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In the earth sciences and geology sub-fields, a landform is any physical, recognizable form or feature on the earth's surface, having a characteristic shape, internal composition, and produced by natural causes.[1]

A landform or physical feature comprises a geomorphological unit, and is largely defined by its surface form and location in the landscape, as part of the terrain, and as such, is typically an element of topography. Landform elements also include seascape and oceanic waterbody interface features such as bays, peninsulas, seas and so forth, including sub-surface terrain features such as submersed mountain ranges, volcanoes, and the great ocean basins under the thin skin of water, for the whole earth is the province and domain of geology.

This panorama in Great Smoky Mountains National Park has the readily identifiable physical features of a rolling plain, actually part of a broad valley, distant foothills, and a backdrop of the old much weathered Appalachian mountain range.

Physical characteristics

Landforms are categorised by characteristic physical attributes such as elevation, slope, orientation, stratification, rock exposure, and soil type.


Hierarchy of classes


Some generic landform elements including: pits, peaks, channels, ridges, passes, pools and plains, may be extracted from a digital elevation model using some automated techniques[2] where the data has been gathered by modern satellites and stereoscopic aerial surveillance cameras. Until recently, compiling the data found in such data sets required time consuming and expensive techniques of many man-hours.




Landforms do not include man-made features, such as canals, ports and many harbors; and geographic features, such as deserts, forests, grasslands, and impact craters.

Many of the terms are not restricted to refer to features of the planet Earth, and can be used to describe surface features of other planets and similar objects in the Universe. Examples are mountains, polar caps, and valleys, which are found on all of the terrestrial planets.

See also


  1. Glossary Of Landform and Geologic Terms, in National Soil Survey Handbook, Part 629.02(c), United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resouces Conservation Service
  2. Robert A. MacMillan, David H. McNabb, R. Keith Jones (September, 2000). "Conference paper: "Automated landform classification using DEMs"". Retrieved 2008-06-26.