View source for Landform

{{Short description|Feature of the solid surface of a planetary body}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}

[[File:Chocolate Hills overview.JPG|thumb|The [[Chocolate Hills]] constitute a landform.]]

A '''landform''' is a [[land]] feature on the solid surface of the Earth or other [[planetary body]]. They may be natural or may be anthropogenic<ref>{{Cite book |editor-last1=Szabó |editor-last2=Dávid |editor-last3=Lóczy |editor-first1= József |editor-first2=Lóránt |editor-first3=Dénes |year=2010 |title= Anthropogenic Geomorphology |url= https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-90-481-3058-0 |doi=10.1007/978-90-481-3058-0 |isbn=978-90-481-3057-3 |s2cid=251582329 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Howard |first=Jeffrey |date=2017 |chapter= Anthropogenic Landforms and Soil Parent Materials |chapter-url= https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54331-4_3 |chapter-url-access=subscription |editor-last=Howard |editor-first=Jeffrey |title=Anthropogenic Soils |series=Progress in Soil Science |location=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |pages=25–51 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-54331-4_3 |isbn=978-3-319-54331-4 |access-date=20 March 2025}}</ref> (caused or influenced by human activity). Landforms together make up a given [[terrain]], and their arrangement in the [[landscape]] is known as [[topography]]. Landforms include [[hill]]s, [[mountain]]s, [[canyon]]s, and [[valley]]s, as well as [[shoreline]] features such as [[bay]]s, [[peninsula]]s, and [[sea]]s,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Landform |url= https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/landform/ |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231011035305/https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/landform/ |archive-date=11 October 2023 |website=[[National Geographic]]}}</ref> including submerged features such as [[mid-ocean ridge]]s, [[volcanoes]], and the great [[oceanic basin]]s.

== Physical characteristics ==
Landforms are categorized by characteristic physical attributes such as elevation, slope, orientation, structure
[[stratum|stratification]], rock exposure, and soil type. Gross physical features or landforms include intuitive elements such as [[berm]]s, [[cliff]]s, [[hill]]s, [[mound]]s, [[peninsula]]s, [[ridge]]s, [[river]]s, [[valley]]s, [[volcano]]es, and numerous other structural and size-scaled (e.g. [[pond]]s vs. [[lake]]s, [[hill]]s vs. [[mountain]]s) elements including various kinds of inland and oceanic [[body of water|waterbodies]] and sub-surface features. Hills, mountains, [[plain]]s, and [[plateau]]s are the four major types of landforms on Earth. Minor landforms include basins, [[butte]]s, canyons, and valleys. Tectonic plate movements under Earth's crust can create landforms by pushing up hills and mountains.

{{wide image|Cades Cove Panorama.JPG|600px|Panorama of [[Great Smoky Mountains National Park]] showing physical features of a rolling [[plain]], actually part of a broad [[valley]], distant [[foothills]], and a backdrop of the old, much [[weathering|weathered]] [[Appalachian Mountains|Appalachian mountain range]]}}

== Hierarchy of classes ==
[[File:1 li jiang guilin yangshuo 2011.jpg|thumb|[[Tower karst|Karst tower]] landforms along the [[Lijiang River]], [[Guilin]], China]]

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Landforms by order
|-
! Order !! Landforms
|-
| First || [[Continent]]s and [[ocean]]s
|-
| Second || [[Hill]]s, [[mountain]]s, [[plain]]s, and [[plateau]]s
|-
| Third || [[Lake]]s, [[summit|mountain peaks]], [[dune|sand dunes]], [[valley]]s, and [[waterfall]]s etc.
|}

[[Continent]]s and [[ocean]]s exemplify the highest-order landforms.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}} [[Glossary of landforms|Landform elements]] are parts of a high-order landforms that can be further identified and systematically given a cohesive definition such as hill-tops, shoulders, [[Saddle (landform)|saddles]], foreslopes and backslopes.

Some generic landform elements including: pits, peaks, channels, ridges, passes, pools and plains.

[[Terrain]] (or ''relief'') is the third or vertical dimension of ''land surface''. [[Topography]] is the study of terrain, although the word is often used as a synonym for relief itself. When relief is described [[underwater]], the term [[bathymetry]] is used. In [[cartography]], many [[Cartographic relief depiction|different techniques]] are used to describe relief, including [[contour line]]s and [[Triangulated irregular network|triangulated irregular networks]].

Elementary landforms (segments, facets, relief units) are the smallest homogeneous divisions of the land surface, at the given scale/resolution. These are areas with relatively homogeneous [[morphometric]] properties, bounded by lines of discontinuity. A plateau or a hill can be observed at various scales, ranging from a few hundred meters to hundreds of kilometers. Hence, the spatial distribution of landforms is often scale-dependent, as is the case for soils and geological strata.
[[File:Erg Tiffernine.tif|thumb|[[Erg (landform)|Erg]] Tiffernine in [[Algerian Desert|Algerian Sahara]]]]
A number of factors, ranging from [[plate tectonics]] to [[erosion]] and [[deposition (sediment)|deposition]] (also due to human activity), can generate and affect landforms. [[biology|Biological]] factors can also influence landforms—for example, note the role of [[vegetation]] in the development of [[dune]] systems and [[salt marsh]]es, and the work of [[coral]]s and [[alga]]e in the formation of [[reef|coral reefs]].

Landforms do not include several man-made features, such as [[canal]]s, [[port]]s and many [[harbor]]s; and geographic features, such as [[desert]]s, [[forest]]s, and [[grassland]]s. Many of the terms are not restricted to refer to features of the planet [[Earth]], and can be used to describe surface features of other planets and similar objects in the [[Universe]]. Examples are mountains, hills, polar caps, and valleys, which are found on all of the [[terrestrial planets]].

The scientific study of landforms is known as [[geomorphology]].

In [[onomastic]] terminology, [[toponyms]] (geographical proper names) of individual landform objects (mountains, hills, valleys, etc.) are called ''[[Toponymy|oronyms]]''.{{sfn|Room|1996|p=75}}

==Recent developments==
Landforms may be extracted from a [[digital elevation model]] (DEM) using some automated techniques where the data has been gathered by modern satellites and [[stereoscopic]] [[aerial photography|aerial surveillance]] cameras.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.colorado.edu/research/cires/banff/pubpapers/198/ |title=Conference paper: "Automated landform classification using DEMs"|access-date=26 June 2008|author1=Robert A. MacMillan |author2=David H. McNabb |author3=R. Keith Jones |date=September 2000}}</ref> Until recently, compiling the data found in such data sets required time consuming and expensive techniques involving many man-hours.  The most detailed DEMs available are measured directly using [[LIDAR]] techniques.

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* {{annotated link|Geomorphology}}
** {{annotated link|Glossary of landforms}}
** {{annotated link|Terrain}}
** {{annotated link|Geomorphologist}}
** {{annotated link|Geomorphosite}}
* {{annotated link|Beach#Erosion and accretion|Beach erosion and accretion}}
** {{annotated link|Beach evolution}}
** {{annotated link|Beach nourishment}}
** {{annotated link|Modern recession of beaches}}
** {{annotated link|Raised beach}}
** {{annotated link|Strand plain}}
* {{annotated link|Coastal management}}, to prevent coastal erosion and creation of beach
** {{annotated link|Landforms#Coastal and oceanic landforms|Coastal and oceanic landforms}}
** {{annotated link|Coastal development hazards}}
** {{annotated link|Coastal erosion}}
** {{annotated link|Coastal geography}}
** {{annotated link|Coastal engineering}}
** {{annotated link|Coastal morphodynamics}}
** {{annotated link|Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation}} (CERF)
* {{annotated link|Erosion}}
** {{annotated link|Bioerosion}}
** {{annotated link|Blowhole (geology)|Blowhole}}
** {{annotated link|Natural arch}}
** {{annotated link|Wave-cut platform}}
* {{annotated link|Longshore drift}}
** {{annotated link|Deposition (sediment)}}
** {{annotated link|Coastal sediment supply}}
** {{annotated link|Sand dune stabilization}}
** {{annotated link|Submersion (coastal management)|Submersion}}

{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Cite book|last=Room|first=Adrian|title=An Alphabetical Guide to the Language of Name Studies|year=1996|location=Lanham and London|publisher=The Scarecrow Press|isbn=9780810831698|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XEtiAAAAMAAJ}}

== Further reading ==
* Hargitai et al. (2015). "[https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bbm%3A978-1-4614-3134-3%2F1.pdf Classification and Characterization of Planetary Landforms]". In: Hargitai H. (ed.). ''Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms''. Springer. DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-3134-3
* Page D. (2015). "The Geology of Planetary Landforms". In: Hargitai H. (ed.). ''Encyclopedia of Planetary Landforms''. Springer.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Landforms}}
{{Wiktionary}}
* [https://code.google.com/p/open-geomorphometry-project/ Open-Geomorphometry Project]

{{Earth's landforms}}
{{Physical oceanography}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Landforms| ]]
[[Category:Landscape]]