Earth’s Land Features.
What are some of Earth’s land
features?

Earth’s landforms include mountains, volcanoes,
islands, valleys, canyons, and caverns.
Earth’s Land Features

Landforms are solid features on Earth’s crust.
Another name for landform is land feature.
Examples of land features include mountains,
volcanoes, islands, valleys, canyons, and caverns.

Each type of land feature forms in a particular
way. Wind, water, or processes that happen
inside Earth form many different land features.
The shape of a landform can tell you a lot about
how it was made.
Mountains

A mountain is a land feature that is high above
the land around it. Mountains form when
processes within Earth push land upward.
New mountains are steep and
jagged.
Over time water and wind can wear
down mountains.
Older mountains have a more
rounded shape.
Volcanoes



Deep beneath Earth’s surface, rock is hot and
partly melted. It is called magma.
Sometimes pressure within Earth forces magma
to the surface. The magma erupts as lava.
As layers of lava harden, they can form a kind
of mountain-a volcano.
Islands



An island is a small land feature surrounded on
all sides by water. Some islands form from
volcanoes that rise from the ocean floor.
Another kind of island is a barrier island. These
islands form when ocean water carries broken
down rock materials away from the shore.
Over time the materials form islands that run
along the coastline.
Valleys




A valley is a low area on Earth’s surface
surrounded by hills or mountains. Valleys form
when rivers or glaciers erode materials from
Earth’s crust.
Valleys formed by rivers are V-shaped.
Valleys formed by glaciers are U-shaped.
The bottoms of most valleys slope downward
toward a stream or lake.
Canyons


In places where rivers erode the land over a long
period, a deep opening can form in Earth’s
surface. A canyon is such an opening-it is a deep
valley with steep sides.
The Grand Canyon in the Southwestern United
states is a series of canyons along the Colorado
River.
Caverns



A cavern, or cave, is a large hole in the side of a
hill or mountain.
Caverns often form when water mixes with
natural chemicals and minerals in the soils. The
chemicals break down certain types of rock.
Caverns also form when ocean waves erode rock
along the shoreline.



Sometimes water seeps into a cavern and drops
from the ceiling, leaving minerals behind. As
more water drops, the minerals form long, thin
shapes that hang from the ceiling.
If the water drops onto the cavern floor,
minerals can be left behind there too.
This process creates unusual shapes that look
like cones, saucers, or sculptures inside some
caverns.