Laboratory Manual for Introductory Geology 4e

EXERCISE 8.3
Locating Points with the Public Land Survey System
Name:
Course:
(a) Determine the locations of points A and B in Figure 8.4.
A: B:
(b) Locate and label the following points in Figure 8.4.
●●
NE ¼ of Section 36, T3N R4W
●●
SE ¼ of Section 18, T1N, R1E
●●
NW ¼ of Section 3, T4S R5E
Section:
Date:
(c) Now you’re ready for the real thing. Determine the locations of the points indicated by your instructor on the
topographic maps provided.
8.3.1c Universal Transverse Mercator Grid The UTM grid divides the Earth into
1,200 segments, each containing 6° of longitude and 8° of latitude (FIG. 8.5).
East–west rows of segments are assigned letters (C–X), and north–south columns
of segments, called UTM zones, are numbered 1–60 eastward from the international
date line (180° W longitude). Thus, UTM zone 1 extends from 180° to 174°
W longitude, zone 2 from 174° to 168° W longitude, and so on. The 48 contiguous
United States lie within UTM zones 10 through 19, at roughly 125° to 67° W longitude.
The UTM grid is based on a Mercator projection, in which the north and
south polar regions are extremely distorted, making Greenland and Antarctica look
much larger than they actually are. Because of this distortion, the UTM grid does
not extend beyond 84° N and 80° S latitudes.
FIGURE 8.5 The UTM grid.
84°N
X
X 31 33 35 37
72°N
W
W
64°N
V
V 32
56°N
U
U
48°N
T
T
40°N
S
S
32°N
R
R
24°N
Q
Q
16°N
P
P
8°N
1N
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30N 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
0°
M
M
8°S
L
L
16°S
K
K
24°S
J
J
32°S
H
H
40°S
G
G
48°S
F
F
56°S
E
E
64°S
D
D
72°S
1C
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30C 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
80°S
180°W
172°W
168°W
162°W
156°W
150°W
144°W
138°W
132°W
126°W
120°W
114°W
108°W
102°W
96°W
90°W
84°W
78°W
72°W
66°W
60°W
54°W
48°W
42°W
36°W
30°W
24°W
18°W
12°W
6°W
0°
6°E
12°E
18°E
24°E
30°E
36°E
42°E
48°E
54°E
60°E
66°E
72°E
78°E
84°E
90°E
96°E
102°E
108°E
114°E
120°E
126°E
132°E
138°E
144°E
150°E
156°E
162°E
168°E
172°E
180°E