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Archipelago: a string or chain of islands

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Bay: a small body of water partially
surrounded by land

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Butte: a visible hill with steep, often
vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top
(Similar to but smaller than a plateau, mesa and table)

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Canal: a man-made waterway for boats
or for draining or irrigating land

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Canyon: a deep valley or crevice in the earths
surface, with very steep sides and usually with a
river running through it

Also known as gorges; ravines are similar, but

not as deep 6
Cape: a point of land that extends
into the sea or into a lake

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Delta: a triangular, fertile area of land
around the mouth of a large river

The Nile Delta northern Egypt 8

Fjord: a narrow, winding ocean inlet with
steep cliff-like sides (carved out by a glacier)

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Glacier: a huge sheet of snow or ice moving
slowly down a slope (mountain) or valley

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 Whats the difference between a
GLACIER and an ICEBERG?

A glacier is a river of ice, mostly on land. It is

fed by snowfields in the mountains and flows
down a valley, like a very slow moving river,
until it meets with the sea or a lake.

An iceberg is a large piece of ice floating in

water. It may have broken off a glacier.
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Geyser: a spring from which boiling water
and steam gushes into the air in intervals

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Gulf: a large portion of the ocean,
partially surrounded by land

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Island: a body of land completely
surrounded by water

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Isthmus: a narrow strip of land
connecting two larger pieces of land

The Isthmus of Panama 15

Jungle: land densely covered with trees,
vines, etc. (typically found in the tropics)

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Lagoon: a body of shallow sea or salt
water that is separated from a larger sea
by some barrier (sand, rock, reef, etc.)

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Lake: a large inland body of standing
water (usually freshwater)

Lake Michigan Lake Winnipesaukee

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Mesa: a tall, flat-topped mountain with steep,
vertical sides (usually found in dry places)

Buttes are small mesas 19

Ocean: a large body of salt water

Pacific

Atlantic

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Peninsula: a long piece of land
surrounded by water on three sides

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Plain: a large, flat, and mostly treeless
area of land

The Great Plains 22

River: a natural stream of water larger
than a brook or creek (typically flowing into
an ocean or lake)

Mississippi River

Merrimack River

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Sound: a wide channel linking two larger bodies
of water or separating an island from the mainland

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Swamp: wet, spongy land often partly
covered with water

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Tundra: a vast, treeless arctic plain

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Volcano: an opening in the Earths surface that
forms when lava, gases, and rocks erupt, or burst
out, from deep inside the Earth

Mt. Saint Helens

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