Landforms & Landscapes AND Tectonic Plate Boundaries

What is the result of friction between tectonic plates at conservative margins (transform plate boundaries)?

Pressure builds up until it is suddenly released, causing shallow earthquakes.

What is the difference between constructive and destructive plate boundaries?

Constructive boundaries involve plates moving apart, creating new crust, while destructive boundaries involve plates colliding, leading to subduction and mountain formation.

What are landforms?

Natural features of the Earth's surface formed by geological processes like tectonic activity, erosion, and weathering.

landscape vs landform

Landscapes are made up of multiple landforms, while a landform is a single natural feature

Name 7 types of landscapes. 

Mountain landscapes, coastal landscapes, riverine landscapes, desert landscapes, karst landscapes, tropical rainforest landscapes and glacial landscapes.

What is a landscape in geographical terms?

The visible part of the Earth's surface characterized by a combination of natural features such as mountains, hills, rivers, and vegetation

What occurs at a constructive plate boundary?

Two tectonic plates move apart, allowing magma to escape, leading to seafloor spreading, mid-ocean ridges, and underwater volcanoes.

What landforms are created at destructive plate boundaries?

Mountains, volcanoes, and ocean trenches.

How do mountains form at collision plate boundaries?

Mountains form when tectonic plates collide and push upwards due to immense pressure.

What happens during seafloor spreading?

Magma rises to the surface as tectonic plates move apart, creating new oceanic crust.

What is the process that leads to the formation of volcanoes at destructive plate boundaries?

Subduction of oceanic crust melts and produces silica-rich magma, which rises to the surface.

What is a plateau?

A flat elevated landform that rises sharply above the surrounding area.

What are the features, creation, and landforms of mountain landscapes?

• Formation: Created when large tectonic plates push together, uplifting land into high terrain.

• Features: Elevated areas with steep slopes — peaks, ranges, and ridges.

• Landforms:

  • Mountain – large elevated landform

  • Mountain range – chain of mountains

  • Ridge – long, narrow elevated surface

  • Valley – low area between mountain

What are the features, creation, and landforms of coastal landscapes?

• Formation: Where land meets the ocean, shaped by wind, waves, and tides.

• Features: Constantly changing due to erosion and deposition.

• Landforms:

  • Stack – vertical rock column (e.g. Twelve Apostles)

  • Beach – sandy or pebbly shore

  • Headland – high rocky outcrop (e.g. White Cliffs of Dover)

  • Cliff – steep rock face formed by waves

  • Archipelago – chain or group of islands

What are the features, creation, and landforms of desert landscapes?

• Formation: Very low rainfall (<25 mm/year); shaped by wind and rare water erosion.

• Features: Sparse vegetation, extreme temperatures, and open plains.

• Landforms:

  • Inselberg – isolated steep-sided rock hill

  • Oasis – groundwater supply in desert

  • Grassland plain – flat area sparsely covered with grasses

What are the features, creation, and landforms of tropical rainforest landscapes?

• Formation: Found near the equator; warm, wet climate with high biodiversity.

• Features: Dense vegetation, layered canopies, rapid plant growth.

• Landforms:

  • Mountain – large elevation

  • Valley – low area enclosed by mountains

  • Wetlands – swampy area that stays wet

What are the features, creation, and landforms of riverine landscapes?

• Formation: Shaped by flowing rivers and streams.

• Features: River channels, floodplains, and fertile soils; supports diverse life.

• Landforms:

  • Flood plain – low-lying area that floods regularly

  • Riverbed – the channel where a river flows

  • Billabong – cut-off pool of river water

What are the features, creation, and landforms of karst landscapes?

• Formation: Slightly acidic water dissolves limestone and other soluble rocks.

• Features: Underground drainage, caves, and sinkholes; sometimes unstable.

• Landforms:

  • Spring – water basin at surface

  • Cave – large underground hollow

  • Stalactite – mineral formation hanging from cave ceiling

What are the features, creation, and landforms of glacial landscapes?

• Formation: Created by movement of ice and glaciers eroding and reshaping land.

• Features: Cold climates, carved valleys, and ice deposits.

• Landforms:

  • U-shaped valley

  • Moraine

  • Cirque

  • Fjord

What is a karst landscape?

A landscape formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks, characterized by features like caves and sinkholes.

landscape vs landform

• Landforms are individual natural features of the Earth's surface (like a mountain or valley). 

• Landscapes are broader and refer to areas that encompass multiple landforms and the overall appearance and interaction of these features. 

What are the 3 types of weathering?

Physical, chemical, biological

What are the differences between weathering and erosion?

Weathering refers to the breaking down or altering of rocks, while erosion involves the movement of those weathered materials from one place to another.

What are the two types of landscapes that have valleys?

Mountain landscapes and riverine landscapes

What types of landforms are in coastal landscapes?

Beaches, cliffs, headlands, stacks.

what types of landforms are in desert landscapes?

Mesa, Buttes, Arches, flats, canyons.

What type of landforms does the process of deposition create?

Sand dunes, beaches

What are the 4 ways we value landforms?

Aesthetic value, emotional value, spiritual value, economic value

How might Indigenous Australia's value Uluru?

The Anangu People value Uluru for its rich cultural value as a place that holds stories, songs and dances and as a place of teaching. They also value Uluru as a sacred site formed by ancestrals (spriritual value). Anangu people also value Uluru for its economic value as an important tourist area.

what is conservative boundary

transform boundaries

what is destructive boundary

convergent boundaries

what is constructive boundary

divergent boundaries

Fold mountains

Fold mountains form when COMPRESSIONAL forces squeeze the Earth's crust, causing rock layers to buckle and fold. 
→ Example: Himalayas 

fault-block mountains

Fault-block mountains form when TENSIONAL (stretching) forces stretch the crust, causing it to crack and break. Large faults are displaced at fractures, then uplifted and/or tilted, causing them to shift and move up or down. Upward fault block mountains are known as horsts, while lower blocks create valleys known as grabens. process results in steep rugged terrains with sharp elevation differences.
→ Example: Sierra Nevada 

Weathering

Weathering is the breakdown of rocks at the Earth’s surface, by the action of rainwater, extremes of temperature, and biological activity. It does not involve the removal of rock material. 

Has 3 types: physical, biological, chemical

Physical weathering

• Process: Rocks break apart without changing their chemical composition.

• Causes: Temperature change (freeze–thaw), pressure, wind, and water.

• Example: Water enters cracks, freezes, expands, and splits the rock

Biological weathering

• Process: Caused by plants, animals, or microbes breaking down rocks.

• Examples:

  • Roots grow into cracks and split rocks apart.

  • Animals burrow, loosening soil and rock

Chemical weathering

• Process: Rocks are chemically changed or dissolved by reactions with air or water.

• Causes: Acid rain, oxidation, carbonation.

• Example: Limestone dissolving in acidic rainwater.

• Diagram (recall): Acid rain → reacts with rock → rock dissolves.

Erosion

The removal and transport of weathered material by wind, water, or ice.

How can erosion be reduced or controlled? (Erosion Mitigation)

Methods:

• Plant vegetation (roots hold soil).

• Build retaining walls.

• Use windbreaks or terracing.

• Manage water flow (drainage systems).

Erosion impacts

• Loss of fertile soil (bad for farming).

• Sedimentation in rivers and lakes.

• Landscape change (e.g. river valleys, cliffs).

Deposition

• Definition: The laying down of sediment when wind, water, or ice lose energy.

How does deposition shape landforms

• Process: Eroded material settles and builds up new landforms.

• Landforms created:

  • Deltas (river deposition)

  • Sand dunes (wind deposition)

  • Beaches (wave deposition)

  • Moraines (glacial deposition).

Why are landscapes important

• Landscapes are a shared resource that belongs to everyone.

• They are important for different reasons:

  • Aesthetic value

  • Emotional value

  • Spiritual value

  • Economic value

What is aesthetic value of land?

• Value based on appearance and beauty.

• People appreciate landscapes for how they look, feel, and inspire.

• Depends on values, experiences, culture, and preferences.

• Examples: Tourists visiting scenic places like the Great Ocean Road or Blue Mountains for their visual appeal.

What is emotional value of land?

• Value based on personal feelings and connections to a place.

• Often linked to personal memories, family, or experiences.

• Examples: A family beach visited every summer; a childhood home; a community park.

How was Uluru formed

change in temp causes cracks in the rock, eventually falling away

aboriginal live around uluru for at least 30 000 years

wind eroded the sand away

How do Indigenous Australians spiritually value land?

• They believe the land was created and shaped by Ancestral beings.

• Land connects people to culture, identity, and Dreaming stories.

• Sacred sites hold spiritual meaning and responsibility for care.

e.g. uluru is sacred to the anangu ppl and part of their dreaming. these values can clash w others like tourism, minig, or farming which prioritise economic gain over cultural respect. balancing these competing values means listening to indigenous vouces and protecting heritage while managing land use fairly

competing values

land we live on is scarce, and highly valuable and unique. as population grows and demand for resources / land increase, we face a dilemma.

Why is Uluru an example of valuing land differently?

• Spiritual: Sacred site for Anangu people — formed by ancestral beings.

• Aesthetic: Beautiful and iconic Australian landmark.

• Economic: Popular tourist destination.

• Emotional: Symbol of Australian identity.

• Conflict: Tourism (climbing) vs. Indigenous respect → Climb banned (2019).