RELIEF AND HUMAN
LANDSCAPE
INTERPRETATION
Understanding contours and its
resulting landforms
Human landscape
Relief Interpretation
 Use of contours



Line on a map which joins all points having
the same height above and below sea
level
Present shape, height and slope of an area
Vertical difference in height between two
adjacent contours – vertical interval (VI)
Types of slopes and their
contour arrangements
 Steep

Contours close together
 Gentle

Contours widely spaced
 Concave

Contours become closer as height
increases
 Convex
 Contours become farther apart as height
increases
 Uniform

Spaces between contours remain the
same
 Stepped

Wide contour spacing alternates with
narrow contour spacing
 Flat

No contours
Note that the
spacing of
contour lines
are far apart
Note that the
contours are
spaced
closely to
each other
Note that contour
lines are closer at
the top and gets
wider as they
move to lowland
Note that
contours are far
apart at the top
but get closer at
they move to the
lowland region
Some common relief features
that you need to know …
 Lowlands
 Ridge
 Highlands
 Plateau
 Hill
 Floodplain
 Mountain
 Escarpment
 Valley
 Spur
An example of a Cambodian lowland – note the
gentle and relatively flat surface …
The Cammaroon Highlands in Bhutan – note the
mountainous region with generally steep slopes
Note that the arrangement of contour lines are circular
and is less than 600m
Silbury Hill in
Wiltshire, England –
note that it is less
than 600m in height
The mountain
contours is similar
to hill, except that
the values are
above 600m – in
this example, the
contour is as high
as 12000m
Cradle Mountain in Tasmania,
Australia which is about 1500m
above sea level
Note the arrangement of
contour lines - arrowheads
The Tibet Valley which is also
a river valley
Note the narrow
and elongated
alignment of the
contour
arrangement
The Big Beacon Ridge in
Utah, USA, taken from
the air.
Note the
flat top
(absence
of contour
lines and
the steep
sides
The Colorado Plateau in USA – note the steep
sides and the flat top
Note that the
contours of a
floodplain needs to
have a river running
through it. Usually
the contour value on
each side of the
river is the same
A floodplain along a river in Sussex, England
Note the
difference in
contour
arrangement
on each side
of the
landform
The Pak Sin Leng escarpment in Hong Kong –
note the steepness of the slope on one side ,
while the other side is generally gentle sloping
Note the alternate
arrowheads in the
arrangement of contour
lines, resulting in the
landform interlocking
with each other
Interlocking spurs at North Dorset, England
For relief related questions …
Refer to
given
handout :
Map
Reading
Skills II
 Determine highland / lowland ; flat /
mountainous – must state evidence
based on contour values and spacing
 Identify any specific high points in the
given area using relief symbols e.g. spot
height, benchmark, trigonometrical
station
 Identify any relief features based on
contour arrangment e.g. hill, valley
Example 6.1 (pg 31)
Describe the relief of the area bounded
by eastings 82 and 87, and northings 81
and 86 on Map 9 : Tamarin
Important : In answering map reading
questions, map evidence is required to
support what you have described.
Knowledge of grid references is very
crucial
Human Landscape
Interpretation
 Human environment



a natural environment that has been
changed by human activities
a result of interaction between humans and
the natural environment
components include agriculture, industry,
settlement and communications
Agriculture
 Cultivated areas influenced by



soil fertility
relief
nearness to water supply
 Two main types


Subsistence – small scale cultivation
Plantation – large scale cultivation
 Generally map shows plantation of a
single crop
Tea
plantation
commonly
found on
higher
grounds
Sugar plantation in Hawaii
Subsistence
farming in
Bamboo village
in China
Industry
 Three types of industries



Primary e.g. mining
Secondary e.g. factories processing raw
materials to finished products
Tertiary e.g. services such as tourism
Mining
activity is a
common
resource
extraction
industry
How a quarry looks like – another
example of a primary industry
An oil refinery, an example of a
secondary industry
Factories in rural areas. Note that in
topographic maps, there must be words
such as “factory” or “mills” as evidence to
show the existence of a secondary industry
Hotels are
seen as
evidence to
show the
presence of
tertiary
industry tourism
Presence of a golf course in the area
shows the emphasis on recreation,
another form of a tertiary industry
Settlement and communication
 Settlement



Function of the town – residential,
commercial, educational, industrial
Patterns – linear, clustered, dispersed
Can be linked to communication and
transportation network
 Presence
of good transportation network
promotes accessibility which also influences
growth of towns
A commercial town – New York City, USA
A residential town – Pasir Ris, Singapore
Cambridge, a university town in England
Blairsville, a
small industrial
town in
Pennsylvania,
USA
Settlement patterns
 Linear

Arranged in a line along roads / a river
 Clustered

Arranged close to each other ; highly
concentrated
 Dispersed

Arranged far away from each other
Note that an area can have more than
one pattern, hence it is important to
identify the pattern and use references
as evidence to support it
Note that houses are very far apart – a very common sight where there is abundant
land supply and the main economic activity is agriculture
Note that the house is the only building in the area surrounded by large areas of
vineyards on the highlands e.g. vineyards near Greve, Tuscany in Italy
Road
Note that the houses are arranged along the road. This is usually to ensure greater
accessibility (ease of movement from one place to another)
Settlements can also be found along the river e.g. photograph shows a
village that is found along Nile River
Note that the buildings are found close to each other. This is a common sight in
main city areas where land is in high demand and limited. High concentration can
also be found at the intersection of road junctions.
Note that the aerial view of New York City shows the high concentration
of buildings to maximise the use of land
Settlement, communication
and relief
 There is usually a direct relationship
between settlement and communication
as most settlements tend to be
concentrated around lines of
communication (transportation network)
 Settlement can also be influenced by
relief

Houses are usually built on flat land
A common sight as one travels
along a highway. A good transport
network connects one area / town
to another
Note how each town is
connected to another by
a comprehensive
transportation network
Note that the houses are
concentrated at the foot of the
mountain and not on the mountain
itself as it is easier to built
Although settlements are influenced by
relief of the area, why are houses built on
this mountain ?
To describe the human landscape
on a topographic map …
 Describe the settlement on the map

Pattern, location, distribution (in relation to
relief)
 Describe the human activities

Types of industry
 Describe patterns of communications in
relation to relief and settlement
Example 12.1 (pg 82)
Describe the human landscape shown in
Map 8 : Tanga
Important : In answering map reading
questions, map evidence is required to
support what you have described.
Knowledge of grid references is very
crucial
Map Reading Test (Wed, 28/1)
 Topics to study


Basic Map Reading Techniques (grid
reference, direction, bearing, distance,
average gradient)
Relief and Human Landscape
Interpretation
 On-line Revision

ASKNLearn portal  Key in your password
and Userid  Homepage  Geography O
Level  Launch!  Theme : Can You Find
Me ?  Map Reading