BASIC GEOGRAPHY

GEO. 1
SUMMER - A.Y. 2019-2020
LESSON 3:
LANDFORMS OF THE EARTH
• Defined what are plate tectonics.
• Discussed modern theories on plate tectonics.
• Understood the continental drift theory .
• Identified the seven continents of the world; and
• Appreciated each of its distinct features and characteristics of each
continent.
Plate: The Earth’s
crust consists of a
number of mobile
plates, masses of
crust that move
independently of
adjacent plates.
 Tectonics: dealing with
structural features of the
Earth (e.g., mountains, ocean
basins).

Plate Tectonics: The

process that involves the
interaction of moving crustal
plates and results in major
structural features of the
Earth.

A unifying theory in geology that explains a wide range of geologic phenomena.

MODERN THEORIES
MODERN THEORIES
1. Diastrophism
2. Contracting Earth Theory
3. Convection Theory

4. Continental drift Theory

BASIC GEOGRAPHY
GEO. 1
SUMMER - A.Y. 2019-2020
LESSON 3:
LANDFORMS OF THE EARTH-cont.
Objectives:
At the end of the Lesson:
• Describe what are the features of the Earth in terms of its landforms.
• Discuss those features of the Earth’s Surface.
• Identify what are those landforms of the Earth.
• Identify what are those Oceanic Landforms of the Earth.
• Compare and contrast Continental landforms from Oceanic landforms
• Explain how natural processes affect Earth’s both Land and oceans.
WHAT ARE
 WHAT ARE LANDFORMS?
• Landforms are the natural
structures or features on Earth’s
surface.
• It is considered as the earth’s
Physical/Natural Feature.
CHANGES TO LANDFORMS
• Many of the changes on
Earth’s surface are the result
of weathering, erosion and
deposition.
• Earth’s surface is constantly
exposed to wind, water and
ice which cause changes to
landforms.
RESIDUAL
Land
Form
 •A canyon is a deep valley with very steep sides.
•Canyons are created by something called

CANYON erosion. This is when land is worn away over

time by some kind of force, like weather or a
body of water. ... Rivers carve into the land with
their rushing waters, wearing away the land
and over millions of years, a canyon is formed.
Famous Canyons:

Grand Canyon National Park Canlaob River Canyon,

Arizona, USA Cebu, Philippines
 • A long, narrow region of low land
between ranges of mountains, hills,
or other high areas, often having a
RIVER river or stream running along the
VALLEYS bottom. Valleys are most
commonly formed through the
erosion of land by rivers or
glaciers.
Famous River Valleys:
Yosemite Valley,
California, US
Located in the Yosemite National Park, the
valley is surrounded by high granite
summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan.
It has several prominent waterfalls such as
Tenaya, Illilouette, Yosemite and Bridalveil
Creeks and is drained by the Merced River.
DESPOSITIONAL
Land
Form
 •A delta is a usually triangular
shaped deposit of sediments at the

DELTAS mouth of a river.

•As a river loses energy, it drops dirt
and sediment to create a delta.
•This area creates rich farm land.
Famous River Deltas:

The Mississippi Delta

refers to the deposited
plains laid down by the
river, particularly when it
is in flood.

The Mississippi Delta, USA

 •A Sand dune is a mound of sand
formed by the wind, usually along the
SAND beach or in a desert. Dunes form when

DUNES wind blows sand into a sheltered area

behind an obstacle. Dunes grow as
grains of sand accumulate. Every dune
has a windward side and a slipface.
Famous Sand Dunes: The giant sand
dunes of Cerro
Blanco in Nazca,
Peru. 
How High We Talking? 3,860ft
(1,176m).
How High From Sea
Level? 6,791ft (2,080m).
What’s it Like? The second highest
sand dune in the world, the Cerro
Blanco can be found 38km from the
town of Vista Alegre, which is the
capital of the district of the same
name. 
 •A Sand bar is created when there is a
gap in the coastland with water in it. The
SAND deposited material eventually joins up

BARS
with the other side of the bay and a strip
of deposited material blocks off the
water in the bay. The area behind the
newly formed bar is known as a lagoon.
Famous Sand Bars:

Digyo Island, Cuatro Islas

Inopacan, Leyte, Philippines
 •A moraine is material left behind by a
moving glacier. This material is usually
soil and rock. Just as rivers carry along
MORAINES all sorts of debris and silt that eventually
builds up to form deltas, glaciers
transport all sorts of dirt and boulders
that build up to form moraines.
Famous Moraines:
Tucked on the remote east
shoulder of Mount Hood is the
Newton Clark Moraine, the
largest glacial formation on the
mountain, and one of its most
prominent features. Yet this
huge, snaking ridge remains
one of Mount Hood’s least
known and most mysterious
landmarks.
Mount Hood and the Newton Clark Moraine
from Bennett Pass Road
FOUR MAJOR

Land
Form
 Major Land Forms

•A plain is a flat area on Earth’s

surface.

PLAIN •formed when the rock making

up the land gradually is worn
away by weathering. Wind and
water cause this weathering.
 Major Land Forms

• A mountain is a place on
Earth’s surface that is
MOUNTAIN much higher than the
land around it.
 Major Land Forms

• A volcano is an opening on the

surface of a planet or moon that
VOLCANOE allows material warmer than its
S surroundings to escape from its
interior. When this material escapes,
it causes an eruption. ... Volcanoes
can be active, dormant, or extinct.
Mount Mayon - Philippines
Mount Vesuvius - Italy
Taal Volcano - Phillipines
 Major Land Forms

•A plateau is a flat area higher

than the land around it.
PLATEA •A plateau is a formed when
U moving water and wind erode a
part of a mountain leaving
behind some of the rock.
 Major Land Forms

•A hill is land that rises

HILL above the land around it.
•A hill has a rounded top.
FOUR MINOR

Land
Form
 Minor Land Forms

• A valley is a lowland area between

higher lands such as mountains.
VALLEY • Valleys are cut by water and ice
• Over very long periods of time, rivers
and glaciers cut a path across the Earth
leaving behind valleys between
mountain peaks.
 Minor Land Forms

• A basin is a depression, or dip, in the

Earth's surface. Basins are shaped like
bowls, with sides higher than the bottom.

BASIN The major types of basins are river

drainage basins, structural basins, and
ocean basins. River Drainage Basins. A
river drainage basin is an area drained by a
river and all of its tributaries.
 RIVER DRAINAGE BASINS
The drainage basin. A drainage basin is the area of land that it
drained by a river and its tributaries. When a droplet of water
falls onto the land (as precipitation), gravity will make sure that
the water is 'pulled' downhill to return to the sea.

Kissimee River, Florida
STRUCTURAL BASINS
A structural basin is a large-scale structural formation of rock strata formed by
tectonic warping of previously flat-lying strata. Structural basins are geological
depressions, and are the inverse of domes. Some elongated structural basins are
also known as synclines.

The Julian Alps rise above the crystal-clear waters of Lake

Bohinj in Bohinj, Slovenia. Like many lake basins, Lake Bohinj
was carved out as a glacier cut through the landscape.
OCEAN BASINS An oceanic basin is the land surface under an ocean that
includes the various topography below the water.
This includes the continental shelf, abyssal plain, mid-
ocean ridge and other formations that may exist on the
seafloor. Another definition of an oceanic basin refers
specifically to the abyssal plain that lies between higher
formations such as a continental shelf and mid-ocean
ridge.

Famous Oceanic Basins:

• Atlantic Ocean Basin
• Indian Ocean Basin
• Arctic Ocean Basin
• Pacific Ocean Basin
 Minor Land Forms

• Buttes are tall, flat-topped, steep-sided

towers of rock. Buttes were created
through the process of erosion, the gradual

BUTTES wearing away of earth by water, wind, and

ice. Buttes were once part of flat, elevated
areas of land known as mesas or plateaus.
In fact, the only difference between a mesa
and a butte is its size.
East and West Mitten Buttes, and Merrick Butte - seen from the visitor center at the Navajo Tribal Park in UTAH, USA
 Minor Land Forms

•A canyon is a deep valley with very steep sides.

•Canyons are created by something called

CANYON erosion. This is when land is worn away over

time by some kind of force, like weather or a
body of water. ... Rivers carve into the land with
their rushing waters, wearing away the land
and over millions of years, a canyon is formed.
To Recap….
Relief Forms

1st order relief e.g. 2nd order relief e.g.

3rd order relief- Left
Oceans & mountains, volcanoes &
Overs
Continents Plains

Depositon
Residual -Delta
-Canyons -Sand Dunes
-River Lakes -Sand Bars
-Moraines
To Recap….
According
to Size

MINOR
MAJOR
LAND
LANDFORMS
FORMS

PLAIN, VALLEY,
MOUNTAIN,
BASIN,
VOLCANOES
PLATEAU & BUTTES &
HILL CANYON
(Oceanic Landforms)
WHAT ARE OCEANIC LANDFORMS?
WHAT ARE OCEANIC LANDFORMS?
The oceans of the world are actually a
landform of water that do take up
71% of the earth's surface. It is made
up of a total of 5 bodies of water. The
world below the ocean contain a large
variety of landforms as well. These
include the following: mid-ocean
ranges, guyots, abyss, trenches and
even mountains!
 EARTH’S
Natura
Process
l
es
BASIC GEOGRAPHY
GEO. 1
SUMMER - A.Y. 2019-2020
• Describe what are the features of the Earth in terms of its landforms.
• Discuss those features of the Earth’s Surface.
• Identify what are those landforms of the Earth.
• Identify what are those Oceanic Landforms of the Earth.
• Compare and contrast Continental landforms from Oceanic landforms
• Explain how natural processes affect Earth’s both Land and oceans.
QUESTIONS?
BASIC GEOGRAPHY
GEO. 1
SUMMER - A.Y. 2019-2020