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"To the dull mind all nature is leaden. To the illumined mind the whole world burns and sparkles with light." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Topographic Maps
[Click Here for Extra Info on Topo Maps]

Click to go to TopoZone.com
and find a topo map for anywhere in the U.S.!

 
 

Shows changes in elevation of earth's surface:
[Click on image to see full size version]
Contour lines

 

 • lines on a map that connect points of equal elevation
Contour interval

 

 • the difference in elevation between two side-by-side
   contour lines
Index contours
 • contour lines marked with their elevations.


Some rules to remember when looking at a contour map:

1. the difference between a hill or a depression

    • closed lines will be used for both hills and depressions,

BUT :
around a depression, short lines (called hachures) perpendicular to the contours will be shown
pointing downhill.

2. CONTOUR LINES NEVER CROSS
A particular spot can't have more than one elevation!
 

3.  Distance between Contour Lines shows slope.

 

 

  • Contour lines that are closer together mean 
    land is steeper. 


  • Contour lines that are farther apart
    mean land is less steep. 

4. Contour lines form V 's that "point" upstream, wherever they cross rivers and streams.

• If you walk straight across a stream, you go downhill to the stream. Then you go uphill as you walk away from the stream. If you wanted to walk at the same elevation, you would have to go upstream, then back downstream, to do so.