Step 10 | Click its eye icon to turn off the USA Topo Maps layer.

Step 11 | Click the Bookmarks button. Choose Half Dome and find two index contours close together with clearly marked elevations.

Every 5th contour line is an index contour. Depending on how far in or out you are zoomed, you may find every tenth contour to be an index contour.

Question | What is the elevation atop Half Dome?

Question

Step 10 | Click its eye icon to turn off the USA Topo Maps layer.

Step 11 | Click the Bookmarks button. Choose Half Dome and find two index contours close together with clearly marked elevations.

Every 5th contour line is an index contour. Depending on how far in or out you are zoomed, you may find every tenth contour to be an index contour.

Question | What is the elevation atop Half Dome?

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

First, we restate the task: you’re looking for the elevation atop Half Dome as indicated on the USGS topographic map view described in Steps 10–11.
Option 1: 10,000 feet. This is significantly higher than the commonly cited elevation for Half Dome in Yosemite; most elevations for the dome peak don’t reach 10,000, so this value seems implausible given the surrounding contour spacing that would have required a higher summit mark.
Option 2: 5,500 feet. This is clearly too low for a summit in the Yosemite area where major landmarks rise well above 6,000 feet. If you see two index contours close together with elevations near that range, you wouldn’t expect the pinnacle to fall as low as 5,500 feet in this locale.
Option 3: 8,800 feet. This aligns with widely referenced elevations for Half Dome’s summit. On many USGS maps, index contours marked every few hundred feet help you read the precise peak elevation, and 8,800 feet sits within a plausible rounded figure for the top of the dome. Since every 5th contour line is an index contour, and the elevation labeling convention often rounds to the nearest hundred, 8,800 feet is a reasonable topmost value to record.
Now, evaluating the underlying map cues: when you zoom in to find two index contours close together with clearly marked elevations near the summit, those index contours typically indicate where the highest point sits. If the map’s index contour and surrounding lines converge near the dome’s apex and show a label around the 8,800 range, that supports this figure as the summit elevation.
Additionally, consider common rounding practices: map elevations are often shown to the nearest 100 feet. A precise peak of 8,844 feet would commonly be represented as 8,800 feet in many generalized map presentations, which makes 8,800 feet a reasonable summarized value for the question’s context.
In summary, option 1 (10,000 feet) and option 2 (5,500 feet) conflict with typical Yosemite summit elevations and would require unusual contour configurations. Option 3 (8,800 feet) coherently matches known summit elevations when read with contour conventions and the described index contour pattern, making it the most credible choice given the scenario.

GEOG-1300-501-Spring 2025 1.1 Assignment | Topography

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