ANSWERS TO TOPOGRAPHIC MAP EXERCISES 

 FAIRFAX

  1. Approximately 5 ¼ miles.
  2. Roughly 45%-55% forest; 20%-25% cleared land; 30%-35% urbanized.
  3. Urban areas have not quite doubled (about 80% growth).
  4. There are about 56 houses; 17 built after 1966; 39 built before 1966.
  5. (1) Starting downhill at 276 feet, (2) you travel uphill to 341; (3) uphill to 354; (4) uphill to 390; (5) downhill to 353; (6) downhill to 324.
  6. Camping, golfing, picnicing.
  7. Southern Railroad.
  8. Electric transmission lines.
  9. Clockwise starting from the northwest the eight maps adjoining the Fairfax quadrangle are Herndon; Vienna; Falls Church; Annadale; Fort Belvoir; Occoquan; Independent Hill; Manassas.
  10. Fair Oaks Mall (Note: this name is not given on the topographic map; however the instructor is encouraged to ask such questions on the map of your own local area.)

 

HOPEWELL

  1. James and Appomattox Rivers.
  2. James River “Old Channel”; Jones Neck Cutoff; Turkey Island Cutoff.
  3. Sand and gravel pits.
  4. Filtration plant; three sewage disposal sites; several industrial waste ponds.
  5. Presquile National Wildlife Refuge.
  6. There are four shipwrecks just east of City Point.
  7. Rivers form boundaries for these political divisions:

Chesterfield County-Prince George County

Colonial Heights City-Chesterfield County

Chesterfield County-Hopewell City

Prince George County-Hopewell City

Chesterfield County-Charles City Council

Henrico County-Chesterfield County

Charles City County-Prince George County

  1. Fort Lee.

 

HOG ISLAND

  1. No, it is now connected by marsh and a causeway to the mainland. It is the Hog Island State Wildlife Management Area.
  2. U.S. Naval Weapons Station and Fort Eustis (both along the eastern edge of the map).
  3. Goose Hill Channel and Tribell Shoal Channel. There is a shipwreck in the “Thorofare” in the James along the western edge of the map.
  4. Williamsburg and Jamestown Island (Colonial National Historic Park).
  5. Surry Nuclear Powerplant cooled by water from the James
  6. 1.75 miles
  7. It is located just south of Williamsburg.
  8. Pipelines.

 

NEW KENT

      1. Yes. It is already happening in Bell Thorofare and Cumberland Thorofare in West Island and in the northern end of Sweet Hall Marsh.
  1. Lilly Point Marsh; Cohoke Marsh; Sweet Hall Marsh; Cousiac Marsh.
  2. Elevation 60 feet.
  3. There are cliffs opposite of the five main meanders.
  4. Pamunkey Indian Reservation.

 

NORFOLK NORTH

  1. About half of the land is in military use.
  2. Golf course, heliport, athletic field, parade ground, naval air station, trailer park, playground, reservoir, staff college.
  3. Fort Wool. It is a historic site. It has very limited access from the highway and no parking facilities.
  4. 27 meters.
  5. Fuel oil storage tanks.
  6. Approximately 23.
  7. Lamberts Point Terminal.
  8. About 120.
  9. Fuel storage tanks; sewage disposal plant; sewer line; coal tipples; pipeline. (Most Elizabeth River pollution is from industrial sites not shown on the map.)
  10. Old Dominion University.

 

BON AIR

  1. Richmond.
  2. Approximately 50%.
  3. Henrico and Chesterfield counties.
  4. Hospital, shopping center, highways, schools, trailer park, church, gravel pit, radio tower.
  5. Islands, rapids, falls, dams.
  6. At the western edge behind the dam the normal pool elevation is 117 feet. At the eastern edge the last contour line crossing the James is 90 feet, so it drops at least 27 feet.
  7. It is by-passing at least three areas of falls and rapids.
  8. University of Richmond. It has added six large buildings and about a dozen smaller ones.
  9. The boundary changed between 1964 and 1987, so Richmond annexed territory and expanded.

 

HORSESHOE MOUNTAIN

  1. It is located in the center of the northern third of the map. It is shaped like a crescent or horseshoe.
  2. Twenty feet. Three Ridges (3970); Cat Rock Mountain (2110); Bolton Mountain (2135); White Mountain (2379); Chimney Rock (3204).
  3. Some marked valley elevations are: 870, 781, 794, 890, 907, 959, 1033, 1128 feet.
  4. These are “clumpy” rounded mountains rather than linear ridges of the Ridge and Valley.
  5. Tye River.
  6. Orchards (mostly apple orchards).
  7. Twelve occupied buildings; eleven abandoned buildings.
  8. Bethlehem Church (southwest corner); Mount Pleasant Church (west center); Zion Hill Church (center). The churches probably draw on fewer than 50-100 homes each for their congregations.
  9. Wills Cove; Fortunes Cove; Stevens Cove; Polly Wright Cove.
  10. Appalachian Trail.
  11. George Washington National Forest.

 

NORTON

  1. A very small city or large town.
  2. The strip-mined areas have more than doubled in size.
  3. Powell River Valley.
  4. All the railroads follow river or creek valleys.
  5. The Powell River follows boundary between the Appalachian Plateau on the north and the Ridge and Valley to the south. The major coal deposits underlie the Plateau.
  6. Glades Wildlife Management Area.
  7. 3439 feet.
  8. Jefferson National Forest.
  9. Roaring Fork.
  10. Beech Hollow; Bentley Hollow; Whiteoak Gap; Sargent Hollow; Benges Gap; Hoot Owl Hollow; Big Stone Gap; Buffalo Gap.
  11. Huff, Gardner, Robinette, Hobbs, Treadway, Wampler, Gibson, Marcum, Egan cemeteries.
  12. About 60 feet deep.
  13. The railroad and four linear streets occupy almost all the flat land of the town. Away from the flat area the streets curve to follow the topography.

 

TOMS BROOK

  1. This phenomenon can be seen on every meander (about 19 in all).
  2. Just to the north of Toms Brook Creek. Southeast of Maurertown, just south of Zion Church.
  3. Interstate 81, U.S. 11, and the Southern Railway.
  4. Just west of Strasburg Junction in the northeast corner of the map; just west of the Toms Brook settlement; one mile north of Round Hill. These are most likely apple orchards.
  5. It is a quarry, most likely extracting limestone from the valley floor.
  6. The contour interval is 20 feet. Round Hill is 1125 feet in elevation. Fetzer is at least 2180 feet.
  7. About 13 intermittent streams.
  8. At least 14 stretches of rapids; the actual number depends on how broadly a student defines a “stretch” of rapids.
  9. There are about six sinkholes, two of which contain water. There is one forty feet deep about two miles south of Mauertown just east of the 788 foot benchmark.

 

Virginia Topographic Map Exercises Index

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