Subject: Re: [BoundaryPoint] nyrius njnyus denjus & the chase continuesI think USGS would say that they are no AUTHORITIES on the positions of legal boundaries. Frankly, I am surprised that they even bother to put on the "
Date: Aug 05, 2000 @ 13:00
Author: David Mark (David Mark <dmark@...>)
Prev    Post in Topic    Next [All Posts]
Prev    Post in Time    Next


I think USGS would say that they are no AUTHORITIES on the positions
of legal boundaries. Frankly, I am surprised that they even bother to put
on the "3 mile limit" line. USGS maps are not valid for navigation,
another agency does those.

On Fri, 4 Aug 2000, michael donner wrote:

> for the usgs topo indicates that the interstate boundary
> namely nyri or new york rhode island in the present case
> not only reaches the red arc line but actually runs straight across it
> oops
> & in fact stretches way past it & out to sea
> oh no
>
> http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=41.2364&lon=-71.964&size=1&s=200
>
>
>
> so i had to ask again what really is the limit of state waters here

Good question. Someone should check a law library rather than
speculating. (If they are interested.)

> was the cartographer aware of the meanings of the lines he was drawing

Probably.

> or am i not understanding their meanings myself

The part you might be missing is that the USGS is probably not an
authority on the status of boundaries.

> indeed i have previously found the usgs to be in error about the positions
> of at least 3 tristate points & perhaps several more than that
> sometimes owing to outdatedness but sometimes to outright blunders also

Examples?

> another spectacular miss & large kb
> http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=40.498&lon=-73.9894&s=100&size=l
> where it is most probable that a change in topo quads is what causes the
> njny or new jersey new york interstate boundary to end just shy of the arc
> line

obviously correct-- the depth contours also stop abruptly at the quad
sheet boundary.

> this preposterous situation underscores the fact that production standards
> do vary widely among the usgs maps themselves

They vary a lot over time, and many of the "latest" maps are 20 or 20
years only, so when they are updated they may be 20 or 30 years different
from their neighbors.

David
dmark@...