Legendary Landforms

Was this landform, Delicate Arch, created by a constructive or destructive force?

• Constructive

• Destructive

Answer explanation

Delicate Arch is located in Arches National Park in Utah. The arch was created through weathering by the wind. Weathering is the process of breaking down rocks and land by forces such as water, ice, wind, and gravity.

Was this landform, the San Andres Fault, created by a constructive or destructive force?

• Constructive

• Destructive

Answer explanation

San Andres Fault is a strike-slip fault located in San Francisco, California. Faults in the earth cause destructive earthquake. Earthquakes are a result of a sudden release of stored energy in the Earth's crust caused by shaking or displacement of the ground.

Was this surface feature, an animal burrow, created by a constructive or destructive force?

• Constructive

• Destructive

Answer explanation

Burrows are a type of mechanical weathering created when an animal, such as the Gopher Tortoise, burrows breaking up and moving rock and sediment.

Was this landform, a U-shaped valley, created by a constructive or destructive force?

• Constructive

• Destructive

Answer explanation

The weathering and erosion process from glacial movement creates large U-shape valleys with flat bottoms and steep sides.

Was this landform, Great Sand Dunes, created by a constructive or destructive force?

• Constructive

• Destructive

Answer explanation

Great Sand Dunes is a National Park and Preserve is located in Colorado. Sand dunes are created when wind deposits sand on top of itself forming a mound.

Was this landform, Mount Everest, created by a constructive or destructive force?

• Constructive

• Destructive

Answer explanation

Mount Everest is located in Asia and is part of the Himalayan Mountain Range. Everest is highest mountain in the world completely above water. The Himalayas were formed as a result of the collision between the Indian and Eurasian Tectonic Plate creating a convergent plate boundary.

Was this landform, the Hawaiian Islands, created by a constructive or destructive force?

• Constructive

• Destructive

Answer explanation

The Hawaiian Islands were formed by a "hot spot" in the middle of the Pacific Plate. Volcanoes often form at tectonic plate boundaries, but they can also form in the middle of a plate when magma rises upward through the earth's crust until it erupts on the seafloor. This is called a “hot spot.” While the hot spot itself is fixed, the plate is moving. As the plate moves over the hot spot, a string of islands are formed. The Hawaiian Islands are also part of a larger land form called an Archipelago.

Was this landform, the Mississippi Delta, created by a constructive or destructive force?

• Constructive

• Destructive

Answer explanation

Deltas are created by the deposition of sediment from rivers that empty their water into another body of water, such as an ocean, lake, or another river.