landforms
Natural features on Earth's surface
mountain
tallest landform
plain
The flattest kind of landform- they are vast areas of land without hills or mountains
sand dune
Piles of sand in deserts and beaches from gusts of wind
delta
Sand and soil carried by water at the end of a river- this forms a triangle
drainage basin
An area of land drained by flowing water
continental shelf
The land connecting the shore to the sea
continental slope
The land that slopes down toward the ocean floor
continental rise
At the bottom of the slope, where the continent and ocean floor meet
ocean ridges
Long mountain ranges that stretch across the middles of some oceans
crust
Solid rock that makes up the Earth's outermost layer
mantle
The layer of rock below the Earth's crust
outer core
Liquid layer below the mantle
inner core
Sphere of solid material at the Earth's center- the hottest part of Earth
tectonic plates
Made of crust and the upper part of the Earth's mantle. They can move
fault
A long, narrow crack in the crust where plates rub together
plateau
A high landform with a flat top
fold
A bend in rock layers- it makes the land scrunch up
earthquake
A sudden shaking of Earth's crust caused by plates moving along a fault
tsunami
A giant ocean wave that hits the shore
seismic waves
Vibrations caused by earthquakes
seismograph
An instrument that detects and records earthquakes
volcano
A mountain that builds up around an opening in Earth's crust
hot spots
Places where Earth's crust is very thin
weathering
The slow process that breaks rocks down into smaller pieces
physical weathering
When rocks change size and shape without changing their chemical makeup
chemical weathering
When the minerals in rocks change
erosion
When weathered rock gets moved by wind or water
deposition
Dropping off of weathered rock
glacial debris
Rocks left behind from melted glaciers
terminus
The bottom of a glacier where it drops of debris
glacial till
A mixture of gravel, small rocks, sand, and clay from a glacier
moraines
Mounds that form from materials glaciers pick up
flood
An overflow of water onto land that is normally dry
tornados
Columns of spinning wind caused from a thunderstorm
hurricane
A very large, swirling storm
landslide
The sudden downhill movement of large amounts of loose rock and soil
avalanche
The sudden downhill movement of large amounts of ice and snow