Landforms

Continent Continents make up the 7 large landmasses on Earth North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica

Basic Landforms Basin – a depression in the earth’s surface surrounded by higher land Drainage Basin – area drained by a river Tributary-a stream or river which flows into a main stem (or parent) river

Delta – area of land created by soil carried from a river and deposited at its mouth

Basic Landforms Strait- narrow, navigable channel of water that connects two larger navigable bodies of water

Basic Landforms Cont’d Divide – High area of land that separates river systems Escarpment – steep cliff or slope between a higher and lower land surface Escarpment Example

Basic Landforms Cont’d Plain - area of land, usually at low elevation and often covered with grasses Plateau – area of flat or rolling land at high elevation

Basic Landforms Cont’d Peninsula – a body of land surrounded on 3 sides by water Isthmus – narrow stretch of land connecting two larger land areas

Basic Landforms Cont’d Island – land area, smaller than a continent surrounded by water Archipelago – a group or chain of islands

Basic Landforms Cont’d Fjord – A long, narrow, deep inlet of the sea between steep slopes Aquifer - An underground layer of permeable rock, sediment (usually sand or gravel), or soil that yields water

Basic Landforms Cont’d Ocean – One of the five major bodies of water that surround the continents Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic, Indian and Southern Bay – Part of a large body of water that extends into a shoreline

Basic Landforms Cont’d Glacier – Large, thick body of slow moving ice Volcano – Mountain or hill created as liquid rock and ash erupt from inside the earth