A quarter of the Earth's surface is land. Any natural physical feature of Earth's surface is called a landform. Landforms are classified a number of different ways, but one of the most common methods is based on position and formation. Slope landforms are formed by tectonic plate shifts and movements. They form "hill like" conditions. Common slope landforms include hills, cliffs, plains, and valleys. Coastal and Oceanic landforms form near seas and oceans. Common forms include coasts, coves, deltas, lagoons, capes, and peninsulas. There are landforms that relate to flowing water called fluvial landforms. Common examples would be beaches, gullies, islands, marshes, oasis, rivers, streams, and swamps. Mountain and glacial landforms include fjords, glaciers, mountains ranges, and summits. There are also landforms that relate to volcanic activity they are fittingly called volcanic landforms. Examples include geysers, mesas, and calderas.
The landforms that are present today are not the same as they were millions of years ago. Over time plate shifts, erosion, and weathering has a great deal of influence on how a landform is shaped. Something some people miss is that rivers, ocean, and even lake are thought of as landforms. They are shaped by the land underneath them. Just under three-quarters of the Earth is ocean.
