Re: Paleo Maps

["Larry Febo" <larryf@capital.net>]

-----Original Message-----
From: gmbra@cygnus.uwa.edu.au <gmbra@cygnus.uwa.edu.au>
To: dinosaur@usc.edu <dinosaur@usc.edu>
Date: Sunday, January 16, 2000 2:57 PM
Subject: Paleo Maps


>Does anyone know of a source for maps that show the continents as they are
>today (undistorted) with and overlay of the relative land masses positions
>for various times across the Mesozoic? I've checked a number of web sources
>without luck. I can find maps that show the opposite of what I want ie land
>masses for Mesozoic times with todays continents superimposed, but the
>coastlines of today are distorted to fit the prehistoric map, whereas I
>want it the other way around. If there is no such source, can anyone
>suggest (to a non-cartographer) how I might go about constructing such
maps.
>Thanks
>Graeme Worth
>

I don`t know if anyone stated this offlist, ...but I hope you`re aware that
a truly "undistorted" view of any map of the Earths surface would have to be
in the form of a 3D globe ....due to topographical reasons. And even at
that, I believe that the Earth is slightly "pearshaped"...(not unlike
myself!)..... and therefor even a Globe might prove somewhat decieving
(depending on what kind of fanatical perfectionest you happen to be when it
comes to all this!) Finally,....I was wondering myself, ...just how accurate
can all the shapes of these "older land masses" that are published really
be? No doubt, they are very generalized in form.