VI-Geography

Ch:2-Landforms _______________________________________________________________

SCOPE OF SYLLABUS:

- Landforms

- The Mountains

- Formation of Mountains

- Valley, The Plateaus, Plains

- The cold desert: LADAKH

- Flora and Fauna, People

- Life in the GANGA-BRAHMAPUTRA Basin

- Effects of Geography on history

_________________________________________________________

LANDFORMS

Landforms are natural features of the landscape, natural physical features of

the earth’s surface. For example, valleys, plateaus, mountains, plains, hills,

loess or glaciers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILImPG6qJ9w

Changes in the surface of the earth:

Types of forces:

1. Exogenic forces:

Exogenic forces or processes, also called as external forces of

denudation or destructional forces, always originate from the

atmosphere.

The agents of it are River, wind, glacier and sea waves which

changes through the processes of gradation, degradation,

aggravation and weathering.

2. Endogenic forces:

The forces coming from within the earth or taking place in the

interior of the earth are called endogenic forces.

They produces movements on the earth’s crust and often referred

to as earth movements.

Types of landforms

1. Mountains

2. Plateaus

3. Plains

THE MOUNTAINS

A mountain is a mass of land considerably higher than the surrounding area.

Features of mountain:

1. It is more than six hundred metres above the sea level and has a narrow or

conical peaks.

2. Mountains are groups of very high hills long chains called ranges.

3. The Himalayas in the northern part of our country have three major

ranges extending from west to east.

Types of Mountain

1. Young mountain:

Some mountains are very tall and have pointed peaks are called young

mountain.

Example: Himalaya mountain

2. Old mountain:

Some mountains are low in height and their peaks are rounded are called

old mountains.

Example: Aravalli mountain

Importance of Mountains 1. Mountains play a significant role in providing water and food supply to

the millions of the people of the world.

2. About 13% of the population lives in mountain.

3. Mountains are the major source of timber and provide habitant to millions

of birds and animals.

Formation of Mountains

1. Folding is process that produces folds, or bends in rocks due to

compressional forces.

2. Faulting is process that leads to fracturing of rocks due to stretching of

rocks.

Formation of Block Mountains

Block mountains are formed due to faulting in the ground surface.

The faulting is causing by tensile and compressive forces motored by

endogeneticforces coming from within the earth.

If there are two parallel faults, the crustal block between them may either

rise to produce a rift valley or a graben.

Example: Vosges and Black forest in Europe, Vindhayas and Satpura of

India.

Volcanic Mountains:

These mountains are also known as mountains of accumulation because

these have been formed by the erosion and deposition of lava.

Example: Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa.

Mt. Fujiyama in Japan.

VALLEY

Avalleyisalow area betweenhills.

Example: The GreatRift valley of Africa, Red sea and the Gulf of Suez.

THE PLATEAUS

The Plateau is a broad and rather flat area of land rising sharply above the

surrounding lowlands.

They appear like tablelands.

Example:The Deccan plateau of India.

The Tibet or the Tibetan Plateau is the highest plateau of the world.

PLAINS

A relatively Flat and a low- laying land surface with least difference

between its highest and lowest points is called a plain.

Plains are usually lowlands.

Classification of Plains:

Structural Plains:

1. These are either formed due to upliftment or subsidence of continental

shelf.

2. Example: The Great Coastal Plains of USA,The Malabar Coastal

Plains of India.

Depositional Plains:

1. It is formed of the sediments in lowlands such as depressions, lakes

and sea floor.

2. It is mainly done by rivers, glaciers, wind, sea waves and volcanic

eruption.

3. Example: Ganga-Brahmaputra plain of India.

LANDFORMS AND PEOPLE

THE COLD DESERT – LADAKH

Ladakh is a cold desert lying in the Great Himalayas on the eastern side

of Jammu and Kashmir.

Due to its high altitude, the climate is extremely cold and dry.

The day temperature in summer are just above zero degree and the night

temperature well below -30 degree C.

It lies in the rain shadow of the Himalayas, there is a little rainfall, as low

as 10 cm every year.

Ladakh is made up of two word- La meaning mountain pass and Dak

meaning country.

Drass, one of the coldest inhabited places on earth is located in Ladakh.

Ladakh is also known as Khapa-chan which means snow land.

NEW WORDS

Rain Shadow: An area of rainfall on the leeward side of mountain.

Gorge: a narrow, deep river valley with steep sides.

Cold Desert: Area of low temperature and long winters.

Glacier: A Huge mass of ice moving slowly down a slope.

Mountains: Parts of the continents rising above the rest of the land and

having conical peaks and steep slopes.

FLORA AND FAUNA

There are scanty patches of grasses and shrubs for animals to graze.

Groves of willows and poplars are seen in the valleys.

The finest cricket bats are made from the wood of the willow trees.

Robins, redstarts, Tibetan snowcock, raven and hoopoe are some of the

species of migratory birds.

The Chiru or the Tibetan antelope,is an endangered spices.it is hunted for

its wool known as shahtoosh,

which is light weight and extremely warm.

The animals of Ladakh are wild goats, wild sheep,yak and special kinds

of dogs.

Yak’s milk is used to make cheese and butter.

Yak is naturally adapted to high altitudes due to its large lungs.

The hair of the sheep and goat is used to make woollens.

Do you Know?

In the fresh waters of River Ganga and River Brahmaputra, a variety

ofdolphin locally called Susu (also called blind dolphin) is found.

The presence of Susu is an indication of the health of the river.

The untreated industries and urban wastes with high amount of chemicals

are killing this spices.

PEOPLE

The people in Ladakh are either Muslims or Buddhists.

Gompas are Buddhist temples located in Ladakh.

In the summer season the people are busy cultivating barley, potatoes,

peas, beans and turnip.

People keep themselves engage in festivities and ceremonies during

winter season.

Leh, the capital of Ladakh is well connected both by road and air.

Manali- Leh highway crosses four passes- Rothang la, Baralacha la,

Lungalacha la, Tanglang la.

The highway opens only between July and September when snow is

cleared from the road.

Tourist is a major activity with several tourists streaming in from within

India and abroad.

LIFE IN THE GANGA- BRAHMAPUTRA BASIN

The tributaries of rivers Ganga and Brahmaputra together form the

Ganga-Brahmaputra basin in the Indian subcontinent.

The basin lies in the sub-tropical region that is situated between 10 degree

N to 30 degree N latitude.

The monsoon brings rains from mid-June to mid-September.

The summers are hot and the Winters are cool.

River Brahmaputra is known by different names in different places.

Intensive subsistence is a labour intensive farming, where high doses of

biochemical inputs and irrigation are used for obtaining high production.

Cash crops like sugarcane and jute are also grown.

Terraces are built on steep slopes to create flat surface on which crops are

grown.The slopes is removed so that water does not run off rapidly.

Elephant, tigers, deer, monkey, one-horned rhinoceros are some of the

variety of wildlife.

Crocodiles and alligators are also found in Brahmaputra plain.

The most popular varieties of fish are the rohu, catla and hilsa.

The Ganga-Brahmaputra plains has several big cities like Allahabad,

Kanpur, Varanasi,Kolkata with the population with more than ten lakhs.

All four ways of transport are well developed in Ganga-Brahmaputra

basin.

There is a number of other agro-based industries located in the sub-basin.

Tourist is another important activity of the basin.

GLOSSARY

POPULATION DENSITY: It means the number of persons that live in

one sq. of area unit such as meter kilometre.

EFFECTS OF GEOGRAPHY ON HISTORY

Throughout its early History, mankind constantly moved from one hostile

environment to more favourable living condition.

Availability of water of river Indus provided base for the birth of the

Indus Valley Civilization.

Variety of physical divisions divided India into different territorial units

each with its own history.

Plains of North India has always lured foreign invaders since ages.

Geographically and culturally south India has evolved an individuality of

its own.

Connectivity of sea with rest of the World provided opportunity to west

to invade in India.

WORKSHEET

A. Answer the following questions briefly:

1. Define landforms.

2. Name the forces due to which the surface of the earth is constantly

changing.

3. Define mountains.

4. What are young mountains?

5. Define faulting.

6. Define valley.

7. Give two examples of valley.

8. What is a plateau?

9. Define plain.

10. Define Gorge.

11. Ladakh receives little rainfall. Give reason.

12. Name any two towns located in the Ganga-Brahmaputra plains.

13. State any two features of intensive subsistence agriculture.

14. Mention any two cash crops of the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin.

B. Match the following:

1. Endogenic a. Block mountain

2. Exogenicb. Volcanic eruption

3. Mountains c. Wind

4. Vindhayasd. Volcanic mountain

5. Mt. Fujiyama e. The Himalayas

C. Fill in the blanks:

1. ________mountains are found due to faulting in the ground surface.

2. ________ is the highest plateau of the world.

3. ________and ________ are examples of block mountains.

4. ________and ________ are the major plains of the world.

5. ________ is the main animal of the Ladakh region.

D. Multipal choice Questions:

1. ________ is the most important river of the Ladakh.

a. Ganga

b. Brahmaputra

c. Indus

d. Kaveri

2. Gompas is a ________.

a. Temple

b. House

c. School

d. Church

3. The Ganga-Brahmaputra basin has ________ climate.

a. Equatorial

b. China type

c. Monsoon

d. Tropical

4. Rohu, Calta and Hilsa are

a. Fish

b. Crops

c. Animal

d. Trees

5. Kaziranga and Manas Wildlife sanctuaries are in ________ .

a. Assam

b. Bengal

c. Manipur

d. Punjab

Worksheet Solutions

A1. Landforms are natural features of the landscape, natural physical features of

the earth’s surface.

A2. On the basis of the sources of the origin the forces, which effect the earth

crust can be divided into two broad categories i,e., the endogenic forces and

exogenic forces.

A3. A mountain is a mass of land considerably higher than the surrounding

area.

A4. Some mountains are very tall and have pointed peaks.They are called the

young mountains.

A5. Faulting is process that leads to fracturing of rocks due to stretching of

rocks.

A6. Valley is a low area between hills.

A7. The Great Rift Valley of Africa, Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez are the

example of Valley.

A8. The Plateau is a broad and rather flat area of land rising sharply above the

surrounding lowlands.

A9. A plain is a broad area of relatively flat land.

A10. Gorge is a narrow, deep river valley with steep sides.

A11. As it lies in the rain shadow of the Himalayas, there is little rainfall, as low

as 10 cm every year.

A12. Allahabad and Kanpur are the two towns located in the Ganga-

Brahmaputra plains.

A13. It is a labour intensive farming, where high doses of biochemical inputs

and irrigation are used for obtaining high production.

A14. Sugarcane and Jute are to two cash crops of the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin.

B. 1(b), 2(c), 3(e), 4(a), 5(d)

C. 1. Block 2. Tibetan plains 3. Vosges, Vindhayas 4. Ganga, Brahmaputra 5.

Yak

D. 1.c 2. a 3.c 4.a 5.a