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Quiz yourself on Map and Spatial SkillsGet your flashcardsBuild my revision planTrack my progress⛰️ Contour Lines and Relief: Reading the Shape of the Land
You cannot see hills and valleys in a flat map without some way of encoding height. Contour lines do this by connecting all points of equal height above sea level. On a 1:50,000 map, contours are drawn every 10 m in height. Every fifth contour (every 50 m) is drawn thicker and labelled — this is called an index contour. On a 1:25,000 map, contours are drawn every 5 m, with an index contour every 25 m.
The single most important thing to understand about contour lines is that their spacing tells you the steepness of the slope, not the height of the land. The height is given by the number written on the contour line.
What Contour Patterns Tell You
| Contour Pattern | What It Means | Feature |
|---|---|---|
| Very closely spaced contours | Very steep slope — significant gradient, difficult to cross | Cliff, steep hillside |
| Widely spaced contours | Gentle slope or nearly flat land | Flood plain, valley floor, plateau |
| No contours visible | Flat land (below 5 or 10 m height difference in this area) | Low-lying plains, coastal flat |
| Concentric rings getting smaller | A hill — each inner ring is higher than the outer ring | Hill, summit |
| V-shape pointing uphill (upstream) | A river valley — the V points in the direction of higher ground | River valley, stream channel |
| U-shape or elongated oval | A ridge — high ground extending in one direction | Ridge, spur |
| Contours on both sides, no contours in the middle | A col or saddle — low point between two higher areas | Mountain pass |
Describing Relief in Exam Answers
The command "describe the relief shown" is one of the most commonly asked map questions at GCSE. "Relief" means the shape of the land — its height, slopes, and patterns. Weak answers just say "hilly in the north and flat in the south." Strong answers use specific evidence from the contour pattern.
This gives no contour evidence, no specific heights, no direction — 1 mark maximum.
Uses specific heights and spacing observations — 3–4 marks.
Links contour evidence to specific features, uses precise heights, notes settlement patterns — 5–6 marks.
Calculating Gradient
Gradient tells you exactly how steep a slope is. The formula is: gradient = rise ÷ run, where rise is the difference in height between two points (from contour values) and run is the horizontal distance between them (measured with scale).
Example: Two points are 3 cm apart on a 1:50,000 map (= 1,500 m on the ground). The contour at point A is 100 m and at point B is 200 m — a rise of 100 m. Gradient = 100 ÷ 1,500 = 1:15. This means for every 15 m of horizontal distance, the slope rises 1 m — a moderate gradient suitable for walking.
Quick Check: Two points are 4 cm apart on a 1:50,000 map. The contour at point A reads 150 m and point B reads 250 m. Calculate (a) the real-world horizontal distance and (b) the gradient of the slope.
(a) Distance: 4 cm × 50,000 = 200,000 cm = 2,000 m = 2 km. (b) Rise = 250 m − 150 m = 100 m. Gradient = rise ÷ run = 100 ÷ 2,000 = 1:20. This means the slope rises 1 m for every 20 m of horizontal distance — a fairly gentle gradient. In exam terms: close contour lines (100 m rise over 2 km) indicate a moderate slope — not a cliff but not flat either.
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