A topographic map illustrates the relief or elevation differences in an area (and usually many other features). It may show this by contours or shading.The eastern portion of the Big Bear Lake quadrangle is in the Basin and Range province with large areas of low relief and flat playas separated by mountains. From the shaded relief image below we see this clearly with the Deadman Lake and Mesquite Lake playas being shown in gray at right.

Topography map. This is a shaded relief image produced from a digital elevation model (DEM) or grid of elevation values as if the Sun is shining from upper left. The grid size is 120 meters (~394 ft). Black lines show approximate locations of faults. Click here for a 30 meter resolution version with more labels. (336K) Information about DEMs is available at http://edcftp.cr.usgs.gov/glis/hyper/guide/usgs_dem

Click here for a web resolution (72ppi) version of the 100,000 scale topographic map of this area (816K).