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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

Shows changes in elevation of earth's surface.
 

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 spot can't have more than one elevation!

3.  Distance between Contour Lines shows slope.

Contour lines that are closer together mean slope is steeper.

Contour lines that are farther apart mean slope is gentler.

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 to do so.

UPDATED: 02/17/03