| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Artesian Well | a well in which water rises under pressure from a permeable stratum overlaid by impermeable rock. |
| Alluvial Plain | a level or gently sloping surface formed of sediments laid down by streams, generally during flooding. |
| Atoll | a ring-shaped coral reef or a string of closely spaced small coral islands, enclosing or nearly enclosing a shallow lagoon. |
| Bay | a body of water forming an indentation of the shoreline, larger than a cove but smaller than a gulf. |
| Bog | wet, spongy ground with soil composed mainly of decayed vegetable matter. |
| Canyon | a deep valley with steep sides, often with a stream flowing through it. |
| Crevasse | a fissure, or deep cleft, in glacial ice, the earth's surface, etc. |
| Continental divide | a divide separating river systems that flow to opposite sides of a continent. |
| River | a natural stream of water of fairly large size flowing in a definite course or channel or series of diverging and converging channels. |
| River Basin | the area of land drained by a river and its branches. |
| Plains | An extensive, relatively level area of land. |
| Plateau | a land area having a relatively level surface considerably raised above adjoining land on at least one side, and often cut by deep canyons. |
| Steppe | an extensive plain, esp. one without trees |
| Tundra | a vast treeless plain in the Arctic regions where the subsoil is permanently frozen |
| Fault | a place where sections of the crust of the Earth move relative to each other. |
| Peninsula | an area of land almost completely surrounded by water except for an isthmus connecting it with the mainland. |
| Rift | an opening made by splitting, cleaving |
| Rift Valley | linear-shaped lowland between highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift or fault |
| Cliff | a high steep face of a rock. |
| Estuary | that part of the mouth or lower course of a river in which the river's current meets the sea's tide. |
| Swamp | a tract of wet, spongy land, often having a growth of certain types of trees and other vegetation, but unfit for cultivation. |
| Oasis | a small fertile or green area in a desert region, usually having a spring or well. |
| Desert | a region so arid because of little rainfall that it supports only sparse and widely spaced vegetation or no vegetation at all: |
| Mesa | a land formation, less extensive than a plateau, having steep walls and a relatively flat top |
| Gulf | a portion of an ocean or sea partly enclosed by land. |
| Delta | a nearly flat plain of alluvial deposit between diverging branches of the mouth of a river, often, though not necessarily, triangular |
| Mountain Peak | the summit of a mountain |
| Mountain Range | a series of more or less connected mountains ranged in a line. |
| Cave | a hollow in the earth, esp. one opening more or less horizontally into a hill, mountain, etc. |
| Cavern | a cave, esp. one that is large and mostly underground. |
| Stream | a body of water flowing in a channel or watercourse, as a river, rivulet, or brook. |
| Tributary | a stream that flows to a larger stream or other body of water. |
| Escarpment | a long, precipitous, clifflike ridge of land, rock, or the like, commonly formed by faulting or fracturing of the earth's crust |
| Glen | a small, narrow, secluded valley. |
| Savannah | grassland region with scattered trees, grading into either open plain or woodland, usually in subtropical or tropical regions. |
| Lagoon | an area of shallow water separated from the sea by low sandy dunes |
| Wadi | the channel of a watercourse that is dry except during periods of rainfall. |
| Hot Spring | a thermal spring having water warmer than 98°F (37°C): the water is usually heated by emanation from or passage near hot or molten rock. |
| Geyser | a hot spring that intermittently sends up fountain like jets of water and steam into the air. |
| Channel | the deeper part of a waterway. |
| Coniferous Forest | a type of forest characterized by cone-bearing, needle-leaved trees |
| Deciduous Forest | a type of forest characterized by trees that seasonally shed their leaves |
| Mangrove | any tropical tree or shrub of the genus Rhizophora, the species of which are mostly low trees growing in marshes or tidal shores, noted for their interlacing above-ground adventitious roots. |
| Glacier | an extended mass of ice formed from snow falling and accumulating over the years and moving very slowly |
| Reef | a ridge of rocks or sand, often of coral debris, at or near the surface of the water. |
| Rapids | a part of a river where the current runs very swiftly. |
| Fjord | a long, narrow arm of the sea bordered by steep cliffs: usually formed by glacial erosion. |
| Harbor | a part of a body of water along the shore deep enough for anchoring a ship |
| Piedmont | a gentle slope leading from the base of a mountain to a region of flat land |
| Waterfall | a steep fall or flow of water in a watercourse from a height, as over a precipice; cascade. |
| Volcano | a vent in the earth's crust through which lava, steam, ashes, etc., are expelled, either continuously or at irregular intervals. |
| Jungle | a wild land overgrown with dense vegetation, often nearly impenetrable, esp. tropical vegetation or a tropical rain forest. |
| Rainforest | a tropical forest, usually of tall, densely growing, broad-leaved evergreen trees in an area of high annual rainfall. |
| Valley | an elongated depression between uplands, hills, or mountains, esp. one following the course of a stream. |
| Lake | a body of fresh or salt water of considerable size, surrounded by land. |
| Basin | A circular or oval valley, or depression of the surface of the ground |
| Marsh | a tract of low wet land, often treeless and periodically inundated, generally characterized by a growth of grasses, sedges, cattails, and rushes. |
| Isthmus | a narrow strip of land, bordered on both sides by water, connecting two larger bodies of land. |
| Cape | a piece of land jutting into the sea or some other large body of water. |
| Polder | a tract of low land, esp. in the Netherlands, reclaimed from the sea or other body of water and protected by dikes. |
| Wetland | land that has a wet and spongy soil, as a marsh, swamp, or bog. |
| Karst | an area of limestone terrane characterized by sinks, ravines, and underground streams. |
| Esker | a serpentine ridge of gravelly and sandy drift, believed to have been formed by streams under or in glacial ice. |
| Island | a tract of land completely surrounded by water, and not large enough to be called a continent. |
| Strait | a narrow passage of water connecting two large bodies of water |
| Sea | the salt waters that cover the greater part of the earth's surface. |
| Lowland | land that is low or level, in comparison with the adjacent country. |
| Dunes | A hill or ridge of wind-blown sand |
| Sound | a relatively narrow passage of water between larger bodies of water or between the mainland and an island |
| Ice cap | An extensive dome-shaped or platelike perennial cover of ice and snow that spreads out from a center and covers a large area, especially of land. |
| Caldera | a large, basinlike depression resulting from the explosion or collapse of the center of a volcano. |
| Highlands | an elevated region |
| Beach | an expanse of sand or pebbles along a shore. |
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