Land FormsWords and Pictures

Hemisphere

The way that we divide the earth into sections or halves. The earth

can be divided by the northern hemisphere and the southern

hemisphere; the eastern hemisphere and the western

hemisphere.

Equator

The Equator is an imaginary line on the Earth's surface equidistant from the North Pole and South Pole that divides the Earth into a Northern Hemisphere and a Southern Hemisphere.

Prime Meridian

Prime Meridian and its opposite the 180th meridianform a great circle t

hat divides the Earth into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.

Continent

A continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. There are seven regions commonly regarded as continents – they are (from largest in size to smallest): Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.[1]

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Latitude

The latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location north or south of the equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees (marked with °). The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north (written 90° N or +90°), and the South pole has a latitude of 90° south (written 90° S or −90°). Together, latitude and longitude can be used as a geographic coordinate system to specify any location on the globe.

Longitude

Longitude is the angular distance of a point's meridian from the Prime (Greenwich) Meridian. It is usually expressed in degrees, minutes, and seconds. Longitude is represented by lines running from north to south. The line of longitude (meridian) that passes through the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, in England, establishes the meaning of zero degrees of longitude, or the Prime Meridian.

North Pole

The North Pole is the northernmost point on Earth, lying diametrically opposite the South Pole. It defines geodetic latitude 90° North, as well as the direction of True North.

South Pole

The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole.

Relative Location

•Relative locations are described by landmarks, time, direction or distance from one place to another and may associate a particular place with another.

•Wheaton is west of Chicago

•Main St. is west of Hawthorne School

•An absolute location is a latitude and longitude (a global location) or a street address (local location).

•Florence, AL is 34o46' North latitude and 87.40' West longitude

•Paris, France is 48o51' North latitude and 2.20' East longitude

•Marshall Islands are 10o00' North latitude and 165o00' East longitude

 

Border

Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, sovereign states. Some borders are open and completely unguarded. Other borders are partially or fully controlled, and may be crossed legally only at designated border checkpoints.

Bay

A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds.

Gulf

A gulf is a large bay that is an arm of an ocean or sea.

Coast

The coastline is where the land meets the sea or ocean.

Coastal Plain

A coastal plain is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a seacoast and separated from the interior by other features.

Canyon

A canyon a deep ravine between cliffs or rock often carved from the landscape by a river.

Channel

A channel is a bordered area of a river, slough or ocean strait consisting of a bed and banks.

Delta

A river delta is the landform occurring at the river mouth, where the river meets the sea. It is largely a result of the silt brought down by the river system. The river spreads out into many channels

Harbor

A natural harbor a small inlet of water that is surrounded on several sides by land. It is a small sheltered bay.

Desert

A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Deserts are defined as areas with an average annual precipitation of less than 250 millimetres (10 in) per year.

glacier

A glacier is a large persistent body of ice. Originating on land, a glacier flows slowly due to stresses induced by its weight.

Island

An island is any piece of sub-continental land that

is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets,

cays or keys.

lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean, and are larger and deeper than ponds.

marsh

A marsh is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood.[1] Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and of course moss.

butte

A butte is a conspicuous isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; it is smaller than mesas

mesa

A mesa (Spanish and Portuguese for "table") is an elevated area of land with a flat top and sides that are usually steep cliffs. It takes its name from its characteristic table-top shape.

ocean

An ocean (from Greek Ὠκεανὸς, "okeanos" Oceanus[1]) is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 70.9% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.

peninsula

A peninsula almost an island; is a piece of land that is surrounded by water but connected to mainland via an isthmus.

mountain

A mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is generally steeper than a hill.

mountain Range

A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age

River

A river is a natural watercourse,[1] usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water.

Mouth of river

A river mouth is an opening in a river that flows into another body. It is normally the sea, but can also flow into other rivers.

plains

A plain is land with relatively low relief, that is flat or gently rolling. Prairies and steppes are types of plains; a plain is often thought of as a grassland, but plains in their natural state may also be covered in shrublands, woodland and forest, or vegetation may be absent in the case of sandy or stony plains in hot deserts.

plateau

A plateau, also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain.

source of river

The source or headwaters of a river or stream is the place from which the water in the river or stream originates.

sea

A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, the term refers to a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean

sea level

Sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface

tributary

A tributary is a stream or river which flows into a main stem (or parent) river. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea, ocean, or lake. Tributaries and the mainstem river serve to drain the surrounding drainage basin of its surface water and groundwater by leading the water out into an ocean or some other large body of water.

physical map

Physical map (cartography), showing identifiable landmarks such as mountains, rivers, lakes, oceans, and etc.

political map

A political map shows the defined borders of cities, counties, states and nations, with visible lines on paper that provide a representation of invisible lines on the land.

valley

A valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.

legend

A Legend on a map essentially tells you which signs on a map symbolize and represent, what is natural or a man-made feature. For example, a miniature blue tent on a map, represents the location of a camping site.

cove

A cove is a small type of bay or coastal inlet. They usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often inside a larger bay.