Conical hill
Topic: Topographical Maps: Relief Representation and Interpretation · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 5 "Topographical Maps"
Meaning
A conical hill rises evenly on all sides to a narrow top, like an upside-down ice-cream cone. On a topographical map, it shows as nearly circular contours, one inside another, evenly spaced. The highest value is at the centre. Even spacing tells you that the slope is about the same all the way up. Such hills are often volcanic cones or leftover hills of hard rock.
Example
Barren Island in the Andaman Sea is India's only active volcano. It rises as a cone-shaped hill from the sea. On a map, it would show as rings of contours growing higher towards the crater area at the centre.
Don't confuse with
- Plateau: its contours are crowded at the edges, and the innermost contour encloses a wide flat area. A conical hill's contours are evenly spaced and close in to a narrow top.
- Depression: this also shows as closed contours, but their values fall towards the centre. They are often marked with small ticks.