Atlas of the Uzbek SSR

Summary

The review examines the 1963 Atlas of the Uzbek SSR, a 53-page atlas of natural conditions containing only physical-geographic maps, chiefly of relief, geology, tectonics and hydrogeology. The reviewer values its synthesis of previously inaccessible cartographic materials and its new original maps depicting the republic's distinctive natural conditions. Particular strengths include the loess-subsidence map, which classifies risks to engineering structures and lists protective measures, maps of artesian basins and mineral and thermal waters, and cotton-oriented agroclimatic maps. The agroclimatic map combines area shading for moisture availability with diagrams of vegetation seasonality and cotton growth. Criticisms concern uneven map content, unsuitable scales, too few supplementary maps and graphs, limited treatment of resource value, reserves, conservation and human impacts, inconsistent coverage beyond republican boundaries, and inadequate explanations of physical-geographic regional units. The reviewer concludes that the atlas provides valuable information, with brief texts supporting its more complex maps, and hopes subsequent editions will be fuller.