landforms

Landforms are the physical features of the earth. They are described with particular attention to the contours of the land slope, elevation and morphology as well as the context in which the landform resides. For instance, landforms may be categorized based on how they are formed (such as by erosion) or what surrounds them (such as surrounded by water or mountains). Landforms are distinct from the biota (plant and animal life) that inhabit the ecosystems contained within the landform.

Scale - The first characteristic of a landform to consider is its overall size. Landforms are classified by nested hierarchies from whole continents to runnels on a mountainside. The runnel may be part of a crevasse on the ridge of a mountain that is part of a mountain range located on a continent. All of these things (runnel, crevasse, ridge, mountain, range and continent) are landforms.
Depending on the level of analysis and resolution, certain landforms are more or less important. For instance, if you're describing the continent of North America, the hill of Corona Heights in San Francisco probably won't be high on your list of things to describe. Similarly, when describing the features of the Corona Heights hillside, its location on the North American continent is irrelevant.
Mode of Formation - A crucial means for understanding a landform is the means through which it was produced. This characteristic is sometimes reflected in the names the different landforms have. For instance, lava domes may be shaped like hills, but the two landforms have very different origins. The major forces that produce landforms are erosion, plate tectonics and volcanic activity. Different physical forces can create similar landforms, such as the case of rift valleys (created by the separation of tectonic plates) and river valleys (created by erosion). Understanding what created a landform is crucial to explaining many of the smaller features within the landform (such as the large freshwater lakes