Map Reading and Interpretation Questions and Answers

Answer: C

Ten kilometres gives two hours and 600 metres of ascent adds two half-hours, making three hours in all. The rule takes no account of the ground underfoot or of the walker's fitness, so rough terrain and heavy loads both need a further allowance on top.

Answer: D

Correct answer: dendritic

A dendritic pattern branches like a tree, with tributaries joining at acute angles pointing downstream. It forms where the underlying rock is uniform and offers no preferred direction, so the streams simply follow the regional slope - which makes the pattern itself evidence about the geology.

Answer: A

Correct answer: alternating bands of hard and soft rock

Streams erode the soft bands into strike valleys and run along them, joining the main stream at right angles where it cuts across the harder ridges. The rectangular pattern therefore records the structure beneath, and it is characteristic of dipping sedimentary rocks of alternating resistance.

Answer: B

A volcanic cone or a dome produces it, since every stream simply runs down the outside of the same landform. The centripetal pattern is its exact opposite, with streams converging inward into a closed basin rather than spreading outward from a summit.

Answer: C

Correct answer: False

Centripetal means flowing inward towards a centre, as into a basin or a crater lake. The outward-flowing pattern is radial, characteristic of a dome or a volcanic cone. The two are mirror images, and the names describe the direction of flow rather than the shape alone.

Answer: D

Clustering usually reflects a shared resource such as a well or a defensible site. A dispersed pattern of isolated farms suggests instead that water and workable land were available widely across the whole area, removing the reason to gather.

Answer: A

Correct answer: linear

A linear settlement follows a line on the ground - a road, a river terrace, a valley floor, a coastal strip - because that is where the flat land, the access or the water lies. The shape on the map is therefore evidence about what constrained the site.

Answer: B

Both are true and the reason gives the logic: nucleation is commonly a response to a scarce shared resource, so its absence is evidence that the resource was not scarce. Other causes exist, so the inference is suggestive rather than conclusive.

Answer: C

Correct answer: villages in a row along the foot of a scarp

Where a permeable stratum overlies an impermeable one, water emerges as springs along the junction, and settlements grew at those springs before piped supply existed. A row of villages at one level along a scarp is therefore a strong indication of the geology beneath.

Answer: D

Correct answer: bridging point settlement

A crossing place concentrates routes: everyone travelling that way must pass through, which brings trade and makes the site worth defending. Many towns are at the lowest bridging point of a river, where the crossing is easiest and navigation from the sea ends - two advantages at once.