Which contour line figure represents a valley

For example, the first hill on the left has a top contour line of 50ft. When connecting the points on your graph paper in the area between the two hills in Figure 3. If you examine the graph showing the topographic profile in Figure 3. When the vertical dimension of your graph is different from the horizontal dimension on your map, you may end up with a graph that shows a vertical exaggeration and the features of the Earth represented by your topographic profile may be deformed such as in Figure 3.

Sometimes vertical exaggeration is desired but, in some cases, you may not want it. To avoid having your profile distorted so that it accurately conveys what the surface of the Earth really looks like in profile, you will want both the vertical and horizontal scales to match. If the topographic map in Figure 3. To achieve this, contour lines are drawn closer or more apart, based on the summits and valleys of the land.

Someone who read the diagram needs only to follow the nearness of the contour lines with each another to understand the steepness or flatness of a certain area of the property. We will go over certain primary lines from contour lines on a topographical report in our next few sections. Contour lines will appear further and further apart for gentle slopes or even wholly flat surfaces on your property. Many broad contour lines enable the passage of other essential property areas, like roads or trails.

There are usually no contour lines in those sections of the report for regions which are virtually entirely flat. As the steeper and steeper slopes turn on the property, the contours get closer. Very steep hills, even those near 90 degrees, are almost interconnected with outlines.

Like hills, they add a little more spacing to each line. Topographic surveys will use circular rings on the top of the hill-the highest point in a given area-when determining specific hills.

Ridges are represented by "U" or "V" shaped contour lines with their closed end pointing towards lower elevation. U-shaped contours indicate broader ridges, while V-shaped contours represent narrower and sharper ridge lines. Aretes and spurs are often generally referred to as ridges in backcountry recreation.

Ridges, gullies, and stream channels are represented clearly by contour lines in the following image and topographic map Keep in mind that terrain features may not be easily detected or their shape may not be as pronounced depending on their size or depth and the scale of the topo map. For example in a topo map see top topo sides of valley , contours representing gullies and ridges will be more rounded and show less detail in general compared to the contours Us and Vs seen in a topo.

Small stream channels or spurs may not show up as pronounced Us or Vs even in large scale topos. Same problem applies to other terrain features. The smaller scale the topo map is, there will be less detail with more generalization, and the harder it will be to detect terrain features.