STATE

DA VINCI DECATHLON 2022

CELEBRATING THE ACADEMIC GIFTS OF STUDENTS
IN YEARS 7 & 8

CARTOGRAPHY
TEAM NUMBER _____________

1 2 3 4 Total Rank
/16 /14 /43 /40 /113

1
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

INTRODUCTION
PATTERNS IN MAPS AND CARTOGRAPHY
Cartography, is the “art” and “science” of graphically representing a geographical area, usually on a “flat”
surface such as a map or chart. It may involve the superimposition of political, cultural, or other
nongeographical divisions onto the representation of a geographical area.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.(2021) https://www.britannica.com/science/cartography

Irrigated Fields Arizona USA - Planet Labs satellite image. A diagram showing the orbital configuration of an Almaz
Dark green fields stand out against the pale desert floor in radar satellite, a type of Soviet reconnaissance satellite.
Pinal County, Arizona. The region’s farms rely on (Wikimedia Commons)
irrigation, since they receive less than 10 inches of rain a
year. Irrigation water comes from two main sources: the
Colorado River and aquifers. (Wikimedia Commons)

MATERIALS TO BE PROVIDED
• calculator
• ruler
• pencils

2
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

1. HIDDEN PATTERNS IN HISTORY’S MAPS (16 MARKS)

Technology has aided the ability for cartographers to be more accurate with details on the maps and
charts that they have drawn. In the process, many hidden mysteries have been discovered. The use of
aerial photography has discovered such curiosities as the Nazca Lines in south Peru.

(Wikimedia Commons)

They were created between 500 BCE and 500 CE by people making depressions or shallow incisions in
the desert floor, removing pebbles and leaving differently coloured dirt exposed. In the years leading up
to 2020, between 80 and 100 new figures had been found with the use of drones, and archaeologists
believe that there are more to be found.
Most lines run straight across the landscape, but there are also figurative designs of animals and plants.
The individual figurative geoglyph designs measure between 400 and 1,100 metres across, but can only
be recognised from an altitude – standing close to the design, there would be no indication to the viewer
that they stood on the mysterious geoglyph’s. Hence, a mystery to how the creators were able to create
the images shown above, the Monkey, Spider, Hummingbird and many others.
CROPMARKS AND SHADOW MARKS
Cropmarks and Shadow Marks are a means through which sub-surface archaeological, natural and
recent features may be visible from the air or a vantage point on higher ground or a temporary platform.
Such marks, along with parch marks, soil marks and frost marks, can reveal buried archaeological sites
that are not visible from the ground.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Sketched diagram of a negative cropmark above a wall and a positive cropmark above a ditch.
(Wikimedia Commons)

3
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

TIME TEAM
A British television program that originally aired on ‘Channel 4’ from
1994 to 2014, and soon to return, presented by actor Tony
Robinson (right), featured a team of specialists carrying out an
archaeological dig over a period of three days, with Robinson
explaining the process in lay terms.

Series 16, Episode 1, "The Trouble with Temples", the team

found themselves at Friar's Wash, Hertfordshire in Southern
England. Time Team had never found a Roman temple, but a 30-
year-old photograph (below) clearly shows double square
cropmarks in a field. Though initial excavations are encouraging,
with geophysical anomalies including a tessellated pavement and
a coin hoard, a picture gradually emerges of not one but four
temples - in fact a whole complex of buildings. It proves to be one
of the most important excavations in Time Team history.

Discovered because a “Pattern” appeared in an old photograph.

The ground at the dig has been ploughed flat over many years of tilling and cropping – possibly since the
Romans left England. In the photograph, the central paddock has the long wheel marks of the harvester
stretching from the top to the bottom of the paddock, but the temple location can be seen, just slightly to
the right of the center of the photograph as square and rectangular shapes – typical Roman construction.
There are other odd shapes appearing in the crop which could be because of many different structures
or uses of the land.

The following page has a list of structures found at a Roman archaeological site (a – h). Your task is to
describe the impact on crop growth, if these will stunt (negative cropmark), or, encourage (positive cropmark)
crop growth, or have no effect. Then explain your reasons why. (Remember: the final Roman withdrawal
from Britain occurred around 410 CE.)

4
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

(2 marks each)
a) Shallow buried wall:

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

b) Deep buried wall:

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

c) Rubbish pit:

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

d) Pig Sty and Chicken Pen:

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

e) Sanitary channel (toilet waste):

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

f) Roman road:

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

g) Roman fortifications – Ditch, now filled in over time:

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

h) Roman fortifications – Mounded Wall, now flattened over time:

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

From these patterns from the past, historical maps can be draw by cartographers and/or historians,
showing what the world looked like in those ancient times.

5
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

2. LOST CITY OF THONIS-HERAKLEION (14 MARKS)

In 1933, British RAF pilot named Capt. John T Cull from 210 Squadron, was on a reconnaissance mission
flying over Abu Qir Bay, near Alexandria. He sighted archaeological remains covering a large area
underwater at the mouth of the Nile River, known as the Nile Delta. Here are images of the
reconnaissance aircraft (left) that Capt. Cull would have piloted when he made the discovery. On the right
is an image of the northern section of the Nile River and the green triangular shape is the river delta.

a) Geographically, how would you describe or define a ‘river delta’?

(2 marks)
The location of Thonis-Heracleion is marked on the map, below left, and below right, there is a chart of
Abu Qir Bay region.

b) In which country would you find the City of Alexandria and Abu Qir Bay?

__________________(1 mark)
c) Thonis-Heracleion’s location was found on land when it first came into prominence, becoming the major
port in the Mediterranean at about 700 BCE. Its collapse was around 200 CE and final descent under
sea level was about 800 CE. Name two natural causes why a city could collapse below sea level?

____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________ (2 marks)

6
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

d) Name the country that the following River Delta’s are found. (1 mark each)

Name Image Country

The Amazon Delta

Satellite image takes over Amazon

Delta 22 August 2017, (Wiki-Commons)

The Mississippi River

Delta

The Mississippi River Delta, showing the

sediment plumes, 2001. (Wiki-Commons)

The Zambezi Delta

Annotated view of the Zambezi river delta

from space (Wiki Commons)

The Okavango Delta.

(curious landlocked
river delta)

Satellite image of Okavango Delta, with

national borders added (Wiki-Common)

The Indus River

Delta

The Indus River Delta, as seen from

space (Wiki-Common).

7
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

The formation of a river delta is a slow process. As rivers flow toward their outlets from higher
elevations, they deposit mud, silt, sand, and gravel particles at the mouths where rivers and larger,
more sedentary bodies of water meet.
Over time these particles (called sediment or alluvium) build up at the mouth, extending into the ocean
or lake. As these areas continue to grow the water becomes shallower and eventually, landforms begin
to rise above the surface of the water, typically elevating to just above sea level.
The sediment formations and the water course are for-ever-changing.
e) From the images of the various river deltas in the previous question, you can observe how the
shape of a river delta splits from the single river into multiple channels leading out in a fan
shape. These are described as changing and not very stable. Describe two reasons for this
occurring.

(4 marks)

The 1933 pilot Capt. John T Cull’s discovery of patterns in the ocean did not appear natural. Turns out
they were blocks which formed temple buildings, buildings of a city and wharfs of one of the largest
trading ports of its time - an incredible city which has laid, undiscovered for about 2000 years.

8
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

3. MID OCEAN RIDGE SPREADING (43 MARKS)

LINEAR MAGNETIC ANOMALIES - A RECORD OF TECTONIC MOVEMENT
Understanding sea-floor spreading, it was also known from palaeomagnetic studies of volcanic rocks
erupted on land that the Earth's magnetic polarity has reversed numerous times in the geological past.
During such magnetic reversals, the positions of the north and south magnetic poles exchange places.
In the late 1950s, a series of oceanographic expeditions was commissioned to map the magnetic
character of the ocean floor, with the expectation that the ocean floors would display largely uniform
magnetic properties. Surprisingly, results showed that the basaltic sea floor has a striped magnetic
pattern, and that the stripes run essentially parallel to the mid-ocean ridges. Moreover, the stripes on one
side of a mid-ocean ridge are symmetrically matched to others of similar width and polarity on the opposite
side.

Map of symmetrical magnetic anomalies about the Atlantic Ridge.

With an understanding of the theory of Continental Drift, divergent, convergent, and transform plate
boundaries, mid-ocean ridges, subduction, and the role that convection currents in the earth’s mantle
play in causing these phenomena. It seems that the different parts of our planet are moving. This
movement has caused changes in the continents over time and causes major geologic events like
earthquakes and volcanoes. Are the earth’s plates moving quickly or slowly – are our maps and charts
going to be out of date sooner or later?
Problem: How fast is the sea floor spreading? Has the sea floor always moved at the same speed?
Procedures: Scientists have been able to establish the ages of vast areas of rocks on the ocean bottom.
The pattern in the ages of the rocks across the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is used as evidence of sea-floor
spreading. In this activity, you will observe the pattern and learn to calculate the rate of sea floor
spreading. The diagram on the next page represents a section of the ocean floor in the North Atlantic.
The numbers give the ages in millions of years for the rocks on the ocean floor located along the lines.
1. Locate the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and trace it in red.
2. Draw a line on the map from A to B with a ruler. This represents a path across the Atlantic Ocean
from North America to Africa.
3. Use a ruler to measure the distance in cm, to the nearest tenth (0.1), from the mid-ocean ridge to
each of the positions shown where your ruled line (from A to B) crosses the numbered (age)
lines. Put the measurements on the data chart in the column “distance from mid-Atlantic ridge in
cm.”
4. Complete the rest of the data chart by finding the actual distance in kilometers
(1cm=500km). Actual distance (km) = column B (cm) x 500 km/cm.

9
Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

10
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

DATA TABLE:
A B C
Age of Seafloor in (millions Distance from Mid-Atlantic Actual Distance (km)
of years) at position of ruled Ridge (cm) to position of
cm X 500 km/cm
line crossing numbered ruled line crossing
contour line. numbered contour line. Column B X 500 = C

9
38
53
63
81
135
155
(14 marks)

GRAPHING INSTRUCTIONS:
Graph the data in the chart to show the relationship between age (millions of years) and the distance

(km). Use the data in the columns highlighted in grey.

• Label the X axis with age (millions of years).

• Label the Y axis with distance (km).

• Plot the data points and label each with the date

• Connect the data points

• Draw a best fit line

11
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

GRAPH

(10 marks)

12
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS.
a) Use the information on your data chart and the formula below to determine the rate of sea floor
spreading in the past 38 million years:
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎(𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄)
𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹 𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴 (𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄 𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚) =
𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕(𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚)
Distance (from chart) = _______________km (1 mark)
i. Convert this distance into centimetres by multiplying by 100,000. (100,000 cm = 1 kilometre).

Distance = _______________cm (1 mark)

ii. Use the equation above to calculate the rate. Note – add 6 zeros to the number in the year’s

column so that your calculation will produce the centimetres per year.

Show work:

Rate= __________________cm/year (2 marks)

b) Use the information on your data chart and the formula below to determine the rate of sea floor

spreading in the past 135 million years:

𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎(𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄)
𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹 𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴 (𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄 𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚) =
𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕(𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚)
i. Distance (from chart) = _______________km (1 mark)

ii. Convert this distance into centimetres by multiplying by 100,000. (100,000 cm = 1 kilometre).

Distance = _______________cm (1 mark)

iii. Use the equation above to calculate the rate. Note – add 6 zeros to the number in the year’s

column so that your calculation will produce the centimetres per year.

Show work:

Rate= __________________cm/year (2 marks)

13
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

c) Based on your calculations and looking at the graph, has the rate (speed) of sea floor

spreading been the same over the past 135 million years? Explain.

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________ (4 marks)

d) Describe the pattern in the ages of rocks on the seafloor.

i. Where are the oldest rocks found?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________ (1 mark)

ii. What part of the ocean floor has the youngest rocks?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________ (1 mark)

e) Use the graph to predict the distance (km) from the mid-ocean ridge where rocks –

75 million years old would be - _________________ km

185 million years old would be - _________________ km (2 marks)

f) Will you be able to see changes in the sea floor during your lifetime?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________ (2 marks)

g) The oldest rocks on Earth are located on continents and are about 3.5 billion years old (3,500

million). Explain why the oldest rocks of the ocean floor are only 180 million years old?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________ (1 mark)

14
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

4. THE DEPTH OF THE OCEAN FLOOR (40 MARKS)

Much of Australia's vast ocean territory is unknown, with less than 25 per cent of it mapped to a modern
standard. The CSIRO is working to put our seafloor on the map through continuous data collection.
Australia's dedicated ocean research vessel
RV Investigator is Australia's dedicated ocean
research vessel that is operated by our Marine
National Facility.
The vessel is equipped with an extensive array of
advanced seabed mapping instrumentation that
allows data to be collected in 3D faster than ever
before.
The combination of systems allows high quality
and large quantities of data to be collected from
any depth in our marine estate
The ocean floor is a long way away, and yet we find maps of it in school atlases and on classroom
walls. Have you ever wondered how we know the depth of the ocean? How do we know where
submarine canyons and abyssal plains are located?
Sonar is the main technology used to investigate the seafloor from afar and this activity builds
understanding of this technique.
In our everyday lives we use light reflected off surfaces to observe shapes, textures, sizes and colours.
For things we can’t see, sound may be used to gather this same information. Experts in using sound
are bats and dolphins who use a technique called echolocation to form a mental picture of their
environment. They send out sounds and clicks and observe the reflected sound wave as it returns to
their ears.
Under the water, particularly in deep parts of the ocean, there is very little light so scientists mimic
dolphins and bats by using sonar, a technology that uses sound waves to sense the location of
objects. Marine sonar technology ranges from simple echo sounders that ping the seafloor every few
seconds to advanced multibeam sonar that uses a pulse of sound to map swaths of the seafloor.
Sound travels at 1500 metres per second in the salty water of the oceans. To calculate depth, follow
these steps:
Measure how long it takes for the sonar signal to return.
Halve this time to obtain the time it takes for the signal to reach the ocean floor, or a school of fish.
Multiply this by the speed of sound in sea water.

Figure 2: Sonar waves are emitted from a transducer, reflect off a school of fish, and return to a receiver.

15
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

The data from a ship conducting a bathymetry survey is shown in the table below. It is raw data and the
distance to the ocean floor at each point needs to be calculated, then plotted to provide a cross section
of the surveyed sea bed.
Complete the following table by filling in the last column ‘Distance to the ocean floor’. You might need a
calculator.

Ship distance travelled Time taken for sonar signal Distance to ocean floor
(metres) return (metres)
(seconds)
0 4.13
500 4.13
1000 4.13
1500 4.00
2000 3.87
2500 3.73
3000 3.33
3500 2.27
4000 0.40
4500 0.40
5000 0.40
5500 0.40
6000 0.40
6500 0.40
7000 0.53
7500 2.40
8000 3.07
8500 3.67
9000 4.01
9500 4.13
10 000 4.13

(21 marks)

16
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

Now plot your results on the graph below: (10 marks)

17
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

a) Looking at your graph, what type of feature have you found on the ocean floor?

(1 mark)

b) Predict the time taken for the sonar signal if you repeated the survey in an ocean depth of 250 m.

(3 marks)
c) What variables in the ocean could affect the time and path the sonar wave could take?
List three suggestions.

(3 marks)
d) How could you improve this data to provide more accurate results, or to confirm your theories
about the features of the seafloor?

(1 mark)
e) Besides measuring the distance to the ocean floor, what other features in the ocean might
sonar be used to detect?

(1 mark)

END OF PAPER

18
 STATE

DA VINCI DECATHLON 2022

CELEBRATING THE ACADEMIC GIFTS OF STUDENTS
IN YEARS 7 & 8

CARTOGRAPHY SOLUTIONS
TEAM NUMBER _____________

1 2 3 4 Total Rank
/16 /14 /43 /40 /113

1
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

INTRODUCTION.
PATTERNS IN MAPS AND CARTOGRAPHY
Cartography, is the “art” and “science” of graphically representing a geographical area, usually on a “flat”
surface such as a map or chart. It may involve the superimposition of political, cultural, or other
nongeographical divisions onto the representation of a geographical area.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.(2021) https://www.britannica.com/science/cartography

Irrigated Fields Arizona USA - Planet Labs satellite image. A diagram showing the orbital configuration of an Almaz
Dark green fields stand out against the pale desert floor in radar satellite, a type of Soviet reconnaissance satellite.
Pinal County, Arizona. The region’s farms rely on (Wikimedia Commons)
irrigation, since they receive less than 10 inches of rain a
year. Irrigation water comes from two main sources: the
Colorado River and aquifers. (Wikimedia Commons)

MATERIALS TO BE PROVIDED
• calculator
• ruler
• pencils

2
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

1. HIDDEN PATTERNS IN HISTORY’S MAPS (16 MARKS)

Technology has aided the ability for cartographers to be more accurate with details on the maps and
charts that they have drawn. In the process, many hidden mysteries have been discovered. The use of
aerial photography has discovered such curiosities as the Nazca Lines in south Peru.

(Wikimedia Commons)

They were created between 500 BCE and 500 CE by people making depressions or shallow incisions in
the desert floor, removing pebbles and leaving differently coloured dirt exposed. In the years leading up
to 2020, between 80 and 100 new figures had been found with the use of drones, and archaeologists
believe that there are more to be found.
Most lines run straight across the landscape, but there are also figurative designs of animals and plants.
The individual figurative geoglyph designs measure between 400 and 1,100 metres across, but can only
be recognised from an altitude – standing close to the design, there would be no indication to the viewer
that they stood on the mysterious geoglyph’s. Hence, a mystery to how the creators were able to create
the images shown above, the Monkey, Spider, Hummingbird and many others.
CROPMARKS AND SHADOW MARKS
Cropmarks and Shadow Marks are a means through which sub-surface archaeological, natural and
recent features may be visible from the air or a vantage point on higher ground or a temporary platform.
Such marks, along with parch marks, soil marks and frost marks, can reveal buried archaeological sites
that are not visible from the ground.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Sketched diagram of a negative cropmark above a wall and a positive cropmark above a ditch.
(Wikimedia Commons)

3
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

TIME TEAM
A British television program that originally aired on ‘Channel 4’ from
1994 to 2014, and soon to return, presented by actor Tony
Robinson (right), featured a team of specialists carrying out an
archaeological dig over a period of three days, with Robinson
explaining the process in lay terms.

Series 16, Episode 1, "The Trouble with Temples", the team

found themselves at Friar's Wash, Hertfordshire in Southern
England. Time Team had never found a Roman temple, but a 30-
year-old photograph (below) clearly shows double square
cropmarks in a field. Though initial excavations are encouraging,
with geophysical anomalies including a tessellated pavement and
a coin hoard, a picture gradually emerges of not one but four
temples - in fact a whole complex of buildings. It proves to be one
of the most important excavations in Time Team history.

Discovered because a “Pattern” appeared in an old photograph.

The ground at the dig has been ploughed flat over many years of tilling and cropping – possibly since the
Romans left England. In the photograph, the central paddock has the long wheel marks of the harvester
stretching from the top to the bottom of the paddock, but the temple location can be seen, just slightly to
the right of the center of the photograph as square and rectangular shapes – typical Roman construction.
There are other odd shapes appearing in the crop which could be because of many different structures
or uses of the land.

The following page has a list of structures found at a Roman archaeological site (a – h). Your task is to
describe the impact on crop growth, if these will stunt (negative cropmark), or, encourage (positive cropmark)
crop growth, or have no effect. Then explain your reasons why. (Remember: the final Roman withdrawal
from Britain occurred around 410 CE.)

4
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

a) Shallow buried wall:

__________Stunted growth – restricted root growth_____ (2 marks) _____________________

__________________________________________________________________________

b) Deep buried wall: _no impact or little impact if its is a substantial sized vegetation _(2 marks) __

__________________________________________________________________________________

c) Rubbish pit: depends upon the contents. Any organics will have lost any nutritional value long ago, and

non-biodegradable waste may have long term impact, reducing growth (i.e. acidic or alkaline wastes.

d) Pig Sty and Chicken Pen: _ no impact Any organics will have lost any nutritional value long ago

________________________________________________________________________(2 marks) __

e) Sanitary channel (toilet waste): no impact Any organics will have lost any nutritional value long ago

___________________________________________________________________(2 marks) _

f) Roman road: ____Stunted growth – restricted root growth depending on the depth __(2 marks)

__________________________________________________________________________________

g) Roman fortifications – Ditch, now filled in over time: _______old ditches which have been filled

over time may have loose soil, rather than the compacted battlements – may encourage more growth in

plants – depending on the depth ___(2 marks) ____________________________________________

h) Roman fortifications – Mounded Wall, now flattened over time:

__________Stunted growth – restricted root growth____(2 marks) ___________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

From these patterns from the past, historical maps can be draw by cartographers and/or historians,
showing what the world looked like in those ancient times.

5
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

2. LOST CITY OF THONIS-HERAKLEION (14 MARKS)

In 1933, British RAF pilot named Capt. John T Cull from 210 Squadron, was on a reconnaissance mission
flying over Abu Qir Bay, near Alexandria. He sighted archaeological remains covering a large area
underwater at the mouth of the Nile River, known as the Nile Delta. Here are images of the
reconnaissance aircraft (left) that Capt. Cull would have piloted when he made the discovery. On the right
is an image of the northern section of the Nile River and the green triangular shape is the river delta.

a) Geographically, how would you describe or define a ‘river delta’?

A river delta is a landform created by deposition of sediment that is carried by a

river as the flow leaves its mouth and enters slower-moving or stagnant water.
(2 marks)
The location of Thonis-Heracleion is marked on the map, below left, and below right, there is a chart of
Abu Qir Bay region.

b) In which country would you find the City of Alexandria and Abu Qir Bay?
________ Egypt ___(1 mark)
c) Thonis-Heracleion’s location was found on land when it first came into prominence, becoming the major
port in the Mediterranean at about 700 BCE. Its collapse was around 200 CE and final descent under
sea level was about 800 CE. Name two natural causes why a city could collapse and fall below sea
level?
_____ Earthquake or Tsunami or Liquefaction ______(2 marks) ______

____________________________________________________

6
 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

d) Name the country that the following River Delta’s are found.

Name Image Country

Brazil
The Amazon Delta
(1 mark)

Satellite image takes over Amazon

Delta 22 August 2017, (Wiki-Commons)

United States of America –

The Mississippi River USA
Delta
(1 mark)
The Mississippi River Delta, showing the
sediment plumes, 2001. (Wiki-Commons)

Zambia
The Zambezi Delta
(1 mark)
Annotated view of the Zambezi river delta
from space (Wiki Commons)

The Okavango Delta. Botswana

(curious landlocked
river delta) (1 mark)

Satellite image of Okavango Delta, with

national borders added (Wiki-Common)

Pakistan
The Indus River
Delta
(1 mark)

The Indus River Delta, as seen from

space (Wiki-Common).

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 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

The formation of a river delta is a slow process. As rivers flow toward their outlets from higher
elevations, they deposit mud, silt, sand, and gravel particles at the mouths where rivers and larger,
more sedentary bodies of water meet.
Over time these particles (called sediment or alluvium) build up at the mouth, extending into the ocean
or lake. As these areas continue to grow the water becomes shallower and eventually, landforms begin
to rise above the surface of the water, typically elevating to just above sea level.
The sediment formations and the water course are for-ever-changing.
e) From the images of the various river deltas in the previous question, you can observe how the
shape of a river delta splits from the single river into multiple channels leading out in a fan
shape. These are described as changing and not very stable. Describe two reasons for this
occurring.
Delta’s are the location where a river reaches an open body of water (lake, sea, ocean) or flat plain and

the speed of the flow of water current is reduced. This occurs as a river has a narrow width and is then

opened up to a wide expanse in the delta, which allows the water to not have the force and pressure

that it had in the river channel.

As the waters reduce speed, the sediments that it was carrying are allowed to settle and form a layer on

the delta floor, which can build to form banks and spits. When these reach a shallow depth or actually

breach the water surface, the flow of water is forced in a different direction, laying sediments elsewhere.

In time this will build to a point where it changes direction again.

As Deltas are shallow by nature, this changing of direction with sedimentary build up is a very active

process.

Any four points for the four marks, as long as they show understanding and a logical progression
(4 marks)

The 1933 pilot Capt. John T Cull’s discovery of patterns in the ocean did not appear natural. Turns out
they were blocks which formed temple buildings, buildings of a city and wharfs of one of the largest
trading ports of its time - an incredible city which has laid, undiscovered for about 2000 years.

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 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

3. MID OCEAN RIDGE SPREADING. (43 MARKS)

LINEAR MAGNETIC ANOMALIES - A RECORD OF TECTONIC MOVEMENT.
Understanding sea-floor spreading, it was also known from palaeomagnetic studies of volcanic rocks
erupted on land that the Earth's magnetic polarity has reversed numerous times in the geological past.
During such magnetic reversals, the positions of the north and south magnetic poles exchange places.
In the late 1950s, a series of oceanographic expeditions was commissioned to map the magnetic
character of the ocean floor, with the expectation that the ocean floors would display largely uniform
magnetic properties. Surprisingly, results showed that the basaltic sea floor has a striped magnetic
pattern, and that the stripes run essentially parallel to the mid-ocean ridges. Moreover, the stripes on one
side of a mid-ocean ridge are symmetrically matched to others of similar width and polarity on the opposite
side.

Map of symmetrical magnetic anomalies about the Atlantic Ridge.

With an understanding of the theory of Continental Drift, divergent, convergent, and transform plate
boundaries, mid-ocean ridges, subduction, and the role that convection currents in the earth’s mantle
play in causing these phenomena. It seems that the different parts of our planet are moving. This
movement has caused changes in the continents over time and causes major geologic events like
earthquakes and volcanoes. Are the earth’s plates moving quickly or slowly – are our maps and charts
going to be out of date sooner or later?
Problem: How fast is the sea floor spreading? Has the sea floor always moved at the same speed?
Procedures: Scientists have been able to establish the ages of vast areas of rocks on the ocean bottom.
The pattern in the ages of the rocks across the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is used as evidence of sea-floor
spreading. In this activity, you will observe the pattern and learn to calculate the rate of sea floor
spreading. The diagram on the next page represents a section of the ocean floor in the North Atlantic.
The numbers give the ages in millions of years for the rocks on the ocean floor located along the lines.
1. Locate the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and trace it in red.
2. Draw a line on the map from A to B with a ruler. This represents a path across the Atlantic Ocean
from North America to Africa.
3. Use a ruler to measure the distance in cm, to the nearest tenth (0.1), from the mid-ocean ridge to
each of the positions shown where your ruled line (from A to B) crosses the numbered (age)
lines. Put the measurements on the data chart in the column “distance from mid-Atlantic ridge in
cm.”
4. Complete the rest of the data chart by finding the actual distance in kilometers
(1cm=500km). Actual distance (km) = column B (cm) x 500 km/cm.

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Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

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 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

DATA TABLE:
A B C
Age of Seafloor in (millions Distance from Mid-Atlantic Actual Distance (km)
of years) at position of ruled Ridge (cm) to position of
cm X 500 km/cm
line crossing numbered ruled line crossing
contour line. numbered contour line. Column B X 500 = C

9 0.2 100

38 1 500

53 1.5 750

63 1.8 900

81 2.9 1450

135 5.2 2600

155 6.1 3050

(14 MARKS)

GRAPHING INSTRUCTIONS:
Graph the data in the chart to show the relationship between age (millions of years) and the distance

(km). Use the data in the columns highlighted in grey.

• Label the X axis with age (millions of years).

• Label the Y axis with distance (km).

• Plot the data points and label each with the date

• Connect the data points

• Draw a best fit line

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 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

GRAPH

Age of Seafloor v's Distance from Atlantic Ocean Mid-Ocean Ridge

3500

3050
3000
Distance from Mid-Ocean Ridge (kilometres)

2600

2500

2000

1450
1500

1000 900
750

500
500

100

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Age of Sea Floor (millions of Years)

Graph needs to include the following;

Main title 1 mark
Axis titles 2 marks
Axis title includes units 2 marks
Axis scales correct 2 marks
Correct graphing of data points 1 mark
Data points connected with neat line 2 marks (-1 if not ruled)
Total 10 marks

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 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS.
a) Use the information on your data chart and the formula below to determine the rate of sea floor
spreading in the past 38 million years:
𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎(𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄)
𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹 𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴 (𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄 𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚) =
𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕(𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚)
i. Distance (from chart) = ___500_____km (1 mark)

ii. Convert this distance into centimetres by multiplying by 100,000. (100,000 cm = 1 kilometre).

Distance = ___500,000,000__cm (1 mark)

iii. Use the equation above to calculate the rate.

Show work:

Rate of movement (cm per year) = 500,000,000 ÷ 38,000,000

= 13.1578 cm/yr (1 mark)

Rate= ____13____cm/year (1 mark)

b) Use the information on your data chart and the formula below to determine the rate of sea floor

spreading in the past 135 million years:

𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎(𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄)
𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹 𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴 (𝒄𝒄𝒄𝒄 𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑𝒑 𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚) =
𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕(𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚𝒚)

i. Distance (from chart) = ___2,600____km (1 mark)

ii. Convert this distance into centimetres by multiplying by 100,000. (100,000 cm = 1 kilometre).

Distance = __2,600,000,000___cm (1 mark)

iii. Use the equation above to calculate the rate.

Show work:

Rate of movement (cm per year) = 2,600,000,000 ÷ 135,000,000

= 19.2592 cm/yr (1 mark)

Rate= ______19_______cm/year (1 mark)

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 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

c) Based on your calculations and looking at the graph, has the rate (speed) of sea floor

spreading been the same over the past 135 million years? Explain. ____No, (1) the rate has

not been the same over the past 135 my. As the calculations indicate, in the past 38 my, the

expansion rate has been 13 cm per year (1), but over the past 135 my, it has been 19

(including the initial 38 at the rate of 13 cm per year) (1). This suggests that the rate of

expansion/spread is slowing down. (1) ._____ (4 marks)

d) Describe the pattern in the ages of rocks on the seafloor.

i. Where are the oldest rocks found? ______Oldest rocks will be found on the outer rim

of the plates, furthest from the mid-ocean ridge (i.e. east coast of the America’s and

the west coast of Africa). _________________________ (1 mark)

ii. What part of the ocean floor has the youngest rocks? _____Youngest rocks are found

at the Mid-Ocean Ridge, where the larva is forced to emerge and make contact with

the ocean water and solidify. _________________________________ (1 mark)

e) Use the graph to predict the distance (km) from the mid-ocean ridge where rocks –

75 million years old would be - _______1250 ____ km (± 50) (1 mark)

185 million years old would be - ______3700 ______ km (± 50) (1 mark)

f) Will you be able to see changes in the sea floor during your lifetime? _______

__At 13 cm per year, an apprentice oceanographic surveyor could measure the GPS co-

ordinates at a young age of 20 years of age, and on their retirement take the same

measurements at the age of 65 years, the data would tell them that there has been a

movement of about 5.85 metres.(1) The average person will not notice a great change.(1)

________________________________________________________________ (2 marks)

g) The oldest rocks on Earth are located on continents and are about 3.5 billion years old (3,500

million). Explain why the oldest rocks of the ocean floor are only 180 million years old? _Ocean

floors are active part of the Earth’s Crust and the Rock Cycle is more active. _ (1 mark)

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 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

4. THE DEPTH OF THE OCEAN FLOOR (40 MARKS)

Much of Australia's vast ocean territory is unknown, with less than 25 per cent of it mapped to a modern
standard. The CSIRO is working to put our seafloor on the map through continuous data collection.
Australia's dedicated ocean research vessel
RV Investigator is Australia's dedicated ocean
research vessel that is operated by our Marine
National Facility.
The vessel is equipped with an extensive array of
advanced seabed mapping instrumentation that
allows data to be collected in 3D faster than ever
before.
The combination of systems allows high quality
and large quantities of data to be collected from
any depth in our marine estate
The ocean floor is a long way away, and yet we find maps of it in school atlases and on classroom
walls. Have you ever wondered how we know the depth of the ocean? How do we know where
submarine canyons and abyssal plains are located?
Sonar is the main technology used to investigate the seafloor from afar and this activity builds
understanding of this technique.
In our everyday lives we use light reflected off surfaces to observe shapes, textures, sizes and colours.
For things we can’t see, sound may be used to gather this same information. Experts in using sound
are bats and dolphins who use a technique called echolocation to form a mental picture of their
environment. They send out sounds and clicks and observe the reflected sound wave as it returns to
their ears.
Under the water, particularly in deep parts of the ocean, there is very little light so scientists mimic
dolphins and bats by using sonar, a technology that uses sound waves to sense the location of
objects. Marine sonar technology ranges from simple echo sounders that ping the seafloor every few
seconds to advanced multibeam sonar that uses a pulse of sound to map swaths of the seafloor.
Sound travels at 1500 metres per second in the salty water of the oceans. To calculate depth, follow
these steps:
Measure how long it takes for the sonar signal to return.
Halve this time to obtain the time it takes for the signal to reach the ocean floor, or a school of fish.
Multiply this by the speed of sound in sea water.

Figure 2: Sonar waves are emitted from a transducer, reflect off a school of fish, and return to a receiver.

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 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

The data from a ship conducting a bathymetry survey is shown in the table below. It is raw data and the
distance to the ocean floor at each point needs to be calculated, then plotted to provide a cross section
of the surveyed sea bed.
Complete the following table by filling in the last column ‘Distance to the ocean floor’. You might need a
calculator.

Ship distance travelled Time taken for sonar signal Distance to ocean floor
(metres) return (metres)
(seconds)
0 4.13 3097.5
500 4.13 3097.5
1000 4.13 3097.5
1500 4.00 3000
2000 3.87 2902.5
2500 3.73 2797.5
3000 3.33 2497.5
3500 2.27 1702.5
4000 0.40 300
4500 0.40 300
5000 0.40 300
5500 0.40 300
6000 0.40 300
6500 0.40 300
7000 0.53 397.5
7500 2.40 1800
8000 3.07 2302.5
8500 3.67 2752.5
9000 4.01 3007.5
9500 4.13 3097.5
10 000 4.13 3097.5
(21 marks)

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 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

Now plot your results on the graph below:

Solution
Ship Distance Travelled (m)

0
500
Ocean Depth (m)

1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500

Graph needs to include the following;

Main title 1 mark
Axis titles 2 marks
Axis title includes units 2 marks
Axis scales correct 2 marks
Correct graphing of data points 1 mark
Data points connected with neat line 2 marks (-1 if not ruled)
Total 10 marks

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 Cartography Task - Patterns – John Mirosevich, EDWA, 2022

a) Looking at your graph, what type of feature have you found on the ocean floor?

plateau (flat topped underwater hill/rise/mound) (1 mark)

b) Predict the time taken for the sonar signal if you repeated the survey in an ocean depth of 250 m.

Depth (metres) = time (seconds) × speed of sound (metres per second)

250 m = time × 1500 m.p.s

Time = 250 / 1500

Time = 0.16666 seconds (3 marks)

c) What variables in the ocean could affect the time and path the sonar wave could take?
List three suggestions.
• Schools of Fish

• Salinity of Water (density of water)

• Shape and Density of the Sea Floor, impacting the reflection of the sonar sound wave

(3 marks)
d) How could you improve this data to provide more accurate results, or to confirm your theories
about the features of the seafloor?
• Repeat scan to confirm

• Scan using a different forms i.e. satellite imagery (e.g. hyper spectral sensors, multispectral

imaging) or airborne laser bathymetry (e.g. LiDAR) (1 mark)

e) Besides measuring the distance to the ocean floor, what other features in the ocean might
sonar be used to detect?
• Schools of fish

• Ship wreckage

. (1 mark)

END OF PAPER

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