Topography Basics
The difference in elevation between the highest and lowest parts of an area
What is a relief?
A type of landform that has high elevation and high relief
What is a mountain?
Mapmakers use these to stand for features on the Earth's surface
What are symbols?
Scientists use these to locate positions on Earth's surface.
What are lines of latitude and longitude?
A map showing the surface features of an area
What is a topographic or contour map?
A feature of topography, such as a hill or valley
What is a landform?
A landform that has high elevation and a level surface
What is a plateau?
A sphere that represents Earth's entire surface
What is a globe?
The line halfway between the North and South poles
What is the Equator?
These represent elevation, relief, and slope of the ground surface
What are contour lines?
The height above sea level of a point on Earth's surface
What is elevation?
A landform made up of nearly flat or gently rolling land with a low relief
What is a plain?
A flat model of all or part of Earth's surface features
What is a map?
The number of degrees you would have traveled if you started at the equator and traveled to one of the poles
What is 90 degrees?
The change in elevation from contour line to contour line
What is contour interval?
An area's elevation, relief, and landforms
What is topography?
A large area of land where the topography is made up mainly of one type of landform
What is a landform region?
This lists all the symbols used on the map with an explanation of their meaning.
What is a key?
This imaginary line makes a half circle from the North Pole to the South Pole. All lines of longitude start with this one.
What is the Prime Meridean?
Every fifth contour line, these are darker and labeled.
What are index contours?
Another way to say zero (0) feet in elevation.
What is sea level?
The two types of plains and how they're different
Interior plain - found inland
Coastal plain - found at coasts
Distance on a map compared to a distance on Earth's surface
What is the scale?
The number of degrees you would have traveled if you started at the prime meridian and traveled west along the equator, back to the prime meridian
What is 360 degrees?
All the points connected by a contour line have this in common
What is the same elevation?