A 60 SECOND GUIDE TO . . .
Relief
Definition
The relief of a place refers to the shape of the land there, such as the gradient of a hillside or the depth of a valley.
Contour Lines
Layer Shading and Spot
Heights
Contour lines are lines on a
map that join places of the
same height above sea level (in
metres). On Ordnance Survey
maps they are coloured brown.
Height on some maps is also
represented by different colours,
with the darkest shade indicating
the highest land.
Contour lines can help tell
readers the rough height of any
point on the map. For example,
point A on the map, right, is
likely to be at a height of
around 22m above sea level.
Spot heights are single spots on
Ordnance Survey maps with the
exact height marked next to them.
They are almost always found at
the highest point in the immediate
vicinity.
Identifying features using contour lines
Contour lines also indicate the shape of the land. The closer the contour lines are together, the steeper the land will be
in real life. The reader can also look at the way contour lines are arranged to work out what the feature will look like if
one were to create a cross section through the area.
X
Cross section (x - - - y)
Y
40 30
Y
Valley
40
50
X
10
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20
30
40
Y
20 0
1
10 0
2
30
50
X
Photograph
X
Y
X
Y
60
Y
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Escarpment
X
Hollow
Contour lines