Isobaths and contour lines on maps (Cruquius, Buache, Ducarla)
Isobatas e isohipsas en los mapas (Cruquius, Buache, Ducarla)
- Date
- 1737 (isobatas); 1771 (curvas de nivel) · confidence medium
- Place
- Paris, Île-de-France, France
- Credited to
- Nicolaas Cruquius, Philippe Buache and Marcellin du Carla
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Lines joining points of equal depth (isobaths) or equal altitude (contours) to represent the relief of the water bed and the land on a plan. They replaced pictorial mountain profiles with comparable measurements.
Cruquius drew isobaths of the Merwede riverbed in 1728, Buache those of the English Channel in 1737 and Ducarla land contour lines around 1771; priority among them is disputed.
What it led to
- bathymetric and topographic maps with quantified relief
- the basis of GIS digital terrain models