“The production of paleogeographic maps is an economically useful exercise for consultancy companies such as ours”, says Andy Horbury from Cambridge Carbonates. His company has been involved in constructing, editing, and selling paleogeography maps of the Arabian Plate for over thirty years.  “This ‘evolving project’ has given us a general insight from various perspectives”, he continues.

“We think there are two basic formats; a subscription model, often with regular updates, or a more laissez-faire model, where work is done on more of an ‘as required’ basis.

For our company, our map set is a repository of information such that we do not need to be constantly ‘reinventing the wheel.

Of the two, the subscription model is more suited to larger consultancy groups because it requires much more active marketing and management, and builds up company value; whilst the laissez-faire model is better suited to smaller consultancies that are obliged to divert to other project work when it becomes available. Our experience is of the latter form of production.”

“For our company, our map set is a repository of information such that we do not need to be constantly ‘reinventing the wheel’, whilst it has allowed us to build up over time a product of significant quality, the likes of which would not be possible as a standalone project over a short period”, Andy concludes.

This article is number three in a series of five dedicated to the Power of Paleogeography. It forms part of the cover story that was published in Issue 5 of the GEO ExPro magazine. A copy of the magazine can be downloaded here.