Various landforms like mountains, plateaus, and plains shape the Earth’s surface. However, these landforms also intensify natural disasters such as storms, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions, leading to widespread destruction. Human exploitation of land and water resources often lacks judiciousness, resulting in wasteful practices like building houses on fertile land or polluting rivers and land with garbage. Preserving the Earth for future generations should be a priority, emphasizing responsible resource usage and environmental conservation.
The Characteristics of Different Landforms
Mountains, elevated natural formations, typically feature a broad base and a summit rising more than 600 meters above surrounding areas. Plateaus, flat-topped elevated lands, are shaped by wind, air, and water erosion. Plains, formed by river deposits, are highly populated and agriculturally productive due to fertile soil and transportation networks. However, mountains are less suitable for cultivation due to harsh climates and limited land availability. With steep slopes and high elevations, fewer people reside in mountainous regions. Some mountains even extend underwater, adding to the Earth’s diverse landforms.
The Longest Range of Mountains
Mount Everest, in the Mahalangur Himal subrange of the Himalayas, has the highest elevation above sea level. Mauna Kea in the Pacific Ocean, an underwater mountain, surpasses Everest at 10,205 meters. Mountains often form ranges, such as the Andes, the world’s longest range. They are vital water sources, with many rivers originating from mountain glaciers. Governments build reservoirs to store mountain water for irrigation and hydroelectricity. Mountains are ideal for crop cultivation due to fertile soil and support diverse flora and fauna. They provide various resources, including fuel, wood, fodder, shelter, and products like gum and raisins, essentially serving as natural forests.
The Unique Characteristics and Importance of Plateaus
A plateau is also a kind of mountain with a flat, table-like structure. Prominent examples include the Deccan Plateau in South India, located between the Eastern and Western Ghats, and the East African Plateau in Australia. The Tibetan Plateau is the most prominent in the China-Pakistan border region. Plateaus are rich in minerals like gold, diamonds, manganese, iron, and coal due to their geological age. Erosion transforms mountains into plateaus over time. Lava plateaus, formed from volcanic eruptions, have fertile black soil ideal for agriculture. The Jog Falls is a prime tourist spot, and lava plateaus support cultivation well.
The Formation and Characteristics of Plains
Plains are without much elevation of the land structure. Vegetation can make a land valley; it can be more or less depending on the climate and the soil it has. Plains, another type of landform, are conducive to fertilization. They are primarily formed by rivers. Plains, another type of landform, are conducive to fertilization. Rivers deposit a huge amount of minerals on the surface of land. when the rivers slope from mountains in the surrounding area and flow down and take the minerals and erode them. When the river comes from mountains, a huge amount of minerals come along with them and are deposited on the plain land.
The plains areas of Pakistan are divided into four categories, but here we are discussing the Indus Plain. Now, the Indus Plain is divided into two parts.
1: Upper Indus Plain
2—lower Indus plain
The Upper Indus Plain starts in the area of Jhelum, where the Potohar plateau is present, but actually, that area is drained by the river Indus. As we have studied the Potohar plateau, we can see that the upper Indus plains consist of five rivers. So it is drained by the Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, and Stalag rivers. and these rivers used to meet at the point of. penchant, and after that, all these rivers drained the Indus at the point of Mitten coat. so turn of Mitten coat, it is the area of upper Indus river.
Some plains are active flood plains, which are narrow strips of land.
Motivational Quotes7 months ago
