TAIWAN GEOGRAPHY AND LANDFORMS
5 Yellow Class Ms. Chen
_____________ handout
LANDFORMS
Landforms are the features of the earth that together make up the land surface. They may be large features
such as a river terrace or floodplain, or small features such as a dune. Groups of landforms are called landscapes.
Term and definition
Picture OF Example
Term and definition
archipelago
basin
an area of water with
many scattered islands
It is where an area of the
earth dips on all sides
towards the center. It looks
like a bowl made out of the
earth.
Picture OF Example
Examples
are Japan,
New
Taipei Basin is a geographic
Zealand,
region in northern Taiwan.
Philippines
, Indonesia, and the UK Archipelago Sea in Finland has the most
islands
bay
butte
A bay is a partly
enclosed body of water.
Isolated hill with steep sides
and a flat top.
It is larger than a cove
but it is smaller than a
gulf.
Bays are safe for fishing
canyon
Taroko Gorge Canyon in Taiwan
cape
a narrow piece of land with
water on three sides that sticks
out into the sea, ocean, lake or
river.
a valley between cliff
walls
A cape is a point or head of
land projecting into the water.
Ex. Cape of Good Hope in
Africa
cave
channel
a strait or narrow sea
between two close
landmasses.
A hollow in the earth,
especially into a
mountain.
Ex. Bashi Channel is a
waterway between Y’Ami
Island of the Philippines and
Orchid Island of Taiwan.
Sanmin Bat Cave in Taoyuan County,
Taiwan
The deeper part of a river
or harbor
Mitchell Butte in Arizona
TAIWAN GEOGRAPHY AND LANDFORMS
5 Yellow Class Ms. Chen
cliff
continent
is a steep face of
rock and soil.
one of the great divisions
of land (such as North
America, South America,
Europe, Asia, Africa,
Australia, or Antarctica)
of the Earth
a cliff in Hualien
A cliff of cooled lava
on Penghu”s West
Island
delta
desert
Flat plain of mud or
sand between
branches of a river
A hot dry and sandy
region of little rainfall,
extreme temperatures,
and sparse vegetation.
The Gobi Desert in Mongolia
dune
estuary
A hill or ridge made of
sand
An estuary is a body of
water formed where
freshwater from rivers and
streams flows into the
ocean, mixing with the
seawater.
Sand dunes are
mounds of windblown
sand.
dunes at Holland
geyser
gulf
a hot spring that
sends up fountainlike jets of water and
steam into the air.
A gulf is a portion of an ocean
or sea partly enclosed or
surrounded by land. It is bigger
than a bay.
Little Oil Pit Geyser in
Yang Ming Mountain
National Park
Ex. Gulf of Mexico
hill
island
An area of land completely
surrounded by water, and
smaller than a continent
An area of raised land
that is lower and more
rounded than mountains.
A tract of land surrounded by
water, and smaller than a
continent
Chocolate Hills in Bohol, Philippines
_____________ handout
TAIWAN GEOGRAPHY AND LANDFORMS
5 Yellow Class Ms. Chen
. isthmus
lagoon
A narrow strip of land
connecting two larger
bodies of land.
a shallow body of water
separated from a larger
body of water by barrier
islands or reefs.
lake
marsh
low-lying wetland with
grassy vegetation
A lake is a large body of
fresh or salt water
surrounded by land.
mesa
mountain
A hill with flat top and
steep sides.
Giant hill with steep sides
and a peak
A mesa is a form of
plateau surrounded on all
sides by a lower terrain.
It’s smaller than a
plateau but bigger than a
butte.
Formed by the collision of
two tectonic plates.
mountain range
mouth (river)
A mountain range is
a series of more or less
connected
mountains ranged in
a line.
The mouth of a river is where it
connects to an ocean
or a lake and comes out. (like in
this picture)
Mt. Everest in Nepal and
Tibet – the world’s highest
mountain at 8,848 meters
high
The Rocky Mountains in N. America
_____________ handout
TAIWAN GEOGRAPHY AND LANDFORMS
5 Yellow Class Ms. Chen
ocean
peninsula
An extremely large body
of salt water covering the
planet
A peninsula is a narrow
strip of land projecting
into a sea or lake from
the mainland.
_____________ handout
A peninsula is a body of land Kenting National Park is in
that is surrounded by water on Hengchun Peninsula in
three sides.
southern Taiwan
plain
plateau
a large flat area of land
that is higher than other
areas of land that
surround it; a tableland;
large area of flat land
usually in the country
Dubbed “Little Taiwan” for its
rough resemblance to the map
of the Taiwan mainland, this sea
plateau is found on the island of
QiMei, Penghu
river
sea
Large flowing body of
water
The sea is a big body of water
that covers the earth and has
lots of salt.
Hsin Tien River
strait
source or head of
the river
the beginning of a
river; the furthest
place in that river or
stream from its
estuary
A strait is a narrow body of
water that connects two
larger bodies of water.
swamp
tributary
A swamp is a type of
freshwater wetland
that has spongy,
muddly land and a lot
of water. Many trees
and shrubs grow in
swamps.
a stream that flows to a
larger stream or other
body of water.
A tributary joins the Liwu river,
along the Baiyang trail in Tien
Xiang, Hualien
Mangrove swamp – Hung Shu Lin
TAIWAN GEOGRAPHY AND LANDFORMS
valley
A valley is a low
place between
mountains.
waterfall
an area in a stream
or river where
running water falls
down from a high
place.
5 Yellow Class Ms. Chen
_____________ handout
volcano
A volcano is an opening on the
earth surface which vents lava,
steam, ashes
wetland
natural swamp filled with
shallow (not deep) water
-an area of land that is often
wet; the soil in wetlands are
often low in oxygen. There are
many types of wetlands,
including: swamp, slough, fen,
bog, marsh, moor, muskeg,
peatland, bottomland, delmarva,
mire, wet meadow, riparian, etc.
Tropic of Cancer - an imaginary line that is located at 23.5° North of the equator.
The sun is directly overhead at noon on the Tropic of Cancer on June 21 (the beginning of summer in the Northern
Hemisphere and the beginning of winter in the Southern Hemisphere)
Tropic of Capricorn – an imaginary line that lies at 23.5° South of the equator. The sun is directly overhead at noon on the
Tropic of Capricorn on December 21 (the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of summer in the
Southern Hemisphere).
The area bounded by the Tropic of Cancer on the north and Tropic of Capricorn on the south is known as the "tropics." This
area does not experience seasons because the sun is always high in the sky. Only higher latitudes, north of the Tropic of
Cancer and south of the Tropic of Capricorn, experience significant seasonal variation in climate.