GES1010-Lab 2-Topo_Maps

GES1010 Physical Geography: Landforms NAME: Amelia Parr Lab 2 (30 pts) Chapter 2: Topographic Maps Exercise 1: Rules for Contour Lines .  Study the text below carefully in order to successfully complete this lab exercises and to be able to interpret the topographic maps in the future.  Review the Topographic Map Symbols in the United States Geological Survey (USGS) document at https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/TopographicMapSymbols/topomapsymbols.pdf Download the document on to your computer and refer to it while working on the topographic maps. 1. Contour lines connect points of equal elevation . 2. If one were to walk along a contour line, he/she would walk a level line parallel to sea level. 3. If one were to cross contour lines , s/he would be going either up slope or down slope . 4. Any point on a contour line has the same elevation as the value of the contour line . 5. Any point between two contour lines has an elevation somewhere between the elevations of the two contour lines . 6. Each particular contour line traced far enough eventually closes upon itself. 7. Contour lines never branch . 8. Contour lines never join . 9. The contour interval indicates how many feet (or meters) there are between adjacent contour lines. 10. For ease in counting, every fifth contour line is heavier than the intervening four and has its value in feet (or meters) labeled. An exception is found on sheets having a 25 foot contour interval, in which case every fourth line is heavier. This heavier line is called the index contour . 11. Concentric rings indicate a hill or a peak unless they are hachured. 12. A hachured contour line represents a pit or depression and is the same value as the next unhachured line lower down slope . 13. To find the value of hachured contour lines within hachured contour lines, one must count downward the number of feet given as the contour interval for each line. 14. On any given map, closely spaced contour lines indicate steeper slopes whereas widely spaced contour lines indicate more gentle slopes. One cannot apply this rule from one quadrangle sheet to another unless the two sheets have the same contour interval and the same scale. 15. Contour lines point upstream when crossing streams, rivers, ravines or gullies . Lab 2: Topographic Maps - p. 1 of 10

GES1010 Physical Geography: Landforms NAME: Amelia Parr Exercise 1: Rules for Contour Lines, Continued . View the 15-minute video Introduction to Topographic Maps by Seth Horowitz on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqPMYGDxCr0 While viewing the video, record answers for the following questions. 1. Which direction (towards North, South, West, or East) is Long Creek flowing? ____________ 2. On the map of the Mill River area (discussed in the video), what is elevation for the hill marked by letter Z in the lower left corner? _Less than________meters 3. How deep is the bottom of the depression marked by hachured lines in the lower right corner of the same map? Higher than__________ and lower than ___________meters 4. On the Topographic Features slide in the beginning of the video, what is the contour interval for the bottom left map that has contour lines marked 50 and 100. _____________units 5. On the following slide, what is elevation of point b ? ______________meters Lab 2: Topographic Maps - p. 2 of 10

GES1010 Physical Geography: Landforms NAME: Amelia Parr Exercise 3: Contour Lines and Profile Shapes. Match the contour drawings and profiles with the corresponding written description. Use the drawings provided below or in the corresponding PDF file. (For the contour drawings, assume north is toward the top of the page - N  ) # Letter 2 C It is a relatively round hill with twin summits. 4 E It has one summit - the steeper slope on the east side. 3 A It has two summits - the western one the higher. 1 D This single summit has its steepest slope on the north side; the other slopes are gentle. 5 B You would want to climb this summit’s gentle eastern slope, not its steep west slope. Lab 2: Topographic Maps - p. 4 of 10 1 5 3 4 2 A C D E B

GES1010 Physical Geography: Landforms NAME: Amelia Parr Exercise 4: Determining Elevations from a Contour Map. Go to Canvas : https://canvas.uccs.edu/ and proceed to the GES 1010 OL1 course. Click on “Modules,” then “Learning Module 1,” and finally “ Lab 2: Exercise 4 .” (Refer to page 2 of your syllabus for instructions about how to access Canvas). In Canvas complete questions 1-10, using the topographic map provided in Canvas (replicated below) and the “Rules of Contour Lines” on the first page of this lab . Hint : If a point is not directly on a contour line , you cannot determine the exact location; you only know the range between two values. Do not guess at the elevation; provide the range the point falls between. Lab 2: Topographic Maps - p. 5 of 10

GES1010 Physical Geography: Landforms NAME: Amelia Parr Construct the Topographic Profile ( from USGS Mount Antero Quadrangle) a. What is the contour interval of the map below? Lab 2: Topographic Maps - p. 7 of 10 A B 10000’ 9800’ 9600’

GES1010 Physical Geography: Landforms NAME: Amelia Parr b. On the graph above draw a topographic profile from point A to B (along the line on the map above). Lab 2: Topographic Maps - p. 8 of 10 9400’ 9200’ 9000’ 8800’ 8600’ 8400’ 8200’

GES1010 Physical Geography: Landforms NAME: Amelia Parr c. A measured distance of 4 cm represents an actual distance of how many cm?_________________________ Show your work. d. A measured distance of 4 cm represents an actual distance of how many km?_________________________ Show your work. e. A measured distance of 3.5 cm represents an actual distance of how many cm?________________________ Show your work. f. A measured distance of 3.5 cm represents an actual distance of how many km?_________________________ Show your work. g. A measured distance of 3.5 cm represents an actual distance of how many miles?__________________________ Show your work. 3. What is the fractional scale of the map: a. If a measure distance of 6 cm represents an actual distance of 10 km, what is the fractional scale of the map? Show your work. b. If a measured distance of 9 inches represents an actual distance of 3.5 miles, what is the fractional scale? Show your work. 4. Express the fractional scale as a verbal scale a. 1:200,000: One centimeter represents ___________km Show your work. b. 1: 190,080: One inch represents __________miles Show your work. Lab 2: Topographic Maps - p. 10 of 10