S. No Landform Definition/ where How is it formed?
Features
are they found?
1. Mountains They are formed when earth’s They have pointed peaks.
These are large landforms that tectonic plates collide with each They are steeper and taller
rise very high above the earth’s other and rise above earth’s than hills.
surface. surface. They cover 22% of earth
For example, Mount Everest surface.
and K-2 are the two highest They provide habitat for many
peaks of the world. Both of living organisms.
them are more than 8000
meters high. Mount Everest in
Nepal and K-2 in Pakistan.
2.
3. Plateaus They can be formed in different They are usually very wide
These are high but flat ways and can spread to many
landforms. i) Erosion of big mountains kilometers.
E.g., Plateau of Tibet stretches due to wind or water They may have deep canyons
through China, Tibet and India. ii) Due to swelling of inside them.
magma under the
earth’s surface
4. Volcanoes These are formed where the Most of the volcanoes are
These are explosive landforms earth is thin and magma swells found in Japan.
through which lava comes out. very high They may be active or
For example, Mount Fuji in inactive.
Japan
5. Deserts These are formed when Rainfall is very less.
These landforms get very less mountains around them prevent Day time temperatures can be
rain and are dry most of the rain from getting there. as high as 55C.
year. There are hardly any plants in
For example, Sahara desert in deserts.
North Africa is the largest
desert in the world. Antarctica
is also considered a desert – a
cold desert.
There is only one desert in
Canada in Yukon.
6. Deltas Theya re formed when mud and
They are found at the end of other debris are collected at the
the rivers end of the river to form land.
7. Shield These are formed when old They are made of rocks that
This landform has a flat, rocky mountains move due to erosion are over 2500 million years
base. by water or wind OR by plate old.
For example, Canadian shield, tectonics. They can be rocky, hill or flat.
Ethiopian shield, Baltic Shield. They are usually covered with
Canadian shield covers more vegetation.
than half of Canada. It is called
the “core of Canada”. It
contains the oldest rocks of the
world.
8. Hills They can be formed due to Shorter than mountains
These landforms rise above the erosion by water or wind OR due They have rounded tops
earth’s surface and have to plate tectonics.
rounded tops.
9. Glaciers When snow remains in an area They are very cold. The
A glacier is a large collection of for years, it slowly turns into ice. temperature can be as low as
ice, snow, rock, sediment and Every year a new layer of snow -40 to -60C.
water. It is a slow moving river is added on the top of old ice They are very important as
of ice that moves downwards and glaciers are formed. they are a major source of
due to its own weight. fresh water.
For example, Alpine glacier in 91% glaciers in Antarctica
Autralia, 8% in Greenland
Siachin glacier in Pakistan
10. Valleys They are formed with the Their length is more than their
Flat land surrounded by mountains. When earth’s width
mountains are called valleys. tectonic plate collide and rise to
For example Hunza valley in form mountains, the low spaces
Pakistan become valleys
11. Islands They can be formed in many They are smaller than a
These are flat landforms ways: continent
surrounded by water on all i) From the cooled down They can be found in rivers,
sides. lava seas and oceans.
For example Victoria island ii) From the collected mud
and debris
iii) By breaking off from a
large piece of land