This map has style. There’s a “golden age of exploration”-esque feel to this piece that accompanied a short feature story (“Tracing the Nile”) in the March/April 2018 issue by Sir Christopher Ondaatje, in which the renowned explorer reflected on the 160th anniversary of John Speke’s claim to have found the source of the world’s longest river. In addition to its compelling appearance, the map just begs to be explored, be it tracing the various routes explorers had taken to find the river’s source, reflecting on the area’s topography/hydrography or even considering the cities and nations it encompasses.

Mountains of Canada

Here’s betting you’ve never seen Canada’s mountains like this. Of particular note is the relative elevation profile across the bottom of this map of Canada’s mountain ranges, published in the May/June 2018 issue and online here in conjunction with the release of the Alpine Club of Canada Canada’s State of the Mountains Report 2018. In addition to highlighting Canada’s mountain ranges, the drainage basin of each is shown, too, as are the highest peaks. Thought Canada’s mountains were just in the West? Think again.

Bisaro Plateau Caves Project

Cave maps are neat because they’re different. This chart of British Columbia’s Bisaro Anima cave, confirmed as Canada’s deepest on Jan. 1, 2018, by an expedition sponsored by The Royal Canadian Geographical Society, is no exception. Included with a brief item on the expedition in the May/June 2018 issue (and in this online update here), there’s much to appreciate about both the map and the cave itself in this cartograph, such as the World War-themed names given to the cave’s known passages.

Fraser River Delta

Brackley never hesitates to produce oblique maps when the content warrants. And the three-dimensional, bird’s eye view approach was not only ideal for charting the important natural areas and major existing and proposed infrastructure in Vancouver’s Fraser River Delta, but also produces a perfect at-a-glance snapshot of the interplay between nature and development in the city’s larger metro area. Of course, like all great maps, there’s much more to explore on closer examination, too.

Canada’s marine protected areas

This map of Canada’s marine protected areas, published in the November/December issue (guest edited by Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna) along with an essay by renowned marine ecologist Boris Worm, is simply vital to continuing important conversations about the health of our oceans. It shows the range, size and distribution of these “parks in the sea,” and in contrast to this map published just three years ago, it shows the remarkable progress Canada is making toward its goal of protecting 10 per cent of its waters and coastlines by 2020.