| open List of Values: |
|---|
| Value | Description | Sorting |
|
active slope
|
(metastable slope) A mountain or hill slope that is responding to valley incision, and has detritus accumulated behind obstructions, indicating contemporary transport of slope alluvium. Slope gradients commonly exceed 45 percent.
|
2
|
|
alluvial cone
|
The material washed down mountain and hill slopes by ephemeral streams and deposited at the mouth of gorges in the form of a moderately steep, conical mass descending equally in all directions from the point of issue.
|
6
|
|
alluvial fan
|
A body of alluvium, with or without debris flow deposits, whose surface forms a segment of a cone that radiates downslope from the point where the stream emerges from a narrow valley onto a less sloping surface. Common longitudinal profiles are gently sloping and nearly linear. Source uplands range in relief and aerial extent from mountains and plateaus to gullied terrains on hill and piedmont slopes.
|
10
|
|
alluvial flat
|
A nearly level, graded, alluvial surface.
|
15
|
|
alluvial plain
|
A flood plain or a low-gradient delta. It may be modern or relict.
|
17
|
|
alluvial terrace
|
|
20
|
|
arroyo
|
(wash) The flat-floored channel or an ephemeral stream, commonly with very steep to vertical banks cut in alluvium.
|
22
|
|
backshore terrace
|
|
25
|
|
backswamp
|
(valley flat) Extensive marshy, depressed areas of flood plains between the natural levee borders of channel belts and valley sides or terraces.
|
27
|
|
backwater
|
|
30
|
|
badlands
|
|
35
|
|
bajada
|
|
40
|
|
bald
|
|
45
|
|
bank
|
|
50
|
|
bar
|
An elongated landform generated by waves and currents and usually running parallel to the shore, composed predominantly of unconsolidated sand, gravel, cobbles, or stones with water on two sides.
|
55
|
|
barrier beach
|
|
60
|
|
barrier flat
|
|
65
|
|
barrier island(s)
|
|
70
|
|
barrier reef
|
|
75
|
|
basin
|
A depressed area with no or limited surface outlet. Examples are closed depressions in a glacial till plain, lake basin, river basin, or fault-bordered intermontane structure such as the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming.
|
80
|
|
basin floor
|
|
85
|
|
bay
|
|
90
|
|
bayou
|
|
95
|
|
beach
|
The unconsolidated material that covers a gently sloping zone, typically with a concave profile, extending landward from the low-water line to the place where there is a definite change in material or physiographic form (such as a cliff) or to the line of permanent vegetation; the relatively thick and temporary accumulation of loose water-borne material (usually well-sorted sand and pebbles, accompanied by mud, cobbles, boulders, and smoothed rock and shell fragment) that is in active transit along, or deposited on the shore zone between the limits of low water and high water.
|
100
|
|
beach ridge
|
|
105
|
|
bench
|
|
110
|
|
blowout
|
|
115
|
|
bluff
|
(a) A high bank or bold headland, with a broad, precipitous, sometimes rounded cliff face overlooking a plain or body of water, especially on the outside of a stream meander; (b) any cliff with a steep, broad face.
|
117
|
|
bottomlands
|
|
120
|
|
braided channel or stream
|
(flood-plain landforms) A channel or stream with multiple channels that interweave as a result of repeated bifurcation and convergence of flow around interchannel bars, resembling in plan the strands of a complex braid. Braiding is generally confined to broad, shallow streams of low sinuosity, high bedload, non-cohesive bank material, and step gradient. At a given bank-full discharge, braided streams have steeper slopes and shallower, broader, and less stable channel cross sections than meandering streams.
|
122
|
|
butte
|
|
125
|
|
caldera
|
|
130
|
|
canyon
|
A long, deep, narrow, very steep-sided valley with high and precipitous walls in an area of high local relief.
|
135
|
|
carolina bay
|
|
140
|
|
channel
|
|
145
|
|
chenier
|
|
150
|
|
chenier plain
|
|
155
|
|
cirque
|
Semicircular, concave, bowl-like area with steep face primarily resulting from erosive activity of a mountain glacier.
|
160
|
|
cirque floor
|
|
165
|
|
cirque headwall
|
|
170
|
|
cliff
|
Any high, very steep to perpendicular or overhanging face of rock or earth; a precipice.
|
175
|
|
coast
|
|
180
|
|
coastal plain
|
|
185
|
|
col
|
|
190
|
|
collapse sinkhole
|
|
195
|
|
colluvial shoulder
|
|
200
|
|
colluvial slope
|
|
205
|
|
cove
|
|
210
|
|
crest
|
(summit) The commonly linear top of a ridge, hill or mountain.
|
212
|
|
cuesta
|
|
215
|
|
debris slide
|
|
220
|
|
delta
|
A body of alluvium, nearly flat and fan-shaped, deposited at or near the mouth of a river or stream where it enters a body of relatively quiet water, usually a sea or lake.
|
225
|
|
delta plain
|
|
230
|
|
depositional levee
|
|
235
|
|
depositional stream terrace
|
|
240
|
|
depression
|
|
245
|
|
desert pavement
|
|
250
|
|
dike
|
|
255
|
|
doline
|
|
260
|
|
dome
|
A roughly symmetrical upfold, with bed dipping in all directions, more or less equally, from a point. A smoothly rounded landform or rock mass such as a rock-capped mountain summit, roughly resembling the dome of a building.
|
265
|
|
drainage
|
|
270
|
|
drainage channel (undifferentiated)
|
|
275
|
|
draw
|
|
280
|
|
drumlin
|
A low, smooth, elongated oval hill, mound, or ridge of compact glacial till that may or may not have a core of bedrock or stratified glacial drift. The longer axis is parallel to the general direction of glacier flow. Drumlins are products of streamline (laminar) flow of glaciers, which molded the subglacial floor through a combination of erosion and deposition.
|
285
|
|
dune (undifferentiated)
|
A mound, ridge, or hill of loose, windblown granular material (generally sand), either bare or covered with vegetation.
|
290
|
|
dune field
|
|
295
|
|
earth flow
|
|
300
|
|
earth hummock
|
|
305
|
|
eroded bench
|
|
310
|
|
eroding stream channel system
|
|
315
|
|
erosional stream terrace
|
|
320
|
|
escarpment
|
(scarp) A relatively continuous and steep slope or cliff breaking the general continuity of more gently sloping land surfaces and produced by erosion or faulting. The term is more often applied to cliffs produced by differential erosion.
|
325
|
|
esker
|
A long, narrow sinuous, steep-sided ridge composed of irregularly stratified sand and gravel that was deposited by a subsurface stream flowing between ice walls, or in an ice tunnel of a retreating glacier, and was left behind when the ice melted.
|
330
|
|
estuary
|
|
335
|
|
exogenous dome
|
|
340
|
|
fan piedmont
|
|
345
|
|
fault scarp
|
|
350
|
|
fault terrace
|
|
355
|
|
fissure
|
|
360
|
|
fissure vent
|
|
365
|
|
flat
|
A general term for a level or nearly level surface or small area of land marked by little or no relief, eg. mud flat or valley flat.
|
367
|
|
flood plain
|
(bottomland) The nearly level alluvial plain that borders a stream and is subject to inundation under flood-stage conditions unless protected artificially. It is usually a constructional landform built of sediment deposited during overflow and lateral migration of the stream.
|
370
|
|
fluvial
|
|
375
|
|
foothills
|
|
380
|
|
foredune
|
|
385
|
|
frost creep slope
|
|
390
|
|
frost mound
|
|
395
|
|
frost scar
|
|
400
|
|
gap
|
|
405
|
|
glaciated uplands
|
|
410
|
|
glacier
|
|
415
|
|
gorge
|
(a) A narrow, deep valley with nearly vertical rocky walls, enclosed by mountains, smaller than a canyon, and more steep-sided than a ravine; especially a restricted, steep-walled part of a canyon. (b) A narrow defile or passage between hills or mountains.
|
420
|
|
graben
|
|
425
|
|
ground moraine
|
|
430
|
|
gulch
|
|
435
|
|
hanging valley
|
|
440
|
|
headland
|
|
445
|
|
highland
|
|
450
|
|
hills
|
(foothills) A natural elevation of the land surface, rising as much as 300 m above the surrounding lowlands, usually of restricted summit area (relative to a tableland) and having a well-defined outline; hill slopes generally exceed 15%. The distinction between a hill and a mountain is often dependent on local usage.
|
455
|
|
hillslope bedrock outcrop
|
|
460
|
|
hogback
|
|
465
|
|
hoodoo
|
|
470
|
|
hummock
|
A rounded or conical mound of knoll, hillock, or other small elevation. Also, a slight rise of ground above a level surface.
|
475
|
|
inlet
|
|
480
|
|
inselberg
|
|
485
|
|
interdune flat
|
|
490
|
|
interfluve
|
|
495
|
|
island
|
|
500
|
|
kame
|
A moundlike hill of ice-contact glacial drift, composed chiefly of stratified sand and gravel.
|
505
|
|
kame moraine
|
|
510
|
|
kame terrace
|
|
515
|
|
karst
|
|
520
|
|
karst tower
|
|
525
|
|
karst window
|
|
530
|
|
kegel karst
|
|
535
|
|
kettle
|
A steep-sided bowl-shaped depression without surface drainage. It is in glacial drift deposits and believed to have formed by the melting of a large, detached block of stagnant ice buried in the glacial drift.
|
540
|
|
kettled outwash plain
|
|
545
|
|
knob
|
(a) A rounded eminence, as a knoll, hillock, or small hill or mountain; especially a prominent or isolated hill with steep sides, commonly found in the southern United States. (b) A peak or other projection from the top of a hill or mountain. Also a boulder or group of boulders or an area of resistant rocks protruding from the side of a hill or mountain.
|
550
|
|
knoll
|
|
555
|
|
lagoon
|
|
560
|
|
lake
|
|
565
|
|
lake bed
|
|
570
|
|
lake plain
|
|
575
|
|
lake terrace
|
|
580
|
|
lateral moraine
|
|
585
|
|
lateral scarp (undifferentiated)
|
|
590
|
|
lava flow (undifferentiated)
|
|
595
|
|
ledge
|
|
600
|
|
levee
|
(floodwall, earth dike) An artificial or natural embankment built along the margin of a watercourse or an arm of the sea, to protect land from inundation or to confine streamflow to its channel.
|
605
|
|
loess deposit (undifferentiated)
|
|
610
|
|
longshore bar
|
|
615
|
|
lowland
|
|
620
|
|
marine terrace (undifferentiated)
|
|
625
|
|
meander belt
|
|
630
|
|
meander scar
|
|
635
|
|
mesa
|
|
640
|
|
mid slope
|
|
645
|
|
mima mound
|
|
650
|
|
monadnock
|
|
655
|
|
moraine (undifferentiated)
|
A drift topography characterized by chaotic mounds and pits, generally randomly oriented, developed in superglacial drift by collapse and flow as the underlying stagnant ice melted. Slopes may be steep and unstable and there will be used and unused stream coursed and lake depressions interspersed with the morainic ridges. Consequently, there will be rapid or abrupt changes between materials of differing lithology.
|
660
|
|
mound
|
|
665
|
|
mountain valley
|
|
670
|
|
mountain(s)
|
(hill) A natural elevation of the land surface, rising more than 300 m above surrounding lowlands, usually of restricted summit area (relative to a plateau), and generally having steep sides (greater than 25 percent slope) with or without considerable bare-rock surface. A mountain can occur as a single, isolated mass or in a group forming a chain or range. Mountains are primarily formed by deep-seated earth movements and/or volcanic action and secondarily by differential erosion.
|
675
|
|
mountain-valley fan
|
|
680
|
|
mud flat
|
|
685
|
|
noseslope
|
|
690
|
|
outwash fan
|
|
695
|
|
outwash plain
|
(glacial outwash, kettles) An extensive lowland area of coarse textured, glaciofluvial material. An outwash plain is commonly smooth; where pitted, due to melt-out of incorporated ice masses, it is generally low in relief.
|
700
|
|
outwash terrace
|
|
705
|
|
oxbow
|
(meander belt, oxbow lake) A closely looping stream meander having an extreme curvature such that only a neck of land is left between the two parts of the stream. A term used in New England for the land enclosed, or partly enclosed, within an oxbow.
|
710
|
|
patterned ground (undifferentiated)
|
|
715
|
|
peat dome
|
|
720
|
|
periglacial boulderfield
|
|
725
|
|
piedmont
|
|
730
|
|
pimple mounds
|
|
735
|
|
pingo
|
A large frost mound; especially a relatively large conical mound of soil-covered ice (commonly 30 to 50 m high and up to 400 m in diameter) raised in part by hydrostatic pressure within and below the permafrost of Arctic regions, and of more than 1 year’s duration.
|
740
|
|
pinnacle
|
|
745
|
|
plain
|
(lowland, plateau) An extensive lowland area that ranges from level to gently sloping or undulating. A plain has few or no prominent hills or valleys, and usually occurs at low elevation with reference to surrounding areas (local relief generally less than 100m, although some, such as the Great Plains of the United States, are as much as 1000 to 1800 m above sea level.) Where dissected, remnants of a plain can form the local uplands.
|
750
|
|
plateau
|
(mesa, plain) An extensive upland mass with a relatively flat summit area that is considerably elevated (more than 100m) above adjacent lowlands, and is separated from them on one or more sides by escarpments. A comparatively large part of a plateau surface is near summit level.
|
755
|
|
playa
|
|
760
|
|
polygon (high-centered)
|
|
765
|
|
polygon (low-centered)
|
|
770
|
|
pothole
|
|
775
|
|
raised beach
|
|
780
|
|
raised estuary
|
|
785
|
|
raised mudflat
|
|
790
|
|
raised tidal flat
|
|
795
|
|
ravine
|
(gulch, draw) A small stream channel; narrow, steep-sided, and commonly V-shaped in cross section; and larger than a gully.
|
800
|
|
relict coastline
|
|
805
|
|
ridge
|
A long, narrow elevation of the land surface, usually sharp rested with steep sides and forming an extended upland between valleys. The term is used in areas of both hill and mountain relief.
|
810
|
|
ridge and valley
|
|
815
|
|
ridgetop bedrock outcrop
|
|
820
|
|
rift valley
|
|
825
|
|
rim
|
|
830
|
|
riverbed
|
|
835
|
|
rock fall avalanche
|
|
840
|
|
saddle
|
A low point on a ridge or crestline, generally a divide (pass, col) between the heads of streams flowing in opposite directions.
|
845
|
|
sag pond
|
|
850
|
|
sandhills
|
|
855
|
|
scarp
|
|
860
|
|
scarp slope
|
|
865
|
|
scour
|
|
870
|
|
scoured basin
|
|
875
|
|
sea cliff
|
|
880
|
|
seep
|
|
885
|
|
shoal
|
|
890
|
|
shoreline
|
|
895
|
|
shoulder
|
(hill slope) The geomorphic component that form the uppermost inclined surface at the top of a hillslope. It comprises the transition zone from backslope to summit of an upland. The surface is dominantly convex in profile and erosional in origin.
|
897
|
|
sinkhole (undifferentiated)
|
(doline) A closed depression formed either by solution of the surficial bedrock (e.g. limestone, gypsum, salt) or by collapse of underlying caves. Complexes of sinkholes in carbonate-rock terraces are the main components of karst topography.
|
900
|
|
slide
|
|
905
|
|
slope
|
|
910
|
|
slough
|
|
915
|
|
slump and topple prone slope
|
|
920
|
|
slump pond
|
|
925
|
|
soil creep slope
|
|
930
|
|
solution sinkhole
|
|
935
|
|
spit
|
(a) A small point or low tongue or narrow embankment of land, commonly consisting of sand or gravel deposited by longshore drifting and having one end attached to the mainland and the other terminating in open water, usually the sea; a fingerlike extension of the beach. (b) A relatively long, narrow shoal or reef extending from the shore into a body of water.
|
940
|
|
splay
|
A small alluvial fan or other outspread deposit formed where an overloaded stream breaks through a levee and deposits its material (often coarse-grained) on the flood plain.
|
945
|
|
stone circle
|
|
950
|
|
stone stripe
|
|
955
|
|
stream terrace (undifferentiated)
|
|
960
|
|
streambed
|
|
965
|
|
subjacent karst collapse sinkhole
|
|
970
|
|
subsidence sinkhole
|
|
975
|
|
swale
|
(a) A slight depression, sometimes swampy, in the midst of generally level land. (b) A shallow depression in an undulating ground moraine due to uneven glacial deposition. (c) A long, narrow, generally shallow, trough-like depression between two beach ridges, and aligned roughly parallel to the coastline.
|
980
|
|
talus
|
|
985
|
|
tarn
|
|
990
|
|
terrace
|
A step-like surface, bordering a valley floor or shoreline, that represent the former position of an alluvial plain, or lake or sea shore. The term is usually applied to both the relatively flat summit surface (platform, tread), cut or built by stream or wave action, and the steeper descending slope (scarp, riser), graded to a lower base level of erosion.
|
992
|
|
tidal flat
|
|
995
|
|
tidal gut
|
|
1000
|
|
till plain
|
|
1005
|
|
toe slope
|
|
1010
|
|
toe zone (undifferentiated)
|
|
1015
|
|
transverse dune
|
|
1020
|
|
trench
|
|
1025
|
|
trough
|
|
1030
|
|
valley
|
(basin) An elongate, relatively large, externally drained depression of the earth's surface that is primarily developed by stream erosion.
|
1035
|
|
valley floor
|
|
1040
|
|
wave-built terrace
|
|
1045
|
|
wave-cut platform
|
|
1050
|
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