You and your team have been stranded in a remote, but beautiful, desert canyon. In this module, you will begin investigating this canyon and its exquisite geology in order to establish a settlement. You will learn how to locate yourself on a topographic map.
Due to a strange sequence of events, you became stranded in a vast desert near a lone, mountainous region. As you hiked to these mountains, you discovered a special place, which you named Painted Canyon for its brightly colored rocks. This seems like the only possible place in which to build a settlement and survive the desert heat. In order to survive, you need to understand the landscape and its underlying geology so that you will know where to safely build your settlement and where to find natural resources for cement and other essentials.
You sent a reconnaissance team of rock climbers and photographers into the region to collect samples of rocks and minerals they encountered and to take photographs of where they collected the samples. This team also constructed a topographic map, which shows the elevation of the land surface (you’ll learn more about this shortly). You will use this map to locate your samples and plan your settlement.
The photographers used a balloon to take some overview photographs from the air, and also did a clever trick whereby they merged several photographs from a single spot into a 3-dimensional (3D) panorama, where you can swivel and look in any direction. These photographs and panoramas are on the computer.
Goals for This ModuleUnderstand what a topographic map shows (e.g., contours) Know how to recognize features (hills, ridges, valleys, etc.) on a topographic map Be able to construct a topographic profile from a topographic map |
Complete Exercise 1D as described in your lab manual and then complete Assessment 1D on Canvas.
Complete the Module 1 follow-up quiz on Canvas.