SME
Physical Geography · Problem type
Landforms from their shape and process
Use this for “A valley has a flat floor and steep walls, with small valleys hanging high on its sides. What made it?”
Explore
A steep river in its upper course cuts down faster than it widens, and the slopes slump in after it.
Interlocking spurs and rapids mark a stream still far above its base level.
Assumptions
•
A landform’s shape records the process that made it: running water, ice, wind, moving crust or groundwater.
•
Rivers and glaciers cut down toward a base level; wind and faults can work above or below it.
•
One landscape often shows several processes, the youngest cutting across the older shapes.
Topic check
See what you know: 5 questions on this topic
New questions each time. Pass to mark it complete.