Engineering Geology Practice Test: Physiographic Features - Mountains, Valleys and Lakes — Flashcards

Mountains, valleys, and lakes are all landforms, or distinct features of the Earth's surface. 

Mountains: A tall, rocky area of land that's generally higher than 2,000 ft. Mountains are a major landform, along with plateaus, plains, and hills.
Valleys: A lower part of the land, between two higher parts, which could be hills or mountains. Valleys are a minor landform, along with buttes, canyons, and basins.
Lakes: A body of standing inland surface water with a surface area larger than 50 ha. Lakes are a third-order landform, which means they form over second-order landforms. Examples of third-order landforms include deltas, volcanoes, and gorges. 

Glaciers can form lakes and valleys. As they move slowly along, glaciers carve out pits and scrub the land. When the glaciers melt, water fills the depressions, forming lakes.