GEOGRAPHY CHAPTER 6

MAJOR LANDFORMS OF THE EARTH

Answer the following

1. What are the major landforms?

A. The major landforms are plateaus, plains and mountains.

2. What is the difference between a mountain and a plateau?

A. A mountain is a natural elevation of the earth’s surface with a small summit

and a broad base. It is considerably higher than the surrounding area. A plateau
is a flat, raised highland which is rich in minerals.

3. What are the different types of mountains?

A. The different types of mountains are Fold Mountains, Block Mountains, and
Volcanic mountains.

4. How are mountains useful to us?

A. Mountains are useful to man as they are a storehouse of water, source of

fresh water in the form of glaciers, useful to generate hydroelectricity and are
rich in flora and fauna and minerals.

5. How are plains formed?

A. Rivers and their tributaries bring stone, sand and silt and deposit in the low –
lying areas and form plains.

6. What is erosion?

A. The wearing away of the earth’s surface by the action of wind, water or ice is
called erosion.

7. What are glaciers?

A. In some mountains, there are permanently frozen river of ice is called

glaciers.

8. What is a range?

A. When mountains are arranged in a line it is called as a range.

Eg. The Himalayas, the Alps.

9. What are Block Mountains? What do they form?

A. Block Mountains are created when large areas are broken and displaced
vertically. The uplifted blocks are terms as horsts and the lowered blocks are
called graben.

Eg. The Rhine valley and Vosges Mountains in Europe.

12. Why are the river plains thickly populated?

A. Plains are thickly populated as the flat land provides space for housing.
Further, provision for transport is easy and the land is highly productive for
cultivation.