Everything you wanted to know about Landforms!

What are landforms? Landforms are the natural shapes or features found on the earth’s surface. There are many different types of landforms found on the earth.

Mountains                                      A place on Earth’s surface that is much higher than the land around it.

Mt. Everest is the tallest mountain in the world

FOOTHILLS Foothills are hills or raised areas or mounds of land smaller than mountains

Valley                                                          A valley is a lowland area between higher lands such as mountains.

PLATEAU A plateau is a large flat area higher than the land around it.

A BUTTE is a flat-topped rock or hill formation with steep sides. (Smaller than a plateau)

Canyon A canyon is a deep valley with very steep sides. Usually carved out by a river.

A plain is a large flat area on the Earth’s surface. Plains A plain is a large flat area on the Earth’s surface.

Desert A desert is a region with little or no rainfall and supports little or no vegetation

Ocean Oceans are vast bodies of salt water and are the largest bodies of water on earth.

Coast A coast is the area where the ocean touches the land.

BAY A bay is a body of water that is partly enclosed by land on 3 sides (and is usually smaller than a gulf).

An island is land that is completely surrounded by water.

ISTHMUS An Isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger landmasses. An isthmus has water on two sides

Peninsula A body of land surrounded by water on 3 sides!

STRAIT A strait is a narrow body of water that connects two larger bodies of water

CAPE A cape is a pointed piece of land that sticks out into a sea, ocean, lake, or river

LAKE LAKE TAHOE! A lake is a body of water that is completely surrounded by land

A river is a long flowing body of water.

The Nile River Is the longest river in the world A river source is where the river starts

Delta The mouth of a river is where it widens and joins with an ocean A delta is a low, watery land formed at the mouth of a river. It is formed from the silt, sand and small rocks that flow downstream in the river and are deposited in the delta.

GLACIERS A large sheet of ice that moves very slowly across land or down a valley