Plateau

geology · mountains · landforms

Flat on top. Plateaus are like huge tables made of rock and earth. They have flat tops but steep sides that drop down sharply to the ground below.

Made by volcanoes. Some plateaus form when hot melted rock called magma pushes up from deep inside the Earth and then cools and hardens into solid ground.

Carved by water. Rivers and glaciers can slowly wear away rock over millions of years, carving out valleys around a high area and leaving a plateau standing tall in the middle.

Three main types. Plateaus are named by what's around them. Some sit between mountains (intermontane), some sit at the edge of mountains (piedmont), and some spread across huge areas of land (continental).

Varies in size. Some plateaus are small with tiny flat tops, while others are enormous with wide, flat surfaces that stretch for many miles in every direction.