Landforms

1. River Valley Forma on- The extended depression on ground through which a stream
flows throughout its course is called a river valley. At a young stage, the valley is
deep, narrow with steep wall-like sides and erosional ac on here is characterized by
predominantly ver cal downcu ng nature. The profile of valley here is typically ‘V’
shaped. A deep and narrow ‘V’ shaped valley is also referred to as gorge and may
result due to downcu ng erosion . An extended form of gorge is called a canyon. As
the cycle a ains maturity, the lateral erosion becomes prominent and the valley floor
fla ens out. The valley profile now becomes typically ‘U’ shaped with a broad base
and a concave slope. River Course :

Streams are few with poor integra on , fast-flowing, high-

Youth Stage energy environments with rapid headward erosion . Steep-sided "V-
shaped' valleys, waterfalls, and rapids are characteris c features.

streams are plenty with good integra on. The valleys are s ll V-
Maturity Stage
shaped but deep , Waterfalls and rapids disappear.

Streams meander freely over vast floodplains showing natural

Old Stage levees, oxbow lakes, etc. sediment is deposited as the velocity of the
river slows.

EROSIONAL
LANDFORMS

Running Water Over the rocky beds of hill-streams more or less circular
/Fluvial Landforms depressions called Potholes form because of stream erosion
aided by the abrasion of rock fragments. At the foot of
waterfalls also, large potholes, quite deep and wide,
form because of the sheer impact of water and rota on of
boulders. Such large and deep holes at the base of waterfalls
are called Plunge pools.
It is common to find meandering courses over floodplains and
delta plains where stream gradients are very gentle. But very
deep and wide meanders can also be found cut in hard rocks.
Such meanders are called Incised or entrenched meanders.
Stepped benches along the river course in a flood plain are
called River terraces. They are basically products of erosion
 as they result due to ver cal erosion by the stream into its own
deposi onal floodplain.

Karst is a landscape which is underlain by limestone which has

been eroded by dissolu on, producing towers,
fissures, sinkholes, etc. It is a landscape formed from the
dissolu on of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and
gypsum.
Sinkhole is an opening or shallow depressions more or
less circular at the top and funnel-shapped towards the
GroundWater bo om form on the surface of limestones through solu on.
LandForms Sinholes & dolines Joined Together -> Trenches Called Valley
sinks/ Uvalas Form.
Areas where limestones are dense, massive and occurring as
thick beds, Cave forma on is prominent. Water percolates
down either through the materials or through cracks and joints
and moves horizontally along bedding planes. It is along these
bedding planes that the limestone dissolves and long and
narrow to wide gaps called caves result.

Cirque/Corrie - Hollow basin cut into a mountain ridge. It has

steep sided slope on three sides, an open end on one side and
a flat bo om. When the ice melts, the cirque may develop into
a tarn lake.
Glacial
Horn- Ridge that acquires a ‘horn’ shape when the glacial
Landforms
ac vity cuts it from more than two sides.
Hanging Valley Formed when smaller tributaries are unable to
cut as deeply as bigger ones and remain ‘hanging’ at higher
levels than the main valley as discordant tributaries.

Wave-Cut Pla orm - When the sea waves strike against a

cliff, the cliff gets eroded (lateral erosion) gradually and
retreats. The bo om of the cliff suffers the maximum intensive
erosion by waves and, as a result, a notch appears at
Marine Landforms
this posi on.
Sea Caves- Differen al erosion by sea waves through a rock
with varying resistance across its structure produces arched
caves in rocks called sea caves.

Wind Landforms The wind erosion takes place in the following ways, viz.
Defla on -removing, li ing and carrying away dry, unsorted
dust par cles by winds.
Abrasion- When wind loaded with sand grains erodes the rock
by grinding against its walls is called abrasion or sandblas ng.
A ri on - refers to wear and tear of the sand par cles while
they are being transported.
 Gently inclined rocky floors close to the mountains at their foot
with or without a thin cover of debris, are called Pediments.
Low Featureless Plains -> Pediplains.
Shallow lakes in the Plains are called as Playas where water is
retained only for short dura on due to evapora on. Playas
covered with salts -> Alkali Flats.
Weathered mantle from over the rocks or bare soil, gets blown
out by persistent movement of wind currents in one direc on.
This process may create shallow depressions called defla on
hollows.
Others- Mushrooms , Pedestals (Table Top)

DEPOSITIONAL
LANDFORMS

When a stream leaves the mountains and comes down to the

plains, its velocity decreases due to a lower gradient. As a
result, it sheds a lot of material, which it had been carrying
from the mountains, at the foothills. This deposited material
acquires a conical shape and appears as a series of con nuous
fans called as Alluvial Fans.
The load carried by the rivers is dumped and spread into the
sea. If this load is not carried away far into the sea or
distributed along the coast, it spreads and accumulates as a low
cone. Unlike in alluvial fans, the deposits making up deltas are
very well sorted with clear stra fica on. Ex- Bird’s Foot Delta
(Mississippi river) , Fan-shaped (Nile, Ganga, Indus) .
Running Water River Deposi on develops a floodplain just as erosion makes
Landforms valleys.
Natural Levees are narrow ridges of low height on both sides of
a river, formed due to deposi on ac on of the stream,
appearing as natural embankments. Point Bars are sediments
deposited in a linear fashion by flowing waters along the bank.
Found on Convex side of Meanders. Also called Meander bars.
Loop-like channel pa erns called Meanders develop over flood
& delta plains . Slight irregulari es along the banks slowly get
transformed into a small curvature in the banks; the curvature
deepens due to deposi on on the inside of the curve
and erosion along the bank on the outside.
Deposi on and lateral erosion of banks developing a number
of separate channels of water flow called as Braided Channels.

Groundwater The water containing limestone in solu on, seeps through the
Landforms roof in the form of a con nuous chain of drops. A por on of
 the roof hangs on the roof and on evapora on of water, a small
deposit of limestone is le behind contribu ng to
the forma on of a Stalac te, growing downwards from the
roof. The remaining por on of the drop falls to the floor. This
also evaporates, leaving behind a small deposit of limestone
aiding the forma on of a Stalagmite, thicker and fla er, rising
upwards from the floor. Some mes, stalac te & stalagmite
join together to form a complete pillar known as the column.
Masses of ice moving as sheets over the land or as linear flows
down the slopes of mountains in broad trough-like valleys
(mountain and valley glaciers) are called glaciers .

When the glacier reaches its lowest point and melts, it leaves
behind a stra fied deposi on material, consis ng of
rock debris, clay, sand, gravel etc. This layered surface is called
ll plain or an outwash plain. Unlike Till deposits, outwash
deposits are stra fied & assorted.
Ridge of un-assorted deposi ons of rock, gravel, clay etc.
Glacial
running along a glacier in a ll plain. The eskers resemble the
Landforms
features of an embankment and are o en used for making
roads.
Drumlin- Inverted boat-shaped deposi on in a ll plain caused
by deposi on.
Moraines - They are long ridges of deposits of glacial ll
(Unconsolidated debris).

Beach-This is the temporary covering of rock debris on or along

a wave-cut pla orm. Most of the sediment making up the
beaches comes from land carried by the streams and rivers or
from wave erosion.
Just behind the beach, the sands li ed and winnowed from
over the beach surfaces will be deposited as Sand dunes.
Bar- Currents and dal currents deposit rock debris and sand
Marine
along the coast at a distance from the shoreline. The resultant
Landforms
landforms which remain submerged are called bars. The
enclosed water body so created is called a lagoon.
A spit is a projected deposi on joined at one end to the
headland, with the other end free in the sea. The mode of
forma on is similar to a bar
or barrier. A shorter spit with one end curved towards the land
is called a hook.

Wind Deposi onal Wind is a good sor ng agent .

Landforms Sand dunes are heaps or mounds of sand found in deserts. Ex-
Barchans (Crescent Shaped Dunes , Uniform Surface) ;
Parabolic Dunes (Reverse barchans); Transverse Dunes (Source
of Sand Perpendicular to wind direc on) .