Landform Review Chapter 2

Mountain – Mt. Everest, Nepal  a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak

Valley – Yosemite Valley, California a depression with predominant extent in one direction.

Canyon – Grand Canyon, Arizona  a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river.

Volcano – Popocatepetl, Mexico  an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or crust, which allows hot magma, volcanic ash and gases to escape from below the surface.

Plateau – Colorado Plateau, Utah  a high plain or tableland

Mesa – Black Mesa, New Mexico A table mountain

Delta Indus River Delta, Pakistan Nile River Delta, Egypt -formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river

Island – Fiji, South Pacific Ocean  any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water

Peninsula Shimabara Peninsula, Japan a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland.

Bay – Hout Bay, South Africa an area of water mostly surrounded by land, which generally has calmer waters than the surrounding sea

Harbor – Port Miou, France  a place where ships, boats, and barges can seek shelter from stormy weather, or else are stored for future use.

Steppe – Daurian Steppe, Mongolia An area characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.

Desert – Sahara Desert, Tunisia A region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation

Oasis – Taghit, Algeria an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source.

Alluvial Fan - Iran a fan-shaped deposit formed where a fast flowing stream flattens, slows, and spreads

Archipelago a chain or cluster of islands

Beach a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river.

Canal – Panama  Waterways used for carrying ships and boats, shipping goods and conveying people

Cape – Cape Cod, Massachusetts a point or body of land extending into a body of water, usually the sea.

Crater – Meteor Crater, AZ Circular depression in the earths surface

Dam – Hoover Dam, NV & AZ a barrier that impounds water or underground streams

Escarpment – Caprock, TX a steep slope or long cliff that results from erosion or faulting

Estuary – Rio de la Plata, Argentina a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea.

Floodplain a flat or nearly flat land adjacent to a stream or river that experiences flooding during periods of high discharge

Hill a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain, generally lower and less steep than a mountain.

Isthmus a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas usually with water on either side

Lake a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land and not considered part of the ocean.

Plain  land with relatively low relief, that is flat or gently rolling. Prairies and steppes are types 

Strait – Strait of Gibraltar a channel of water that lies between two land masses