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Charts & Maps

Located on the first floor, the Chart & Map Collection is arranged by national hydrographic agency and then in a hierarchical geographic filing arrangement, followed by USGS map series and other country map series.

Map and chart indexes are located either on top of the map cases or in the first drawer of a map series. SIO Library's maps and charts are not cataloged in UCSD's Roger catalog or UC's Melvyl system catalog.

  • Experienced reference service is only available for ocean charts. We do not offer unannounced walk-in reference service due to staffing limitations. Make an appointment if you need assistance with the chart & map collection; contact siolib@sio.ucsd.edu
  • Access to the collection is controlled for security of the materials. UCSD affiliates can check out a key to enter the chart and map collection at the front desk. For non-UCSD affiliates, access is subject to availability of staff who will accompany users. Sorry, but thefts have occurred, and too many charts and maps are difficult or expensive or impossible to replace.

Hydrographic / Bathymetric Charts produced by United States

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

COVERAGE OF WORLD OCEAN EXCLUDING U.S. WATERS.
Complete collection, shelved in the first aisle on left (north). NGA was formerly NIMA, formerly DMA, formerly HO. Our holdings are not updated from the Notice to Mariners, and may fall behind in receipt of the latest edition; therefore this is a reference collection and is not suitable for navigational use. Paper indexes to the collection are laying out on top of these map cabinets.

National Ocean Service, NOAA

COVERAGE OF U.S. & TERRITORIAL WATERS.
Check out NOAA's Online Chart Viewer as an alternative to using our complete collection of NOAA paper charts, shelved in the first aisle on left (north). Our paper charts are not updated from the Notice to Mariners, and we may fall behind in receipt of the latest edition. Therefore we maintain a reference collection that is not suitable for navigational use. Paper indexes to the collection are laying out on top of these map cabinets or link to an online version of the indexes below.


Hydrographic Charts produced by other countries


We have holdings of hydrographic charts produced by various countries. Do not use these for navigation; they are not updated, and we may lack the recent edition. They are filed alphabetically by the name of the producing country, in the middle aisle. Paper indexes are inside their respective map cabinets. Major holdings include:

British Admiralty

COVERAGE OF WORLD OCEAN.
Not a complete collection. British charts usually offer better detailed coverage for waters around Commonwealth countries than US charts, i.e. Fiji. Paper index to the British charts is laying out on top of these map cabinets.

Mexico Secretaria de Marina

COVERAGE OF MEXICAN WATERS.
A fairly complete collection, including older charts in an earlier numbering scheme. Paper index to the Mexican charts is inside these map cabinets, BUT the index linked below is easier to use. These are locked for security, so please make an appointment for use.

  • INDEX (downloaded from www.semar.gob.mx)
  • INDEX 1 & INDEX 2 to OLDER charts with the earlier chart numbering scheme

Gerry Sea of Cortez Charts & Cruising Guides

BEST FOR GULF OF CALIFORNIA CHARTING.
Gerry Sea of Cortez Charts & Cruising Guides have unique charting details and information for the Gulf of California, that you won't find in the government-produced charts in our collection. Great cruising guides, too. Though we have these, you will want to purchase originals to save space, rather than make copies from our holdings (they're double-sided).

Australian Hydrographic Service

COVERAGE OF AUSTRALIAN WATERS, TORRES STRAIT, PAPUA NEW GUINEA, & SEAS SURROUNDING AUSTRALIA.
A strong collection

Canadian Hydrographic Service

COVERAGE OF CANADIAN WATERS.
Not a complete collection.

France Service Hydrographique et Oceanographique de la Marine

COVERAGE OF WORLD OCEAN.
Not a complete collection. French charts usually offer better detailed coverage for waters around French territories than U.S. charts, i.e. French Polynesia. Paper index to the French charts is inside these map cabinets

Iran

COVERAGE OF IRANIAN WATERS & PERSIAN GULF.
A fairly complete collection

Indonesia

COVERAGE OF INDONESIAN WATERS.
We collect in areas where the Indonesian charts offer better coverage than the U.S. and British charts.

Japan Hydrographic Association

COVERAGE OF JAPAN & EAST ASIAN WATERS, PACIFIC & INDIAN OCEANS, AND JAPANESE AREA OF ANTARCTICA.
Not a complete collection.


California Geological Maps

The US Geological Survey and the California Geologic Survey/Division of Mines and Geology produce geological maps for California. Some are published as individual maps in a map series, and some are published as reports or embedded within reports in various technical report series. If we own a specific item in the latter category, it may be located upstairs in our book and journal collections.

You can't look in map cases, and see all of the geological maps for California; it doesn't work that way.

Use the indexes below to determine geological maps available in print and online. We focus on San Diego County, and do have many geological maps for California. However we do not collect for all of California and do not have a complete collection of geological maps for California.


California Topographic Maps

Complete collection of California US Geological Survey maps, including many older editions. However you can download the current California topo maps for free; see first link below. Our holdings of 1929-1986 La Jolla and Del Mar topo maps are held in the Scripps Archives collection 2005-04 (inquire at the Archives), with a few of them filed among these California topo maps if duplicate copies.


BLM 1:100,000 maps for Western states


World Aeronautical Charts / Tactical Pilotage Charts 1:500,000


Mexico topographic and geological maps

An older, not current collection




Other Map Resources

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