Various Landforms on Earth and Their Formation

Introduction:

Earth’s land may appear flat from space. Many natural features on the Earth’s surface can be seen up close. These features are known as landforms.

Various Landforms

Mountains are the tallest and most visible landforms. The majority of them rise steeply to a peak at the top. Others have a gradual slope. Some are volcanic eruptions caused by molten rock.

Tallest and Flattest

A plain is the flattest landform. Plains are large areas of land that lack hills and mountains.

Landforms Formed by Water

Flowing water has the ability to shape the land. Where streams and rivers flow, they can cut small channels or larger gullies. Deep valleys can be formed by strong flows. Rivers in some places form canyons, which are narrow, V-shaped valleys. The Grand Canyon is around a kilometer deep!

The land is also eroded by waves. Waves can shape a beach into something flat and smooth or something sharp and rocky.

Landforms Formed by wind

Wind can build large mounds of sand in deserts and on beaches. These mounds are known as sand dunes. Wind and water can also combine to make mountains steeper and valleys deeper.

Water Meets Land

Water always moves downward. What happens when it reaches the base of a landform?

Deltas of Rivers

The flow of a river slows as the land flattens. When a river flows into an ocean, the water moves even more slowly. It scatters the sand and soil it carries. The bits combine to form a delta, which is a triangle-shaped landform.

Drainage Basins

Some rivers flow into canals. Drainage is a channel that transports water.

A drainage basin is a body of land that is drained by flowing water. Much of Central North America, for example, is a Mississippi River drainage basin.

Continental Shelves

It’s a beautiful day at the beach. You want to go swimming with your buddies.

You move further away from the shore, but the water remains too shallow. Where have you gone? You have arrived on a continental shelf. The continental shelf is the land that connects the shore to the sea. It can stretch for miles out to sea.

The continental slope is a land area located beyond the continental shelf. This is the continent’s steeper terrain that slopes down to the ocean floor. On the slope, underwater canyons can form. The continental rise is located at the bottom of the slope. The rise links the continent and the ocean floor. The bottom of the ocean is known as the sea floor, seafloor, oceanic crust, seabed, or ocean floor.

The majority of the ocean floor is flat and devoid of features. Long mountain ranges, on the other hand, run through the middle of some oceans. These are ridges of the ocean. Undersea volcanoes can also be found on the ocean floor. Deep trenches can reach all the way to the ocean floor.

What Lies Beneath the Earth’s Surface?

You’ve learned about some of the Earth’s surface features. What lies beneath those features on Earth? Examine the diagram. It depicts the interior of the Earth. Scientists classify the Earth into four major layers.

Crust:

The outermost layer of solid rock on Earth. It is brittle and easily cracks. The crust contains the landforms and underwater features of the Earth.

Mantle:

The rock layer beneath the crust is known as the mantle. It is solid, but at high pressures and temperatures, some of the rock can move or change shape.

Outer Core:

Below the mantle is the outer core liquid layer. It is mostly made of molten iron.

The inner core

The Earth’s inner core is a solid-material sphere. It is the hottest area on the planet. It’s most likely made of iron.