How can topographic maps be used

Skip to main content. Search Search. Mapping, Remote Sensing, and Geospatial Data. Within this domain there are two product categories: US Topo maps are the current topographic map series, published as digital documents that can also be printed from to the present. Apply Filter. How do I find, download, or order topographic maps? The best known USGS maps are the ,scale topographic maps, also known as 7.

Download all dates and scales of USGS topographic maps free of charge from the following applications or order paper copies of all TopoView - Click on any of the round map scale indicators on the right side of the map. The National Map Viewer - Click on the How are U. Geological Survey topographic maps named?

A USGS topographic map is usually named for the most prominent feature within the bounds of the map, which is frequently a community. If the community for which the map should be named falls on two or more maps, a directional Do you offer teacher discounts for your maps and other cost products?

To receive any discounts you must first be set up in their system. Please fax your request on school letterhead or on a purchase order to and include your Federal Tax ID number not to be confused with your Federal Tax Exempt Superseded US Topo maps will remain available for download, but will not become part of the Historical Topographic Map Collection , which is scans of USGS topographic quadrangles originally published as paper documents between The first US Topo maps were published in They are updated and superseded every 3 years maps for one There are multiple copies of the same map in your Historical Topographic Map Collection that all have the same date.

Is there a difference between those maps? Yes, these are different maps that typically resulted from revisions and reprints. The differences are often minor. The date used to identify a map can be found in the lower right corner. If there are multiple editions with the same compilation date, look for additional dates in the lower right portion of the map collar that might differentiate How do I get a full-scale plot of a ,scale 7.

There are three ways to get full-scale plots of USGS topographic quadrangle maps, including both Historical Topographic maps produced and US Topo maps produced present. Download the GeoPDF map file and send it to a local printing How current are US Topo maps? US Topo maps are updated on a three-year production cycle maps covering one third of the country are updated each year.

The US Topo production schedule follows the U. This does not include US Topos for Alaska, which are on a different schedule. Historically, USGS topographic maps were made using data from primary sources including direct field observations.

Those maps were compiled, drawn, and edited by hand. By today's standards, those traditional methods are very expensive and time-consuming, and the USGS no longer has funding to make maps that way.

A new USGS topographic map series Filter Total Items: Fishburn, Kristin A. Attribution: National Geospatial Program. View Citation. Fishburn, K.

It is important to remember that the local geology plays an important part in fossil occurrence. Fossiliferous strata is not always present at shallow enough depth to be intersected by surface features. There are, for instance, many areas in Florida with incised streams, roadcuts, canals, and karst features which do not cut into fossiliferous sediments.

This is true for most of Florida. Successful fossil site locating requires combining a knowledge of local stratigraphy with the shape of the land surface.

The ideal method would entail using a geological map to locate areas with known shallow fossiliferous strata, then overlaying the corresponding topographic maps to locate potential hunting sites. Many public and university libraries statewide have original topographic maps available as reference materials. Digital topographic maps are fast replacing hard-copy printed versions, but some retailers may still carry an inventory of the printed paper quadrangle maps.

Maps for your particular area may be available at local sporting good stores, engineering or survey equipment stores, some marinas, and outdoors or trail shops. Click here for a an online map locator with download links. Information on pricing and ordering paper maps is also available from the U. Geological Survey at:. Newer digital topographic quadrangles may be downloaded from the U.

Geological Survey here. Useful Tools for the Florida Fossil Hunter Maps are important tools to anyone working in the field, especially in unfamiliar terrain. Contour lines on topographic maps communicate details about the actual land surface through their shape and spacing: Contour lines appear closely packed together on the steep bluffs or cliffs.

In the flat or gently-regions, they are widely-spaced. This is because on steep slopes elevation increases occur with greater frequency per unit of horizontal map distance and thus appear closer together. Contour lines do not intersect, cross, or branch. They may touch or coincide only on very steep slopes and this is commonly due to the thickness of the printed contour lines — only on vertical slopes would the lines truly coincide. The contour interval is constant on any map. An alternative and potentially interesting explanation is suggested by the finding of Experiment 2, that pointing and tracing gestures can support learning about three-dimensional shape when combined with a linguistic emphasis on shape.

While the three-dimensional gestures and models were intended to encode three-dimensional spatial relations spatially, the gesture representation may have conveyed information that was too specific.

For example, students may have interpreted the information conveyed literally rather than symbolically e. In contrast, pointing to the topographical map pattern and emphasizing to novices the shape of the lines in language may have allowed understanding because the abstract spatial relations encoded in language may have provided novices with a strategy to interpret the contour lines spatially.

Understanding the interplay between gesture and language will be important for supporting learning in the classroom especially because field experts use both pointing and three-dimensional gestures in addition to speech when teaching complex spatial concepts. Overall, Experiment 2 showed that specific verbal instructions, at least when paired with helpful gestures, facilitated specific skills: interpreting the meaning of contour lines in terms of elevation, or thinking about the shape of the represented terrain.

Goldin-Meadow and colleagues have noted that a true understanding of the processing of information conveyed through both speech and gesture requires an understanding of the integration of both modalities e. Here, we have shown that pointing and tracing gestures effectively highlight relevant and meaningful symbolic and spatial information, and that language can provide a framework for the kind of information that is learned.

This finding suggests that, early in learning, gestures that guide attention to complex spatial information combined with conceptually focused speech are more helpful than gestures that refine spatial concepts. In addition to topographic maps, there are a variety of diagrams that employ contour lines to represent continuous information both continuously and discontinuously e. An important future direction for research would be to examine how students learn to understand different kinds of isograms, and how experience with the diagrams in the form of speech and gestures influences learning.

Beyond topographic maps specifically, and isograms more generally, conceptually focused speech and highlighting gestures might be useful to teach disciplinary diagrams across the STEM disciplines.

As contour lines are employed to represent a wide range of content, such as three-dimensional mathematical functions and chemical state-change boundaries, it is critical to understand how these educational tools can be applied to potentially increase the effectiveness and efficiency of diagram education.

Furthermore, focused conceptual information in the accompanying speech can help the learner understand how to use the pertinent information. Here, instead of altering the diagram, we employ two tools that are regularly used in everyday conversation and while solving complex spatial problems, speech and gestures, to help students understand topographic maps.

As diagram interpretation is a critical skill in many STEM disciplines, understanding how these tools can be effectively used to teach them may have broader implications for learning in STEM classrooms. Alibali, M. Gesture in spatial cognition: expressing, thinking, and communicating about spatial information. Spatial Cognition and Computation, 5 , — Article Google Scholar. Alles, M. Developing a process model for visual penetrative ability. Stokes Eds.

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Toronto: CA. Download references. We would like to thank Carol Ormand, Basil Tikoff, Alexandra Davatzes, and Kim Kastens for providing feedback and sharing their geoscience expertise over the course of this study. KA led the conception, design, and data collection for Experiment 1 and conducted the statistical analyses for Experiment 1.

She also helped conceive and design Experiment 2, and drafted the manuscript. SW led the conception, design, and data collection for Experiment 2 and conducted the statistical analyses for Experiment 2. He also participated in drafting the manuscript. NN and TS both participated in the conception and design of both Experiment 1 and 2 and helped draft the manuscript.