Hypsometric tints are related to contour line

Contour line

A contour line of a function of two variables is a curve along which the function has a constant value. In cartography, a contour line joins points of equal elevation above a given level, such as mean sea level...

s. They can be used to depict ranges of elevation as bands of color, usually in a graduated scheme, or as a color ramp

Color gradient

In computer graphics, a color gradient specifies a range of position-dependent colors, usually used to fill a region. For example, many window managers allow the screen background to be specified as a gradient...

 applied to contour lines themselves. A typical scheme progresses from dark greens for lower elevations up through yellows/browns, and on to grays and white at the highest elevations. Hypsometric tinting of maps and globe

Globe

A globe is a three-dimensional scale model of Earth or other spheroid celestial body such as a planet, star, or moon...

s is often accompanied by a similar method of bathymetric

Bathymetry

Bathymetry is the study of underwater depth of lake or ocean floors. In other words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry. The name comes from Greek βαθύς , "deep", and μέτρον , "measure"...

 tinting to convey depth of ocean

Ocean

An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...

s; lighter shades of blue represent shallower water such as the continental shelf

Continental shelf

The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain. Much of the shelf was exposed during glacial periods, but is now submerged under relatively shallow seas and gulfs, and was similarly submerged during other interglacial periods. The continental margin,...

 and darker shades deeper regions.

History

In his map of central Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, c.1503, Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...

 introduced the cartographic convention of using color to indicate changes in elevation.
The Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 map firm John Bartholomew and Son is credited with popularizing the technique, and its color scheme has become conventional: dark greens at low elevations, progressing through yellows and ochers, to browns and then grays and white at the highest elevations.

At right is "The very earliest rendition of a bathymetric map of an oceanic basin. Matthew Fontaine Maury

Matthew Fontaine Maury

Matthew Fontaine Maury , United States Navy was an American astronomer, historian, oceanographer, meteorologist, cartographer, author, geologist, and educator....

 published this map in 1853 in Explanations and Sailing Directions to Accompany the Wind and Current Charts."

Uses

Similar to false-color

False-color

A false-color image is an image that depicts a subject in colors that differ from those a full-color photograph would show.-True- and false-color:...

imagery, hypsometric tints can be used to make
geographic information more accessible, as with this image of lunar topography.
Some cartographers have suggested that hypsometric tints are often used as decoration, rather than for informational purposes:

…the current popularity of hypsometric tints has more to do with production ease and pretty colors than it does with our interest in elevation. … With hypsometric tints, the end result is often a map with pleasing colors that blend softly into one another in an orderly fashion, a design trait that people find attractive, even if they don’t necessarily know or care about elevations.