Landforms
Geography · भू-आकृतियां · 17 facts
Loess — fine dust/silt deposited by wind far from deserts. Very fertile soil.
Inselberg — isolated steep-sided hill rising from a plain in a desert (erosion remnant)
U-shaped Valley — wide, flat-bottomed valley carved by a glacier (vs V-shaped by river)
Drumlin — elongated, egg-shaped hill of glacial deposits. Smooth on one end, steep on the other.
Arete — sharp, knife-like ridge between two cirques
Horn — pyramid-shaped peak formed when 3+ cirques erode a mountain from all sides (e.g., Matterhorn)
Cliff — steep vertical rock face formed by wave erosion at the coast
Sea Cave — hollow carved into a cliff by wave action
Sea Arch — when two sea caves on opposite sides break through, forming an arch
Stack — isolated pillar of rock left standing after arch collapses
Spit — narrow ridge of sand/shingle extending from the coast into the sea, formed by longshore drift
Beach — deposit of sand and pebbles along the coast by wave action
River creates: V-valley, waterfall, gorge (upper), meander, oxbow lake (middle), delta (lower)
Sundarbans = world's largest delta (Ganga-Brahmaputra)
Narmada and Tapti form estuaries, not deltas
Wind creates: Sand dunes (Barchan), Mushroom rock, Loess, Inselberg
Glacier creates: U-valley, Cirque, Moraine, Drumlin, Arete, Horn