Quadrangle (geography)

A "quadrangle" is a topographic map produced by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) covering the United States. The maps are usually named after local physiographic features. The shorthand "quad" is also used, especially with the name of the map; for example, "the Ranger Creek, Texas quad". From approximately 1947-1992, the USGS produced the 7.5 minute series, with each map covering an area one-quarter of the older 15-minute quad series, which it replaced.[1] A 7.5 minute quadrangle map covers an area of 49 to 70 square miles (130 to 180 km²).[2] These maps employ the 1927 North American Datum (NAD27); conversion or a change in settings is necessary when using a GPS which by default employ the WGS84 geodetic datum. Beginning in 2009, the USGS made available digital versions of 7.5 minute quadrangle maps based on GIS data that use the NAD83 datum, which is typically within one meter of WGS84, or within the uncertainty of most GPS coordinate measurements. On a quadrangle map, the north and south limits are not straight lines, but are actually curved to match Earth's lines of latitude on the standard projection. The east and west limits are usually not parallel as they match Earth's lines of longitude.

New York (Essex County) Mt. Marcy: an 1892 USGS quadrangle map (or topographic sheet) of the Mount Marcy area of the Adirondacks in New York State from the first decades of the United States Geological Survey.

The surfaces of other planets have also been divided into quadrangles by the USGS. Martian quadrangles are also named after local features.[3]

Quadrangles that lie on the pole of a body are also sometimes called "areas" instead, since they are circular rather than four-sided.