Discussion of the second volume of the Sea Atlas

This article reviews the second, physico-geographical volume of the Marine Atlas, published in 1953, and summarizes its discussion by the Presidium of the Geographical Society of the USSR. Comprising 76 sheets, 138 principal maps, 228 inset maps, and 239 diagrams, the volume sought to provide a systematic and integrated cartographic account of the physical geography of the World Ocean. The review examines its four major components: the history of maritime voyages and expeditions; oceanography; the climate of the oceans; and materials on terrestrial magnetism, cartographic projections, and practical astronomy. The oceanographic maps cover seafloor relief and geology, water temperature, salinity and density, currents, waves, tides, polar ice, and marine organisms. The climatic section uses maps of heat balance, air and water temperature anomalies, air masses, and cyclone and anticyclone tracks to demonstrate interactions among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, and continents. According to the article, the atlas surpasses earlier specialized or regional collections by presenting the entire World Ocean within a unified scientific framework and by combining research, teaching, navigational, and reference functions. Its principal strengths include extensive use of primary sources, detailed representation of Russian and Soviet exploration, coordinated work among numerous scientific and cartographic institutions, rigorous collective review, and sophisticated multicolor printing. The author nevertheless recommends supplementing the atlas with a concise reference handbook explaining classifications, terminology, and quantitative ranges of the phenomena mapped. Overall, the volume is judged to be a major contribution to Soviet and international geography and cartography, reflecting the highest contemporary level of knowledge about the oceans; accordingly, the Society’s Presidium resolved to nominate it for the Stalin Prize.