Reading Topographic Maps

• Red - Roads and Built-up areas
• Green - Vegetation
• Blue - Water
• Brown - Contours
• Black - Man Made Features

Marginal Information

Around the margin of the map, information is printed which is needed to use the map. This information may differ slightly in detail and position from map to map.

Title Information

Shown at top of map and consists of type of map and country scale.

North Point Diagram

This is a diagram showing the direction of the true north, grid and magnetic north for a particular year. The annual change in magnetic is also given. (Not to scale)

Scale and Contour Information

Consists of both a representative fraction e.g. 1:25000 and graphic scale. Below the scale is the contour interval.

Legend

The legend contains the colours and symbols which make the detail on the map easy to read. These symbols are conventional signs and are purely representative and not to scale.

• Brown - Landforms (contours and sand)
• Blue -Water (rivers, lakes and swamps)
• Green -Vegetation (orchards and mangrove swamps)
• Red - Roads and built-up areas
• Black - Artificial features (railways and buildings)
• Purple

Watercourse Guide

These symbols indicate whether a water course is perennial, intermittent or mainly dry.

Mean Rainfall/Temperature

Two graphs showing the information from the Bureau of Meteorology. The values are extracted from the station closest in climate conditions to the map area.

Index to Adjoining Maps

Located either on the cover or in the marginal information. This shows the relationship between this map and the eight maps which surround it.

--Rod Shepherd