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VZ-LANDFORMS
WLD GEOG G & H 10.2009
Question | Answer |
---|---|
Abyssal Fans | underwater version of alluvial fans, soil deposited on the continental slope, the deepest part of the ocean floor. |
atoll | island of coral that partially or completely surrounds a lagoon |
archipelago | a group or chain of islands |
alluvial fan | soil deposited at the base of mountains, caused by flowing water |
basin | a large or small depression in the surface of the land or the ocean floor. |
butte | an isolated hill or mountain with steep sides, usually has a smaller summit than a mesa |
continent | the largest of the earth's land masses |
continental shelf | a shallow submarine plain of varying width forming a border to a continent and typically ending in a steep slope to oceanic abyss |
caldera | a volcanic crater that has a diameter much larger than the vent, formed by collapse of the central part of the volcano or eruption |
canyon | a narrow chasm with steep cliff walls, cut into the earth by running water; a gorge. ... |
cape | a point or extension of land jutting out into water like a peninsula, only smaller |
crevasse | a deep crevice or fissure as in a glacier |
dell | a small valley |
delta | land formed at the mouth of a river by sediment deposits |
desert | an arid barren land usually with less than 10 inches of precipitation |
drumlin | an elongated or oval hill of glacial drift |
escarpment | a long, precipitous, clifflike ridge of land, rock, or the like commonly formed by faulting or fracturing of the earth's crust |
waterfall | caused by a stream, flowing over an erosion-resistant rock formation that forms a sudden break in elevation. |
esker | a serpentine ridge of gravelly and sandy drift, formed by glacial meltwater |
fjord | a long narrow arm of the sea bordered by steep cliffs and usually formed by glacial erosion |
geyser | up fountainlike jets of water and steam into the air |
glacier | a large body of ice moving slowly down a slope or valley or spreading outward on a land surface |
island | land completely surrounded by water |
isthmus | a narrow neck of land that connects two larger land masses |
kettle | a deep bowl-shaped depression in glacial drift |
mesa | a broad flat-topped elevation with cliff like sides |
moraine | a ridge, mound, or irregular mass of unstratified glacial drift, chiefly boulders, gravel, sand, and clay |
mountain | a natural elevation of land rising more or less abruptly to a summit and usually an elevation of 1000 feet or more |
peninsula | a portion of land nearly surrounded by water and connected with a larger land mass |
plateau | a usually extensive land area having a relatively level surface that rises sharply above adjacent land on at least 1 side |
plain | an area of land not significantly higher than adjacent areas and with relatively minor differences in elevation, commonly less than 500 ft within the area |
range | a chain of mountains forming a single system |
rift | an elongated crevice formed by the depression of a block of the earth's crust between two faults or groups of faults of approximately parallel strike |
summit | the highest point; peak, the topmost level attainable |
valley | an elongated depression of the earth's surface usually between hills or mountains |
volcano | a vent in the crust of the earth or another planet from which molten or hot rock and steam issue |
bay | an inlet of the sea or other small body of water usually smaller than a gulf |
bog | a poorly drained usually acid rich area in accumulated plant material |
cataract | a descent of water over a steep surface as in a waterfall or series of rapids |
channel | a navigable route between two bodies of water, or a wide strait as between a continent and and island |
course | the path over which something moves or extends |
estuary | a water passage where the tide meets a river current: an arm of the sea at the lower end of a river |
geyser | a spring that throws forth intermittent jets of heated water and steam |
gulf | part of an ocean or sea that extends into land, usually large in size |
lagoon | a body of comparatively shallow salt water separated from the deeper sea by a shallow or exposed sandbank, coral reef, or similar feature. |
lake | body of water surrounded by land |
marsh | a wetland that features shallow water and various grasses |
meander | the snake-like movements of a river as moves over the landscape |
ocean | an extremely large body of salt water |
sea | large expanse of salt water connected to an even larger body of salt water |
spring | a point where groundwater flows out of the ground; where the aquifer surface meets the ground surface. |
strait | s narrow neck of water connecting two larger bodies of water |
swamp | wetland that features permanent inundation of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water, generally with a substantial number of hummocks and a large amount of woody vegetation |
tributary | a stream or river that flows into a larger river |
source | the origin or beginning of a stream or irver |
marsh | a wetland having usually shallow waters and a variety of grasses; lacks trees |
sound | a large sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight, wider than a fjord, or it may identify a narrow sea or ocean channel between two bodies of land |