Physical Geography

Flat, or very gently sloping, areas of the ocean floor – about 40% of the total		Abyssal plain
Sediment deposited by streams, rivers and floods		Alluvium
A 'peak' in a system of folded rocks (opposite of a syncline)		Anticline
An underground layer (stratum) of water–bearing permeable rock		Aquifer
A sea abounding in islands (originally the Aegean); hence a group of islands		Archipelago
French word, used worldwide to denote a knife–edge ridge between two glacial valleys		Arête
Ring–shaped coral reef surrounding a lagoon		Atoll
Name used for a slow–moving channel, or a lake or pool, on the Mississippi		Bayou
German word (literally meaning 'mountain cleft'), used in English to denote a crevasse that forms where moving glacier ice separates from the stagnant ice above		Bergschrund
Australia: branch of a river forming a dead end or pool, or an oxbow lake		Billabong
Word used in the USA to denote an isolated hill, smaller than a mesa, but with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top (from the French, meaning a small hill)		Butte
"Cauldron" formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption – often confused with the crater of a volcano		Caldera
Series of waterfalls or rapids		Cataract
Dense scrub or thicket, evergreen shrub vegetation, brushwood – especially in California		Chaparral
Correct (French) term for an amphitheatre–like valley at the head of a glacier – known in Scotland as a corrie, in Wales as a cwm, in England as a coombe or coomb, and in the USA as a combe or comb		Cirque
Mounds of shattered granite – remains of tors – on Dartmoor		Clitters
Crack in a glacier		Crevasse
Separate channels of a river delta		Distributaries
Volcano: neither active nor extinct		Dormant
Ria		Drowned river valley
Rounded hill or ledge left after glaciation		Drumlin (drum)
Drainage basin where water cannot flow out but can escape only through evaporation or seepage		Endorheic
Point on the Earth's surface below which shock waves are generated in an earthquake		Epicentre
Boulder carried by ice away from its native area		Erratic
Ridge of sand laid down by a sub–glacial stream		Esker
An opening or vent in the Earth's crust, often on or near a volcano, that emits steam and gases such as carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen sulphide		Fumarole (or mofetta)
Hot spring throwing out streams of boiling water		Geyser
Eskers, drumlins, moraines: associated with the process of		Glaciation
Has a bergschrund at the top and a snout at the bottom; a Moulin is a shaft made by water, in a		Glacier
Rock of volcanic origin		Igneous
Narrow strip of land joining two larger land masses		Isthmus
Classic landscape of limestone (and other carbonate rocks), formed by the dissolution of layers of rock; named after a region in Slovenia that typifies it		Karst
Land between low water mark and high water mark		Kelp shore
Molten rock emitted by a volcano		Lava
Artificially raised river embankment, to prevent flooding (USA)		Levee
Marble is a granular crystalline form of		Limestone
Name used in the British Isles for a characteristic feature of karst landscapes, consisting of slabs of rock (clints) separated by roughly parallel cracks or fissures (grikes)		Limestone pavement
Yellow–grey loam soil, formed by the accumulation of wind–blown dust		Loess
Molten rock that exists below the surface of the earth, and emerges as lava when a volcano erupts		Magma
Flat–topped rock outcrop in the deserts of Arizona, Nevada and Mexico – the Spanish word for a table (see also Butte)		Mesa
Rock formed from igneous or sedimentary rocks, by pressure or temperature		Metamorphic
Rock debris transported by a glacier: can be terminal, lateral, medial, or ground		Moraine
Shaft in a glacier, allowing water in		Moulin
Orogenesis is the formation of		Mountains
Tides with minimum rise and fall (opposite of spring)		Neap
Formed when a river meander is breached at the neck, cutting off the loop		Oxbow lake
Temperate grassy plains of South America		Pampas
String of lakes formed by glaciation		Paternoster lakes
Formed by the incomplete decomposition of vegetable matter in soil, in acidic, waterlogged and anaerobic conditions		Peat
Land reclaimed from the sea in the Netherlands		Polder
Temperate grassland in North America		Prairie
South Africa: range of hills overlooking a valley		Rand (e.g. Witwatersrand)
Formed by the subsidence of land between two parallel faults		Rift valley
Arcuate, cuspate and bird's foot are the three main types of		River delta
French term (essentially meaning 'rock turned into a sheep') for a rock formation created when a glacier passed over it		Roche moutonée
Logan (e.g. one near Treen, Cornwall)		Rocking stone
Barchans, seifs, stars, transverse: types of		Sand dune
Grassland ecosystem with few trees or shrubs, between rainforest and desert (especially in Africa)		Savannah
Small rocks on a mountain slope, especially at the foot of a crag		Scree
Rocks formed by pressure on particles deposited out of air, ice, wind, gravity, or water flows		Sedimentary
Temperate grassland, especially in south–east Europe and central Asia		Steppe
A 'trough' in a system of folded rocks (opposite of an anticline)		Syncline
The world's largest biome (ecological type) apart from the oceans: characterised by coniferous forests, it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska, Scandinavia and Siberia		Taiga
Like scree but larger rocks		Talus
Name used in Venezuela for its 115 flat–topped, steep–sided mountains – including Roraima, which inspired Conan Doyle's The Lost World, and the one that features the Angel Falls (Auyantepi) – means "house of the gods" in the local native language		Tepui
Ridge of deposit left at the furthest reach of a glacier after it has retreated		Terminal moraine
German word – literally 'valley way' – denoting the line of lowest elevation in a valley or watercourse (which can be significant in border disputes)		Thalweg
Bar of sand or gravel joining an island to the mainland		Tombolo
A watercourse that drains into a larger watercourse		Tributary
Vast treeless plain of Arctic Canada, Greenland and Russia – characterised by permanently frozen subsoil and a specially adapted ecology featuring lichens, mosses and dwarf vegetation		Tundra
Violent cyclonic storm or hurricane, in or around the China Sea		Typhoon
Arabic term for a valley – used in English for a dry riverbed that may contain water after heavy rain		Wadi

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Physical Geography