# Landform terms?



## Joel_BC (Nov 10, 2009)

This may well be an oddball question... It _IS_ a matter of education - my own education (and I'm a middle-aged guy).

I'm looking for a good Web site giving landform and landscape terms... an explanation of vocabulary or jargon that would go beyond such basics as _ridge_, _hill_, _ravine_, _knoll_, _bend_, etc.

I found this one: 
http://www.salemstate.edu/~lhanson/gls210/gls210_struct.htm
It's clearly limited in the number of terms, and just a shade too scientific for what I'm after (but maybe only slightly).

I'm interested in finding a lot of common, layman's terms. Can you help me?


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## SweetwaterClyde (Aug 12, 2009)

Joel, Buy a physical geography textbook at the local used bookstore or maybe for a buck off Addall. When speaking about unscientific terms, I have found geographical and geological features to be regional. Crick, holler, swale, saddle, rise, etc. etc. Got no idea what the heck you are after, but if it is for personal edification I suggest that you take a Physical Geography or Geol 1 class at the local JC. You can usually audit them so that you will not be tested and it comes at a reduced rate, take one WITH a lab. Good luck in your search.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

http://fisp.wes.army.mil/OFR20081217.pdf

Here you go.
And it is pretty darn cool.
It has everything and stuff I ahven't heard of before.
I will be adding it to my favorites for further study.

For instance...
Ephemeral gully is a gully, typically in an agricultural field, that develops due to water erosion during a growing season but which is subject to removal by any primary tillage operation.


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## Joel_BC (Nov 10, 2009)

SweetwaterClyde said:


> When speaking about unscientific terms, I have found geographical and geological features to be regional. Crick, holler, swale, saddle, rise, etc. etc. Got no idea what the heck you are after, but if it is for personal edification I suggest that you take a Physical Geography or Geol 1 class at the local JC.


Decent idea about auditing a course - but for the fact that the nearest 2-year college (what we have in Canada instead of JC's) is, for me, an hour's drive to and another hour home.

But actually, since chikenista has generously provided me with the PDF document... well a lot of the scientific end of my interest _is_ in there.

But as much as that sort of thing, yeah I'm interested in the more colloquial jargon... even if it's regional (I take an interest in regional speech).

For instance, chickenista's document has no content for such everyday terms as _saddle_, _pass_, or even _ridge_. And it sure doesn't have the more vernacular terms.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

http://www2.ngdc.wvu.edu/~hferguson...erences/National Soil Survey Handbook/629.doc

J BC.. I don't know if you meant that to be as rude as it sounded, but I did some more googling on your behalf.
This link has 'saddle' and 'ridge', but sadly enough, not 'pass'. However if there are individual terms that are not listed, you could do an individual search.
Also, some words of description are not common enough in broad circles to be included or may be defined under a different title or name. For instance, there are words for streams of various size in this area that are uncommon in other geographic locations.


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## Joel_BC (Nov 10, 2009)

chickenista said:


> http://www2.ngdc.wvu.edu/~hferguson...erences/National Soil Survey Handbook/629.doc
> 
> J BC.. I don't know if you meant that to be as rude as it sounded, but I did some more googling on your behalf.


We must be crossing wires due to differences in regional expression (I'm in western Canada) - I did _not_ mean to be rude, and am a bit in the dark as to what I wrote that sounded rude. (Please send me a private message if you want to explain... I like to avoid rudeness, on-line flaming, and all that sort of stuff. I even avoid common irony.) 



> This link has 'saddle' and 'ridge', but sadly enough, not 'pass'. However if there are individual terms that are not listed, you could do an individual search.
> Also, some words of description are not common enough in broad circles to be included or may be defined under a different title or name. For instance, there are words for streams of various size in this area that are uncommon in other geographic locations.


I do appreciate the Googling you did. Thanks. And I've downloaded the second document, so thanks for that one too. :goodjob:


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