Download chapter 1 section 4

On the Land
Landforms
Mountains
•
•
Huge towers of rock
Formed by
a. Collision of tectonic plates beneath the
earth’s surface.
b. Volcanoes – after years of lava build up
Mountain Facts
• Mountains exist on every continent and
beneath our oceans
• Home to 1/10 of the world’s people
• Occur in about 75% of the world’s
countries
• Cover 1/5 of the earth’s land surface
• More than ½ of the world’s fresh water
comes from mountains.
Types of Mountains
• Dome – result of great amounts of melted rock
pushing up through the earth’s surface without
any faulting occurring
• Fold – when two plates collide head on and their
edges crumble
• Fault block – when faults or cracks force some
materials on the earth up and others to fall
• Volcanic – when the magma erupts and
hardens on the earth’s surface.
• Plateau – really plateaus that have been worn
down from erosion.
Dome Mountain
Fold Mountain
Volcanic Mountain
Mountain Use
• Farmers use the mountains for their
animals to graze
• Tourist attraction – beautiful scenery
• Water Authorities use the mountains to
base pumps at the bottom.
• Forestry grow trees on the mountains and
then use them for wood.
Mountain Trivia
• Highest Mountain Peak on land – Mt.
Everest
• Longest Mountain Range – Andes
Mountains in South America (7 countries)
• Highest Mountain Range – Himalayans
(Asia)
• Other Famous Mountain Ranges – Alps
(Europe), Rockies (Western U.S.)
North American Mountain Ranges – Sierra
Nevada, Rockies, Appalachian,
Mt. Everest
• Tallest Mountain in
the world
• 29,035 feet in the air,
or 5.5 miles high.
Plains
• Low – lying stretches of flat or gently
rolling land
• Many plains reach from the middle of the
continent to the coast
• North European Plains in the northern part
of Europe
Plateau
• Flat
• Higher elevation than plains
• With some, a steep cliff forms on one side
where the plateau rises above the nearby
lowlands.
Plateau of Mexico
Plateau Facts
• Occur on land or in the oceans
• Some form from lava flow
• Low Plateaus are usually agricultural
regions
• High plateaus are usually deserts
• Colorado Plateau – Western Region of the
United States
Valley
• Long stretch of land lower than the land on
either side of it.
• Rivers are often found at the bottom of
valleys
Canyons
• Steep sided lowlands that rivers have cut
through a plateau.
• One of the most famous canyons is right
here in the United States.
Grand Canyon
• Arizona
• Carved by the
Colorado River over
millions of years.
Landforms
• Isthmus - Narrow piece of land that
connects two larger pieces of land.
• Peninsula - Piece of land with water on
three sides.
• Island - Body of land smaller than a
continent and completely surrounded by
water.
Isthmus
Peninsula
Island
Under the Oceans
Landforms
Continental Shelf
• Plateau that lies off the coast of a continent.
• Stretches for several miles underwater.
• At the edge of the shelf, a steep cliff drops down
to the bottom of the ocean.
Trenches
• Valleys on the ocean
floor
• They are the lowest
spots in the earth’s
crust.
• Mariana Trench –
Pacific Ocean,
deepest trench –
35,840 feet below sea
level.
Bodies of Water
Landforms
Bodies of Water
• Strait - Narrow body of water between
two pieces of land
• The Strait of Magellan flows between the
southern tip of South America, and the
island called Tierra del Fuego.
• This strait connects the Atlantic and
Pacific Ocean.
Channel
• Wider than a strait
• A Body of water that separates two pieces
of land
• English Channel is the most used example
of a channel.
Delta
•
•
•
•
Source – where a river originates
Mouth – Where a river empties
Rivers carry soil and sand during erosion
Eventually this soil and sand builds. The
soil and sand eventually will be dumped at
the mouth where over time it will become a
delta.