TOPOGRAPHIC PROFILES Nick DAnna HHS 2007 Adapted from R. DeMarco
Slide 2 TOPOGRAPHIC PROFILES TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS SHOW THE ELEVATION OR
VERTICAL DISTANCE ABOVE SEA LEVEL OF THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH
TOPOGRAPHIC PROFILE IS A SIDE VIEW OF AN AREA. Slide 3 Slide 4
Slide 5 So, if we were to look at a profile view of line AB on our
topographic map, what might we expect to see? Predictions? Time to
FIND OUT! Step 2 Slide 6 Slide 7 Slide 8 Slide 9 Slide 10 Slide 11
Slide 12 Make the X-axis exactly as long as line AB. Slide 13 Next,
decide what the HIGHEST and LOWEST elevation values are that line
AB crosses on your topographic map and create a scale. You may wish
to increase your scale by the contour interval on the map to make
things easier. In this case, we are going up by 10s, because our
contour interval on the map is 10 meters. Slide 14 Slide 15 Hold
your scrap paper page up to the profile. Slide 16 Transfer the tick
marks directly onto the profile. Slide 17 Slide 18 Slide 19 Slide
20 Slide 21 Slide 22 This is what you might expect the profile or
cross section view of line AB to look like! Notice how the line
dips below 250m where it crosses Long Creek Slide 23 Does it make
sense? SURE! There is a creek flowing through this region. Think
about where it would flow on your profile. We also recognize the V
shaped contour lines that indicate the direction of water flow.
Slide 24 The contour lines point up the page (orange), but Long
Creek flows down the page. Slide 25 Contour lines point upstream.
Stream flows from high elevation to low elevation. So a stream
flows in the oppostite direction the contours point. Slide 26
CONTOUR LINES BEND WHEN CROSS STREAMS UPSIDE DOWN VS POINT UPSTREAM
STREAMS FLOW DOWN Slide 27 On-line Profile Practice
http://www.tasagraphicarts.com/activities/profile.html Slide 28 A F
c D E B
