Map News: This Month’s Best Articles and Maps

I've scoured the web for the most interesting Map News this month for all you map-lovers!

Map Comic this month from Savage Chicken

New Maps of Alaska: : New mapping data changes what we know about the landscape of Alaska, with some data that hadn’t been updated for 50 years! The results? The highest mountain in North America, Mount McKinley, is shorter than previously thought…Read More

Even with a GPS, You Can’t Get There From Here: Join us on a road trip through Maine, where getting lost with a GPS is painfully easy. Get your paper maps ready for visiting the rural portions of the USA…Read More

Where is the Center of Each United State? And why would you care to know? Some interesting and some funny insights…Read More

What Did the Continents Look Like Millions of Years Ago? Features an interview with artist-geologist Robert Blakey. This article goes into serious depth and really shows the making of these astounding maps in detail. The comment section is pretty interesting as well!…Read More

Facts for Features: Halloween: Did you know the Census Bureau publishes a series on dates and holidays? It boosts interesting facts gathered from all over the immense census database. For example, 47,800 acres of pumpkins were harvested in the US in 2012! Read More Halloween Facts

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Alaska's Frontiers: Mapping Strategies for Mineral Resources

Alaska is known as the last US frontier, this Alaska Wall Map shows the vast land rich in minerals. The most difficult part is knowing what areas are important to mine and what areas shouldn't be mined. Here’s where mapping plays a key role. State geologists are mapping the potential of geographical areas from the land and air.

Why is Alaska so geologically important?

Part of that involves being located on the edge of the Pacific crustal plate. That also means multiple volcanoes and unpredictable weather. According to geological surveys, 40 million acres of state land possess high potential for mineral deposits. Only an eighth of this land has been mapped.

Alaska Wall Map

Top resources from Alaska include gold and oil, and they account for a large amount of Alaska’s wealth. Alaska also produces zinc, silver, copper, platinum as well as sand and gravel.

But state geologists are interested in rarer minerals. The strategy is to map areas with minerals strategic for military technology and/or that we import from other countries. This list includes: platinum group antimony, barite, chromite, cobalt, fluorite, gallium, graphite, indium, platinum group elements, rare earth elements, rhenium, tantalum, titanium, tungsten, yttrium and niobium. 

Producing these minerals would make the United States less reliant on importing them from other countries, saving money on technological advances. But mining takes a toll on any environmental system. By knowing exactly where the highest concentrations of minerals are located, environmental impact could be lessened.

Is it worth mining rare minerals and harming Alaska’s ecosystems for the economic independence?