Under the rectangular survey method of describing property, which of the following contains 640 acres?

In the rectangular survey system, commonly known as the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), a section is a key unit of measurement that represents a specific area of land. One section is defined as having an area of one square mile, which equates to 640 acres. This unit is essential for land description as it allows for the efficient division and identification of large tracts of land.

Townships, while also part of the rectangular survey, consist of 36 sections, which amounts to 23,040 acres in total (36 sections x 640 acres per section). A tract generally refers to a portion of land and does not have a standardized measurement against which other units can be compared. Range is a term used to describe the east-west orientation of townships in the rectangular survey system but does not denote a specific area size as sections do.

Therefore, recognizing that a section contains exactly 640 acres clarifies why it is the correct answer to the question regarding the area represented by the rectangular survey method.