What Is A "tank" On A Topo Map?

[klenger]

I see them shown all over the place in the AZ deserts. I curious what they are. I have an idea, but don't want to pre-load anyone with my guess.

[+JC_Geo]

A Tank is used to hold water. It is a water tank.

[+Timpat]

My guess is they would be stock tanks to hold water for livestock, like I see in Wyoming. They might be open topped that hold water coming from a spring or seep. Do you see windmills at these tanks?

[+Prime Suspect]

They're big storage tanks. They're cylindrical, with a flat or slightly domed top. They hold water, petroleum, etc.

[Dale_Lynn]

In some areas a "tank" can be a natural spring that has been improved to include a catch basin to hold water for local animals and people..

 

Dale

[+ToTheSummit]

In the deserts of the Southwest a tank on the map usually refers to a collection basin of some kind designed to capture/collect/hold water for livestock or wildlife. Especially if you see one in an remote area away from developments, major roads or railroads.

 

Here are some examples and explanations

[+TotemLake]

If they are alongside roadways, they would also be used as emergency water supplies for overheating vehicles. I had to take advantage of one of those one time driving on I-8 down around the California/New Mexico border many years ago.

[derekx]

That depends... on a moving map display, a tank may be a 42 ton machine travelling at about 60 km/hr....

[+Moose Mob]

Depending on the map's maker and purpose, I would assume they are man made tank used for watering cattle. Typically I ahave seen them refer to these tanks

 

 

Natural tanks in the desert are formed by the occasional rushing water over soft stone (but hard enough to retain water). This is a picture of Mouse's Tank in Nevada.

 

[walker77]

a "tank" is just a pond

[klenger]

"Tanks" for the comments. I was driving around in the desert in SE AZ near Nogales last week and noticed that the topo map indicated "tanks" in many areas. My curiosity got the better of me, so I drove off in search of one. The only thing I found at the approximate location of the "tank" was a low spot where it was obvious that water was there during the monsoon season, but the ground was now all dried up and cracked. I am assuming that the topo maps mark the locations of the "tanks" so that the ranchers can use them for watering livestock.

[+JC_Geo]

When I was in production and making the maps, we were to collect any form of containers (man-made or natural) that was to temporarily hold liquid, as a tank. The other stipulation was that it had to be within a certain size, which I can't remember right now. Sometimes the tank symbol would be blue to show water, but most times it was depicted as a black symbol. A tank can be most liquid containment features (stone/rock to hold water from a spring, metal to hold water for cattle, container to hold water for vehicles in desert areas as well as gasometers and other petroleum tanks)

Edited January 5, 2006 by JC_Geo

[+G-Squad]

The only thing I found at the approximate location of the "tank" was a low spot where it was obvious that water was there during the monsoon season, but the ground was now all dried up and cracked.  I am assuming that the topo maps mark the locations of the "tanks" so that the ranchers can use them for watering livestock.

The typical tanks on a topo map for AZ are indeed as you described. Basically a stock pond available for grazing cattle. Much of the BLM and State Trust Lands in AZ are leased out to ranchers for livestock grazing.