Study sheet for Geography:

Contour lines join points of equal height and they never cross each other. Heights are measured relative to sea level. paler colour contour lines are all 10m Darker colour contour lines are all 50m apart. Darker contour lines have the height indicated on them.

Steep Ground:
Contour Lines close together In this section of map, note how close together the contour lines are on the outlined area of Scarr Mountain. This means that the ground here is steep.

Gradual Ground:
Wider spaced contour lines to indicate less steep ground In this example the contour lines in the highlighted area are further apart. This means that the ground is less steep. Can you spot other less steep areas on the rest of the map?

Cliffs
How a cliff is shown on a map Contour lines which are very close together indicate that there is a very steep section such as a cliff in that area

Shading
The higher the ground rises, the darker the colour gets. The green colour is very low ground, next is pale yellow, and then there are roughly three shades of brown. The darker the brown, the higher the ground above sea level.

Spot Height

On the top of hills you will see a dot and a number written beside it. The dot will be inside a small enclosed contour line. The number written beside it tells us the height above sea level.

Trig Points

Trig points or Triangulation Pillars are another way of spotting the top of a mountain on a map. The symbol for a trig point is a small triangle.

Valleys

Valleys will have steep ground on either side Often have a river running through them.

Ridges
A ridge is a line of high ground, with the land dropping away on either side. Ridges are common between two hilltops, such as between Kanturk and Scarr. The low point on a ridge is called a 'col' or 'saddle'.

Spurs

A spur is a long, gently-sloping 'tongue' of ground that runs down from a hill to lower ground. Spurs often provide access to and from the high ground, for walkers, for roads, etc. They look like long, narrow tongues of contour lines, dropping away from a mountain top or a ridge. Usually its sides will be quite steep, but its top will slope gently downwards.