Chapter 1,Section 4Pages 39-42

Landforms and Waterways

• Mountains: towers of rock formed by the collision of the earth’s tectonic plates or by volcanoes

• World’s tallest mountain: Mount Everest• It is located in the Himalaya mountains in Asia

• Plains: low-lying stretches of flat land; usually stretch from the middle of a continent to the coast

• Plateau: flat, but high elevation

• Valley: lay between mountains and hills; long stretch of land lower than the land on either side

• Canyons: steep-sided lowlands; rivers have cut through a plateau

Another example of a canyon

Trenches: deep valleys in the ocean floor; lowest spots in the earth’s crust

Why do people decide to live in a particular area?

• Climate: Temp. and Rainfall

• Availability of Resources: freshwater, grow food, catch fish, raise animals

Bodies of Water

• 70 % of earth’s surface is water; mostly saltwater

• Strait: narrow body of water between two bodies of water

• Channel: wider passage than a strait

• The point at which a river originates/begins is called its source; usually high in the mountains

• The mouth of a river is where it empties into another body of water

Another example of a mouth of a river