Year 8 · Geography · Geographical knowledge and understanding
How landforms are made
Learners explain how tectonic forces, weathering, erosion and deposition create and change landforms, using Australian examples.
Awaiting educator review. This material was drafted by our content team with AI assistance and is waiting for review by a qualified educator. Please check it suits your child before using it. Created 10 October 2026.
Learning goals
Learners will
- Distinguish between landforms and landscapes.
- Explain the processes of weathering, erosion and deposition.
- Describe how tectonic forces shape landforms.
Success looks like
- I can explain the difference between weathering and erosion.
- I can describe how a coastal stack forms.
- I can explain why Australia has few active volcanoes and large earthquakes compared with its neighbours.
The big idea
A landform is an individual feature such as a mountain, valley, cliff or beach. A landscape is a larger area made up of many landforms.
Inside Earth, tectonic plates move slowly. Where plates collide, mountains can be pushed up and volcanoes and earthquakes are common. Australia sits near the middle of the Indo-Australian Plate, which is moving north at roughly 7 centimetres a year. Because it is far from plate boundaries, Australia has no currently active volcanoes on the mainland and fewer large earthquakes than neighbours such as Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.
Weathering breaks rock down where it is. Physical weathering includes rock cracking from heating and cooling; chemical weathering includes rainwater slowly dissolving limestone; biological weathering includes roots splitting rocks.
Erosion removes broken material, carried by rivers, waves, wind or ice. Deposition happens when the water, wind or ice slows down and drops what it carries, building features like beaches, sand dunes and river deltas.
Coastlines show these processes clearly. Waves attack weaknesses in a headland, forming a cave. If caves on both sides meet, an arch forms. When the arch collapses, a stack is left standing. The limestone stacks of the Twelve Apostles in Victoria formed this way, and some have collapsed in recent decades.
Australia's landscapes are very old and mostly low and flat because of long periods of erosion. The Great Dividing Range runs along the east coast; Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 m) is the highest point on the mainland.
Landscapes have cultural and spiritual meaning. Uluru, in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, is of great significance to the Anangu Traditional Owners, and climbing it was permanently closed in October 2019 out of respect for their wishes.
Worked examples
Weathering or erosion?
Classify: (a) tree roots crack a boulder; (b) a river carries sand downstream.
- (a) Rock breaks in place: weathering (biological).
- (b) Material is moved: erosion (and later deposition).
Answer: (a) weathering, (b) erosion.
Sequencing a coastal landform
Put these in order: stack, cave, arch, headland.
- Start with the headland of rock.
- Waves erode a weakness into a cave.
- The cave erodes through to form an arch.
- The arch collapses, leaving a stack.
Answer: Headland → cave → arch → stack.
Practice check
Have a go, then check your answers. Each answer comes with an explanation.
Answer guide for parents
What is the difference between weathering and erosion?
Weathering breaks rock in place; erosion moves it away — Weathering breaks down; erosion transports.
Which landform is formed by deposition?
A beach — Beaches form where waves deposit sand.
Why does Australia have fewer large earthquakes than New Zealand?
Australia is far from tectonic plate boundaries — Australia sits near the middle of a plate; New Zealand is on a plate boundary.
What forms when a sea arch collapses?
A stack — The remaining pillar of rock is a stack.
Why was climbing Uluru closed in 2019?
Out of respect for the wishes of the Anangu Traditional Owners — The closure respected Anangu wishes and Uluru's cultural significance.
What is the height of Mount Kosciuszko, in metres?
2228 — Kosciuszko is 2,228 m high.
The dropping of material carried by water, wind or ice is called ____.
deposition — Deposition builds beaches, dunes and deltas.
Which mountain range runs along Australia's east coast? The Great ____ Range.
Dividing — The Great Dividing Range is Australia's largest mountain range.
Watch out for
- Many people use 'weathering' and 'erosion' interchangeably; the key difference is movement.
- Some think landforms are permanent. They are constantly changing, though often too slowly to notice in a lifetime.
Tips for parents
- Visit a local beach, creek or road cutting and look for evidence of weathering, erosion and deposition.
- Many landscapes, including well-known landmarks, are culturally significant to First Nations peoples. Follow visitor guidelines set by Traditional Owners, and learn about landscapes from information that communities share publicly.
- A simple sand tray and watering can demonstrate erosion and deposition very effectively.
Go further
- Model river erosion in a tray of sand and record how channels and deltas form.
- Create an annotated diagram of the Twelve Apostles' formation.
- Research a volcanic landform in Australia's past, such as the volcanic plains of western Victoria.