2. CONTOURS
CONTOURS ARE IMAGINARY LINES JOINING PLACES HAVING SAME
HEIGHT.
THEY ARE REPRESENTED BY BROWN COLOURED LINES IN THE TOPO
SHEET.
CONTOUR INTERVAL IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE VALUE OF TWO
SUCCESSIVE CONTOURS DRAWN ON A TOPO MAP.
THE CONTOUR INTERVAL PERTAINING TO THE GIVEN TOPO MAP
EXTRACT IS ALWAYS MENTIONED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MAP.
NORMALLY THE CONTOUR INTERVAL OF ALL TOPO MAPS GIVEN DURING
THE EXAM ARE THE ONES WITH A CONTOUR INTERVAL MENTIONED AS 20
METRES.
3. QUESTIONS ASKED ON CONTOURS
QUESTIONS REGARDING THE CONTOURS MAY BE
ON DEFINING CONTOURS
DEFINING COUNTOUR INTERVAL
IDENTIFYING THE CONTOUR INTERVAL OF THE
TOPO MAP PROVIDED.
IDENTIFYING THE TYPE OF RELIEF REPRESENTED
ON THE MAP, WITH THE HELP OF CONTOURS
SHOWN.
4. IDENTIFICATION F RELIEF THROUGH
ANALYSING CONTOURS PATTERN
MOUNTAINS – CONTOURS SHOWING MOUNTAINS ARE CLOSELY
SPACED WITH THE INCREASE IN CONTOUR VALUE. ELEVATION RISES
TO MORE THAN 3000 FEET.
CONICAL HILL – CONTOURS SHOWING CONICAL HILLS ARE ALMOST
CIRCULAR WITH THE PEAK OF THE HILL AT THE CENTRE. THE
CONTOURS ARE DRAWN ALMOST AT REGULAR INTERVAL. ELEVATION
RISES LESS THAN 3000 FEET.
PLATEAU / TABLELAND – CONTOURS SHOWING PLATEAUS ARE
MOSTLY CONCENTRATED ON ITS SIDES AND ITS CENTRAL PART IS
ALMOST WITHOUT CONTOURS.
RIDGE – CONTOURS SHOWING RIDGE ARE ELONGATED AND CLOSELY
SPACED.
5. SOME MORE RELIEF FEATURES SHOWN
THORUGH CONTOURS
V-SHAPED VALLEY – SHOWN BY V-SHAPED
CONTOURS , THE APEX OF WHICH ALWAYS
POINTS UPSTREAM.
U-SHAPED VALLEY – SHOWN BY U-SHAPED
CONTOURS.