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Surface of Earth, showing higher elevations in red. Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek γῆ (gê) 'earth' μορφή (morphḗ) 'form' and λόγος 'study') [2] is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features generated by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or near Earth's surface.
Landforms together make up a given terrain, and their arrangement in the landscape is known as topography. Landforms include hills , mountains , canyons , and valleys , as well as shoreline features such as bays , peninsulas , and seas , [ 3 ] including submerged features such as mid-ocean ridges , volcanoes , and the great ocean basins .
Some of this object's mass merged with Earth, significantly altering its internal composition, and a portion was ejected into space. Some of the material survived to form the orbiting Moon. Outgassing and volcanic activity produced the primordial atmosphere. Condensing water vapor, augmented by ice delivered from comets, produced the oceans. [15]
Land is often defined as the solid, dry surface of Earth. [1] The word land may also collectively refer the collective natural resources of Earth, [2] including its land cover, rivers, shallow lakes, its biosphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere (troposphere), groundwater reserves, and the physical results of human activity on land, such as architecture and agriculture. [3]
Historical geology or palaeogeology is a discipline that uses the principles and methods of geology to reconstruct the geological history of Earth. [1] Historical geology examines the vastness of geologic time, measured in billions of years, and investigates changes in the Earth , gradual and sudden, over this deep time .
The geological time scale encompasses the history of the Earth. [13] It is bracketed at the earliest by the dates of the first Solar System material at 4.567 Ga [ 14 ] (or 4.567 billion years ago) and the formation of the Earth at 4.54 Ga [ 15 ] [ 16 ] (4.54 billion years), which is the beginning of the Hadean eon – a division of geological time.
Atolls like Atafu in Tokelau in the Pacific Ocean are landforms associated to tropical climate. No atoll exists outside the tropics. Climatic geomorphology is the study of the role of climate in shaping landforms and the earth-surface processes. [1] An approach used in climatic geomorphology is to study relict landforms to infer ancient ...
Aeolian landforms, or Eolian landforms, are produced by either the erosive or depositive action of wind. These features may be built up from sand or snow , [ 1 ] or eroded into rock, snow, or ice. Aeolian landforms are commonly observed in sandy deserts and on frozen lakes or sea ice and have been observed and studied around Earth and on other ...