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Dale – Low area between hills, often with a river running through it; Defile – Narrow pass or gorge between mountains or hills; Dell – Small secluded hollow; Doab, also known as Interfluve – Land between two converging, or confluent, rivers; Draw – Terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between
These classifications overlap with the geological definitions of "upland" and "lowland". In geology an "upland" is generally considered to be land that is at a higher elevation than the alluvial plain or stream terrace, which are considered to be "lowlands". The term "bottomland" refers to low-lying alluvial land near a river.
A gap is a geological formation that is a low point or opening between hills or mountains or in a ridge or mountain range. It may be called a col, notch, pass, saddle, water gap, or wind gap. Geomorphologically, a gap is most often carved by water erosion from a freshet, stream or a river. [1]
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over a very long period.
Whittow describes a saddle as "low point or col on a ridge between two summits", [1] whilst the Oxford Dictionary of English implies that a col is the lowest point on the saddle. [2] Monkhouse describes a saddle as a "broad, flat col in a ridge between two mountain summits." [3]
A col in geomorphology is the lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks. [1] It may also be called a gap or pass. [1] Particularly rugged and forbidding cols in the terrain are usually referred to as notches. They are generally unsuitable as mountain passes, but are occasionally crossed by mule tracks or climbers' routes.
Examples are mountains, hills, polar caps, and valleys, which are found on all of the terrestrial planets. The scientific study of landforms is known as geomorphology. In onomastic terminology, toponyms (geographical proper names) of individual landform objects (mountains, hills, valleys, etc.) are called oronyms. [4]
A rift valley is a linear shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges produced by the action of a geologic rift. Rifts are formed as a result of the pulling apart of the lithosphere due to extensional tectonics. The linear depression may subsequently be further deepened by the forces of erosion.