(f) Which of the cities in question (e) do you think is closest in latitude to each of the following world cities? Predict
first without looking at a map, globe, or Google Earth, then check. Were you surprised by any?
City Predicted best match Latitude and longitude Actual best match
Oslo, Norway
Baghdad, Iraq
London, England
Paris, France
Rome, Italy
Beijing, China
Tokyo, Japan
Quito, Ecuador
Cairo, Egypt
Cape Town, South Africa
8.3.1b Public Land Survey (Township and Range) System The Public Land Survey
System was created in 1785 to provide accurate maps as the United States expanded
westward from its 13 original states. Much of the country is covered by this system;
the exceptions are the original 13 states, Kentucky, Maine, Tennessee, West Virginia,
Alaska, Hawaii, Texas, and parts of the southwestern states surveyed by Spanish colonists
before they joined the Union. Points can be located rapidly in this system to
within an eighth of a mile (FIG. 8.4).
The grid is based on accurately surveyed north–south lines, called principal
meridians, and east–west base lines for each survey region. Lines drawn parallel to
these at 6-mile intervals create a grid of squares 6 miles on a side, forming east–west
rows called townships and north–south columns called ranges. Each 6-mile square is
divided into 36 sections, 1 mile on a side, numbered as shown in Figure 8.4. Sections
204 CHAPTER 8 STUDYING THE EARTH’S LANDFORMS: MAPS AND OTHER TOOLS