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  • Creating a vertical cross section from a topo map

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    Shepherd Nhanga
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    A topographic cross-section provides a side view of the landscape along a line on a topographic map. To create a cross-section: 1. Mark the contour lines, streams, and elevations where they intersect the profile line. 2. Determine the total elevation change and scale the vertical axis accordingly. 3. Project the contour points onto the scaled vertical axis based on their elevations to create the profile shape. 4. Add additional geographic features and geology to complete the cross-section representation.

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    topographic maps

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    topographic maps

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    A topographic cross-section provides a side view of the landscape along a line on a topographic map. To create a cross-section: 1. Mark the contour lines, streams, and elevations where they intersect the profile line. 2. Determine the total elevation change and scale the vertical axis accordingly. 3. Project the contour points onto the scaled vertical axis based on their elevations to create the profile shape. 4. Add additional geographic features and geology to complete the cross-section representation.

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    113 views3 pages

    Creating a vertical cross section from a topo map

    Uploaded by

    Shepherd Nhanga
    A topographic cross-section provides a side view of the landscape along a line on a topographic map. To create a cross-section: 1. Mark the contour lines, streams, and elevations where they intersect the profile line. 2. Determine the total elevation change and scale the vertical axis accordingly. 3. Project the contour points onto the scaled vertical axis based on their elevations to create the profile shape. 4. Add additional geographic features and geology to complete the cross-section representation.

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    of 3

    Creatingaverticalcrosssectionfromatopographicmap

    TopographicMaps
    Topographicmaps(oftencalledtopomaps)representthethreedimensionallandscape
    onatwodimensionalpieceofpaper.Topographytheelevationoftheearthssurfaceis
    representedonatopomapbycontourlines.Contourlinesarelinesofequalelevation.The
    elevationchangebetweeneachline(contourinterval)variesfrommaptomap,buteachmap
    willhaveonlyonecontourinterval,whichislistedonthemap.Ordinarycontourlinesalways
    enclosehigherground;whereacontourlineenclosesadepression,thelinewillhavetickmarks
    ontheinside.Figure1showshowathreedimensionalsurfacecanberepresentedonatopomap
    usingcontourlines.
    Forobviousreasons,topomaps,likeothertypesofmaps,showascaleddownversionof
    theearthssurface.Eachmaptypicallyshowstwotypesofscalesonthemap:anumericalscale
    andabarscale.Numericalscalesaregivenasrepresentativefractions,orratios.Forexample,
    ona1:24,000maponeinchonthemaprepresents24,000inchesontheground.Barscales
    measuredistancebydisplayingasimplelineorbarshowingrepresenteddistanceinfeet,miles,
    and/orkilometers.

    Figure1.Topographicmapandcorrespondingblockdiagram.
    TopographicCrosssections
    Whenlookingatatopomap,youareseeingthelandscapefromdirectlyabove(often
    referredtoasmapview).Sometimesitisusefultovisualizehowthelandscapewouldlookin
    profile.Constructingatopographiccrosssectiongivesusasideviewofthelandscapealonga
    line.Youcanthinkofacrosssectionasthetopographyyouwouldencounterasyouwalkeda
    straightlinebetweentwopoints.Aprofileisunexaggeratedifthehorizontalandverticalscales
    arethesame.Toemphasizethedifferencesinreliefinacomparativelyflatarea,thevertical

    scalemaybeexpandedrelativetothehorizontalscale,producingacrosssectionwithvertical
    exaggeration.Verticalexaggerationisgivenby:
    E=H/V

    where E=verticalexaggeration
    H=denominatorofthehorizontalscalefraction
    V=denominatoroftheverticalscalefraction

    Oneefficientwaytoconstructtopographiccrosssectionsistooutlinedbelow:
    1. Layastripofblankpaperalongthelineyouwanttoprofile.
    2. Markontheedgeofthepaperendpointsoftheprofilelineandtheexactplacethat
    eachcontour,stream,andhilltopcrossestheprofileline.Wherecontourlinesare
    closelyspaced,itissufficienttolabeljusttheindexcontours(everyfifthcontour,
    drawnboldontopomaps).Doublecheckyourselfeveryfivelinesorso.(Figure9.2)
    3. Labeleachmarkwiththecontourelevationorotherfeatureitrepresents.
    4. Determinethetotalreliefoftheprofileline.Reliefisthedifferenceinelevation
    betweenthehighestandlowestpoints.
    5. Prepareaverticalscaleonasheetofgraphpaperorlinedpaperbasedontherelief.
    Labelthehorizontallinesonthissheettocorrespondtotheelevationofeachindex
    contourline
    6. Writedowntheverticalexaggerationofyourprofile.Comparewhataninch
    representsoneachofyouraxesusingtheequationgivenabove.Besureto
    exaggerateonlywhenneededforclarity.
    7. Placetheplainpaperwithlabeledmarksatthebottom(ortop)oftheprofilepaper
    andcarefullyprojecteachcontourontothehorizontallineofthesameelevation.
    8. Connectallofthepointswithasmoothline.Markstreams,peaks,benchmarks
    (pointsofexactelevation,assurveyed),etc.
    9. Checkthatyourprofilematchesthegeneraltopographyalongyourtransectline.
    FortheTorreypinesproject,useavertical/horizontalexaggerationof2x.
    Afteryoumakeyourverticalcrosssection,putthegeologyfromyourmaponthetopsurfaceof
    thecrosssection.Thenbyusingwhatyouknowaboutthelateralextentofthevarious
    geologicalunits,howtheydipalongthecrosssectionorwheretheypinchout,sketchthe
    geologyontoyourcrosssection.

    Figure2.Drawingaprofile.Noticethetickmarksalongsomecontoursindicatinga
    depression.Theverticalexaggerationis25times.

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