TOPOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL MAPS,
CROSS-SECTIONS
Topographical maps
show shape of land
Features shown:
•hills
•valley
•mountain ranges
•plains
•roads, settlement areas, etc.
•drainage (river, stream sea lake, spring)
Contour line: a line on a map representing a corresponding
imaginary line on the ground that has the same elevation
above sea level along its entire length
Rules concerning contour line
1. Contour lines bend upstream or upvalley. They form “V”
that points upstream
2. Contours near the upper parts of hills form closures
3. Depressions are shown by closed, hatched contours
4. Contours are widely spaced on gentle slopes
5. Contours are closely spaced on steep slopes
6. Evenly spaced contours indicate a uniform slope
7. Contours do not cross or intersect each other
8. All countours eventually close, either on a map or beyond
its margins
9. Spot elevations between contours are given at may places,
such as road intersections, hill summits, and lake surfaces
Relief: difference in elevation between any two points
Maximum relief: difference in elevation between the highest
and lowest points in the area being considered
Map scale: relationship between distance on the map to
the true distance on the earth’s surface
Two types:
1. Ratio scale -1:25 000 or 1/25 000
(one unit on the map represents 25 000 unit
on the earth’s surface)
2. Bar scale
Symbols: usually given at the RIGHT side of the map sheet
Color:
Blue-water features (lake, sea, stream, etc)
Black-work of man, such as homes, schools, roads, etc
Brown-contour lines
Green-woodlands, etc
Red-urban areas, important roads, etc.
Scale: 1/100 000
Scale: 1/25 000
Scale
1/25 000
Scale
1/25 000
Drawing a topographic profile
Profile: is a diagram which shows the change in elevation of
the land surface along a given horizontal line
-to show the true relief, vertical and horizontal scales are fixed
at the same scale
-Occasionally, a larger vertical scale may be used
(Vertical exaggeration, e.g. x2, x4, etc.)
DON’T FORGET TO INDICATE:
-geographic orientations on the profile
-scale
-unit of elevations of the vertical scale (e.g. m, km)
-names of the hills, valleys, etc.
GEOLOGICAL MAPS
(a record of all geological features on a base topographical map)
Features shown:
•rock types
•bedding planes
•structural features (folds, faults,etc.)
•mineralizaiton zones
•regolith,etc.
-These maps represent both observations (solid lines) and
interpretations (dashed lines)
Map Interpretation:
•identify the relative ages (younger, older)
•ascertain their structural relationship (above, below)
-Relative ages of strata shown on a map, is given by the list of
formations printed in the margins of the map
-Below this, symbols (strike and dip, faults, fold axis, etc.)
are also given
Geological cross-sections
1. Obtain a topographic profile along the line of section
2. Re-position the section paper on the map as before and
mark the geological boundaries (pay attention to the dip
direction of the boundaries
3. Transfer the boundaries vertically below onto the
topographic profile
4. Extrapolate the boundaries
