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Geolens

Realm

Landforms

Read the shape of a landscape

Examine how rivers, waves, glaciers and rock deformation create the landforms we observe in the landscape.

Layered cliffs, mesas and deeply incised valleys of the Grand Canyon in evening light.
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Grand Canyon from Hopi Point, Arizona. Resistant beds form steps and cliffs above valleys cut by running water.
The muddy Ucayali River winds through forest in Peru, with abandoned bends beside the active channel.
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Landforms

River long profile

A river’s long profile usually becomes gentler downstream.

Layered cliffs, mesas and deeply incised valleys of the Grand Canyon in evening light.
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Landforms

Landform types

Elevation, relief, slope and shape describe different properties of terrain.

Rounded potholes cut into dark bedrock beside flowing water in the Presque Isle River, Michigan.
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Landforms

River erosion

Flowing water can detach and transport material from a river’s bed and banks.

False-colour Landsat image of the Lena Delta with many branching distributaries and islands.
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Landforms

River deposition

Sediment is deposited when transport conditions no longer keep it moving.

The Wutach flows through a narrow, wooded gorge below exposed rock walls in the Black Forest.
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Landforms

River capture

Headward erosion can extend one river into a neighbouring basin and divert its headwaters.

Aerial photograph of Spurn Point curving across the Humber estuary entrance.
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Landforms

Coasts

Waves erode rock, transport sediment and deposit it along the coast.

The Aletsch Glacier curves through a steep Alpine valley, with dark medial moraines running along its surface.
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Landforms

Glacial landforms

Glacier ice flows downslope under gravity, even when its margin is retreating.

People cross pale limestone blocks separated by deep joints above Malham Cove, England.
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Landforms

Karst

Water containing dissolved carbon dioxide can dissolve calcite along joints and bedding planes.

Crescent-shaped dunes around Lagoa dos Barros on Brazil's Atlantic coast, seen from the ISS.
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Landforms

Wind landforms

Wind transports particles by suspension, saltation and surface creep.

An aerial view of the Oso landslide's bare source scar, debris path and deposits across the valley.
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Landforms

Mass movement

Gravity drives a slope downhill while friction and cohesion resist movement.

Polygonal ground and ponds on the tundra in Noatak National Preserve, Alaska, photographed from the air.
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Landforms

Periglacial landforms

Permafrost is ground that remains at or below 0 °C for at least two years.