Landforms

Landforms are natural physical features

That may be thinly populated

Or are full of creatures

Monuments and Historical sites

Palaces of kings of might

May stand tall

But they aren’t landforms called

So, come let us explore a few

Get ready

As we are zooming past

At the count of two

1…..

2……

A mountain is a piece of land

High above the terrain around it

It could be found

And spotted from far

From earth or even

Sometimes in sea and ocean water

Mt Fuji and Mt Everest

Are two of the tallest

Mauna kea however

In Hawaii

Holds the record for

Tallest mountain from base to peak

Thus, each mountain in its own way

Is Unique

Hills are similar to mountains

But, not exactly the same

They are tall but not that high

Let me explain

Do not sigh

A hill has a lower altitude

And elevation

Where the mountain may seem pointed

Hills have a rounded top

Uluru , is a UNESCO World Heritage site

Pachaimalai (green hill ), in Salem Tamil Nadu

Has greener vegetation than other hills might

A long, low place between hills or mountains

Are called valleys

They are most commonly formed

By erosion over a long period of time

And may occur in a relatively flat plain

Very narrow, deep valleys

Are called gorges

They are extremely fertile

As they generally have around

Running rivers

And melting glaciers

Death Valley lies

Below the sea level

With droughts and record summers

Frosted winter snow and rare rainstorms

Make it a land of extremes

Whereas, Spiti in Himachal Pradesh

Is a cold desert mountain valley

It is a barren and cold valley i

In the Himalayan mountain

Hence has sparse vegetation

Plateau is a flat piece of land

Also called, high plain or tableland

There are three types of plateaus

Volcanic plateau

Formed due to volcanic activity

Dissected plateaus are formed

Due to erosion over centuries

Making the effect sharp

Highland plateaus however

Are elevated mountain plateaus

Called by different names across

Like highlands in Europe

Blue mountains in Australia

And Ozarks in North America

Laurentian plateaus in Canada

Are also called the Great Shield

These are the oldest in the world

Ranging from Great Lakes to the Arctic Ocean

And most of Greenland

Deccan plateau in India

Extends over 8 states

And over two mountain ranges

It offers biodiversity

In its flora and fauna

And being home to Bhil and Gond tribes

Amongst others is rich in history

Forest is a growth of trees

Encompassing a large area

Many types of forests abound

Namely Rainforests, Boreal, Coniferous and Deciduous

Rainforests are simply an area of forests

With extensive rainfall

They are the earth’s oldest natural ecosystem

Some surviving over 70 million years

They are complex and diverse

Home to world’s half the living organisms

Except Antarctica

Thrive in every continent

They help to regulate our climate

Boreal forests is surrounded by

Grassy plants

And usually is scant

As, weather is cold and dry

And summers are short and moist

Coniferous forests are found in areas

That have long winters

Trees have leaves cone shaped like

Pines, spruces and firs

Deciduous forests on the other hand

Are seasonal in nature

The trees flower and bloom

Only as per season’s feature

The leaves are wide and flat

Like in oak, birch , neem or walnut

An island is a body of land

With water all around it

It can be surrounded by any

A sea, ocean , river or lake

It can be formed by collusion

Of continental plates

Or even of deposits of sand

Picked by water current through erosion

Three islands in the pacific ocean

Have been created by

Man made pollution

Easter Island in Chile a special territory

Which holds the Moai mystery

It is one of the remote inhabited sights

And is a UNESCO World heritage site

Lakshadweep is the smallest of

India’s Union Territories

The name means one lakh islands

It has 12 atolls, 03 reefs and 5 submerged banks

Desert is a place

That gets little or no rain

Gets only 10 inches of rainfall

Per year on an average

Sparse and widely spaced vegetation

Or sometimes no floral habitation

Some common features found

Only in hot but not cold

Are dunes, erg, oasis and barchan

A dune is a hill composed of sand

A group of dunes are called an Erg

A Barchan is a dune shaped like a crescent

Oasis is an area of vegetation

Found in desert

Antarctica is a cold desert

With no rainfall in 14 million years

In the form of ice shelves, icebergs and glaciers

It’s formed of snow and thick ice sheets

Temperatures here can dip as low as

Minus 80 degree Fahrenheit

Great Indian Desert is The Thar

Its spread in Rajasthan is wide and far

Salt water lakes are its crucial feature

The lakes here are namely Pachpadra, Didwana and Sambhar

Plains are almost a levelled area of land

Found in every continent

They cover 1/3rd of world’s surface area

Formed by erosion from hills or mountains

Deposited by water, ice or wind

Or even from flowing lava

Due to their flat topography

They support agriculture and farming

And hence are life giving

It is an ideal place to set up industries

Develop means of transport and communication

Campidano plains in Italy

Are nourished by Sardinian river

The fertile plains have an abundance of

Artichokes, wheat, grains and grapes

Indo-Gangetic plains includes

Most of Northern and Eastern India

Named after Indus and Ganges rivers

It is the source of the fertile

And enriching alluvial soil

Known for the Indus Valley Civilization

Extends from the Himalayas

Travelling up to the Indian Ocean

Peninsula derives from the Latin words

Paene-Almost

Insula-Island

It is surrounded by water on three sides

And connected to the mainland

From which it extends

Surrounding water is generally flowin’

Like seas and oceans

Peninsulas can be formed by

Continental drifts

That formed over millions of years

Thus not very swift

Uplifting of land masses

And even rising and falling sea levels

The world’s largest peninsula

Is the Arabian in West Asia

Divided between 9 Arab countries

Largest being Saudi Arabia

Created by separation of landmass

23 million years ago

Now in the Red Sea

Indian peninsula is a collage

Of many terranes

Ancient rocks, surfaces

And even rivers predominate

Showing diversity of landscape