Download Landforms

Landforms
What are landforms?
• are natural physical features of the earth’s
surface.
• 2 Types of forces act on the earth to create
landforms:
• Erosional Elements
• Tectonics
Valley
Location: Napa Valley, Death Valley;
Monument Valley
Agent of erosion: water; ice
A valley is a
lowland area
between
higher lands
such as
mountains.
Plateau
Location examples: Colorado
Plateau, Cumberland Plateau
Agent of deposition: lava flow
Agent of erosion: water or wind erosion
A plateau is a
large, flat
area of land
that is higher
than the
surrounding
land.
Barrier island
Location Example: Padre Island:
Coney Island
A long narrow
island running
parallel to the
mainland,
protects the
coast from
erosion
Agent of erosion and deposition: water(wave
action) and wind
Canyon
Location Example: Grand
Canyon; Palo Duro Canyon
Agent of erosion: Flowing water
A canyon is a
deep valley
with very
steep sides often carved
from the Earth
by a river.
Delta
Location Examples: Mississippi
Delta, Nile River Delta
Agent of deposition: water flow: silt
deposited at rivers end
A delta is a low,
watery land
formed at the
mouth of a river.
A delta is often
(but not always)
shaped like a
triangle.
Tectonic Landforms
Trench
• a long, narrow, and
usually steep-sided
depression in the
ocean floor
• formed by plate
subduction when
plates converge
[Same occurrence on
land creates a rift
valley]
Location Example:
Marianna Trench in the
Pacific ocean
Fault Line
• Fault lines are the
points where the
earths plates meet
or lay against each
other.
• The movement of
the earth along
these lines produce
earthquakes.
Example: San Andreas Fault
Continental Mountainsmountains formed
at convergent
boundaries (a
place where two
continental crust
collide).
Location: Himalaya
Mountains in Tibet
Fault-Block Mountains
are formed by the
movement of large
crustal blocks when
forces in the Earth’s
crust pull it apart.
Some parts of the
Earth are pushed
upward and others
collapse down.
Example: Grand Tetons
Volcanic Mountains
Created by sea –
floor spreading
and convergent
plate boundaries
(where oceanic
plate collides
with continenal
plate).
Example: Mauna Loa,
Hawaii