Charles B. Hitchcock · 1966
American Geographical Society director Charles B. Hitchcock recounts the planning and early production of the Antarctic Map Folio Series, supported financially and advised by the National Science Foundation. An atlas proposal made in 1958 led to questionnaires circulated in 1959–1960, which received 178 responses. Intended for scientists and students seriously interested in Antarctica, the project adopted separately issued, single-subject folios so that completed material could be published without waiting for a bound atlas. The Society received the production contract in November 1962 and appointed Vivian Bushnell executive editor. Hitchcock describes her use of a classified file of some 3,000 scientific reports from 1957–1963, research-program lists, and consultations with scientists to plan the contents. Specialist advisers and international contributors assisted with individual subjects. Coverage and presentation varied with the evidence: flowering-plant maps would show every known locality, while lichen maps would illustrate selected distribution patterns; sparse marine-invertebrate records required contributors to assess what could meaningfully be mapped. At the time of writing, the aeronomy, ice-sheet characteristics, and maps-and-surveys folios had appeared. Hitchcock outlined a series covering 17 subjects, sometimes with two folios per subject, and reported further cartographic work in progress. Publication order initially depended on when authors completed their material.
Vivian C. Bushnell · 1968
Vivian C. Bushnell describes Folios 9–11 of the American Geographical Society’s Antarctic Map Folio Series as published or scheduled for publication in 1968. Folio 9, Magnetic and Gravity Maps of the Antarctic, contains nine plates showing free-air and Bouguer gravity anomalies for Antarctica, residual total magnetic intensity and short-wavelength magnetic anomalies south of 55°S, and magnetic inclination, variation, and intensity components. Its text explains computational methods and discusses the anomaly maps. Folio 10, Primary Productivity and Benthic Marine Algae of the Antarctic and Subantarctic, maps phytoplankton standing crop, primary organic productivity, and nutrients along USNS Eltanin tracks and nine Argentine research cruises east of Argentina. It also maps selected diatoms and dinoflagellates using published and unpublished data, and benthic marine algae; it comprises 15 plates and 12 text pages, with El-Sayed advising throughout planning and editing. For Folio 11, Distribution of Selected Groups of Marine Invertebrates in Waters South of 35°S Latitude, specialists compiled distribution maps of genera and species with particularly informative available data, accompanied by contributors’ comments. Bushnell describes this selection as a representative picture of Antarctic marine invertebrates; Hedgpeth advised throughout planning and editing.
Unknown · 1981
The notice describes the Antarctic Map Folio Series as 19 folios, each with text, extensive references, color maps, and drawings in an 11-by-17-inch case. Subjects include atmospheric climatology, terrestrial life, glaciers, Antarctic waters, marine invertebrates, birds, and mammals. It reports that remaining stocks were transferred from the American Geographical Society to the National Science Foundation in June 1980 for sale at greatly reduced prices. Some folios were already out of print, and limited stocks were to be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. No reprinting was planned; microform copies through the National Technical Information Service were being considered.
