Landforms
Hydrothermal Vents
Contextual resources: NOAA: What is a hydrothermal vent? · WHOI: Hydrothermal vents overview · NASA: Cassini & Enceladus hydrothermal evidence
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Lakes
What Is the Primary Reason the Dead Sea Is Known for Its High Salinity?
The Dead Sea sits in the Jordan Rift Valley at roughly 1,443 feet (440 meters) below sea level, making it Earth’s lowest exposed land.…
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Coasts
Gulf vs. Bay vs. Fjord
Stand on a windy headland and scan the coastline: some inlets are open and sweeping, others curl inward like a clasped hand, and a…
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Seas & oceans
Where Is the Black Sea?
The Black Sea looks almost enclosed on a world map, which can make its connection to the Mediterranean easy to miss. Its coastline and…
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Oksukon Lake · Lakes
Oksukon Lake, Tajikistan: Salt, Seasonal Water and Mud
Oksukon Lake brings together three different subjects: a salt-rich landscape, a mineral resource and mud used in health treatments. Understanding the place means separating…
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Lakes
Tanganyika: Second Deepest Lake in the World
Lake Tanganyika’s narrow outline hides an extraordinary vertical landscape. Beneath its surface, fault-bounded basins descend far beyond the shallow coastal habitats where many of…
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Islands
Atolls & Coral Formation: How Ringed Islands Develop
A ring of pale reef and green islands can surround an expanse of blue water far from any continent. That striking shape is an…
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Russia · Landforms
Kamchatka’s Valley of Geysers, Russia: The World’s Second-Largest Geyser Field
What is the Valley of Geysers? It’s the world’s second-largest concentration of geysers—about 90 active vents packed into a 3.7-mile canyon—fuelled by heat from…
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Deserts
What Is the Largest Desert in the World?
The Sahara is the familiar answer to a question about vast, hot deserts. Add polar deserts, however, and Antarctica takes first place. The apparent…
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Culture
Geographical Area: Definition, Types & Examples
When you read that a policy works “in your area,” what is that “area,” exactly? A neighborhood? A county? A river basin? In geography…
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Seas & oceans
Where is the Lowest Point in the World?
A shoreline, an ocean trench and a valley buried beneath an ice sheet can all lie below sea level. But they are not the…
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Geology
Which Country Has the Most Volcanoes?
Source: Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program (GVP) — Country counts, data current to 19 Sep 2025.
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