| Landform Type | Features | Examples with Location Worldwide |
|---|---|---|
| Alluvial Fans | Cone-shaped sediment deposits formed where steep streams enter flat plains; deposition of gravel and sand | Death Valley Fans, California, USA – Trail Canyon Copper Canyon Fan, Death Valley, USA South Badwater Fan, Death Valley, USA Kosi River Megafan, Himalayas, India/Nepal Atacama Desert Fans, Chile Tuttle and Lone Pine Fans, Owens Valley, California, USA Northeastern Egypt Fans Kangra Valley Fans, Himachal Himalaya, India |
| Floodplains | Flat, fertile areas beside rivers; experience periodic/seasonal flooding; rich in alluvium; important for agriculture and biodiversity | Pantanal, Brazil–Paraguay–Bolivia Amazon River Floodplain, South America Nile River Valley, Egypt Mississippi River Floodplain, USA Mekong River Delta, Vietnam Ganges–Brahmaputra Delta, India–Bangladesh Barotse Floodplain, Zambia Tigris–Euphrates Floodplains, Iraq/Syria Danube River Floodplain, Europe Okavango Delta, Botswana |
| Natural Levees | Naturally raised ridges along river banks; formed by repeated flooding and sediment deposition | Mississippi River, USA Yellow River / Huang He, China Ganges–Brahmaputra Delta, India/Bangladesh Amazon River, South America Rhine River, Netherlands Mekong River, Southeast Asia |
| Point Bars | Crescent-shaped deposits of sand, gravel and sediment on inner/convex bank of meandering rivers; formed where water velocity is lowest | Powder River, Wyoming, USA Little Brazos River, Texas, USA River IJssel, Netherlands River Koyukuk, Alaska, USA Mamoré River, Bolivia Gorges de l’Ardèche / Cirque de la Madeleine, France Lower Tisza River, Hungary Mun River, Thailand McMurray Formation, Alberta, Canada |
| Sinkholes | Depressions/collapses in ground; commonly due to dissolution of limestone or human-induced collapse | Xiaozhai Tiankeng, China Great Blue Hole, Belize Red Lake / Crveno Jezero, Croatia Sarisarinama Sinkholes, Venezuela Devil’s Millhopper, Florida, USA Guatemala City Sinkholes, Guatemala Bayou Corne Sinkhole, Louisiana, USA Winter Park Sinkhole, Florida, USA Daisetta Sinkhole, Texas, USA Bimmah Sinkhole, Oman Cenotes, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico Umpherston Sinkhole, South Australia |
| Dolines | Enclosed depressions in karst landscapes; formed by dissolution of bedrock or collapse of cave roofs; may be bowl-shaped or steep-sided | Xiaozhai Tiankeng, China Sima Humboldt, Venezuela Crveno Jezero / Red Lake, Croatia Dashiwei Tiankeng, China Zacatón, Mexico Great Blue Hole, Belize Dean’s Blue Hole, Bahamas Bimmah Sinkhole / Hawiyat Najm, Oman Cave of Swallows, Mexico Macocha Gorge, Czech Republic Cennet and Cehennem, Turkey Devil’s Millhopper, Florida, USA Winter Park Sinkhole, Florida, USA Guatemala City Sinkholes, Guatemala |
| Lapies / Karren | Small-scale karst surface features; deep grooves, ridges and pits formed by dissolution of limestone | The Burren, Ireland Malham Cove, Yorkshire Dales, UK Causses Region, Southern France Northern Puerto Rico and Western Cuba Alps, Europe Ankarana Reserve, Madagascar |
| Limestone Pavements | Flat beds of limestone exposed and weathered into grikes/fissures and clints/slab blocks | Malham Cove, Yorkshire Dales, England The Burren, County Clare, Ireland Ingleborough and Moughton, Yorkshire Dales, England Stora Alvaret, Öland, Sweden Désert de Platé, French Alps Winskill Stones, North Yorkshire, England Great Northern Peninsula, Newfoundland, Canada |
| Cirques | Steep-walled, armchair-shaped hollows carved by glaciers; often contain tarn lakes | Iceberg Cirque, Montana, USA Cirque of the Towers, Wyoming, USA Tuckerman Ravine, New Hampshire, USA Great Gulf, New Hampshire, USA Cirque de Gavarnie, Pyrenees, France Cwm Idwal, Snowdonia, Wales Coire an t-Sneachda, Scottish Highlands Śnieżne Kotły, Karkonosze, Poland Western Cwm, Nepal Karasawa Cirque, Japan Mount Xue Cirques, Taiwan Blue Lake Cirque, New South Wales, Australia Circo de Gredos, Spain Makhtesh Ramon, Negev Desert, Israel |
| Glacial Horns | Sharp, pyramid-shaped peaks formed when three or more glaciers erode different sides of a mountain | Matterhorn, Switzerland/Italy Mount Assiniboine, Canada Mount Everest, Himalayas Kinnerly Peak, Montana, USA Shivling Peak, Uttarakhand, India The Mönch, Switzerland |
| Arêtes | Narrow, knife-edge or serrated ridges formed by erosion of two parallel glaciers | Crib Goch, Wales Striding Edge, England Carn Mor Dearg Arête, Scotland Disappointment Cleaver, Mount Rainier, USA The Alps, Europe Himalayan Ridges |
| Glacial Till Landforms | Unsorted mix of clay, sand, gravel and boulders deposited directly by glaciers | Wayne County Drumlin Fields, New York, USA Clew Bay Drumlins, Ireland Kettle Moraine State Forest, Wisconsin, USA Long Island and Cape Cod, USA Midwestern USA Till Plains – Iowa, Illinois, Indiana Central Lowlands of Scotland Big Rock near Calgary, Canada Forefields of retreating glaciers, Iceland and Canada |
| Outwash Deposits / Glaciofluvial Deposits | Sorted and stratified sand and gravel deposited by meltwater streams from glaciers | Skeiðarársandur, Iceland Kankakee Outwash Plain, USA Canterbury Plains, New Zealand Eiscir Riada, Ireland Carstairs Esker, Scotland Eskers Provincial Park, Canada Devil’s Lake, Wisconsin, USA Kettle Moraine State Forest, Wisconsin, USA Usk Valley, South Wales Stillup Valley, Austria Loch Ness and Inverness, Scotland |
| Moraines | Accumulations of dirt and rocks/glacial till deposited by glaciers; record past glacier activity | Long Island, New York, USA Oak Ridges Moraine, Southern Ontario, Canada Valparaiso Moraine, USA Waiho Loop, New Zealand Salpausselkä, Finland Mueller Glacier, New Zealand Gorner Glacier, Switzerland Lake Louise, Canada Kaskawulsh Glacier, Yukon, Canada Wrangell–St. Elias National Park, Alaska, USA Rogen/Ribbed Moraines, Sweden Kettle Moraine, Wisconsin, USA Gaumukh–Tapovan, India Moraine Lake, Canada Chorabari Tal / Gandhi Sarovar, India |
| Eskers | Long, winding, serpentine ridges of stratified sand and gravel; deposited by meltwater streams within/beneath glaciers | Thelon Esker, Canada Uppsalaåsen, Sweden Badelundaåsen, Sweden Esker Riada, Ireland Great Esker Park, Massachusetts, USA Mason Esker, Michigan, USA Punkaharju, Finland |
| Drumlins | Elongated, teardrop-shaped hills formed by movement of glaciers over unconsolidated till; create “basket of eggs” topography | Central New York State, USA Central Wisconsin, USA Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Canada Northumberland County, Ontario, Canada Puget Sound Region, Washington, USA Clew Bay, Ireland County Down, Northern Ireland Vooremaa, Estonia Lake Constance, Germany/Switzerland/Austria Patagonia, Chile/Argentina Múlajökull, Iceland |