Talk:Contour line

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Can contour lines ever cross each other? Explain your answer

Yes, at a saddle point. Charles Matthews 08:26, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Also at a shear cliff the lines will lie on top of each other. You can have the contours cross completely for multivalued functions. The geographic equivilent would be an large overhanging piece of rock. The contour corrisponding to the altitude that is the top surface of the rock (or a fraction below it in fact) would follow the edge of the overhang. The contour for the altitude just above the ground beneath the overhang would go right up to the cliff wall, intersecting the higher one. This would create a zone (for example) that belonged to both "Above 100m" and "Below 50m" simultaneously, which is of course possible if the ground is at 45m and with an overhang at 105m.

[edit] question

How did early map makers estimate contour lines? or put another way, how did they know their level according to sea level? i understand the use of altimeters, but not the practise.

[edit] merger

ok to merge isoline into contour line...no real diff Anlace 14:20, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

isoline/contour line, very much the same thing, merge is good idea User:LordHarris 22 June 2006

merger completed ...no content was lost Anlace 08:20, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Contour map should redirect here, not to topo map

just look how many different applications are served here. that redirect seems appropriate to arrive at this article.Covalent 23:39, 17 September 2006 (UTC)