Aeolian Landforms Erosional Landforms
Formed by chemical and Created from exclusively
Characteristic mechanical action of wind
Dunes
 mounds or small hills
made up of sand
 may be dome-shaped,
crescent-shaped, star-
shaped, linear-shaped, or
parabolic
 can be 1-10 m high
Loess
 predominantly silt-sized
sediment formed by the
accumulation of
windblown dust
 appears yellowish or
brownish in color and it
exhibits “cat steps”
 thickness ranges from
Examples
few centimeters to about
100 m
Mushroom rock
 also called rock pedestal
 a naturally occurring
rock that resembles the
shape of a mushroom
 formed by earthquakes
or glacial action
Mountainous Landforms
Landforms that rise higher
erosional and weathering
activities
Mesas
 also called table
mountains
 elevated areas of land with
a flat top and sides that
are usually steep cliffs
 usually surrounded by a
resistant rock known as a
cap rock
Buttes
 have flat-topped hills and
steep sides and are
formed in arid to semi-
arid desert conditions
 cover a smaller amount of
area when compared to
mesas
 from French word which
means “hillock” or “small
hill”
Canyons
 sometimes called “gorge”
 a deep ravine between
cliffs that is often carved
from the landscape by a
river, wind, or glacier
 may appear like a valley
except that it is
deep0seated, narrow, and
surrounded by steep sides
 not produced by tectonic
activities or natural
disasters but were
influenced by water and
wind erosion over
Glacial Landforms
Landforms that result from
than their surroundings
Volcanoes
 landforms controlled by
geological processes that
form them and continually
act on them after their
formation
  contains rich soil that has
Hills
 elevated portions of land
that are formed by
geologic activities such as
faulting
 usually covered with grass
and are used as grazing
lands for goats, cattle, and
carabaos
 smaller than mountains
(only ~300 m high)
Valleys
 or dales
 low-lying areas of land
situated between hills or
mountains
 usually formed by the
actions of rivers and
glaciers
o V-shaped: carved out by
flowing water
o U-shaped: carved out by
glaciers
Fluvial Landforms
Landforms that underwent
the actions of the glaciers
Alpine
 formed in high mountains
Continental
 formed in cold polar
regions
sedimentation, erosion, or
deposition on a river bed
Delta
 a low-lying triangular
area located at the mouth
of rivers where it meets
an ocean, a sea, or an
estuary
been washed away and
deposited by running
water
*Alluvium – sediment that
has accumulated due to
interaction with a delta and
bodies of water
Peninsula
 also called byland or
biland
 a piece of land that
projects into a body of
water and is connected
with the mainland by an
isthmus
 formed by lithospheric
movement, water
elevation, and erosion
Meander
 A bend in a sinuous
watercourse of a river
 Formed when moving
water in a stream erodes
the outbanks then widens
its valley
 Has a concave bank
(inner bank – where
deposition of sediments
occurs) and a convex
bank (outer bank – where
erosions take place)
Sea cliffs
 high rocky coasts that
plunge down to the edge
of the sea
 results of erosional
actions of water and wind