43

Unit III

LANDFORMS
&
CHAPTER
EVOLUTION
T
he surface of the earth constitutes a
great assemblage of physical features,
each having a form, dynamics, and
uniqueness. It is called landform. No landform
is permanent, each is changing — some slowly
while others fast. Landforms vary in size from
continents to minor rivulets.
A host of internal and external forces are
involved in the creation of landforms. Tectonic
forces crumple rocks and push up continents
and mountain ranges. Moving water, air and
ice erode rocks and transport the eroded
debris to depositional sites and thus, change
the appearance of the landscapes with the
passage of time. The intensity of these agencies
varies from one region to another depending
on climate, vegetation and altitude.
Geomorphology is the genetic study of
landfor ms. T raditionally, the study was
essentially confined to origin and evolution of
landforms. According to some, the study and
interpretation of records left by erosion
constitute the major part of the science of
geomorphology. While others view geo-
morphology not merely as a study of
landforms but also interaction, at the contact
surface, between the lithosphere and the
atmosphere. Two great geomorphologists,
S.W. Wooldridge and W.M. Davis considered
that landforms were the best indicators of the
earth’s history.
The view of the earth’s history proposed by
the catastrophists of the early nineteenth
century was of a succession of abrupt
upheavals culminating in a great flood. These
paroxysms were interpreted as the result of
Divine intervention. In contrast, C. Lyell and
J.Hutton hypothesised slow changes involving
a number of natural processes. J. Hutton in
OF LANDFORMS
the book Theory of the Earth with Proof and
Illustrations (1785) recognised the cyclical
nature of geological changes. He postulated
that ordinary processes, operating over long
time intervals could effect great changes. He
reasoned from observation that rocks slowly
decayed and disintegrated under the action of
water and air. Hutton observed mountains
being eroded, rivers carrying debris to the sea,
ocean waves pounding rocks, sands and mud
settling to the bottom and then being buried
on the sea floor. Nature behaves in a uniform
fashion all the time. Charles L yell called it
Principle of Uniformitarianism. Actually what
remains uniform are the physical and chemical
laws that govern geological activities.
LANDFORM TYPES
Landforms that result from crustal movements
are of tectonic type. No sub-aerial relief can
occur until tectonic uplift has raised land
above sea level or they are constructed by
depositional (volcanic or sedimentational)
processes.
Terrestrial land forms can be classified
into the following hierarchy: first order
land forms, second order land forms, and third
order land forms.
The first order landforms include the
continents and ocean basins that comprise the
largest units of the earth’s relief. In the
light of Plate Tectonic Theory (discussed in
Chapter 5 of this book), the continents are
large masses that are rafted and rooted in the
mantle. As a consequence of this process new
oceans are formed.
The second order landform includes the
tectonic mountain belts, plateaus and plains.
Under the second order relief, the landscapes
46
are characterised primarily by their tectonic or
structural unity. The second order relief is
generally, created by internal or endogenic earth
processes driven by the energy source in the
form of volcanism and/or tectonic activity from
deep inside the earth. The Himalaya mountains
and the Deccan Plateau are examples of the
second order landforms.
The third order landform includes the
features produced by erosion such as carved
mountains, hills and valleys. Atmospheric
weathering and erosion are largely responsible
in giving rise to the landforms by destructional
or erosional processes. Complex series of
reactions take place when rocks are exposed to
water and air in the planet’s gravitational field.
The third order landforms are shaped by the
external or exogenic earth processes. External
processes, driven by solar energy, act through the
atmosphere and oceans where air and water
come in contact with the lithoshpere.
WEATHERING
The world’s different landscapes have been
made mainly by the action of weather on rocks.
The term rock weathering is used to describe
chemical decomposition and physical
disintegration of rocks. L ying above the
bedrock may be a layer of loose material, the
regolith (rego — blanket, lith — rock). Regolith
is a term that can be used broadly to refer to any
layer of relatively loose or soft material lying on
the bedrock. When regolith is formed by
decomposition and disintegration of the
bedrock that lies directly beneath it, it is called
residual regolith. The regolith transported by
streams, ice, wind and deposited elsewhere is
called transported regolith.
Weathering takes place in three ways: by
physical or mechanical action, by chemical
action and by biochemical or biological action.
Mechanical Weathering
In middle and high latitude climates and at high
altitudes alternate freezing and melting of water
called frost action provides powerful
mechanism for breaking up of rocks. Water
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
that has penetrated joint planes and other
natural openings in the rock expands when
transformed into ice crystals. The pressure of
growing mass of such crystals cause joint
blocks to be heaved up and pried free of the
parent mass.
In the dry climates of low and middle latitudes,
an important agent of rock disintegration is salt.
The dry climates have long droughts in which
evaporation can occur continuously causing
water deep in the rock to be drawn surfaceward
by capillary force. Near the rock surface, this
moisture steadily evaporates permitting dissolved
salts to be deposited in openings of the rock.
Although minute in size and appearing fragile, the
growing salt crystals are capable of exerting
powerful stresses. Temperature changes are also
a factor in the disintegration of rocks. Daily
temperature changes may not cause rock
disintegration, but repeated expansion and
contraction assist in breaking up of rocks already
affected by other stresses and by chemical decay.
The action of the roots of growing plant,
exerting pressure upon the confining walls of
regolith or rock is yet another kind of mechanical
weathering. This process is especially important
in the breakup of rock already weakened by
other physical and chemical means.
Rocks break in different ways. Rocks
composed of coarse grain fall apart grain by grain.
Some rocks disintegrate like skins of onions,
called exfoliation. Others break along joints as in
block separaton or along new surfaces producing
angular pieces as in shattering (Fig. 8.1).
Chemical Weathering
Chemical weathering consists of several chemical
reactions, which may occur more or less
simultaneously. Oxidation is one of the most
typical exothermic, volume increasing reactions.
Especially common is the reaction of iron bearing
minerals with oxygen dissolved in water. Other
typical weathering reaction is carbonation. It is
reaction of minerals with dissolved carbon
dioxide in water. Hydrolysis, yet another
chemical reaction, is the decompo-sition of
mineral with water. Some minerals get dissolved
in a chemical reaction called solution.
EVOLUTION OF LANDFORMS 47

erosion. Larger plants affect weathering in a

number of ways. Cracks may be widened by root
pressure. The accumulation of elements by plants
and their return to the surface of the soil affect the
nature of the soil and weathering profiles and the
course of weathering. Vegetation litter and
decaying vegetation are important in conserving
moisture which in turn enhances weathering.

MASS WASTING
The force of gravity acts constantly upon all
soil, regolith and bedrock. In most places the
internal strength of these materials is sufficient
to keep them in place. Wherever the ground
surface is sloping, a proportion of the force of
gravity is directed downslope parallel with the
surface. Every particle has at least some
tendency to roll or slide downhill and will do
so whenever the downslope force exceeds the
resisting forces of friction and cohesion that
tend to bind the particle to the rest of the
mass.
The forms of mass wasting range from the
catastrophic slides to the small flows of water
saturated soil. But extremely slow movement
Fig.8.1 : Mechanical Weathering of soil, imperceptible from one year to the
Note four geometrical forms into which rocks may break. next year, also acts on almost every hillside
(Table 8.1).
Careful inspection of hillside often discloses
Biological Weathering evidence that the soil has been very slowly
The breakdown of rocks and minerals is very moving downslope rather steadily over a long
largely controlled by plants, animals and bacteria period of time. This phenomenon is called soil
creep (Fig. 8.2). It is the result of shear
as well. The main contribution of animals to
distributed along countless joint fractures and
weathering seems to be repeated mixing of soil
bedding or cleavage surfaces in the rock.
material, thus bringing fresh material into In hilly and mountainous regions of humid
exposure to weathering agents. Snails are climate, water-saturated soil and regolith rich
common in lime-rich areas and can wear deep in clay minerals take the form of an earthflow.
holes in limestone. Bird droppings may provide Earthflow is a form of mass wasting in which
organic matter for the start of soil formation and behaviour of the earth material is that of a
weathering. Grazing by large animals loosens the plastic solid (Fig. 8.3). Solifluction is an arctic
soil, thus, increasing surface runoff and soil variety of earthflow in the treeless tundra.
Table 8.1 : Types of Mass Movements
Type of Bedrock Type of Material (Soils)
Movement Predominantly Coarse Predominantly Fine
Falls Rock fall Debris fall Earth fall
Topples Rock topple Debris topple Earth topple
Slides Rock slump Debris slump Earth slump
Rock slide Debris slide Earth slide
Flows Rock flow Debris flow Earth flow
48
Fig.8.2 : Soil Creep
Common place evidence of imperceptible
down slope creep of soil.
Mass wasting takes the form of mudflow if
proportion of water to mineral matter is large. It
travels fast down the channels of streams.
Mudflows also originate high in mountains
Fig.8.3 : Earth Flow
Slump features are well developed in the
upper part of a slope.
Fig.8.4 : Landslide
Two basic forms of landslide — rockslide
and slump may be noted.
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
where melting winter snow picks up weathered
rocks rich in clay.
Along vertical rock cliff, the process of
physical weathering loosens the rocks. When
the force of gravity brings them down they are
described as rockfalls. The falling rock masses
break into smaller fragments to form a slope
of loose materials called talus. Sliding of a
single block of rock on its lower surface is called
rock slide (Fig.8.4). When a block slips on a
curved fracture plane rotating backward upon
a horizontal axis, it is known as slump (Fig. 8.4).
The processes of erosion, transportation
and deposition are carried out by several
agents, such as running water, glacial ice, sea
waves, and winds.
RUNNING WATER
Running water is undoubtedly the most
important agent of denudation. It is most
conspicuous as a stream or river that trans-
ports enormous volumes of surplus preci-
pitation from the land to the ocean. Stream
action, in combination with weathering, mass
wasting and overland flow is responsible for
total process called fluvial denudation.
Running water as a geomorphic agent acts
in two basic forms. First is overland flow, the
movement of runoff downhill on the ground
surface in a more or less broadly distributed
sheet or film. Second is channel flow or stream
flow, in which water moves to lower levels in a
long, narrow, troughlike feature called a stream
channel bounded on both sides by rising slopes
called banks that contains the flow.
Stream channels are organised into
branching channel networks. Together with the
land surface slopes that contribute runoff by
overland flow, the channel network forms a
drainage system or drainage basin which is a
line following a chain of continuous ridge crests.
The line includes all of the surface or watershed
that slopes toward the channels of the system.
Rivers perform three closely interrelated
geomorphic work :
• Erosion;
• Transportation; and
• Deposition.
EVOLUTION OF LANDFORMS 49

River erosion is the progressive removal of a good example of lateral accretion (Fig. 8.5).
mineral matter from the surfaces of stream Sometimes, when a segment of the meandering
channel which itself may consist of bedrock or river channel is abandoned to straighten its
regolith. River transportation is the movement course, the abandoned channel is known as
of eroded particles in chemical solution, in oxbow lake (Fig. 8.6).
turbulent suspension or by rolling and dragging
along the bed. River deposition consists of
accumulation of any transported particles on
the streambed, on the adjoining floodplain or on
the floor of a body of standing water into which
the river empties. While the river performs all
three functions simultaneously, one may
dominate over the other in different parts of the
river courses.

River Erosion
The nature of river erosion depends upon the
materials of which the channel is composed and
the means of erosion available to the river. One
simple means of erosion is hydraulic action, the
pressure and drag of flowing water exerted upon
grains projecting from the bed and banks. Weak
bedrock and various forms of regolith are easily
carved out by hydraulic action alone.
Mechanical wear, termed abrasion, occurs when Fig.8.5 : Formation of Meanders
Meanders develop with a slight change in the
rock particles carried in the current strike
channel of the stream in initial stage.
against the exposed bedrocks of the channel.
Small particles are further reduced by crushing When the velocity of running water as it
and grinding when caught between larger comes out from hills and meets the plain
cobbles and boulders. Chemical reactions decreases, it dumps the transported material at
between ions carried in solution in river water the foot hills forming alluvial fans. By the time
and exposed mineral surfaces result in a form a river enters the sea or a large lake, it loses its
of erosion called solution.
Gentle rain falling on bare surface loosens
the soil and muddies the water. The muddy
water flows as thin, slow moving surface layer
of water called sheet flow. As the slope increases,
the water scours additional sediments and
erodes small channels called rills. Headward
erosion of rills and their subsequent widening
lead to gully formation. Gullies dissect the land
into a number of isolated little hills, giving rise
to badland topography. The valley of the
Chambal in Madhya Pradesh is an example of
badland topography. Fig.8.6 : River-Born Features in a Plain
Note river meander and associated landforms.
Entering the plains, the running water
deposits the transported material laterally velocity. The fine material carried down the
called as lateral accretion. Point bars formed by distance is deposited at this point to form a
meandering rivers on their concave bends are triangular fan called delta.
50
River Transportation
It takes three different forms. First, dissolved
solids such as salts travel downstream
indefinitely and reach the ocean. They do not
affect the mechanical behaviour of the river.
Second, particles of clay, silt and sometimes,
fine sand are carried in suspension. In this form
of transport, the upward currents in eddies of
flow are capable of holding the particles
indefinitely in the body of the river. Clay
particles, once lifted into suspension, are so
readily carried that they travel long distances.
As a result, suspension provides a means of
separating solid particles of various sizes and
carrying each size category to a different
location, a process known a sorting. Third,
rolling or sliding of grains along the stream bed.
These dragging motions can be conveniently
included in the term traction. Fragments
moved in traction are bed load of the river.
The erosion and transportation depends
upon the energy of a stream. The volume of
water and speed of its movement provide
energy to it. A swift mountain stream by
vertical erosion for ms V-shaped valleys,
gorges, rapids and waterfalls. Where side rocks
Fig.8.7 : Conditions for Formation of a Glacier
Accumulated ice moves downwards.
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
are very resistant the valley becomes very narrow
and the sides steep to form gorges. The Satluj,
the Indus and the Brahmaputra have formed
deep gorges in the Himalayas. Irregular bed of
a river caused by occurrence of rocks of varying
resistance leads to the formation of rapids where
water jumps up and down while flowing. When
the break in the river courses is great, waterfalls
are formed.
River Deposition
The fine clays continue in transportation
almost indefinitely, but the coarser silts settle
down when river velocity drops to moderate
values. In this way clay is carried to the sea,
where it contacts salt water and undergoes
clotting into larger particles, or flocculation.
Particles of medium to coarse sand and larger
particles travel as bed load in a river. River
meanders, flood plains, braided channels,
oxbows lakes and deltas develop in plains as
a result of lateral and bed deposits.
GLACIERS
Glaciers are defined quite broadly as large
natural accumulations of land ice affected by
EVOLUTION OF LANDFORMS 51

motion. Matter, in the form of snow, is received

upon the upper surface in the zone of highest
elevation where the rate of loss of snow by
ablation in summer is, on an average, less than
the rate at which the snow is received. This region
of net gain is called the zone of accumulation (Fig.
8.7). In the lower part of the glacier, loss by
ablation, exceeds the rate at which snow
accumulates and the imbalance is greater as we
follow the glacier to lower, warmer elevations. This
region of net loss is the exit boundary of the
system and is known as the zone of ablation.
Beneath the glacier, ice moves plastically
removing and picking loose materials. This
activity is called glacial plucking. Blocks of rock
being carried within the glacier or ice are
scraped and dragged along the rock floor,
grooving the bedrock and chipping out
fragments of rock in an abrasive process called
grinding. As the ice moves it carries the rocks
along, and grinds them into smaller grains. The
scratches or striations so formed are the relic Fig.8.8 : A Glaciated Topography
of that action. Striations are clues to the The upper sketch shows valleys covered with glaciers.
direction the ice moved. The lower one shows the features formed by a
Ice erodes and transports material from the glacial erosion.
sides of its valley with a special efficiency. Not
slope and decreases with the friction and debris
only does it scrap the sides below the ice level, but at the bottom floor.
the ice acts as a conveyor belt for any debris that Unequal movement leads to splitting of ice and
happens to fall or slide from higher up on the development of cracks on the glacial body which
valley walls onto the surface of the glacier. are called crevasses. U-shaped valleys, cirques
The crushing strength applied to the bed by and sheep-back shaped rocks are common
overriding glacier or ice is exceedingly high. features of the topography which experienced
Large quantity of eroded material accompanies glaciations. Below the snowlines the glacier melts
glacier. Strip of dirt and rock that flow with the and the materials carried by it is deposited.
ice and deposit along the sides of valley is known Eskers, drumlins, out wash plain and many other
lateral moraine (Fig. 8.8). When the lateral features are noticeable in this area (Fig.8.9).
moraines of two glaciers merge, they form a single
medial moraine in the middle. Plucking of
bedrocks by the overriding glacier leads to the
formation of glacial trough, a channel of the valley
glacier. The glacial trough, if filled up by water
gives rise to trough lake. The glacial troughs
formed near the sea get filled in by the sea water
giving rise to fiords. At the head of each trough a
steep headed, semi-circular basin is formed called
cirque. Where three or more cirques intersect, a
highly pyramidal peak may rise above the level,
called horn.
The rate of movement of glaciers varies from Fig.8.9 : Features Formed by Glacial Deposition
an average of 4 centimetres to about 18 metres a Examine various forms with reference
day. Its velocity increases with the steepness of to direction of movement of ice.
52 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

WINDS
Winds are highly variable in direction and force.
The distribution and intensity of winds in
combination with climate has much to do with
the location of wind erosion and windblown
deposits on the earth.
One form of wind erosion is deflation, the
lifting and transporting of loose particles of
clay and silt, collectively referred to as dust.
The particles are suspended in turbulent
eddies in the wind structure. The process is
much like that of suspension of fine sediments
in river flow. The dust is diffused upward into
the atmosphere to heights ranging from a few
metres to several kilometres. The height
depends upon intensity of wind turbulence,
duration of the wind and fineness of the Fig.8.10 : Mushroom Rock
particles. The result may be dense cloud called Observe the shape. What could be the
dust storm. Deflation occurs where clays and reason for its formation?
silts in a thoroughly dried state are exposed on
barren land surfaces. called barchan (Fig. 8.11). Dunes separated by
The sand moves in a layer only a few troughs are called transverse dunes. Dunes
centimetre above the ground at most. The grains
make long leaps downward. The process of
leaping by rebound is termed saltation. In this
way, the wind transfers kinetic energy to the
grain, which on impact with the sand surface
dislodges other grains and may project them
into the air.
Excavation of shallow depressions by wind
erosion is called deflation hollows or blowouts.
Deflation removes the finer materials leaving
behind bigger pebbles. Such residual sheets
of pebble or gravel is called desert pavement. Fig.8.11 : Barchans
Sandblast action is another form of wind Note its formation with reference to wind direction.
erosion. It results from mineral grains of sand
blasting against exposed rock surfaces. We having long, narrow ridges parallel to the
often observe it in desert areas and in the prevailing wind direction are called longitudinal
coastal areas. Notches, honeycombed surfaces dunes.
and mushroom rocks (Fig. 8.10) are some of the
WAVES
features formed by sandblast actions.
When dust is transported by wind to long The coast, the broad region that is the meeting
distances and deposited in large area, it place of land and sea, can be carved into many
produces a landform called loess. By far the kinds of shapes — steep rocky cliffs, broad low
most prominent landforms of deserts are sand beaches, crescents of small beaches or wide,
dunes. They are created by winds transporting sweeping, sandy tidal flats. The forces that
sand and depositing it to form round hillocks shape coasts are essentially the destructive
of sand. An isolated dune of crescent shape is processes of erosion operating in conjunction
EVOLUTION OF LANDFORMS 53

with sea waves that transport and deposit

material.
At the shoreline, the line along which the
water meets the land, the major erosive agent
is wave action. Ocean waves produced by wind
are of two types: progressive, in which the wave
forms move rapidly through the water and
oscillatory, which moves up and down only.
When a train of waves arrives at the coast of a
continent or island, it encounters shallow
water. Wave orbits in shallow water are
modified into ellipses which become
progressively flatter as the bottom is
approached. In this way, not by separate
segments but in a continuous transition along
the wave crest, the line of the wave bends as
it slows, in a process called wave refraction. Fig.8.12 : Erosional Features Produced by Wave
Action
This process is so called because of its
similarity to the bending of light rays in optical
The erosive work of sea depends largely
refraction. Wave refraction produces special
upon the size and strength of waves, seaward
effects on an irregular shoreline with indented
slope, height of the shore between low and
bays and projecting headlands. Erosion by
high tides, the composition of rocks and the
waves is thus, concentrated at headlands and
depth of water. Breaking of waves along the
tends to wear them away more quickly than
shore develops a considerable force on rocks.
along straight sections of shoreline.
Erosion, however, is also affected by the
Along a coast of hard rock, a gently inclined
solvent and chemical actions of sea waves.
rock surface is carved out to accommodate the
swash and backswash. It is called abrasion
platform. A shoreline rising abruptly from the • Mass movements are environmental
abrasion platform is called marine cliff. The hazards in terms of property damage to
stormy waves thrust rock fragments with great highways, railroads and structures of all
violence, against the cliff base to develop wave kinds.
cut notches and sea caves (Fig. 8.12). • Clays that spontaneously change from a
Relatively thick and gently sloping solid condition to a near liquid condition
is called quick clay. A sudden shock or
accumulation of sand, gravel or cobbles in the
disturbance may often cause a layer of
zone of breakers and surf is called beach.
quick clay to begin to liquefy, called
During summer when waves are weaker sand liquefaction, that once begun cannot be
from deeper water is moved to the beach. A stopped.
reverse of situation occurs in winter.

EXERCISES

Review Questions
1. Answer the following questions:
(i) What is geomorphology?
(ii) Name the geomorphologists who considered that landforms were the best indicators of
the earth’s history.
54 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

(iii) What is relief?

(iv) Name various types of weathering.
(v) Arrange the following, from smaller to bigger form: stream, gully, river, rill.
(vi) What is a fiord?
2. Distinguish between:
(i) Mechanical and chemical weathering;
(ii) Earth flow and mud flow;
(iii) Alluvial fans and deltas;
(iv) V-shaped valley and U-shaped valley.
3. Write short notes on the following:
(i) Moraines;
(ii) Wind erosion;
(iii) Disintegration.
4. Explain various forms of mass wasting.

Project Work
Prepare a list of erosional and depositional features formed by a river and draw sketches to show
each of them.