GEOL1202 SMU Map Reading Geography Assignment Help Print off the last 4 pages with questions and map figures. Annotate them and scan or photograph them Geo

GEOL1202 SMU Map Reading Geography Assignment Help Print off the last 4 pages with questions and map figures. Annotate them and scan or photograph them Geol 1202 Planet Earth
Assignment: map reading
A map is a way of representing on a two-dimensional surface, any
real-world location or object. Maps show us how things are related
to each in terms of distance, direction, and size (or scale). A map
can be as basic, like the quick sketch you might do to show
someone how to find your house, or as complex as you like.
Topographic maps are a special kind of map that add a third
dimension by using contour lines to show the change in elevation
(the topography) on the surface of the earth.
A bathymetric map is similar in that it uses contours to show the
depth of a body of water such as a lake or ocean.
A geological map is yet another kind of map that uses colour or
symbols to indicate the type of rock that underlies the surface.
No matter the type of map there are several elements needed to
make a good one. The following exercises will give you a better
understanding of the main components of a good map and help
you with interpreting and extracting information from maps.
The Turin Papyrus, believed to be the
oldest geological map in the world 1350-1205 B.C. shows stone quarries
and gold mines.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turin_papyrus
For this assignment we will be using the Wolfville Topographic Map; there is a link in the Week One
Module to a digital version.
You should open the map now to make sure it is working correctly. Be patient! Sometimes it takes a
while for the file to load – depending upon your computer and connection speed.
There will be a tool bar at the bottom of your screen.
Practice navigating around the map and zooming in and out. Make sure you can see the details. You
may find going to Full Screen mode works best.
toggle for full screen
For some of the questions you will be required to annotate part of the map – I have provided the
relevant section (on the last page) in a format that you can print.
Print all the work sheets, answer the questions in the space provided and annotate the figures as
instructed. Be sure to include your name and student number at the top of each sheet. You will submit
scans or photographs of your completed sheets. You may insert the images into a Word file if you
wish.
Exercise A – What is it called
Almost all maps will have a name or some other means to identify it; in this case the map is called
Wolfville. Besides the name there is some additional information that helps to not only identify the
map but also indicate the adjacent map sheets.
In Canada all topographic maps conform to the National Topographic System (NTS), which uses a
standard numbering system to identify maps sheets with a combination of numbers and letters (A to
P). Knowing the map number of a map will able you to identify adjacent map sheets. Some map
sheets will have an illustration of a group of rectangular boxes with sheet numbers in them. The map
you are currently viewing will be the center one and the surrounding boxes will represent the adjacent
sheets.
This information can be located on the east (right) margin of the map sheet.
Question 1:
What is the NTS number of the Wolfville map sheet?
Question 2:
What is the number of the map sheet that would be above (to the immediate north)?
Exercise B – Finding North
etic
true north
grid north
gn
ma
rth
no
One of the most important steps in using any map is to orient it properly. The convention
for maps is that one side, usually the longest, points north. There should also be an arrow
that points north.
If you look at the south west (bottom left) corner of the our map you will see not one but
three north arrows. The one that points straight up, parallel to the side, represents the
rotational pole – true north. The second, grid north, represents the orientation of the
UTM grid on the map. The third, magnetic north, points to the magnetic north pole.
Notice that this is the declination at the time the map was printed.
[We looked at the different poles in Lecture Two]
Question 3:
Locate the north arrows on the map sheet.
What is the declination between magnetic north and grid north?
(this should be in the form of degrees and minutes e.g 14O 30′)
[Degrees and minutes are actually a measurement of angles and if you do not understand how they
are calculated review the section on Map Projections in Lecture Two]
Exercise C – Scale
At the start I mentioned that a map shows us how things are related in terms of size. This is called the
scale. The scale is how you relate the features displayed on the map to their “real world” size. The
scale of any map can be represented by a scale bar or expressed as a (numerical) ratio. It is common
to see both on the same map.
The numerical scale:
The numerical, or ratio, scale only works so long as the size of the map is not altered.
To use the scale ratio multiply the distance measured on the map by the scale. For example, a
1/10,000 scale means that 1 cm on the map represents 10,000 cm (or 100 m) in real world distance
(sometimes this is called “on the ground”).
[The numerical scale is actually without units – so in the example above the length of 1 paperclip on
the map would be equal to the length of 10,000 paperclips in the real world – if you wanted to try to
layout that many paperclips]
Look at the bottom margin of the map sheet and locate the scale.
Question 4:
What is the numerical (ratio) scale on the Wolfville map?
Question 5:
What distance would a 5 centimetre line on a the map represent in actual distance on the ground?
(be sure to put your answer in the proper units)
Question 6:
How long would a cliff that is 10km in length in the real world be on the map?
(be sure to put your answer in the proper units)
The scale bar:
With this online version of the map you are constantly altering the scale as you zoom in or out so you
cannot use the ratio scale to determine distance. That ratio is based up on the actual physical size of
the printed map.
In this case the scale bar is a better choice because even though the map will be reduced or enlarged
it will retain the scale relationship. To use the scale bar measure the distance between two locations
on the map and compare that to the scale bar. This will give you a distance in “real world” units.
To see the how changing the size of the map alters the scale try the following.
Locate the scale bar and mark on the edge of a piece of paper the distance represented by 1km on
the scale bar (the edge of a post-it note works really well for this).
Hold or stick this to your computer screen.
Find a feature on the map a compare it to your “scale”.
Now zoom in or out and see how the size changes compared to your scale.
Question 7:
For this question you are going to take a short scenic tour around the town of Wolfville.
First locate the town of Wolfville on the map.
Zoom in until you can find Acadia University. Now on your map figure mark this
location with an X on the black polygon adjacent to the letter A in Acadia.
Next look to the northeast and locate two rectangles labelled sewage.
On your map figure mark this location with an X.
What is the distance from Acadia University to the sewage treatment center?
You should be able to measure this distance to a tenth of a km (or 100m) so your answer should be in
the form of something like 1.5km or 1500m.
Exercise D- Contours & Elevation
In the lecture we covered topographic maps and how contours display the surface features of the
Earth, a three dimensional object, on two dimensional maps.
Contour lines are referenced from mean sea level (msl), which is given a
value of zero, (even if there is no sea on the map).
The shoreline, where the water intersects the land, represents the 0
elevation contour.
Do not confuse bodies of water, such as lakes, that may appear on the
map as being at zero elevation. These most likely are not at sea level!
at
sea level
above
sea level
below
sea level
sea level
0 contour line
[It is actually more complicated than this but for most uses the idea of “sea level” is sufficient.]
0
50
index
contour
10
Contour lines could be drawn for any elevation but to avoid clutter only
certain elevations, picked so as to be evenly spaced in vertical distance,
are drawn. This is called the contour interval; the change in elevation
between adjacent contours. For example a 10 metre interval will have
contours that are multiples of 10 (i.e 0, 10, 20, 30).
Usually every fifth contour line is an index contour. This is a darker line
that will have a number indicating the elevation. This allows you to find the
elevation of any given point by locating the nearest index contour and either adding or subtracting the
change in elevation as represented by the intervening contours.
You can also determine the contour interval by counting the number of contours between two index
contours. In the figure above the difference in elevation is 50 (100-50), and we count 5 contour lines
from one index line to the next (counting it). So the interval is 50 / 5 or 10.
The contour interval determines the value of the contours – this means that if the interval is 10 there
will not be any 7 or 13 – they must be multiples of 10.
What we cannot tell from the contours is the units that they are in. This information will usually be
found on the margin of the map.
Drawing and interpreting contours is relatively simple with a bit of
practice. Recall that a contour line connects points of equal elevation so
any point on the contour line is at the elevation specified by the contour.
Therefore on one side of the contour all elevations must be lower and
on the other side higher. In the example at right the 50m contour line is
drawn, all values on one side are less the 50 and the other are greater
than 50. If the interval is 5 then the next contour lines would be 55 and
45 (not 47 or 52).
When drawing a contour line between 2 points the distance is
proportional – roughly divide the space into equal spaces and draw your
line through the correct one. Make sure your lines make nice smooth
curves.
Where a contour crosses a stream it should form a sharp V. The V
points in the direction the elevation is increasing, and the stream is
flowing towards the open mouth of the V. We know this because water
flows downhill toward the lower elevation.
55
50
50
50
46
45
50 metre contour
52
47
52
50 metre
contour
increasing
elevation
47
water
flow
less steep
steep area
50
0
10
Because the contour interval is constant for a given map we can make
some interpretations about the shape of the surface. Regions where the
contours are close together indicate steep terrain. This is because there
is a large change in the elevation (vertical distance) over a short
horizontal distance.
Widely spaced contours indicate an area that is relatively flat or with only
a gentle change in elevation. (see figure to right)
If we were able to look at a vertical slice through the example above
we would see something like at the right. Notice that closely grouped
contour lines represent the steep slope and the widely space the
more level surface.
100
50
sea level
(0 metres)
You should also notice that on the cross section I have drawn the
surface extends slightly above the 120m contour. This is because the
contour indicates that the surface is 120 m where the line is. Therefore the land must be less than
120m on one side and greater than 120 m on the other side. We know that it cannot be 130 m
because this contour line is not shown.
Question 8.
What is the contour interval for the Wolfville map? (look at the information along the bottom edge of
the sheet)
Question 9.
There is a thicker contour line that passes close to Acadia University; this is an index contour. What is
the elevation represented by this contour line?
Question 10.
Find the area southwest of Acadia that is labeled Wolfville Ridge.
On one side of the ridge the contours are much more closer together
than the other side. Which side of the ridge do you think is steeper,
the north or the south?
Question 11.
There are a number of streams that drain the South Mountain. Look to the southeast of Acadia and
find the one named Duncanson Brook. Observe the way the contours are drawn as they cross the
streams. Draw an arrow on your print copy of the map indicating the direction the water is flowing. In
which direction do you think the water flows in these steams? (use directions like south, east,
southeast)
Question 12.
Look to the south again and find an area labelled Gaspereau Mountain. Place an X on your printed
map where you think the highest elevation is at this location. What is the elevation in metres?
What do I submit?
Print the following four Question Sheets. Annwer the questions in the space provided and annotate
the two figures when indicated in the questions. Submit photographs of the completed sheets.
[You should submit your answers either as images, a MSWord file or pdf. Avoid any other format (in
particular MSWorks or the native MAC format) – if I cannot read your afile I will have to give you a
zero.]
NAME:
STUDENT NUMBER:
Exercise A – What is it called
Question 1:
What is the NTS number of the Wolfville map sheet?
Question 2:
What is the number of the map sheet that would be above (to the immediate north)?
Exercise B – Finding North
Question 3:
Locate the north arrows on the map sheet.
What is the declination between magnetic north and grid north?
(this should be in the form of degrees and minutes e.g 14O 30′)
Exercise C – Scale
Question 4:
What is the numerical (ratio) scale on the Wolfville map?
Question 5:
What distance would a 5 centimetre line on a the map represent in actual distance on the ground?
(be sure to put your answer in the proper units)
Question 6:
How long would a cliff that is 10km in length in the real world be on the map?
(be sure to put your answer in the proper units)
Question 7:
What is the distance from Acadia University to the sewage treatment centre?
NAME:
STUDENT NUMBER:
Exercise D- Contours & Elevation
Question 8.
What is the contour interval for the Wolfville map? (look at the information along the bottom edge of
the sheet)
Question 9.
There is a thicker contour line that passes close to Acadia University; this is an index contour. What is
the elevation represented by this contour line?
Question 10.
Find the area southwest of Acadia that is labeled Wolfville Ridge. On one side of the ridge the
contours are much more closer together than the other side. Which side of the ridge do you think is
steeper, the north or the south?
Question 11.
There are a number of streams that drain the South Mountain. Look to the southeast of Acadia and
find the one named Duncanson Brook. Observe the way the contours are drawn as they cross the
streams. Draw an arrow on your print copy of the map indicating the direction the water is flowing. In
which direction do you think the water flows in these steams? (use directions like south, east,
southeast)
Question 12.
Look to the south again and find an area labelled Gaspereau Mountain. Place an X on your printed
map where you think the highest elevation is at this location. What is the elevation in metres?
NAME:
STUDENT NUMBER:
NAME:
STUDENT NUMBER:
Exercise E Contouring Base Map
In this section of the assignment you are going to construct a contour map. The base map you will
be using has a number of points with elevations, a stream (in blue) and one contour line at 20
metres elevation.
Using the information on the previous page try constructing the remaining contours on the map.
[Hint: the contour interval will be 5 metres]
Then answer the questions at the bottom of the page.
29
24
25
31
A
24
str
31
25
eam
28
B
37
C
34
20
24
34
29
16
18
9
27
20
N
14
23
1000 metres
Question 13.
What is the elevation at the point labelled C?
Question 14.
In what direction is the stream flowing?
north – south – east – west
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