MAPS

What do we need to know in order to read this map? Direction Scale Legend

There are MANY different types of maps:

Road Maps
Shows people how they can travel from one place to another. Shows where the main highways are and where small country roads are.

Shaded relief map

Shows the shape of the land-mountains, valleys, rivers, and lakes.

Topographic Maps
- Show a two-dimensional representation of a portion of the three-dimensional surface of the earth.

Land Height
Elevation is the vertical distance above or below mean sea level. - Different colours on topographic maps. Relief is the representation of the shapes of hills, valleys, streams, or terrain. - Contour lines!

Contour Lines
Contour lines join points on a map that are of equal height above sea level.

The houses are 50 m above sea level. The deciduous trees are 100 m above sea level. The coniferous trees are 150 m above sea level.

How high above sea level is point X? 50 m How high above sea level is point Y? 125 m

On the above map the highest point is shown with a dot. This is called a spot height.

Where would the X & Y be now? Contour lines do not cross each other, divide or split!

Draw the 100m

contour line.

Remember! Contour lines do not end. Their ends can join together as on the island, or the contour lines may go off the edge of the map.

Draw the 500m

contour line:

Draw the 400m, 500, and 600m contour lines.

Closely spaced contour lines represent steep slopes, and contour lines that are spaced far apart represent gentle slopes:

Uniform, steep slope

vs.

Uniform, gentle slope

Concave slope

vs.

Convex slope

Circles that are closed contours signify hills (also called a knoll). The ground slopes down in all directions.

A ridge is a line of high ground that has minor variations along its crest. A spur is a short continuously sloping line of higher ground jutting out from the side of a ridge.

A saddle is a dip or low point along the crest of a ridge.

Contours indicating a valley are U-shaped and tend to parallel a major stream before crossing it. A draw is a less-developed stream course where there is essentially no level ground. V-shaped with the point of the V toward the head of the draw

Contour lines bend into a U shape when they cross a river or stream, with the U pointing towards where the water originated.

A depression is a low point or sinkhole, surrounded on all sides by higher ground

Contour Lines & Profile Views

Types of Contour Lines:

1. Index: Starting at zero, every fifth contour line is numbered at some point. This number is the elevation of that line. 2. Intermediate: The contour lines falling between the index contour lines. 3. Supplementary: Show changes in elevation of at least one-half the contour interval. These lines are normally found where there is very little change in elevation.

Contour Interval: A set distance between contour lines on a map.

Example: A 100 m interval would mean that you have lines showing 100m changes in elevation between them. So, what is the contour interval for this island? 50 m

The contour interval is 20 meters; therefore each one of the intermediate contour lines adds 20 meters to the 500-meter index contour line. The elevation of point (a) is 540 meters; and point (b) is located at an elevation of 580 meters. The elevation of the hilltop would be considered the same as the last contour line, therefore point (c) is located at 600 meters.

If the point is less than one-fourth the distance between contour lines, the elevation will be the same as the last contour line. The elevation of point a will be 100 meters.

Point b is one-half the distance between contour lines. The contour line immediately below point b is at an elevation of 160 meters. The contour interval is 20 meters; thus one-half the contour interval is 10 meters. In this case, add 10 meters to the last contour line of 160 meters. The elevation of point b would be about 170 meters. A point located more than three-fourths of the distance between contour lines is considered to be at the same elevation as the next contour line. Point c is located threefourths of the distance between contour lines. Therefore, point c would be considered to be at an elevation of 200 meters.