This document defines and describes various types of landforms and regions. It discusses mountains such as fault mountains and fold mountains that are formed by tectonic plate movement. It also covers plains, grasslands, deserts, forests, wetlands and bodies of water including rivers, lakes, seas and oceans. Regions described include prairies, savannas, tundra, and different forest biomes.

1. Landforms and Regions
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2. Mountain
high, rocky land, usually with steep sides and a
pointed or rounded top, higher than a hill

3. Fault Mountain
Mountains that form when
faults or cracks in the earth's
crust force some materials or
blocks of rock up and others
down.
The earth's crust fractures (pulls
apart). It breaks up into blocks
or chunks. Sometimes these
blocks of rock move up and
down, as they move apart and
blocks of rock end up being
stacked on one another.

4. Fold Mountain
Mountains formed when
two plates collide head on,
and their edges crumbled,
much the same way as a
piece of paper folds when
pushed together.

5. Volcano
A mountainous vent in the
earths crust. When a
volcano erupts it spews out
hot lava, ashes, and hot
gasses from deep inside the
earth.

6. Plateau A large, flat area of
land that is higher
than the
surrounding land.

7. Mesa
A land formation having a relatively flat top and
steep rock walls.

8. Butte
A small area
of land with
steep sides
and a flat
top.

10. Valley
A low place
between
mountains

11. A valley formed by flowing
water, usually V shaped.
River Valley

12. A valley that has been carved out by the movement of
a glacier, usually in the shape of a U.
Glacier
Valley

13. {
Canyon
A deep valley with very steep
sides, often carved from the Earth
by a river.

14. A narrow valley
between hills or
mountains, typically
with steep rocky walls
and a stream running
through it.
Gorge

15. {
A raised part of the
earth's surface with
sloping sides; old
mountain which
because of erosion
has become
rounder and
shorter.
Hill

16. An area of hills,
plateaus, and
mountains.
highlands

17. Divide
the highest ridge of land separating river basins

18. Pass
A low place through
mountains that allows
for passage of people,
cars, etc.

19. Peak
The pointed top of
a mountain

20. {
a fracture in the rocks along which there has been
movement
fault

21. Basin an area of land largely enclosed by
higher land.

22. {
A large hole in the ground or in
the side of a hill or mountain. Cave

23. Cliff
a high, steep slope of
rock or soil

24. Oceans

25. Sea
a large body of water, usually salt water, partly
or completely surrounded by land

26. Strait
A narrow body of water
that connects two
larger bodies of water.

27. Channel
a narrow deep waterway connecting two larger
bodies of water; the deepest part of the
waterway.

28. Gulf
part of a sea or
ocean that reaches
into land; usually
larger than a bay

29. Lake
A large body of
water surrounded
by land

30. River
A large, flowing body of
water that usually
empties into a sea or
ocean.

31. {
delta
land built up by deposits of sand and silt at the
mouth of some rivers

32. mouth (of a river)
place where a river empties into a larger body of
water; the end of a river

33. Wetlands
• An area of land that is
often wet
• The soil is often low in
oxygen.
• Areas include
swamps, sloughs,
fens, bogs, marshes,
etc.

34. An area of low-lying
land that is
waterlogged at all
times, usually grasses
and reeds grow in a
marsh
Marsh

35. Swamp
A type of freshwater wetland
that has spongy, muddy land
and a lot of water.
Many trees and shrubs grow in
swamps.

36. Bog
Wet, muddy ground,
composed mainly of
decaying plant
material

37. Tidewater Areas that are directly
effected by the tides of
the oceans. Some
marshes, swamps, and
rocky areas along the
coast are included.

38. Pond
A small body of
water
surrounded by
land, Usually
smaller than a
lake.

39. {
island
an area of land completely surrounded by water

40. Peninsula
A body of land that
is surrounded by
water on three
sides.

41. Cape
a curved or hooked piece of land
extending into a body of water

42. Isthmus
narrow strip of land with water on both sides connecting
two larger pieces of land

43. Fjord
a narrow inlet of the sea between high banks
or cliffs created by glaciers

44. Glacier
A slowly moving
river of ice.

45. Harbor
a sheltered area of
water where ships may
anchor safely

46. Iceberg
a large mass of floating ice that has broken off from a
glacier, most of this is underwater

47. Sound
A wide inlet of the sea or
ocean that is parallel to the
coastline. It often
separates a coastline from
a nearby island.

48. {
archipelago a group of many islands

49. Inlet
a small part of a body of water that reaches into a coast

50. Reef
a ridge of rock or sand at or near the surface of the water

51. Reservoir a lake where water is collected and
stored for future use

52. Tributary
Sometimes called a
branch. A stream or
river that flows into
a larger river.

53. Rapids
a part of a river, generally shallow, where the currents
move swiftly over rocks

54. Waterfall
When water in a river
suddenly falls off over a
steep place.

55. Bay
part of a body of salt water that reaches
into the land; usually smaller than a gulf

56. Coast
land along the sea or ocean

57. continental shelf
plateau of land surface into the ocean but underwater
{

58. Types of grasslands are found around
the world. Grass is the most common
plant, usually located between forests
and deserts.
Prairies – North America
Pampas – South America
Steppes - Europe
Savannas - Africa
Grasslands

59. Savanna
Regions of tall grasses with a
few trees. Wet and dry
seasons

60. {
A very dry area
Desert

61. Land area with desert like
conditions, few plants, and
hills
Scrubland

62. Plains
Flat lands that have
only small changes
in elevation.

63. Prairie
A wide, relatively
flat area of land
that has grasses
and only a few
trees.

64. Tundra
A cold, treeless area,
usually found at high
elevations or at the
poles.

65. {
Forest
a large tract of land covered with trees and
underbrush extensive wooded area

66. Forest populated by
cone-bearing
evergreen trees;
mostly found in
Coniferous Forest northern latitudes

67. forest in a temperate
region, characterized
by trees that drop
their leaves annually
Temperate Forest

68. A tropical forest, usually
of tall, densely growing,
broad-leaved evergreen
trees in an area of high
annual rainfall.
Rain Forest