On Waterlines: Arguments for their Employment, Advice on their Generation

Those thin lines emanating outward from the shore are the titular waterlines with which we will concern ourselves here. The ICA glossary (1973), one of the few modern references to the term, defines the term as lines representing water, drawn parallel with the edge of a water feature, which decrease in proximity and strength away from that edge. Christensen (2008), in his excellent primer on the history of waterlines, has shown that in contrast to their status today, they were once the work of well-paid specialists, important enough to consume a large share (18% by one of his estimates) of the budget for the production of European ordnance survey maps in the nineteenth century. Despite this significant expenditure, I can find no clear answer on Waterlines: Arguments for their Employment, Advice on their Generation