1 of 2

http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/KidsInfoBits?vrsn=127&locID=tlc...

Kids InfoBits
(Choose "Print" from your browser to print the document. Choose "Back" on your browser to return to the
document. To save an image that may appear in the document, move the pointer (cursor) until it is on the
image, then right-click and choose "Save Picture As".)

Landforms

Landforms are physical features of Earth. They include mountains, hills, plateaus, and plains. Landforms are
shaped in many different ways. Earth's surface is always changing.
Tectonic plates are large pieces of Earth's crust. They move and shift. Sometimes they collide.
When tectonic plates collide, they can push up the ground. This makes mountains and plateaus. Plateaus are
large, flat, high pieces of land.
Tectonic plates can also pull apart, causing cracks in the land. Sometimes the land sinks, making basins.
Some basins fill with water to create lakes, seas, or oceans.
Volcanoes are openings in Earth's crust. They let magma (melted rock deep underground) rise to the surface
of the earth. Volcanoes often make mountains. Volcanoes created the Hawaiian Islands.
Sometimes lava flows along the ground. Lava is melted rock that flows out of volcanoes. If flat layers of lava
build up, they can make a plateau.
Glaciers (large bodies of ice) make many landforms. As glaciers move, they drag chunks of rock with them.
The rock cuts out the ground to make valleys and basins.
When glaciers melt, their water fills the valleys and basins to make lakes. Some water runs downhill as
rivers and streams. Water falling over rock layers creates rapids and waterfalls.
Wind can blow away soil or push sand into dunes. It can flatten the tops of mountains and hills. This creates
plateaus and mesas.
Over time, water can cut openings between mountains or plateaus. This makes valleys and canyons.
Water also makes waterfalls. Rivers eat away at softer rock downstream until they create cliffs. Water
splashing over the cliff makes a waterfall.
Land surrounded by water is an island. Coral makes some islands. Volcanoes make others.

8/16/2013 3:37 PM

2 of 2

http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/KidsInfoBits?vrsn=127&locID=tlc...

Land that juts out into the water can be a point, a cape, or a peninsula. A point is a piece of land with a sharp
end. A cape is rounder. A peninsula is a larger area of land.
An isthmus is a narrow strip of land. It connects two larger pieces of land. It has water on two sides.
Many landforms took thousands or even millions of years to form. Landforms change daily, but people
cannot usually see it. It happens too slowly. Scientists measure landforms and record the changes.

Source Citation: "Landforms." Kids InfoBits Presents: Geography. Gale, 2012. Reproduced in Kids
InfoBits. Detroit: Gale, 2013. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/KidsInfoBits
Document Number: BX3201367094

Copyright and Terms of Use

8/16/2013 3:37 PM