Landforms of GeorgiaLandforms of Georgia

Lesson 1: What are some of Lesson 1: What are some of Georgia’s landforms?Georgia’s landforms?

S5E1a: Students will identify features caused by constructive process

S5E1b: Students will identify and find examples of surface features caused by destructive processes

Vocabulary PreviewVocabulary Preview

Landform Topography Sand Dune

Vocabulary Preview Vocabulary Preview

• Landform: a natural land shape or feature

• Topography: surface landforms of an area

• Sand Dune: a hill of sand, made and shaped by wind

Mountains, Hills, and PlainsMountains, Hills, and Plains

• What is the land around your town like? Does it have rolling hills or steep mountains?

Land has many different shapes. • A natural land shape or feature is called a

landform.• When you describe the landforms around your

town, you’re describing the area’s topography.

Topography -all the kinds of landforms in a certain area

PlainsHills

Mountains

Landforms

Mountains, Hills, and PlainsMountains, Hills, and Plains

• Look at the pictures on the next slide. • How would you describe the topography of the two

areas? (skip to next slide)• A mountain is a landform that is much higher than the

surrounding land. Often, mountains occur in groups called ranges.

• Mountain ranges can be very different from each other. • The Rocky Mountains, form tall, jagged peaks that rise

thousands of feet above the surrounding land. • The Appalachian Mountains, are lower and more

rounded.

The jagged peaks of the Rocky Mountains are many thousands of feet higher than the surrounding land

The Appalachians are mountains, too, but their peaks are lower and more rounded than the peaks of the Rockies.

Mountains, Hills, and PlainsMountains, Hills, and Plains

• Hills are landforms that are like mountains, but not as high. Most hills have rounded and gentle slopes.

• In the middle of the U.S is a very large plain known as the GREAT PLAINS.

• Plains form in different ways, but all plains have the same topography.

Georgia’s coastal plain covers much of the state. Because plains are flat, they are often good farming areas.

Brasstown Bald is the highest point in Georgia. It measures over 1,400 m (about 4,700 ft) above sea level.

Landforms of SandLandforms of Sand

• Some landforms are made of sand and small bits of rock. These landforms move and are shaped by both wind and water.

• Landforms of sand are more easily changed than landforms of rock.

• A sand dune is a sand hill that is made and shaped by wind.

• As wind blows over a dune, the sand moves. This can change the dune’s shape or even the whole dune. Some dunes move as much as 100 (ft) a year!

Landforms of SandLandforms of Sand• Like wind, water can also move sand. • Water waves and currents reshape beaches, forming barrier

islands and sand spits extending out into the water from the ends of many islands.

• Sand spits and barrier islands are long, narrow piles of sand that help protect the mainland from wave erosion. They are found all along the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico.

Cumberland Island is a barrier island on Georgia’s east coast.

Sand dunes form where the wind is strong and the sand deposits are plentiful. These sand dunes are in the Oregon Dunes Recreation Area.

Landforms of SandLandforms of Sand

• Rivers, too, can make sand landforms.

• Rivers carry sand from the land they flow through. When the flow of a river slows, the sand settles. This makes a landform called a sandbar. The Pacific coast have many sandbars where rivers flow into the ocean.

Sand BarSand Bar

Landforms from WaterLandforms from Water

• The topography of the southwestern U.S is beautiful and different. There you will find landforms such as Right Mitten, a mesa.

• A mesa is a tall, flat-topped rock feature. • A mesa forms as running water erodes the

surrounding rock, Monument Valley, in Utah, is home to many mesas.

MESA (means table in Spanish)MESA (means table in Spanish)

This is Providence Canyon, in Georgia. Canyons form wherever there is running water and land that is being uplifted.

Monument Valley, along the Arizona-Utah border, was made by water and wind.

Landforms from WaterLandforms from Water

• Canyons are deep valleys with steep sides. They are found throughout the Southwest.

• The Grand Canyon, in Arizona, is the largest land canyon in the world. The rushing water of the Colorado River carved through many layers of rock to make this mile-deep canyon.

Canyons

Landforms from WaterLandforms from Water

• Not all canyons are made by rivers.

• The landforms in Providence Canyon were formed by water runoff from nearby farms.

• It took thousands of years to form the Grand Canyon, but only took about 200 years to form the Providence Canyon.

Georgia’s Geologic RegionsGeorgia’s Geologic Regions

• The landforms of Georgia can be divided into different regions.

• Some geologists separate them into 4 groups, while others separate them into 5 or 6.

• The features of the land sometimes overlap, making it difficult to classify them into one group only.

• However, the easiest way to separate them is to see what Earth’s crust is like in each location.

King's Gap, in Pine Mountain Valley, is part of the Piedmont region of Georgia.

Most of northwestern Georgia is in the Valley & Ridge region.

Georgia’s Geologic RegionsGeorgia’s Geologic Regions

• The northwestern corner of Georgia is known as the Valley and Ridge region. The rocks in this area have been slowly pushed and folded many times. As a result, there are many peaks and valleys to see.

• The Valley and Ridge region is bordered by the Appalachian Mountains in the north and the Cartersville fault in the south. A fault is a break in the Earth’s crust.

Georgia’s Geologic RegionsGeorgia’s Geologic Regions

• In the east of the Valley and Ridge region is the Blue Ridge region. The main feature in this area is the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Blue Ridge region is home to Georgia’s highest point, Brasstown Bald.

• The Piedmont Region is found in the middle of the state. The rolling hills in the Piedmont are the remains of an ancient mountain range.

The highest mountains in Georgia can be found in the Blue Ridge region.

The Okefenokee Swamp can be found in the Coastal Plain region.

Georgia’s Geologic RegionsGeorgia’s Geologic Regions

• Some of Georgia’s biggest cities, such as Athens and Atlanta, are in the Piedmont. This is also where you will find Georgia’s famous red clay.

• The largest region in Georgia is the Coastal Plains. The low, flat land extend from the Piedmont to the Atlantic Ocean. The Coastal Plain has many rivers and a great deal of wet, marshy land. Because of the flatness and the rivers, the Coastal Plain is ideal for growing crops.