Persia – A.P.O.C. Geological Map Of South-West Iran – Zagros Oilfields – Sheet No. 10 I & 10 J – 1929

Compiled by H. Cornes (Geol. Office, London)
From surveys by the Geological Staff, A.P.O.C.
1929
Colour-printed map on paper, scale 1 inch to 4 miles (1:253,440)

General Analysis

This is a substantial and technically ambitious petroleum-geological map produced for the Anglo-Persian Oil Company at an early and important stage in the geological investigation of south-west Iran. The sheet is clearly titled “Persia” and carries the sheet designation “No. 10 I & 10 J” at the upper margin. The lower imprint gives the compiler as H. Cornes, working from surveys by the Geological Staff, A.P.O.C., and is dated 1929. An index to adjoining sheets confirms that this was issued as part of a larger sectional survey series rather than as a standalone commercial map.

The map is not a general atlas sheet or administrative map. Its purpose is explicitly geological and oil-related. The legends identify stratigraphic units, structural symbols, and petroleum infrastructure, including anticlinal axes, synclinal axes, faults, thrust faults, oil wells, and oil pipelines. This places the map squarely within the working documentation of interwar petroleum exploration.

Geographic Scope

The area shown runs from the Persian Gulf coast inland across the folded structures of the Zagros Mountains. Coastal and near-coastal points visible on the sheet include:

• Bushire
• Ganaveh
• islands in the Gulf including Kharag

Further inland, the sheet clearly includes places such as:

• Behbehan
• Cham Zeidan
• Deh Dasht
• Kazerun

The inland geography is especially important. The map shows long, parallel geological belts running north-west to south-east, typical of the Zagros fold system, with settlement and route information overprinted across the geological base. This is precisely the kind of terrain in which A.P.O.C. geologists were identifying structures favourable for petroleum accumulation.

Geological Content

The two printed legends are especially revealing and allow a fairly precise characterisation of the map’s geological scope. The formations listed include:

• Alluvium
• Post Bakhtiaris (Conglomerates, etc.)
• Upper Bakhtiari
• Lower Bakhtiari
• Lower Bakhtiari & Upper Fars Undifferentiated
• Upper Fars
• Middle Fars
• Lower Fars Group III
• Lower Fars Group II
• Lower Fars Group I
• Lower Fars General
• Asmari (includes parts of Oligocene in places)

The continued legend then extends the sequence downward into older formations:

• Eocene (including parts of Cretaceous & Oligocene where undifferentiated)
• Cretaceous
• Pre-Aptian Mesozoics (General)
• Trias
• Permo-Carboniferous
• Cambrian (Hormuz Series, etc.)

This is a sophisticated petroleum stratigraphic scheme rather than a simplified geological colouring for general readers. In particular, the inclusion of Asmari, Fars and Bakhtiari units shows that the sheet was designed for direct use in oilfield interpretation. The geology is not merely decorative; it is being used to identify petroleum-bearing structures and regional stratigraphic relationships.

Structural Interpretation

The map places strong emphasis on structural geology. Multiple long and narrow bands of colour represent folded strata, and these are reinforced by lines showing:

• anticlinal axes
• synclinal axes
• faults
• thrust faults

This is exactly the visual language of early twentieth-century petroleum geology in Iran. The folded and faulted structures are the map’s organising principle, not political boundaries or transport routes. The dense concentration of mapped folds inland from the Gulf indicates that the sheet was intended to support the identification and correlation of oil-bearing anticlines across a large part of the south-west Iranian oil province.

Some areas are further marked with red and black linework and polygonal outlines that appear to record zones of particular geological or exploration interest. These overlays look contemporary to the map’s technical use and may represent field or office annotations related to structural interpretation, prospect boundaries, or drilling targets.

Petroleum Content

The second legend explicitly includes symbols for:

• oil wells
• oil pipelines

This is decisive evidence that the sheet served petroleum exploration and development rather than pure academic geology. The photographs show oil-related plotting and structural emphasis around areas such as Gach Qaranguli, Gach-i-Pokak, and other named structures. The combination of coloured stratigraphy, well symbols, and structural axes demonstrates that the map was part of A.P.O.C.’s practical exploration toolkit.

The use of a relatively small scale over a wide area suggests a regional synthesis map, likely intended to connect local oilfield investigations to broader geological understanding across adjoining structures and coastal export routes.

Production and Corporate Context

The imprint is important:

• Compiled by H. Cornes (Geol. Office, London)
• From Surveys by Geological Staff, A.P.O.C.
• 1929

This firmly places the map within the formal geological apparatus of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. It is a corporate technical document, not a later derivative or educational simplification. The London Geological Office attribution suggests that field surveys carried out in Iran were being synthesised centrally into standardised printed working sheets.

The adjoining-sheet index confirms that the map belongs to an organised survey sequence. That makes it more desirable than an isolated manuscript sketch or local tracing, because it forms part of a coherent geological mapping programme by one of the foundational companies of the modern oil industry.

Physical Description and Condition

From the photographs, the map appears to be:

• printed on paper
• originally issued folded
• reinforced in places on the reverse and backed on linen
• now heavily worn from practical use

Visible condition points include:

• extensive fold lines throughout
• numerous creases and compressions from repeated handling
• edge fraying and small losses, especially at the margins
• several split folds and repaired separations
• scattered spotting, staining, and general age toning
• some old annotations in coloured pencil or red ink
• still substantially complete, with title, legends, imprint, and sheet number all present

This is plainly a working map rather than a pristine archive copy. Its condition is consistent with genuine field or office use within a geological or engineering context.

Historical Importance

This map is historically important on several levels.

First, it belongs to the early professional geological mapping of the south-west Iranian oil province, one of the most consequential petroleum regions in the world.

Second, it embodies the interwar period when petroleum geology in Iran was moving from local discovery into broader regional structural correlation. The map is not focused on one well or one field; it attempts to understand an entire belt of folded and potentially productive structures.

Third, it reflects the corporate-scientific methods of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, whose survey and geological interpretation underpinned the expansion of British oil interests in Iran before nationalisation.

Finally, as a physical object, it is a strong example of how geological knowledge was actually handled: printed, folded, annotated, revised, and used.

Rarity

Material of this type is scarce.

Reasons include:

• it was produced for specialist internal or quasi-internal use
• it was part of a technical geological survey series rather than the public map trade
• survival rates are reduced by heavy working use
• large folded petroleum-geology sheets were especially vulnerable to splitting, discarding, and later separation from their series

A.P.O.C. geological maps do survive, but they are much less common than general maps of Persia or later state geological surveys. A sheet retaining its imprint, legends, sheet number, and broad legibility remains a desirable survival even in worn condition.

Commercial Assessment

As an object in the specialist antiquarian market, the map has value in several collecting categories:

• petroleum history
• industrial cartography
• Middle Eastern exploration
• geological mapping
• Anglo-Persian / Anglo-Iranian corporate material

Its strengths are:

• explicit A.P.O.C. attribution
• named compiler
• clear 1929 date
• technical geological content
• part-sheet identity within a larger survey series
• strong visual impact from the coloured geological bands
• genuine signs of period working use

Its value is moderated by:

• heavy fold wear
• repairs and separations
• edge losses and fraying
• overall used condition rather than display condition
• in good only condition overall

On that basis, this reads as a scarce but condition-compromised specialist map, more valuable for its documentary and corporate significance than for decorative presentation.

Location: HO: Drawer D: 003601

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