Landforms of earth

By manoj.m

major landforms of earth

mountains plains plateaus

MOUNTAINS

WHAT IS MOUNTAIN?

A mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area usually in the form of a peak.

MORE ABOUT MOUNTAIN?•A mountain is generally steeper than a hill The adjective montane is used to describe mountainous areas and things associated with them. The study of mountains is called Orography.

•Exogeology deals with planetary mountains, which in that branch of science are usually called montes (singular—mons).

•The highest mountain on Earth based from sea level is Mount Everest (8,848 m (29,029 ft)) in the Himalayas of Asia.

HOW DO MOUNTAIN FORM?

Where an area of sea separates two plates, sediments settle on the sea floor in depressions called geosynclines. These sediments gradually become compressed into sedimentary rock.When the two plates move towards each other again, the layers of sedimentary rock on the sea floor become crumpled and folded.Eventually the sedimentary rock appears above sea level as a range of fold mountains.

MAP OF MOUNTAINS

Types of mountain

fold block Volcanic

Types of mountain

WHAT IS FOLD MOUNTAIN?

Fold mountains are

mountains formed mainly

by the effects of folding on

layers within the upper part

of the Earth's crust.

MORE ABOUT FOLD MOUNTAIN

•Compressional forces in continental collisions may cause the compressed region to thicken and fold, with material forced both upwards and downwards.

•Since the less dense continental crust "floats" (cf iceberg) on the denser mantle rocks beneath, the weight of any crustal material forced upward to form hills, plateaus or mountains must be balanced by the buoyancy force (see isostasy) of a much greater volume forced downward into the mantle

Types of fold mountain

old young

WHAT IS BLOCK MOUNTAIN?

As the name suggests,

fault-block mountains or

fault mountains are

formed when blocks of

rock materials slide

along faults in the

Earth's crust

MORE ABOUT BLOCK MOUNTAIN

Block mountains are created when large areas are widely broken up by faults creating large vertical displacements. This occurrence is fairly common. The uplifted blocks are block mountains or horsts. The intervening dropped blocks are termed graben: these can be small or form extensive rift valley systems. This form of landscape can be seen in East Africa, the Vosges, the Basin and Range province of Western North America and the Rhine valley. These areas often occur when the regional stress is extensional and the crust is thinned.

Types of block mountain

lifted tilted

WHAT IS VOLCANIC MOUNTAINS?

Volcanic mountains are

formed due to volcanic

eruptions where magma

piles up on the surface

of the Earth.

MORE ABOUT VOLCANIC MOUNTAIN?

Volcanoes are generally found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging. A mid-oceanic ridge, for example the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, has examples of volcanoes caused by divergent tectonic plates pulling apart; the Pacific Ring of Fire has examples of volcanoes caused by convergent tectonic plates coming together. By contrast, volcanoes are usually not created where two tectonic plates slide past one another. Volcanoes can also form where there is stretching and thinning of the Earth's crust in the interiors of plates, e.g., in the East African Rift, the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field and the Rio Grande Rift in North America

Examples of mountains

fold Block

volcanic

•Himalayas of Asia

•Alps in Europe

•Sierra Nevada mountain range of the western United States.

•Mount Fuji in Japan •Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines

Rounded mountain

Sharp peak

Flat peak

WHAT IS PLAIN?

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ain

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nd w

ith

rela

tivel

y lo

w re

lief,

that

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at o

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tly ro

lling

MORE ABOUT PLAINS?

Plains occur as lowlands and at the bottoms of valleys but also on plateaus at high elevations. In a valley, a plain is enclosed on two sides but in other cases a plain may be delineated by a complete or partial ring of hills, by mountains or cliffs.

EXAMPLES OF PLAINS?

•Prairies in U.S.A

•West Siberian plains in Eurasia

•Gangetic plains in India

•Hawang ho plains in china

•Po valley in Italy

•Pampas in Argentina

This is grass plains

This is desert plains

WHAT IS PLATEAU?

Plateau also called a

high plain or

tableland, is an area

of highland, usually

consisting of relatively

flat terrain.

MORE ABOUT PLATEAU?

1. A plateau is a highland with steep slopes and a large summit area which rises abruptly from surrounding region.

2. The surface of a plateau can be flat, rolling or even hilly.3. Plateaus occupy large portion of the earth surface4. Some plateaus are very large and extends over

thousands of kilometers like Deccan plateau of INDIA5. Almost every continent has large plateaus6. They are located at semi arid and arid regions of the

world7. Some of them are found near the tropics or on the

leeward side of the mountain

Types of plateaus

Intermontane Continental Lava

MORE ABOUT INTERMONTANE PLATEAU?Intermontane plateau are the highest, largest

and most complex in the world.They are partly or completely enclosed by

mountain.

MORE ABOUT CONTINENTAL PLATEAU?

Continental plateau are extensive tablelands which rise abruptly from the bordering lowlands or from the sea.

MORE ABOUT LAVA PLATEAU?

Volcanoes also form several types of plateaus.

The lava plateaus are formed by fissure flows.

The total thickness and the area covered by the lava plateaus

tableland

Lava plateau

Continental plateau