The Land

If YOU lived there...

SECTION
3
TEKS 6A
You live in the state of Washington. All your life, you have looked
out at the beautiful, cone-shaped peaks of nearby mountains. What You Will Learn…
One of them is Mount Saint Helens, an active volcano. You know
Main Ideas
that in 1980 it erupted violently, blowing a hole in the mountain
1. Earth’s surface is covered
and throwing ash and rock into the sky. Since then, scientists have by many different landforms.
watched the mountain carefully. 2. Forces below Earth’s surface
build up our landforms.
How do you feel about living near a volcano? 3. Forces on the planet’s sur-
face shape Earth’s landforms.
4. Landforms influence people’s
lives and culture.

Building Background Over billions of years, many different

The Big Idea
forces have changed Earth’s surface. Processes deep underground
Processes below and on
have built up landforms and even shifted the position of continents.
Earth’s surface shape the
Wind, water, and ice have also shaped the planet’s landforms. planet’s physical features.
Changes in Earth’s surface continue to take place.

Key Terms
landforms, p. 35
Landforms continents, p. 36
Do you know the difference between a valley and a volcano? plate tectonics, p. 36
Can you tell a peninsula from a plateau? If you answered yes, lava, p. 37
earthquakes, p. 38
then you are familiar with some of Earth’s many landforms.
weathering, p. 39
Landforms are shapes on the planet’s surface, such as hills or erosion, p. 39
mountains. Landforms make up the landscapes that surround
us, whether it’s the rugged mountains of central Colorado or the
flat plains of Oklahoma.
Earth’s surface is covered with landforms of many different
Use the graphic organizer online to
shapes and sizes. Some important landforms include: take notes on Earth’s landforms.
• mountains, land that rises higher than 2,000 feet (610 m)
• valleys, areas of low land located between mountains or hills
• plains, stretches of mostly flat land
• islands, areas of land completely surrounded by water
• peninsulas, land surrounded by water on three sides
Because landforms play an important role in geography, many
scientists study how landforms are made and how they affect
human activity.

Reading Check Summarizing What are some common landforms?

Planet Earth 35
 Forces below Earth’s Surface some plates, like the Pacific plate, are quite
large. Others, like the Nazca plate, are
Geographers often study how landforms
much smaller. These plates cover Earth’s
are made. One explanation for how land-
entire surface. Some plates are under the
forms have been shaped involves forces
ocean. These are known as ocean plates.
below Earth’s surface.
Other plates, known as continental plates,
are under Earth’s continents.
Earth’s Plates Why do these plates move? Energy deep
A CADEMIC To understand how these forces work, inside the planet puts pressure on Earth’s
V OCABULARY we must examine Earth’s structure. The crust. As this pressure builds up, it forces
structure the
planet is made up of three layers. A solid the plates to shift. Earth’s tectonic plates
way something
is set up or inner core is surrounded by a liquid layer, all move. However, they move in different
organized or mantle. The solid outer layer of Earth is directions and at different speeds.
called the crust. The planet’s continents  , or
large landmasses, are part of Earth’s crust. The Movement of Continents
Geographers use the theory of plate Earth’s tectonic plates move slowly—up
tectonics to explain how forces below to several inches per year. The continents,
Earth’s surface have shaped our landforms. which are part of Earth’s plates, shift as the
The theory of plate tectonics suggests that plates move. If we could look back some
Earth’s surface is divided into a dozen or 200 million years, we would see that the
so slow-moving plates, or pieces of Earth’s continents have traveled great distances.
crust. As you can see in the image below, This idea is known as continental drift.

Earth’s Plates
Eurasian plate
North American
plate

Indian
plate
Pacific plate African
plate

Nazca South American

plate plate Australian
plate

Antarctic
plate

36 Chapter 2
 The theory of continental drift, first When two ocean plates collide, one
developed by Alfred Wegener, states that plate pushes under the other. This process
the continents were once united in a single creates ocean trenches. Ocean trenches are
supercontinent. According to this theory, deep valleys in the ocean floor. Near Japan,
Earth’s plates shifted over millions of years. for example, the Pacific plate is slowly
As a result, the continents slowly separated moving under other plates. This collision
and moved to their present positions. has created several deep ocean trenches,
Earth’s continents are still moving. including the world’s deepest trench, the
Some plates move toward each other and Mariana Trench.
collide. Other plates separate and move Ocean plates and continental plates
apart. Still others slide past one another. can also collide. When this occurs, the
Over time, colliding, separating, and slid- ocean plate drops beneath the continental
ing plates have shaped Earth’s landforms. plate. This action forces the land above to
crumple and form a mountain range. The
Plates Collide Andes in South America, for example, were
As plates collide, the energy created from formed when the South American and
their collision produces distinct landforms. Nazca plates collided. F OCUS ON
The collision of different types of plates The collision of two continental plates R EADING
The suffix –sion
creates different shapes on Earth’s surface. also results in mountain-building. When
means the act of.
Ocean trenches and mountain ranges are continental plates collide, the land pushes What does the
two examples of landforms produced by up, sometimes to great heights. The world’s word collision
mean?
the collision of tectonic plates. highest mountain range, the Himalayas,
formed when the Indian plate crashed into
the Eurasian plate. In fact, the Himalayas
B iogr aphY are still growing as the two plates continue
to crash into each other.
Alfred Wegener
(1880–1930) Plates Separate
German scientist Alfred A second type of plate movement causes
Wegener’s fascination with plates to separate. As plates move apart,
the similarities between the
gaps between the plates allow magma, a
western coast of Africa and the
eastern coast of South America led to his theory
liquid rock from the planet’s interior, to
of continental drift. Wegener argued that the two rise to Earth’s crust. Lava  , or magma that
continents had once been joined together. Years reaches Earth’s surface, emerges from the
of plate movement broke the continents apart and gap that has formed. As the lava cools, it
moved them to their current locations. It was only builds a mid-ocean ridge, or underwater
after Wegener’s death that his ideas became a
mountain. For example, the separation of
central part of the theory of plate tectonics.
the North American and Eurasian plates
formed the largest underwater mountain,
The theory of plate tectonics suggests that the plates
that make up Earth’s crust are moving, usually only the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. If these mid-ocean
a few inches per year. As Earth’s plates collide, sepa- ridges grow high enough, they can rise
rate, and slide past each other, they create forces
above the surface of the ocean, forming
great enough to shape many of Earth’s landforms.
volcanic islands. Iceland, on the boundary
Analyzing Visuals Looking at the map, what
evidence indicates that plates have collided or of the Eurasian and North American plates,
separated? is an example of such an island.

Planet Earth 37
 Plates Slide example, the Pacific plate is sliding by the
Tectonic plates also slide past each other. As edge of the North American plate. This has
plates pass by one another, they sometimes created the San Andreas Fault zone, an area
grind together. This grinding produces where earthquakes are quite common.
VIDEO earthquakes       —      sudden, violent movements The San Andreas Fault zone is one of
Earthquakes of Earth’s crust. Earthquakes often take many areas that lie along the boundaries of
place along faults, or breaks in Earth’s crust the Pacific plate. The frequent movement
where movement occurs. In California, for of this plate produces many earthquakes
and volcanic eruptions along its edges. In
fact, the region around the Pacific plate,
Plate Movement called the Ring of Fire, is home to most of
the world’s earthquakes and volcanoes.
The movement of tectonic plates has produced many of
Earth’s landforms. Volcanoes, islands, and mountains often Reading Check Finding Main Ideas What
result from the separation or collision of Earth’s plates.
forces below Earth’s surface shape landforms?
Analyzing Visuals What type of landform is created
by the collision of two continental plates?

The separation of plates can

allow magma to rise up and
create volcanic islands like
Surtsey Island, near Iceland.

Plate B

Plate A
magma

Plate B
Plate A

The Himalayas in South Asia

resulted from the collision of two
massive continental plates.

38 Chapter 2
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3rd pass
Processes on Earth’s Surface it across great distances. On beaches and in
deserts, wind can deposit large amounts of
For millions of years, the movement of
sand to form dunes. Blowing sand can also
Earth’s tectonic plates has been building
wear down rock. The sand acts like sand-
up landforms on Earth’s surface. At the
paper to polish and wear away at rocks. As
same time, other physical environmental
you can see in the photo below, wind can
processes are working to change those very
have a dramatic effect on landforms.
same landforms.
Earth’s glaciers also have the power to
Imagine a small pile of dirt and rock
cause massive erosion. Glaciers, or large,
on a table. If you poured water on the pile,
slow-moving sheets of ice, build up when
it would move the dirt and rock from one
winter snows do not melt the following
place to another. Likewise, if you were to
summer. Glaciers can be huge. Glaciers in
blow at the pile, the rock and dirt would
Greenland and Antarctica, for example, are
also move. The same process happens in
great sheets of ice up to two miles (3 km)
nature. Weather, water, and other forces
thick. Some glaciers flow slowly downhill
change Earth’s landforms by wearing them
like rivers of ice. As they do so, they erode
away or reshaping them.
the land by carving large U-shaped valleys
and sharp mountain peaks. As the ice flows
Weathering downhill, it crushes rock into sediment
One force that wears away landforms is and can move huge rocks long distances.
weathering. Weathering is the process by
which rock is broken down into smaller
pieces. Several factors cause rock to break
down. In desert areas, daytime heating and
nighttime cooling can cause rocks to crack.
Water may get into cracks in rocks and
freeze. The ice then expands with a force
great enough to break the rock. Even the
roots of trees can pry rocks apart.
Regardless of which weathering process
is at work, rocks eventually break down.
These small pieces of rock are known as
sediment. Once weathering has taken
place, wind, ice, and water often move
sediment from one place to another.

Erosion
Another force that changes landforms
is the process of erosion. Erosion is the
movement of sediment from one location
to another. Erosion can wear away or build
up landforms. Wind, ice, and water all Wind Erosion
cause erosion.
Landforms in Utah’s Canyonlands
Powerful winds often cause erosion. National Park have been worn
Winds lift sediment into the air and carry away mostly by thousands of years
of powerful winds.

39
 Water is the most common cause of Landforms Influence Life
erosion. Waves in oceans and lakes can
wear away the shore, creating jagged coast- Why do you live where you do? Perhaps
lines, like those on the coast of Oregon. your family moved to the desert to avoid
Rivers also cause erosion. Over many years, harsh winter weather. Or possibly one of
the flowing water can cut through rock, your ancestors settled near a river delta
forming canyons, or narrow areas with because its fertile soil was ideal for growing
steep walls. Arizona’s Horseshoe Bend and crops. Maybe your family wanted to live
Grand Canyon are examples of canyons near the ocean to start a fishing business.
created in this way. As these examples show, landforms exert
Flowing water shapes other landforms a strong influence on people’s lives. Earth’s
as well. When water deposits sediment in landforms affect our settlements and our
new locations, it creates new landforms. culture. At the same time, we affect the
For example, rivers create floodplains landforms around us.
when they flood their banks and deposit Earth’s landforms can influence where
sediment along the banks. Sediment that people settle. People sometimes settle near
is carried by a river all the way out to sea certain landforms and avoid others. For
creates a delta. The sediment settles to the example, many settlements are built near
bottom, where the river meets the sea. The fertile river valleys or deltas. The earliest
Nile and Mississippi rivers have created urban civilization, for example, was built in
two of the world’s largest river deltas. the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers. Other times, landforms discourage
Reading Check Comparing How are people from settling in a certain place. Tall,
weathering and erosion similar? rugged mountains, like the Himalayas, and
harsh desert climates, like the Sahara, do
not usually attract large settlements.
Landforms affect our culture in ways
that we may not have noticed. Landforms
often influence what jobs are available in a
region. For example, rich mineral deposits
in the mountains of Colorado led to the
development of a mining industry there.
Landforms even affect language. On the
island of New Guinea in Southeast Asia,
rugged mountains have kept the people so
isolated that more than 700 languages are
spoken on the island today.
People sometimes change landforms
to suit their needs. People may choose
to modify landforms in order to improve
their lives. For example, engineers built
the Panama Canal to make travel from the
Water Erosion Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean easier.
In Southeast Asia, people who farm on
For millions of years, the Colorado
River has worn away the rock at steep hillsides cut terraces into the slope to
Horseshoe Bend in Arizona.

40 Chapter 2
 Living with Landforms
The people of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
have learned to adapt to the mountains
and bays that dominate their landscape.
Analyzing Visuals How have
people in Rio de Janiero adapted to
their landscape?

create more level space to grow their crops.

People have even built huge dams along   
SUmmary and PReview Landforms
rivers to divert water for use in nearby are created by actions deep within the
towns or farms. ­planet’s surface, and they are changed by
forces on Earth’s surface, like weathering
Reading Check Analyzing What are some and erosion. In the next chapter you will
examples of humans adjusting to and changing learn how other forces, like weather and
landforms? climate, affect Earth’s people.

Section 3 Assessment ONLINE QUIZ

Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and Places Critical Thinking

1. a. Describe What are some common landforms? 5. Identify and Describe Use your notes and the
b. Analyze Why do geographers study landforms? chart below to identify and describe different
2. a. Identify What is the theory of plate tectonics? ­physical ­environmental processes and their effects
b. Compare and Contrast How are the effects of on Earth’s surface.
colliding plates and separating plates similar and Physical Environmental Process Effect on Earth’s Surface
different?
c. Predict How might Earth’s surface change as
tectonic plates continue to move?
3. a. Recall What is the process of weathering?
b. Elaborate How does water affect sediment? Focus on Writing
4. a. Recall How do landforms affect life on Earth?
b. Predict How might people adapt to life in an 6. Writing about Earth’s Land Think of some vivid
area with steep mountains? words you could use to describe Earth’s landforms.
As you think of them, add them to your notebook.

Planet Earth 41