Planning the second series of the atlas of Australian resources

Summary

This article reviews the rationale, cartographic design, subject programme, and wider geographic role of the second series of the Atlas of Australian Resources. The first series, comprising thirty map sheets with accompanying commentaries, was completed in 1960. Its favourable reception and national significance demonstrated the value of the undertaking, but an assessment also revealed that several maps were becoming obsolete and that some important subjects had been omitted. The need to preserve the experienced production team further encouraged immediate continuation. The Atlas was therefore reconceived as an ongoing national series rather than a periodically recreated publication. The complete set would remain at thirty sheets, with approximately three new sheets produced annually and each new map replacing an existing one, either as a revised edition or as a treatment of a new or modified topic. At this rate, most sheets could be renewed within ten years, while rapidly changing subjects might receive additional editions sooner. Sheet dimensions and publication formats would remain substantially unchanged. Most continental maps would continue at 1:6 million, preserving comparability with the first series. For subjects whose information is especially dense in eastern, south-eastern, and south-western Australia, however, the planners developed a composite layout consisting of two sectional maps at 1:4.5 million and a national map at 1:12 million. This arrangement provides substantially greater local detail while retaining continental coverage and spatial context. The reverse sides of selected sheets would also carry supplementary large-scale maps, source maps, keys, and references that could not be presented adequately in the commentaries. Planning included a reassessment of the polyconic projection used in the first series. Because its original justification no longer applied, the designers evaluated alternative projections and graticules in relation to Australia’s shape, latitudinal position, east–west orientation, patterns of settlement and resource concentration, and the need to control distortion. The subject programme combines national-development priorities with broader physical and human geography. Published or proposed sheets include electricity, fuels, soils, population distribution and intercensal change, mineral deposits, fisheries, geology, and agricultural production. Individual treatments are adapted to their subject matter: the revised soils map emphasizes climatic soil zones and actual or potential land use; the population sheet combines national patterns with detailed metropolitan maps; and mineral deposits remain on a single 1:6 million map to preserve a synoptic view. The authors conclude that the Atlas should remain a concise, authoritative first reference presenting Australia’s principal geographic characteristics through a comparable body of small-scale maps. It should complement rather than replace specialized thematic atlases, regional atlases, medium-scale mapping, or large-scale field-based series. As more detailed mapping becomes available, the continuing Atlas can rest on stronger evidence while serving as its generalized, regularly updated national synthesis.