Geographical Features

This page is about miscellaneous geographical features that aren't covered anywhere else.

See also Coastal Features.

Cave in Cantabria, Spain (near Santander), famous for its Palaeolithic paintings (discovered 1879)			Altamira
Little America, Bay of Whales, South Orkney, South Shetland, Queen Maud Land, Wilkes Land, (Marie) Byrd Land			Antarctica
Desert (in Chile) that includes the world's driest place: covers a 1,000 km (600 mile) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes			Atacama
Sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory, in central Australia: the world's largest natural monolith (a description avoided by geologists); native name Uluru			Ayers Rock
Grassy upland of Northern Territory and Queensland, Australia – covering about 50,000 square miles – famous for cattle grazing			Barkly Tableland
Famous cave near Castleton, Derbyshire, named after the distinctive form of fluorspar (fluorite) found there			Blue John Cavern
Area of the Great Salt Lake, famous as a venue for motor speed trials – named after a 19th century explorer			Bonneville Salt Flats
Gorse–covered sandy heathland of Norfolk and Suffolk – south–west of the Fens and south–east of the Broads – gives its name to the local authority that covers the Norfolk part			The Breckland
Extensive plateau in Co. Clare, Ireland, to the south of Galway Bay; one of Europe's largest karst landscapes; part of it is now a national park			The Burren
Vast plain of salt lagoons (locally étangs) surrounded by salt marshes, in the Rhône delta – famous for its white horses, bulls (which are bred there and exported to Spain as fighting bulls) and flamingos			The Camargue
Series of ancient mine workings (chalk and flint) in South East London – last worked c. 1830 – used as an air raid shelter in World War II			Chislehurst Caves
Includes the lowest land point of the western hemisphere (California)			Death Valley
English name for the crack in the rock face between the peaks of Y Garn and Glyder Fawr, Snowdonia – known in Welsh as Twll Du ('black hole')			Devil's Kitchen
Arguably the most famous rock face in the world: on the north side of the Yosemite Valley, California, near the valley entrance			El Capitan
Upper Inn valley, Switzerland; famous for its dry, mild climate, and resorts including St. Moritz			The Engadine
Sub–sea–level area around The Wash			The Fens
Famous feature of the Hebridean island of Staffa, its name used as an alternative title for Meldelssohn's Hebrides Overture			Fingal's Cave
Natural cave on the slopes of Ingleborough, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park: was the deepest known cave shaft in Britain, before the discovery of Titan (Derbyshire) in 1999; still has England's highest unbroken waterfall and the largest underground chamber naturally open to the surface			Gaping Gill
Northern Ireland's most popular tourist attraction: on the coast of Co. Antrim, consists of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns – built, according to legend, by the Irish warrior Finn McCool to provide a path across the sea to Scotland (similar formations appear at Fingal's Cave on the Scottish island of Staffa). Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site – Northern Ireland's first – in 1986			Giant's Causeway
The world's most northerly desert, and the largest in Asia; covers parts of China and Mongolia			Gobi Desert
Runs from Loch Linnhe to the Moray Firth (Fort William to Inverness), separating the North West Highlands from the Grampians; Loch Ness lies in it			Great Glen
Greatest fault in the earth's crust (East Africa)			Great Rift Valley
Australia's appropriately–named second largest desert (see below)			Great Sandy Desert
Australia's largest desert			Great Victoria Desert
The two parts of Niagara Falls: American Falls and			Horseshoe Falls
Gorge of the Danube, forming part of the border between Serbia and Romania			Iron Gate
Desert that covers up to 70% (depending on the season) of Botswana, and also parts of Namibia and South Africa			Kalahari
Connects Kabul (Afghanistan) with Peshawar (Pakistan)			Khyber Pass
Chasm (100m long, 18m deep) in a hillside in the Peak District, near Buxton – caused by a landslip, it's said to have been used as a meeting place by various groups including the Lollards and the Luddites (as well as ancient pagans)			Lud's Church
Limestone rock formation (cliff) in North Yorkshire, a famous beauty spot in the Yorkshire Dales National Park: on 6 December 2015, water fell from it for a few hours, the 80–foot drop making it temporarily England's highest (above–ground) waterfall			Malham Cove
Peninsula bordered to the west by the Atlantic Ocean and to the north–east by the Gironde river; site of most of the great chateaux of the Bordeaux region			Medoc
Wind up the Rhone valley			Mistral
Covers parts of California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona; Las Vegas is its largest city; the Joshua Tree is an 'indicator species'			Mojave Desert
Includes Death Valley – the lowest place in North America, thought to be the hottest pace on Earth in summer
Name given to the Caribbean coastline of most of Nicaragua and part of Honduras – after a local group of native people			Mosquito Coast
Considered to be the world's oldest desert – on the west coast of Africa; name means 'vast, empty place' in the local language; one of the countries that it covers part of is named after it			Namib Desert
Desert that covers more than half of Israel			Negev Desert
Massive extinct volcano in Tanzania, famed for its wildlife			Ngorongoro
Maid of the Mist is the name given to a series of boats, owned by a company of the same name, used to allow tourists a view of			Niagara Falls
Region of the eastern Sahara, in Sudan: named after its native inhabitants			Nubian Desert
Arid region of South and Western Australia, bordering the Great Australian Bight: the world's largest single exposure of limestone bedrock; name means 'no trees'			Nullarbor Plain
Britain's deepest cave (Upper Swansea Valley, South Wales)			Ogof Ffynnon Ddu
Famous geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming; not the tallest or largest geyser in the park, but arguably the most predictable and the first to be given a name; erupts about once every 90 minutes (the intervals range from 45 minutes to 125 minutes); average height 145 feet, highest recorded 185 feet			Old Faithful
Steep–sided ravine in the Tanzanian part of the Great Rift Valley, where the German geologist Hans Reck found early human remains in 1913, and the British husband and wife team of Louis and Mary Leakey later found conclusive evidence that man originated in Africa			Olduvai Gorge
Fertile grasslands between the Andes and the Atlantic (in South America)			Pampas
Utah: the world's largest natural bridge (span 275ft, 84m)			Rainbow Bridge
In Australia: Mammy Johnsons, Paddy's and the O'shannassy are all			Rivers
Sparsely populated wetland area (approx. 100 sq. miles) of Kent and East Sussex			Romney Marsh
Extensive desert at the southern end of the Arabian peninsula			Rub al Khali
The longest gorge in Europe – Crete			Samarian Gorge
Geological fault passing through San Francisco			San Andreas Fault
Australia's fourth largest desert: named after the geographer and philanthropist who was a partner in the firm founded by his grandfather to manufacture domestic appliances			Simpson Desert
Scotland's largest cave (Durness, Sutherland – in the far northwest)			Smoo Cave
Coastal and wetland areas of Somerset, between the Quantock and Mendip hills			Somerset Levels
Probably the only desert on mainland Europe (Andalucia, Spain – where Sergio Leone filmed his so–called Spaghetti Westerns)			Tabernas Desert
Represented on the official flag of Cape Town			Table Mountain
Popular name for cloud over Table Mountain (Cape Town, South Africa)			Tablecloth
The world's largest eco–system, characterised by coniferous forests and covering most of Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Russia			Taiga
North–eastern extremity of Kent – separated from the mainland, until; about 2,000 years ago, by the Wantsum Channel: Isle of			Thanet
Desert on the India / Pakistan border			Thar
Britain's biggest cave chamber, discovered and explored 1999–2006 (Peak District) – the longest free pitch of any UK cave			Titan
Valley between Marlborough Downs and Salisbury Plain (Wiltshire)			Vale of Pewsey
Known locally as Mosei Oyatunda ('the smoke that thunders')			Victoria Falls
Prominent limestone ridge running for 15 miles SW to NE through Shropshire (from Craven Arms to Much Wenlock)			Wenlock Edge
Show cave, entrance near Ingleton in the Yorkshire Dales: includes The Battlefield – at 90 metres (300 ft) long, one of Britain's largest known cave chambers			White Scar Caves
Rocky ridge in South Africa, overlooking Johannesburg: contains the world's richest gold deposits, and gives its name to one of the city's two universities			Witwatersrand
Cave system in the Mendip hills, near Wells (Somerset) – famous for the "Witch" (a stalagmite in vaguely human form)			Wookey Hole

© Haydn Thompson 2017–23