🏞️ Landforms
Definition
● Landforms are natural physical features on the Earth’s surface, created by internal forces like tectonic
movements or volcanic activity, and external forces like weathering, erosion, and deposition.
Major Types of Landforms
Mountains
● High land with steep sides, formed by tectonic plate collision or volcanic activity.
● Examples: Himalayas (India/Nepal), Mount Fuji (Japan)
Hills
● Elevated landforms lower and less steep than mountains.
● Often formed by erosion or accumulation of rock debris.
● Example: Chocolate Hills (Bohol, Philippines)
Plateaus
● Flat-topped elevated areas, also called tablelands.
● Formed by uplift of Earth’s crust or lava flows.
● Examples: Deccan Plateau (India), Colorado Plateau (USA)
Plains
● Large flat or gently rolling areas, usually at low elevation.
● Formed by deposition of sediments by rivers, wind, or glaciers.
● Examples: Great Plains (USA), Indo-Gangetic Plains (India, Pakistan)
Valleys
● Low areas between mountains or hills, often carved by rivers or glaciers.
● Examples: Nile River Valley (Egypt), Yosemite Valley (USA)
Deserts
● Dry land with little rainfall, often sandy or rocky.
● Formed by wind erosion and weathering.
● Examples: Sahara Desert (Africa), Gobi Desert (Asia)
Deltas
● Landform formed at the mouth of a river where it deposits sediments into another body of water.
● Examples: Nile Delta (Egypt), Mekong Delta (Vietnam)
Islands
● Land surrounded by water on all sides.
● Can be volcanic, coral, or continental fragments.
● Examples: Hawaiian Islands (volcanic), Maldives (coral)
Peninsulas
● Land surrounded by water on three sides.
● Examples: Arabian Peninsula, Korean Peninsula
Canyons and Gorges
● Deep, narrow valleys with steep sides, carved by rivers over time.
● Example: Grand Canyon (USA)
Processes That Create Landforms
Internal Processes (Endogenic forces)
● Volcanism: creates volcanoes and islands
● Tectonic movements: creates mountains, rift valleys, and plateaus
External Processes (Exogenic forces)
● Weathering: breakdown of rocks
● Erosion by water, wind, glaciers: creates valleys, canyons, deserts
● Deposition: creates plains, deltas, sand dunes
Importance of Landforms
● Influence climate (mountains block winds, create rain shadows)
● Affect human settlement and agriculture (plains good for farming, mountains harder to live in)
● Provide natural resources (minerals in mountains, fertile soils in valleys)
● Serve as tourist attractions (Grand Canyon, Mount Everest, beaches)