landmass
Solid earth expanse
A landmass is a large continuous area of land, especially a continent or major portion of one.
The term emphasizes size and unbroken expanse: The Eurasian landmass stretches from Portugal to the Pacific.
Islands are distinguished from landmasses by their smaller scale, though large ones like Australia blur the line.
Large connected landmass
- supercontinentCombined planetary landmass
- subcontinentMajor continental subdivision
- PangaeaPrehistoric unified landmass
- GondwanaAncient southern supercontinent
Eurasia · Africa · Asia · Europe · Americas · Antarctica · Australia · tectonic
Flat highland area
- mountainTall natural landmass
- valleyLow ground between heights
- canyonDeep river-cut gorge
- plainBasic and unremarkable
ridge · cliff · dune · mesa · butte · knoll · escarpment · glen
Land almost encircled by water
- isthmusNarrow strip connecting landmasses
- deltaSymbol denoting variation
- archipelagoChain of scattered islands
- atollRing-shaped reef island
reef · lagoon · shoreline · cape · headland · bay · gulf · inlet
Hard outer layer
- lithosphereCrust plus upper mantle
- tectonicsStudy of crustal deformation
- bedrockSolid stone underground
- strataParallel geological layers
formation · sediment · erosion · mineral · fossil · soil · elevation · altitude
continent
Large connected landmass
- supercontinentCombined planetary landmass
- subcontinentMajor continental subdivision
- PangaeaPrehistoric unified landmass
Gondwana · Eurasia · Africa · Asia · Europe · Americas · Antarctica · Australia · tectonic · plate
plateau
Flat highland area
plain · ridge · cliff · dune · mesa · butte · knoll · escarpment · glen · peak
peninsula
Land almost encircled by water
- isthmusNarrow strip connecting landmasses
- deltaSymbol denoting variation
- archipelagoChain of scattered islands
atoll · reef · lagoon · shoreline · cape · headland · bay · gulf · inlet · fjord
crust
Hard outer layer
- lithosphereCrust plus upper mantle
- tectonicsStudy of crustal deformation
- bedrockSolid stone underground
strata · formation · sediment · erosion · mineral · fossil · soil · elevation · altitude · geology
vast
Extremely great in size
sprawling · boundless · enormous · broad · wide · sizable · substantial · unbroken · continuous · contiguous
tundra
Frigid treeless biome
taiga · desert · rainforest · wetland · marshland · moor · heath · chaparral · pampas · badlands
- Earth/Landearth, ground, soil, dirt, clay
- geographycontinents, continent, oceans, countries, country
- landcontinent, country, nation, peninsula, province
- ContinentsAfrica, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe
- land formsterrain, continent, coastline, peninsula, isthmus
- paleogeographyPangaea, paleogeography, Gondwana, supercontinent, continental drift
landmassarchipelago
Chain of scattered islands
island chain · island · islet · key · atoll