1. How does a topographic map show the shape of the land surface? For example, how do topographic maps indicate steeper slopes? How are gentler slopes portrayed? How can you identify stream or river valleys on maps? 2. What are contour lines? What is an index contour? 3. Define contour interval. 4. What does a fractional scale of 1:48,000 mean? 5. What is a bar scale and how is it used? 6. The basic unit of latitude and longitude is the degree. How is the degree subdivided? 7. Latitude is measured in degrees N or S of what line? What is the range of possible values (in degrees) for latitude? 8. Longitude is measured in degrees W or E of what line? Where is that line located? What is the range of possible values (in degrees) for longitude? Introduction Topograpbic maps illustrate scale, width, length, and height of landforms. Geologic maps show the distribution of different rock units and geologic features, such as faults, at the surface of the Earth. In this lab you will become familiar with both types of maps which are important tools for anyone studying the earth or its resources. Learning Outcomes - Explain how contours are used to show elevation information and landforms on a map. (questions 13) - Understand and explain different types of map scale, such as fractional scale and bar scale. (questions 4-5) - Explain how latitude and longitude are used to describe location. (questions 6-8) - Draw and use contours to visualize spatial data (such as spot elevations). (question 9) - Find the latitude and longitude of a location on a map. (questions 10, 17, 18) - Read elevation data and interpret contours on a topographic map.(questions 11, 12, 19) - Calculate elevation change and gradient (slope) from topographic maps.(questions 13, 21) - Read distances on a map using a ruler and bar scale.(questions 14-16; 20) - Interpret ages of rock units on a geologic map (questions 22-23) - Identify geologic structures on a geologic map (questions 24-27) - Draw a geologic cross section using locations of contacts and angles of dip on a geologic map (questions 28-30) - Identify types of folds or faults on a geologic cross section (questions 28-30) Map Coordinate Systems A coordinate system allows us to describe the location of any point on the surface of the Earth. Lines of latitude (also known as parallels) are the horizontal lines that circle the globe. These lines are known as parallels because the run in the same direction as (are parallel to) the Equator. The Equator is the imaginary line located at 0 latitude and is halfway between the North Pole and the South Pole, which are 180 apart. This means the South Pole is 90 S and the North Pole is 90N. Lines that run from the North Pole to the South Pole are lines of longitude (also known as meridians). The line at 0 longitude is the prime meridian and runs through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England. Meridians are counted east and west from the prime meridian up to a maximum of 180 longitude at the.

1. 1. How does a topographic map show the shape of the land surface? For example, how do
topographic maps indicate steeper slopes? How are gentler slopes portrayed? How can you
identify
stream or river valleys on maps?
2. What are contour lines? What is an index contour?
3. Define contour interval.
4. What does a fractional scale of 1:48,000 mean?
5. What is a bar scale and how is it used?
6. The basic unit of latitude and longitude is the degree. How is the degree subdivided?
7. Latitude is measured in degrees N or S of what line? What is the range of possible values (in
degrees) for latitude?
8. Longitude is measured in degrees W or E of what line? Where is that line located? What is the
range
of possible values (in degrees) for longitude?
Introduction Topograpbic maps illustrate scale, width, length, and height of landforms. Geologic
maps show the distribution of different rock units and geologic features, such as faults, at the
surface of the Earth. In this lab you will become familiar with both types of maps which are
important tools for anyone studying the earth or its resources. Learning Outcomes - Explain how
contours are used to show elevation information and landforms on a map. (questions 13) -
Understand and explain different types of map scale, such as fractional scale and bar scale.
(questions 4-5) - Explain how latitude and longitude are used to describe location. (questions 6-8)
- Draw and use contours to visualize spatial data (such as spot elevations). (question 9) - Find the
latitude and longitude of a location on a map. (questions 10, 17, 18) - Read elevation data and
interpret contours on a topographic map.(questions 11, 12, 19) - Calculate elevation change and
gradient (slope) from topographic maps.(questions 13, 21) - Read distances on a map using a
ruler and bar scale.(questions 14-16; 20) - Interpret ages of rock units on a geologic map
(questions 22-23) - Identify geologic structures on a geologic map (questions 24-27) - Draw a
geologic cross section using locations of contacts and angles of dip on a geologic map (questions
28-30) - Identify types of folds or faults on a geologic cross section (questions 28-30) Map
Coordinate Systems A coordinate system allows us to describe the location of any point on the
surface of the Earth. Lines of latitude (also known as parallels) are the horizontal lines that circle
the globe. These lines are known as parallels because the run in the same direction as (are
parallel to) the Equator. The Equator is the imaginary line located at 0 latitude and is halfway
between the North Pole and the South Pole, which are 180 apart. This means the South Pole is 90
S and the North Pole is 90N. Lines that run from the North Pole to the South Pole are lines of
longitude (also known as meridians). The line at 0 longitude is the prime meridian and runs
through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England. Meridians are counted east and west from
the prime meridian up to a maximum of 180 longitude at the International Date Line, on the
opposite side of the world from the prime meridian. The north-south lines of longitude and the
east-west lines of latitude form a grid on the Earth's surface. The basic unit of latitude and
longitude is the degree. The degree () is further subdivided into minutes and seconds. On
topographic maps the latitude and longitude are expressed in degrees, minutes, and seconds.

2. Each degree is divided into 60 minutes ('). Each minute is divided into 60 seconds ("). If you are
interested in a general location, then just use degrees. But for more precision, specify minutes and
seconds. You will also see other numbers for different coordinate systems used on topographic
maps: the values in feet are for state plane coordinates, and the unitless numbers in bold (with
superscripts) are for UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) coordinates.Map Series The map
series tells you the amount of latitude and longitude covered by a map and is listed in the upper
right corner of the topographic map. Commonly encountered map series are 7.5 minute and 15
minute. A 7.5 minute series map covers an area that spans 7.5 minutes of latitude and 7.5 minutes
longitude. Because there are 60 minutes in one degree, eight 7.5 minute maps are needed to
cover one full degree of latitude or longitude. Map Scales A map represents a portion of the
earth's surface. Since an accurate map portrays a condensed view of the land, each map has a
scale that indicates the relationship between a certain distance on the map and the distance on
the ground. The most common map scale used in the United States is the United States
Geological Survey (USGS) 7.5 minute series quadrangle ("quad" for short) which uses a scale of
1:24,000. This is the map's fractional scale. In fractional scale, the units do not matter as long as
they are the same: 1:24,000 literally means 1 inch on the map equals 24,000 inches on the
ground, 1 mile equals 24,000 miles, one meter equals 24,000 meters, etc. Because the fractional
scale is a ratio, the units on the map cancel units on the ground as long as they are the same.
Alternatively we can show the map's scale visually using a graphical or bar scale, generally
located at the bottom of the map. A graphic scale is simply a line marked with distance on the
ground that the reader can use along with a ruler to distances on the map. Contour Lines Contour
lines (or contours) describe the elevation information on topographic maps. A contour line
connects points of equal elevation. Contours are drawn on a map at a uniform vertical distance,
known as the contour interval. Some contour lines are drawn in bold and are labeled with the
elevation. These bold contours are called index contours. In between two index contours are
intermediate contours. On standard USGS topographic maps with a contour interval of 40 feet,
every fifth contour (200) feet is an index contour shown by a thicker line and labeled with its
elevation. Contour lines are typically drawn in brown. Blue lines are used to represent rivers and
streams, while double lines of various colors and thicknesses represent different types of roads.
Political boundaries are shown in black, while the numbered squares represent one square mile
sections in the U.S. land survey system. In the figure on the right, the thick lines (labeled 700 and
800 ) are index contours. The four contours in between the index contours are called intermediate
contours. Using both the index and intermediate contours you can calculate the contour interval.
The contour interval in this example is 20 feet because we cross five contours to go from one
index contour to the other (1005=20).Refer to the lab introduction to answer the following
questions on the answer sheet. 1. How does a topographic map show the shape of the land
surface? For example, how do topographic maps indicate steeper slopes? How are gentler slopes
portrayed? How can you identify stream or river valleys on maps? 2. What are contour lines? What
is an index contour? 3. Define contour interval. 4. What does a fractional scale of 1:48,000 mean?
5. What is a bar scale and how is it used? 6. The basic unit of latitude and longitude is the degree.
How is the degree subdivided? 7. Latitude is measured in degrees N or S of what line? What is the
range of possible values (in degrees) for latitude? 8. Longitude is measured in degrees W or E of

3. what line? Where is that line located? What is the range of possible values (in degrees) for
longitude?