The journeys of the vertical dimension. Altitude mapping as statecraft in nation making (Argentine, 1901-1914)

GRACIELA FAVELUKES; MALENA MAZZITELLI MASTRICCHIO

Belo Horizonte

Congreso; 27th ICHC; 2017

Recent satellite imagery seem to have fulfilled the promises of modernscientific cartography, that of the exact display of earth surface. Computerprograms even allow common users taking measurements of distances between anyset of points. Calculating heights, however, remains a tricky business. Despitethe minute definition of images available in free and very popular applications,the excellent plastic appreciation of relief and its easy geo location are notparalleled with the possibility of conveying and calculating heights on screen.The problem, for certain, is not new. As is known, important works were carriedout along the 19th and 20th centuries to measure the territory and tographically convey the results into maps.Several methods have been used through time to depict relief, such ashachures, shading, coloring, numbers and contour lines. The latter rely onprecise measurements of heights and, more specifically, of altitudes ?that is,the height of a given point in relation to a zero level conventionallyestablished as the medium level of sea for each country. The precisemeasurement and depicting of altitudes is neither a mere academic matter nor aquestion of national pride, although it is indeed related to both interests.The issue has been important in many practical endeavors, such as the accuratemeasurement of surfaces most necessary to establish land taxes, or to planpublic works, as well as to the advance of general scientific knowledge and ofgeological theories. In addition, such works were of utmost importance to thenation states that arose in Latin America after the independence from Spain,both as a means of promoting foreign investments and as a field of expertiseincreasing and of statecraft improvement.How did the vertical dimension find its way into maps in the context ofmodern nation making? What was at stake in the endeavor of the so called ?nivelaciónde la república? (leveling of the republic)? As we intend to show, the studyingof relief was undertaken by bits and fragments in a sort of fluid andubiquitous process, that took advantage of the partial leveling works necessaryto the construction of railway lines, surveys for river canalization, andambitious geological and geographical projects. We will address the issue withthree examples: the profiles and height numbers included in the cadastral atlaspublished by engineer Carlos Chapeaurouge in 1901, the map attached to a 1912hydrological report issued in the official Public Works Bulletin and the firstnational hypsometric map of 1914. The latter inaugurated a lasting cartographicseries, which circulated no only among scholarly circles, but also held animportant place in the geographical education.Intended Illustrations SummaryThe paper will examine the three cartographic documents cited above:First, we present a sample of the profiles included in the "Atlasdel Plano Catastral de la Republica Argentina", by Carlos de Chapeaurouge,published in 1901. Amounting to a total of 67 (one to three for each degree oflatitude), the profiles were a prominent counterpart to the maps of the atlas,as they allowed to visualize notable geomorphological features, particularlythe location of mines, rivers and passes, along with an appreciation of thegeneral outline of the land. The profiles will be put in relation with theinclusion in the atlas maps of numbers indicating the height of importantlocations, as well as hachures and coloring. Second, we examine the map of the "Nivelación de precisión"(precise leveling), that contains the trajectories made by the measurementcommission between 1899 and 1911 along the Paraná River and the Atlantic frontof the province of Buenos Aires, in order to establish the precise heights ofits coasts and adjacent lands. The endeavor was part of a general levelingstill to be systematically undertaken, given the fragmentary nature of thesurveys made so far, wich had only recently been referred to a unified zerolevel, located in the Riahcuelo, a small river in Buenos Aires. The map showsthe route followed by the commission; all along the existing railways, and isaccompanied with tables and profiles. The reports including the map werewritten by the former Chief of the General Direction of Hydraulic Works andwere published in the 1912 Bulletin of Public WorksLastly, as a sample of how general leveling took form in national maps wewill examine the first official hipsometric map of the Argentine Republic,dated 1914, drawn and published by the Dirección de Minas, Geología eHidrología, that compiled and displayed the available information, usingcontour lines and coloring.