LandformsBy: Alyssa Perdomo

Volcanoes

There are many volcanoes you may or not know. The top 5 volcanoes in the world are Mount St. Helens located in Washington state, Mount Vesuvius located in Italy, Mt. Fuji located in Japan (currently dormant), Mt. Kilauea & Mauna Loa located in Hawaii, and Mount Killmanjaro located in Tanzania (currently dormant). There are also volcanoes found in the ocean floor and even under icecaps, such as the ones found in iceland. The biggest one in the world from this list is Mount Mauna Loa with piles lavas measured more than 56,000 feet. That’s a pretty big volcano alright!

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Volcanoes continued…

Do you know how volcanoes are formed? Well, volcanoes are formed magma from within the Earth’s upper mantle makes its way to the surface. At the surface, it erupts which makes lava flows and ash deposits. The lava hardens. Over time as the volcano continues to erupt, the pile of hardened lava will grow bigger and bigger till it can get like Mount Mauna Loa (56,000 feet). Did you know that the word volcano originally comes from the name of the Roman god of fire, Vulcan? Also, some famous volcanic eruptions of modern times include Mount Krakatoa in 1883, Novarupta in 1912, Mount St. Helens in 1980, and Mt. Pinatubo in 1991. Some common volcanic gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, and hydrogen sulfide. Another fact is that volcanic eruptions can send ash high into the air, over 30 kilmoeters (17 miles) above the Earth’s surface.

PlateausDo you know what the top 5 plateaus in the world are? Well, we have The Tibetan Plateau, The Colombia Plateau (top picture), The Antarctic Plateau (bottom picture), The Colorado Plateau, and The Deccan Plateau. From this information I can tell you that The Tibetan Plateau is the biggest plateau in the world, which is also called “roof of the world”. It is still being formed by the collisions of the Indo-Austrailian and Eurasian tectonic plates. If the smallest plateau in the world is 25,293 sq. miles, imagine The Tibetan Plateau compared to that. It measures about 970,000 sq. miles! I sure don’t want to get lost in The Tibetan Plateau.

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Plateaus continued… Plateaus can be formed by a number of processes,

including geological uplift, either due to the clash of continental plates, pressure from magma below or the burial of land by volcanic lava and ash flows, finishing in a high, flat surface. Did you know since a plateau looks like a table, they also call it a tableland. Plateaus are usually surrounded by steep rock faces called cliffs, and some plateaus lies between mountain ranges. Also, plateaus are good for planting crops. The third-largest plateau in the world is one is South America that lies in the middle of the Andes Mountains. Inside North America, the largest Plateau is the Colorado Plateau covering an area about 130,000 square miles in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. . An unusual balance occurred: the river that would become the Colorado River was able to erode into the crust of the Earth at a nearly equal rate to the uplift of the plateau

ValleysThere are many famous valleys in the world? Ill name a few, like The Indus Valley located in Pakistan, Valley of Flowers located in India, The Valley of the Kings located in Egypt, The Panjshir Valley located in Afghanistan, and The Nile Valley located in Egypt. Of course there are many more but that’s just some famous valleys of the world. One of the largest valleys in the world is the Great Rift Valley. Except, its formed by tectonics except erosion. The world’s largest valley formed by glacier and/or river is California’s Central Valley at 22,500 square miles.

Valleys continued… A valley is a long ditch in Earth’s surface. It usually lies

between ranges of hills or mountains. Most valleys are formed by rivers that erode, soil and rocks. As snow melts and flows down mountains and hills, it makes river or streams. These rivers carve into the Earth worth millions of years, even moving rock! The steeper the mountain, the faster the water flows. The faster the water flows, the deeper the valley it creates. Some valleys are steep canyons. Did you know that glaciers (huge sheets of ice) make even larger valleys? They slowly move down the mountain or hill, often following a valley already made by a river. They round out the valley so it had a U-shape instead of a V-shape. Occasionally, a valley isn’t caused by a river or a glacier. A valley forms where two plates meet, but it doesn’t fully touch. Also, valleys are usually protected from fierce winds or storms.

CanyonsEveryone should know that The Grand Canyon is the biggest canyon on earth. But, that doesn’t mean

that the other canyons are small, we have the Tara River Canyon located in Montenegro, Blyde River Canyon located in South Africa, Copper Canyon

located in Mexico, Cotahuasi Canyon located

in Peru, and so much more! The Grand Canyon is located in Arizona and

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