Classwork Series and Exercises {Geography – SS2}: Contour Representation of Landforms

Geography, SS 2, Week 2

Topic: Contour Representation of Landforms

The following are some common landforms or relief features that can be represented on map by using contour lines.

1. Valleys: are lowland between two highlands. Valleys are represented by V- shaped contour lines with the apex of the V- shape pointing towards the highland. When a valley contains water, it is called a river valley but when it contains no water, it is called a dry valley
2. Spur: are projection of highlands into low ground. That is the V-shape points to the lowland spurs separate one valley from another and the contour numbering decreases outward.
3. Conical Hill: are usually circular in shape and become smaller and smaller towards the centre
4. Round top: hill are contours showing round top hills that are circular but do not taper to a points. The inner most circle of contour is fairly large
5. Isolated Hill: is a hill which stands apart or is far removed from other hills or highlands. It may either be round or conical in shape
6. Knoll: is an isolated peak of few metres high, associated with a highland.
7. Ridge: is a strip of highland which is elongated and narrow. The contour run almost parallel to each other
8. Col or Saddle: is a stretch of lowland which separates two highland areas on a ridge, two peaks are usually separated by a col. There is no much difference between a cola and a saddle. The only difference is that the saddle is wider than the col
9. Pass or Gap is also a col but is found at lower parts of highland. A pass separates two highlands but at lower level. A pass is always a col, but a col is not always a pass. A col becomes a pass when it is used or likely to be used as a route way, eiher for footpath, road or railway
10. Plateau is an extensive and broad highland area with a comparatively level surface. Plateaux usually have steep sides, if a plateau is cut off by a number of river valleys, most of the original level surface is removed by erosion, leaving behind flat top peaks. Such plateau is dissected plateau
11. Escarpment/ Cuesta: Escarpment refers to steep slope or the precipitous face of a ridge. The contour lines are closely packed,
12. Cuesta refers to a hill with a steep slope(dip) on one side and a gentle slope (scarp) on the other. Therefore dip + scarp = Cuesta
13. George: It is a steep sided valley with a river or stream.
14. Watershed: It is a highlands area which separates the headstream of rivers flowing in different directions but rising from the same mountainous source
15. Undulating Lowland: It gently rises and falls with low level is usually shown by irregular and well spaced contours
16. Flood Plain: It is a low land, bordering a river, formed by deposits of sediments carried down by a river. It is generally referred to as area liable to flooding; it is very good for the cultivation of swamp rice.

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