CC Challenge A - Cartography Terms

Archipelago

A body of water interspersed with many isles

Chasm

a cleft of fissure in a rock or the earth's surface caused by a disrupture

Cape

a head land; the head, point or termination of a neck of land, extending some distance into the sea beyond the common shore

Dale

a low place between hills; a vale or valley

Gorge

a narrow hollow with steep rocky sides worn by a stream or torrent of water

Hill

a natural; elevation of land; a mass of earth rising above the common level of the surrounding land

Isthmus

a neck or narrow clip of land by which two continents are connected or by which a peninsula is united to the mainland

Field

a piece of land enclosed for tillage or pasture

Cove

a small inlet or bay; a recess in the sea shore

Crag

a steep, rugged rock; a rough, broken rock or point of a rock

Forest

an extensive wood; a large tract of land covered with trees

Cave

a hollow place in the earth; a subterraneous cavern; a den; may be natural or artificial

Canyon

a long deep hollow with steep, rocky sides worn bya stream or torrent of water

Arm

a long, narrow passage of water; a creek

Fjord

a long, narrow, deep valley formed by glacial erosion and flooded by ocean water

Ford

a place in a river or other water where it may be passed by man or beast on foot or by wading

Harbor

a port or haven for ships; a bay or inlet of the sea where ships can moor.

Gulf

a recess in the ocean from the general line of the shore into the land; a tract of water extending from the ocean or a sea into the land between two points or promontories; a large bay

Divide

a ridge that determines the direction water drains for adjacent water systems; a watershed

Atoll

a ring-shaped coral reef, island, or set of small islands nearly or completely surrounding a lagoon

Breakers

a rock that breaks the waves; a wave that breaks against a rock, a sand bank, or the shore exhibiting a white foam

Knob

a round hill or mount

Creek

a small inlet, a recess in the shore of the sea or of a river; a small stream

Brook

a small natural stream of water; a current flowing from a spring

dell

a small vale with woods

gulch

a small, narrow hollow with steep walls worn by a stream or torrent of water

Branch

a smaller stream running into a largher one or proceeding from it

Bayou

a soggy, swampy, slow-moving body of water obstructed by vegetation

Bank

a steep slope of ground rising from a lake, a river, or the sea

Island

a tract of land surrounded by water

Drainage Basin

area drained by a river and its tributaries, a watershed

Country

any tract of land or \inhabited land; any region, as distinguished from other regions; a kingdom, state or lesser district

Elevation

elevated ground; a rising ground; a hill or mountain

Dune

hill, mound or ridge of sand formed by wind

Cultivated Land

land prepared for crops

Irrigated land

land watered by causing a stream to flow up[on it and spread over it.

Bog

soft, wet ground covered with grass or other plants, too soft to bear a man

Crater

the aperture or mouth of a volcano

Downstream

the direction a river flows; flowing with the current

Continental Shelf

the edge of a continent that is submerged in water

Coast

the edge or margin of the land next to the sea; the seashore

Brink

the edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice or the bank of a river

Altitude

the elevation of an object in relationship to a given plane, often above sea level

Horizon

the line that terminates the view when extended on the surface of the earth

Dam

a bank or mound of earth; any wall or frame of wood raised to obstruct a current of water.

Inlet

a bay or recess in the shore of the sea, a lake, or a large river; a narrow body of water between isles

Headland

a cape; a promontory; a point of land projecting from the shore into the sea or other expanse of water

Keys

a chain or range of rocks lying at or near the surface of the water; a cay

Cinder Cone

a cone-shaped hill of volcanic material surrounding an opening in the earth

Cavern

a deep, naturally hollow place in the earth, deeper than a cave

Dike

a ditch; a mound of earth, stones, or other materials, intended to prevent low lands from being inundated by the sea or a river

glacier

a field or an immense mass of ice formed in deep but elevated valleys, remaining frozen throughout the heat of summer

Current

a flowing or passing of water; a stream

Continent

a great extent of land, not disjoined or interrupted by a sea

Bluff

a high bank, almost perpendicular, projecting into the sea

Cliff

a high, steep almost vertical rock, usually on a coast

Foothill

a hill at the base of a mountain

Iceberg

a hill or mountain of ice; a vast body of ice accumulated in valleys in high northern latitudes

Basin

a hollow place for water; an enclosed part of water, forming a broad space within a strait or narrow entrance; a little bay

Glen

a valley; a dale; a depression or space between hills

Desert

a vast sandy plain characterized by minimal precipitation and plant growth

Grove

a wood of small extent

Delta

an area of triangular shaped land located at the mouth of a main river from which distributaries flow

Bay

an arm of the sea, extending into the land, smaller than a ulf and larger than a creek

Channel

an arm of the sea; a swtraight or narrow sea between two continents or between a continent and an isle

Estuary

an arm of the sea; the mouth of a river or lake where the tide meets the current

Canal

an artificial cut or passage for water used for transportation

Junction

the place or point of union

Fall Line

the point where rivers descend rapidly due to a distinct decline in elevation

Beach

the shore of the sea or of a lake, washed by the tide and waves

Earth

the terraqueous globe that we inhabit

Knoll

the top or crown of a hill; a little round hill or mount; a small elevation of earth