landform

American  

[land-fawrm] / ˈlændˌfɔrm /

noun

Geology.

1. a specific geomorphic feature on the surface of the earth, ranging from large-scale features such as plains, plateaus, and mountains to minor features such as hills, valleys, and alluvial fans.

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landform British  

/ ˈlændˌfɔːm /

noun

1. geology any natural feature of the earth's surface, such as valleys and mountains

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landform Scientific  

/ lănd′fôrm′ /

1. A recognizable, naturally formed feature on the Earth's surface. Landforms have a characteristic shape and can include such large features as plains, plateaus, mountains, and valleys, as well as smaller features such as hills, eskers, and canyons.

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Etymology

Origin of landform

First recorded in 1890–95; land + form

Explanation

Anything that's a geological part of the earth's surface, including mountains, peninsulas, and canyons, is a landform. Landform is a good way to refer to natural features of Earth or any other planet or moon. A landform is defined by things including elevation, the type of soil or rocks, and slope. The moon's craters are landforms, and so are our planet's buttes, hills, ponds, and volcanoes. The movement of tectonic plates creates new landforms — and human activity, like surface mining, can erase old landforms.

Example Sentences

Despite its size, the massive landform is losing about 50 billion tons of ice more than it is receiving in snowfall, which places it in a precarious position in respect to its stability.

From Science Daily • Feb. 26, 2024

“None of the returned samples are in accord with the preflight hypotheses concerning the origin of landform units in this region,” it says of the bounty he brought back to Earth.

From Washington Post • Apr. 21, 2022

"We hope we can get a comprehensive covering of Martian topography, landform and environment, and the exploratory data of the radar detecting the Martian subsurface during one Martian year," she said.

From BBC • May 22, 2021

A CAS researcher atop the Yardang landform of Jili Lake in the Xinjiang region of northwestern China.Credit:

From Nature • Jun. 18, 2019

Luna could see each landform, each divot in the trail, each stream and clearing and waterfall.

From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill