What do contour lines tell us?

The feature that makes this possible is contour lines: Contour lines indicate the steepness of terrain. Contour lines connect points that share the same elevation: Where they’re close together (they never intersect), elevation is changing rapidly in short distance and the terrain is steep.

What are three things that contours show?

Explain to students that these are imaginary lines that join points of equal elevation, and that they allow you to read the shape of the Earth’s surface. Tell students that by reading contour lines, they can measure the steepness of a hill, the height of a mountain, and even the depth of a lake or ocean.

What is the importance of contour lines?

These contour lines are an important way of showing the rise and fall of the land on a map. Contour lines show all the places that are the same height above sea level. They also tell us about the slope of the land. On a steep slope, the lines are close together.

How do contour lines indicate a stream?

As a rule of thumb, the V-shaped contour is pointing upstream (the opposite direction from the flow of a stream or river). The “V” shape contours indicate streams and drainage. As you can see, the “V” points uphill to a higher elevation.

What do contour lines represent on a topographic map?

Elevation contours are imaginary lines connecting points having the same elevation on the surface of the land above or below a reference surface, which is usually mean sea level. Contours make it possible to show the height and shape of mountains, the depths of the ocean bottom, and the steepness of slopes.

How do you tell if contour lines are going up or down?

Remember contour numbering reads up hill – in other words the top of the number is uphill and the bottom is downhill. Also remember the closer contour lines are together, the steeper the slope.

How do contour lines show hills and depressions?

When contour lines are closer together on a map, they indicate a steep slope. Think of contour lines as the distance between each incline. The closer together the inclines, the steeper the hill. On the other hand, the farther apart lines tend to indicate a depression in the landscape.

How can contour lines be used to interpret the direction in which the stream is following?

Where a stream crosses the land, the Vs in the contour lines point uphill. The channel of the stream passes through the point of the V and the open end of the V represents the downstream portion. If the stream contains water, the line will be blue; otherwise, the V patterns indicate the direction water will flow.

How do contour lines show different slopes of land?

Contour lines are used in a map to portray differences in elevation. When contour lines are closer together on a map, they indicate a steep slope. Think of contour lines as the distance between each incline. The closer together the inclines, the steeper the hill.

How do you read a contour survey?

Widely spaced contour lines indicate gentle slope. Equally spaced contour lines indicate uniform slope. Closed contour lines with higher elevation towards the centre indicate hills. Closed contour lines with reducing levels towards the centre indicate pond or other depression.