L.6 – MAJOR LANDFORMS OF THE EARTH

I.

PLATEAU- a raised area of land with a flat land, also called ‘elevated flat topped table land’.

E.g. the East African Plateau in Kenya, the Deccan Plateau in India

PLAINS- Flat low lying areas, are about 200 meters above mean sea level.

E.g. the Gangetic plain in India, Yangtze plain in China

DESERT: A desert is a

barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life

e.g. the Thar desert in India,

the Sahara desert in Africa

2. Our Country India

Seventh largest country in the world The total area of our country is 3.28 million sq.km The second-most populous country

India: Physical

Features

The Northern Mountains:

Himadri, Himachal and Shiwalik

The Northern Plains:

E.g- the Sutlej, Ganga and its tributaries and the Brahmaputra

Located to the west of the Northern Plains

It is sometimes called the Rajasthan Desert or the Thar Desert

The oldest physical feature of India.

- The Central Highlands - The Deccan Plateau

Lie to the east and west of the Peninsular Plateau

- The Eastern and Western Coastal Plain

The Islands:

The Andaman and Nicobar

The Lakshadweep

II. TERMINOLOGY:

1. Deposition: The natural process of leaving a layer of a substance on rocks or soil

2. Erosion: the gradual destruction and removal of rock or soil in a particular in a particular area by rivers , the sea or the weather

3. Weathering: The breaking down or dissolving of rocks and minerals on earth’s surface

4. Horst : A raised elongated block of the earth’s crust lying between two faults

5. Graben: The lowered block 6. Delta: An area of low, flat land, sometimes shaped

approximately like a triangle, where a river divides into several smaller rivers before flowing into the sea. E.g. the Mississippi delta.

III. Answer the following:

1. Why are mountains said to be storehouses of water?

Ans. Mountains are said to be storehouses of water as,

Several glaciers are found on high peaks of mountains. These become sources of water at lower heights. These fast flowing rivers are not just ideal for generating

hydroelectricity but also provide water for irrigation.

2. Why are plains so densely populated?

Ans. Plains are the most densely populated areas in the world.

The fertile soil, availability of water not only provides land for cultivation, but also make it easy to build houses, construct roads and lay down railway lines.

3. What is the significance of plateaus?

Ans. Plateaus are a storehouse of minerals, iron ore, copper,

gold, diamonds and several other minerals.

Rivers falling down the slops of plateaus form waterfalls which help in generating hydro- electricity.

Some plateaus are made up of lava and provide black soil which is extremely fertile.

These are also great tourist attractions.

4. What do you think the importance of having a variety of physical divisions for a country?

Ans. The different physical divisions highlight the unique

features of that region.

They play a major role in deciding the weather, climate, vegetation and animals found in a region.

For example, India has all possible landscape that the earth has.

India is a land of diversity in all manners. The wide range of physical features of India makes the country a complete geographical study.

IV. Creative Writing: (HW)

a. India is a land of diversity in all manners. Now write a poem of your own on your motherland by describing its physical features. Draw a beautiful picture to make your poem more interesting and meaningful.

b. Slogan Writing: ***************************************