What is this black line located at 62.147543,-140.998535 on Google Maps?

Question

A few months ago i was browsing Alaska in Google Maps and came across this strange black polygon blanking out part of some lands near Mount Taylor. At the time it was pure black. It made me curious because i figured if it was a loading error for the map i thought it would be more perpendicular (like what happens when blocks of the map get cut out. I've just looked at it again today and now it appears to be transparent but still in the same polygon shape. The area's also so remote that it's hard to imagine anything getting censored there.

Is it just intentionally blanked out by Google, or something else?

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=62.147543,-140.998535&ll=62.146901,-141.002655&spn=0.348392,1.352692&hnear=0x514cc2170faad85b:0x60309de8310f3922,62.147543,-140.998535&gl=uk&t=h&z=10&iwloc=A

Answer 1

I think it is nothing more than a missing image. For some reason they don't have a good close up image of that bit of land, so all you get is the blurred blow-up of a much less accurate image. All it needs is for there to have been a communications glitch when the satellite was sending that particular shot.



While I can believe that they might blur something of military significance, I think it is unlikely that there would be anything of such strategic or security importance here - because the missing area actually straddles the border between Alaska and Canada, and one end of it is high up on a snow-covered mountain.

Answer 2

I'm not overly sure what it is I searched to see if I could find anything, there may be something there but as you said the area is remote which also makes me think it may just be nothing is there and they haven't got anything for it yet, if you zoom in on the blurred out shape you can actually see some of the map below it. It's just like Scotland where I live a lot of the Highlands (mountains) are blurred out or at least were. If you're interested the link shows some other blurred out places

Answer 3

Technically, u.s. isn't ON a map. The depiction of u.s. may well be got here across on a map, yet in basic terms a map the is meant to depict that universal place. Do I win the prize for seeing your semantic catch? easily, you will possibly even have meant which you somewhat decide directly to place u.s. on a map, yet you're might desire to have great powers to try this.

Answer 4

It's an area of lower resolution. Those maps are made by stitching many different photos together. They don't all have the same resolution. Sometimes you can even find clouds that are cut off because they were different pictures.

Answer 5

What black polygon? The thin black line if the boundary between two countries, not part of the map... It shrinks when you zoom in, it doesn't obscure anything.

Answer 6

it is there, same on google earth. It seems to be fuzzier to the northwest. Detail can be seen th the south east through dark part. It is definitely not the border of anything