Landforms
There are 3 main types of landforms (main
madely of what kind of rock?)
1. Plains:large, flat areas. They can be found
at both high and low elevations. Make up
more than half the USA
Interior plains: found in the middle of the
continent, often has grassy meadows & lots of
grazing animals
Coastal Plains: flat areas found near ocean
Coastal and
interior plains
Coastal plains are
always low in
elevation. They
are the exposed
part of the
continental shelf.
Landforms cont...
2. Plateaus: flat, raised areas of land made of
nearly horizontal rocks that were uplifted .
- they are different from plains because
they have steep edges
Another plateau.
Many plateaus are
cut by rivers.
Landforms cont...
3. Mountains: rocky landforms, high elevation
areas.
A. Folded mountains – formed by
continental plates getting pushed together
You can see the folds in
this picture – not covered
by vegetation.
B. Volcanic mountains –
- Form when lava or magma piles up after
several eruptions
Location of major landforms in the United States
Remote Sensing –
Figuring out what is where
- Science of acquiring information about
Earth's surface without actually being in
contact with it.
- Done by by sensing and recording reflected
or emitted energy and processing, analyzing,
and applying that information."
- Includes: Sonar, Satellite Imaging, Aerial
Photos, Microwave imaging
How do we figure out what the ocean floor
looks like?
- need to map ocean floor using sonar
- send sound waves down to bottom, wait
for waves to return & calculate depth
- Some underwater features indicate the
likelihood of finding particular minerals
Possible features (for lab activity):
A. Volcano
B. Rift Valley
C. Sea Mount
D. Guyot
Rift Valley
Volcano
Sea Mount
Guyot
This rift valley is
now exposed but
there are many
similar ones
underwater.
On land, they are
often associated with
fossils. Underwater,
they are associated
with igneous rock
formation.
Guyots are sea mounts
that were exposed,
eroded and subsequently
covered by water again.
This is an illustration of how scientists used remote
sensing to find an underwater volcano off the coast of
Antarctica in 2004. The volcano stands 2,300 feet (700
meters) above the seafloor and extends to within
roughly 900 feet (275 meters) of the ocean surface.