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 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 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.