Key Geographical Terms (@Terraquestcivils) 28.
Seamount: A submarine mountain rising from
1. Archipelago: A group of islands clustered the ocean floor.
together in a sea or ocean. 29. Sinkhole: A cavity in the ground, especially in
2. Basin: A low area in the Earth's surface, often limestone bedrock, caused by water erosion.
with a river running through it. 30. Steppe: A large area of flat unforested
3. Peninsula: A piece of land almost surrounded grassland in southeastern Europe or Siberia.
by water but connected to the mainland. 31. Swamp: An area of low-lying, uncultivated
4. Savanna: A grassy plain in tropical and ground where water collects; a bog or marsh.
subtropical regions, with few trees. 32. Taiga: The sometimes swampy coniferous
5. Tundra: A cold, treeless region found in the forest of high northern latitudes.
Arctic and on mountain tops. 33. Tundra: A vast, flat, treeless Arctic region in
6. Watershed: An area of land that drains all the which the subsoil is permanently frozen.
streams and rainfall to a common outlet. 34. Wetland: Land consisting of marshes or
7. Canyon: A deep gorge, typically one with a swamps; saturated land.
river flowing through it. 35. Ziggurat: A rectangular stepped tower,
8. Oasis: A fertile spot in a desert with water sometimes surmounted by a temple.
9. Strait: A narrow passage of water connecting Key Desert landforms:
two seas or large areas of water. 36. Sand Dune: A mound or ridge of sand formed
10. Bay: Aa broad inlet of the sea where the land by the wind.
curves inward. 37. Oasis: A fertile spot in a desert where water is
11. Cape: A headland or a large promontory of found.
land extending into a body of water. 38. Wadi: A dry riverbed that contains water only
12. Geyser: A hot spring that intermittently sends during times of heavy rain.
up jets of water and steam. 39. Alluvial Fan: A fan-shaped deposit of
13. Lagoon: A shallow body of water separated sediment formed where a stream flows out of
from a larger sea by barrier islands or reefs. a mountain range.
14. Prairie: A large open area of grassland, 40. Playa: A flat-bottomed desert basin that
especially in North America. occasionally fills with water.
15. Atoll: A ring-shaped coral reef, island, or series 41. Mesa: An isolated flat-topped hill with steep
of islets. sides.
16. Cliff: A steep face of rock and earth. 42. Butte: A smaller, isolated hill with steep, often
17. Dune: A mound or ridge of sand formed by vertical sides and a small, flat top.
the wind. 43. Yardang: A streamlined hill carved from
18. Estuary: The tidal mouth of a large river, where bedrock or any consolidated material by the
the tide meets the stream. dual action of wind abrasion and deflation.
19. Gulf: A large area of sea partially enclosed by 44. Erg: A broad, flat area of desert covered with
land. wind-swept sand with little or no vegetation.
20. Harbor: A place on the coast where vessels 45. Hamada: A type of desert landscape
may find shelter. consisting of high, largely barren, hard, rocky
21. Isthmus: A narrow strip of land with sea on plateaus.
either side, forming a link between two larger 46. Bajada: A broad slope of alluvial material at
areas of land. the foot of an escarpment or mountain.
22. Lagoon: A shallow body of water separated 47. Inselberg: An isolated hill or mountain rising
from a larger sea by barrier islands or reefs. abruptly from a plain.
23. Oxbow Lake: A U-shaped lake formed when a 48. Deflation Hollow: A shallow depression
wide meander of a river is cut off. formed by wind erosion.
24. Pampas: Fertile South American lowlands, 49. Desert Pavement: A surface covered with
covering more than 750,000 km². closely packed, interlocking angular or
25. Permafrost: Ground that remains completely rounded rock fragments.
frozen for at least two years straight. 50. Salt Flat: A flat expanse of ground covered
26. Rift Valley: A large elongated depression with with salt and other minerals, usually found in
steep walls formed by the downward deserts.
displacement of a block of the earth's surface. 51. Pediment: A gently sloping rock surface at the
27. Sandbar: A long, narrow sandbank, especially base of a steeper slope.
at the mouth of a river.
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52. Badlands: A type of dry terrain where softer 73. Nunatak: A peak of rock protruding above a
sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have glacier or ice sheet.
been extensively eroded. 74. Striation: Grooves or scratches in bedrock
53. Rock Pedestal: A naturally occurring rock caused by glacial abrasion.
formation shaped like a pedestal, formed by 75. Glacial Till: Unsorted sediment deposited
wind erosion. directly by glacial ice.
54. Seif Dune: A long, narrow sand dune or chain Key intrusive and extrusive volcanic landforms:
of dunes, oriented parallel to the prevailing Intrusive Landforms (@Terraquestcivils)
wind direction. 1. Batholith: A large mass of igneous rock that has
55. Barchan Dune: A crescent-shaped dune with crystallized deep within the Earth.
the tips pointing downwind. 2. Laccolith: A dome-shaped mass of intruded
Key glacial landforms: igneous rock, with a flat base and a convex top.
56. Cirque: A bowl-shaped depression carved by a 3. Lopolith: A saucer-shaped intrusion with a concave
glacier, often found at the head of a glacial top and bottom.
valley. 4. Phacolith: A lens-shaped mass of igneous rock that
57. Arête: A sharp ridge formed between two forms in the crests and troughs of folded strata.
cirques or glacial valleys. 5. Sill: A horizontal sheet of igneous rock intruded
58. Horn: A pointed mountain peak surrounded between older layers of rock.
by at least three cirques. 6. Dyke: A vertical or steeply inclined sheet of igneous
59. U-shaped Valley: A valley with a characteristic rock that cuts across pre-existing rock layers.
U-shape, formed by glacial erosion. 7. Stock: A smaller, irregularly shaped intrusion similar
60. Hanging Valley: A smaller valley that ends to a batholith but smaller in size.
abruptly above a main valley, often with a 8. Volcanic Neck (Plug): A column of solidified lava or
waterfall. igneous rock formed in a volcanic vent, especially
61. Roche Moutonnée: A rock formation created when exposed by erosion.
by glacial erosion, with a smooth, gently Extrusive Landforms
sloping side and a steep, rough side. 1. Shield Volcano: A broad, gently sloping volcano
62. Drumlin: An elongated hill formed by glacial formed by the eruption of low-viscosity lava.
ice acting on underlying unconsolidated till or 2. Composite Volcano (Stratovolcano): A large,
ground moraine. steep-sided volcano built up by many layers of
63. Esker: A long, winding ridge of stratified sand hardened lava, tephra, pumice, and volcanic ash.
and gravel, formed by meltwater streams 3. Cinder Cone: A small, steep-sided volcano formed
flowing beneath a glacier. from tephra, ash, and volcanic rocks ejected from a
64. Kame: A mound or hill of sand and gravel single vent.
deposited by meltwater from a glacier. 4. Lava Plateau: A wide, flat surface formed by the
65. Moraine: Accumulations of dirt and rocks that eruption of low-viscosity lava that spreads over a
have fallen onto the glacier surface or have large area.
been pushed along by the glacier as it moves. 5. Caldera: A large, basin-like depression formed when
66. Outwash Plain: A flat area where meltwater a volcano erupts and collapses.
from a glacier deposits sediments. 6. Lava Dome: A roughly circular mound-shaped
67. Kettle Lake: A depression left behind after a protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of
partially buried ice block melts, often filled viscous lava from a volcano.
with water. 7. Fissure Vent: A linear volcanic vent through which
68. Fjord: A long, deep, narrow sea inlet bordered lava erupts, usually without any explosive activity.
by steep cliffs, created by glacial erosion. 8. Volcanic Bomb: A mass of molten rock larger than
69. Tarn: A small mountain lake formed in a cirque 64 mm in diameter, formed when a volcano ejects
excavated by a glacier. viscous fragments of lava during an eruption.
70. Glacial Erratic: A large boulder transported 9. Pyroclastic Flow: A fast-moving current of hot gas
and deposited by a glacier, often far from its and volcanic matter that moves away from a
source. volcano during an explosive eruption.
71. Paternoster Lakes: A series of small, circular 10. Geyser: A hot spring in which water intermittently
lakes formed in a glacial valley. boils, sending a tall column of water and steam into
72. Trim Line: A clear boundary on a the air.
mountainside marking the highest extent of a
glacier.
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