1. Easy to be drawn and comprehended.
2. Less expensive.
3. Meaningful.
4. Symbols, colours and letterings are used to depict various features and phenomena.
1. Red colour - For buildings and roads.
2. Yeliow colour - For cultivated area.
3. Green colour - For forests.
4. Blue colour - For water bodies.
5. Black colour - For lettering boundaries and railways.
6. Brown colour - For contours.
7. Grey colour - For hill-shading.
Contours
a. The number of sheet and name of the region.
b. Extent of the region in longitudes and latitudes,
c. Directions,
d. The contour interval.
e. Key.
Kinds of Conventional Signs. These are two types :
(i) Natural signs
(ii) Cultural signs.
(i) Natural signs : These signs are used for depicting the physical features of the earth's surface such as relief, vegetation and drainage etc.
(ii) Cultural signs : These signs are meant for showing man-made things on the map, such as railways, roads and human settlement etc.
Use of Conventional Signs: It is essential for a geographer or a map reader to make himself familiar with the conventional signs. He can read almost every map easily. He can read even those maps which are in foreign languages since these symbols are universally accepted. Different colours are used for showing different objects in the conventional signs such as water is shown by blue colour, vegetation by green and man-made objects by black colour.
Form Lines : These are broken lines. This method is used in association with contours to show the hilly or mountainous country. They are drawn without any precise measure units. They indicate the minor details which are not shown by contours.
(i) First of all mark heights of various points on the map. It is worth remembering that large the number of points, better will be the interpolation.
(ii) Note the points having maximum and minimum heights. The difference between maximum and minimum heights is known as range of elevation.
1. Marginal Information :
2. Relief features
(а) Drainage pattern
(b) Natural vegetation
3. Cultural features :
(a) Land use and occupation
(b) Means of transport and communication
(c) Human settlements.
1. Marginal Information : The informations which are printed on the margins of the toposheets are called Marginal Information or Primary Information. These informations include :
(i) The number of sheet and name of the region.
(ii) Extent of the region in latitudes and longitudes.
(iii) Directions.
(iv) The contour interval.
(v) The key.
2. Relief Features : To study the relief features of the given toposheet, we should take an eye survey of the entire area and make the various physical features depicted on the toposheet are to be pointed out. The gap between is to be marked and average heights are to be measured.
(a) Drainage Pattern : To study the drainage pattern of the toposheet, the major rivers and their tributaries are to be noted. Their catchment area to be marked. U-shaped and V-shaped valleys are to be identified. Slopes of the region are to be marked.
(b) Natural Vegetation : With the careful study of the given toposheet, determine the types of forests and trees and mention whether they are evergreen, deciduous, broad leave or coniferous. The distribution pattern of natural vegetation is also to be noted. It will help to understand the co-relation between climate and vegetation. It will also determine the types of climate found in the given region.
3. Cultural Features : These features include the study of land use and occupation, transport and communication and human settlements.
(a) Land use and occupation : Although, the land use and occupation are not depicted on the toposheet, yet they can easily be deducted from the study of physical features depicted on the toposheet. A hilly region, a plateau, and a plain are naturally have a different forms of land use. A forest land invites the development of forest-based economic activities. Animal herding or dairy farming is the main occupation of grasslands. The quarries and mines depicted on the toposheet point towards the growth of mining occupation.
(b) Means of transport and communication : These can be easily studied with the help of the conventional symbols or the key of the toposheet. Hence, you are to point out the different means of transport and communication by which the area of topo sheet is served. The co-relation between the topographic features and the main lines of communication is to be noted. The means of transport and communication indicate the industrial development and prosperity of the people.
(c) Human settlements : The study of human settlements through light on the land use and occupation of the people is done. The urban centres are to be noted. What are their size and for what are they famous. Also find out the factors favourable for their growth.
As concern the rural settlements, you have to note the distribution pattern of human settlements. They may be circular or scattered.
The next information will be derived about human settlements. This information will indicate the occupation, the land use etc., we will come to know that how many urban centres and industrial centres are there? How dense are the rural settlements? Are they uniformly distributed ? Nucleated settlements with uniform
distribution occur in relatively flat alluvial plains as in Uttar Pradesh. Along the coastal plains in Kerala we find linear pattern of settlements following old sand dense parallel to the coast.
Draw the contours with a cross-section of the following :
1. Convex slope: In this relief feature, the contours are closed at the foot and apart towards the top of the slope.
2. Plateau: It is an elevated land on a nearly level surface having steep sides. Contours showing a plateau are mostly concentrated on its sides and its central part is almost without contours.
Study the contour pattern and answer the following questions :
1. Name the geographical feature formed by contours.
2. Find out the contour interval on the map.
3. Find out the map distance between E and F and convert it into the ground distance.
4. Name the type of slope between A and B; C and D and E and F.
5. Find out the direction of E, D and F from G.
Study the extract from the topographical sheet No. 63K/12, as shown in the figure below and answer the following questions :
Study the extract for topographical sheet 63K/12 shown in the figure below and answer the following questions :
Draw contours to show the following relief features :
1. Convex slope
2. Gentle slope
3. Conical hill
4. Plateau
5. V-shaped valle
6. Waterfall.
1. Convex slope :
2. Gentle slope :
3. Conical hill :
4. Plateau :
5. V-shaped valle :
6. Waterfall :
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