Different Kinds of Landforms

Mountains - Mountains are landforms

higher than the surrounding areas.
They are formed due to the tectonic
movements,
earthquakes,
volcanic
eruptions
and
erosion
of
the
surrounding areas caused due to wind,
water and ice. Mountains are found in
the oceans and on land.

Plateaus - Plateaus are nothing but

flat highlands that are separated from
the surroundings due to steep slopes.
Collisions of tectonic plates, magma
action that causes the elevation in
earths crust etc can all lead to the
formation of plateaus.

Valleys - Valleys are flat areas

between hills and mountains and are
caused due to the actions of glaciers
and rivers over millions of years.
Valleys are divided into two kinds
depending on their shape viz. V shaped
valleys and U shaped valleys. V-shaped
valleys are formed by the flowing
rivers and U-shaped valleys are formed
due to glaciers.

Glaciers - Glaciers are slow moving

huge bodies of ice which take shape
due to the compression of the snow
layers. Glaciers move depending on
the pressure and gravity. There are
two types of glaciers, the alpine
glaciers which can be located in high
mountains and the continental glaciers
which can be located in cold Polar
regions.

Deltas - Deltas are low-lying, triangleshaped areas, located at the mouth of

rivers. In the course of creating a
delta, the sand, silt, and rock particles
are accumulated in a nearly triangular
shape.

Hills Hills are elevations of the

earth's surface that have distinct
summits, but are lower in elevation
than mountains. Hills may be formed
by a buildup of rock debris or sand
deposited by glaciers and wind. Hills
may be created by faults. Faults are a
slight crack in the earth which can
cause earthquakes. Hills are formed
when these faults go slightly upward.
The most famous hills in the world are
the Loess hills. The Black Hills are also
famous. You can find hills in low
mountain valleys, valleys, plains, and
even in your own backyard.

Deserts - Due to lack of adequate

rainfall, desert is a dry piece of land
with little or no vegetation. They are
mostly found mainly in rain shadow
areas which are leeward of a
mountain range with respect to the
wind direction. In deserts, the
atmospheric air is very dry, and
daytime temperature is high.

Plains - Plains are the landforms that

form the flat or the low relief areas on
the surface of the earth. This type of
landform might be formed as a result
of the sedimentation of eroded soil
from the top of the hills and
mountains or might be due to flowing
lava.

Islands - An island is a piece of land

which is surrounded by water from
all sides. Islands are formed either
due to volcanic eruptions or due to
hot spots in the lithosphere

Swamp is a wetland that is forested.

[1] Many swamps occur along large
rivers where they are critically
dependent upon natural water level
fluctuations.[2] Other swamps occur
on the shores of large lakes.[3] Some
swamps have hammocks, or dry-land
protrusions,
covered
by aquatic
vegetation,
or
vegetation
that
tolerates periodic inundation.[4] The
two main types of swamp are "true"
or swamp forests and "transitional"
or shrub swamps.

Rivers - Rivers are natural flowing

streams of fresh water descending
from mountains. They mostly flow
toward a lake, sea, ocean or another
river.

Mountain Range
- A mountain
range is a group or chain of
mountains located close together.
Since neighboring mountains often
share the same geological origins,
mountain ranges have similar form,
size and age. Think of them like a
neighborhood of houses all built
around the same time; while they are
not identical, they share similar
features and are similar in their
overall square footage.