Basic Map Reading

Question 1

What does the Sheet Number on a Map tell you?

Answer 1

ID’s which map it is by Number, Match overlays

Question 2

What does Black mean on a Military Map?

Answer 2

Black indicates cultural (man-made) features such as buildings and roads, surveyed spot
elevations, and all labels.

Question 3

What does Red-Brown mean on a Military Map?

Answer 3

The colors red and brown are combined to identify cultural features, all relief
features, non-surveyed spot elevations, and elevation such as contour lines on red-light
readable maps.

Question 4

What does Blue mean on a Military Map?

Answer 4

Blue identifies hydrography or water features such as lakes, swamps, rivers, and drainage.

Question 5

What does Green mean on a Military Map?

Answer 5

Green identifies vegetation with military significance such as woods, orchards,
and vineyards.

Question 6

What does Brown mean on a Military Map?

Answer 6

Brown identifies all relief features and elevation such as contours on older edition maps,
and cultivated land on red-light readable maps.

Question 7

What is the Area of a grid square?

Answer 7

1 square kilometer, 1000m by 1000m

Question 8

What ios the grid reference box on a map?

Answer 8

A grid reference box appears in the marginal information of each map sheet. It
contains step-by-step instructions for using the grid and the U.S. Army military grid reference
system.

Question 9

What is the grahic scale on a map?

Answer 9

A graphic scale is a ruler printed on the map that is used to convert distances on the map to actual
ground distances.

Question 10

A ___________ represents an imaginary line on the ground, above or below sea level.

Answer 10

contour line

Question 11

The Three types of contour lines are

Answer 11

Indez, Intermediate, and Supplementary

Question 12

The contour lines falling between the index contour lines are called ______________ contour lines.

Answer 12

intermediate

Question 13

Starting at zero elevation or mean sea level, every fifth contour line is a heavier line. These
are known as ___________ contour lines. Normally, each index contour line is numbered at some point. This
number is the elevation of that line.

Answer 13

index

Question 14

_________________ lines are normally found where there is very little
change in elevation, such as on fairly level terrain.

Answer 14

Supplementary

Question 15

The ___________________ measurement given in the marginal information is the vertical distance
between adjacent contour lines.

Answer 15

contour interval

Question 16

In addition to the contour lines, ______________ and __________________ are used to indicate points of
known elevations on the map.

Answer 16

bench marks (BMs) , spot elevations

Question 17

________________________ are shown by a brown X and are usually located at road junctions, hilltops, and other
prominent terrain features.

Answer 17

Spot elevations

Question 18

Major terrain features are:

Answer 18

hills, saddles, valleys, ridges, and depressions

Question 19

A ____________ is an area of high ground. From a _______________, the ground slopes ___________ in all directions.

Answer 19

Hill, Hilltop, down

Question 20

A hill is shown on a map by ________________ forming concentric circles.

Answer 20

contour lines

Question 21

A ________________ is a dip or low point between two areas of higher ground.

Answer 21

saddle

Question 22

If you are in a ________________, there is high ground in two opposite directions and lower ground in the other two directions.

Answer 22

saddle

Question 23

A ____________ is a stretched-out groove in the land, usually formed by streams or rivers.

Answer 23

valley

Question 24

If standing in a ________________________, three directions offer high ground, while the fourth direction offers low ground.

Answer 24

valley

Question 25

A _____________ is a sloping line of high ground.

Answer 25

ridge

Question 26

A _________________ is a low point in the ground or a sinkhole. It could be described as an area of low ground
surrounded by higher ground in all directions, or simply a hole in the ground.

Answer 26

depression

Question 27

Minor terrain features include

Answer 27

draws, spurs, and cliffs.

Question 28

A ___________ is a stream course that is less developed than a valley.

Answer 28

draw

Question 29

A _______________ is a short, continuous sloping line of higher ground normally jutting out from the side of a ridge.

Answer 29

spur

Question 30

A _____________ is a vertical or near-vertical feature that is an abrupt change of the land. When a slope is so steep
that the contour lines converge into one “carrying” contour of contours, this last contour line has tick marks
pointing toward low ground.

Answer 30

cliff

Question 31

Supplementary terrain features include

Answer 31

cuts and fills.

Question 32

A __________ is a man-made feature resulting from cutting through raised ground, usually to form a level bed for a road or railroad track.

Answer 32

cut

Question 33

A _____________ is a man-made feature resulting from filling a low area, usually to form a level bed for a road or
railroad track.

Answer 33

fill