LAND FORMS & SOIL - PART 1
A landform is a feature on the Earth’s surface that is part of the terrain. There are major landforms such as Mountains, Plains, Hills and Plateaus. Minor landforms include buttes, canyons, valleys, and basins.
TYPES OF LANDFORMS
Mountains: Mountain is a natural elevation of the earth’s surface.
FOUR MAIN TYPES OF MOUNTAINS
1. FOLD MOUNTAINS
• When the two plates move towards each other again, the layers of sedimentary rock on the sea floor become crumpled and folded.
• (eg) The Akwapim ranges are Fold Mountains of the Togo series rocks, forming the eastern boundary of the Voltain sandstone basin.
• They stretch from the west of Accra and run in a north-easterly direction, through Togo and Dahomey, into the Niger River valley.
• The average elevation is 450 m above sea level and the highest altitude in Ghana, Mount Afadjato (890 m), is found here.
2. BLOCK MOUNTAINS
• Fractures in the Earth’s surface, result in formation of fault-block mountains.
• These mountains are formed when great block of earth’s crust may be raised or lowered.(eg) Vindhya and Sathpura in Madhya Pradesh.
3. VOLCANIC MOUNTAINS
• Overlapping lava flows and layers of consolidated volcanic dust, called tuff, are responsible for the formation of volcanic mountains.
• Such stratified volcanoes occur in the Pacific Northwest of North America and in Japan.
• They are typically steep-sided cones that are built up around a central vent.Mt.Kilimanjaro
• in Africa and Mt.Fujiyama in Japan are examples of such mountain.
TYPES OF LANDFORMS
Mountains: Mountain is a natural elevation of the earth’s surface.
FOUR MAIN TYPES OF MOUNTAINS
1. FOLD MOUNTAINS
• When the two plates move towards each other again, the layers of sedimentary rock on the sea floor become crumpled and folded.
• (eg) The Akwapim ranges are Fold Mountains of the Togo series rocks, forming the eastern boundary of the Voltain sandstone basin.
• They stretch from the west of Accra and run in a north-easterly direction, through Togo and Dahomey, into the Niger River valley.
• The average elevation is 450 m above sea level and the highest altitude in Ghana, Mount Afadjato (890 m), is found here.
2. BLOCK MOUNTAINS
• Fractures in the Earth’s surface, result in formation of fault-block mountains.
• These mountains are formed when great block of earth’s crust may be raised or lowered.(eg) Vindhya and Sathpura in Madhya Pradesh.
3. VOLCANIC MOUNTAINS
• Overlapping lava flows and layers of consolidated volcanic dust, called tuff, are responsible for the formation of volcanic mountains.
• Such stratified volcanoes occur in the Pacific Northwest of North America and in Japan.
• They are typically steep-sided cones that are built up around a central vent.Mt.Kilimanjaro
• in Africa and Mt.Fujiyama in Japan are examples of such mountain.
4. RESIDUAL MOUNTAINS
• Residual mountains are formed as a result of erosion of an existing elevated area. They are also called mountains of denudation.(eg) Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu.
| LIST OF FAMOUS MOUNTAIN RANGES | |||||
| Rank | Range | Continent | Approx. length | Max. elevation | Highest point |
| 1 | Andes | South America | 7,000 km | 6,962 m (22,841 ft) | Mount Aconcagua |
| 2 | Southern Great Escarpment | Africa | 5,000 km | 3,482 m (11,424 ft) | Thabana Ntlenyana |
| 3 | Rocky Mountains | North America | 4,800 km | 4,401 m (14,440 ft) | Mount Elbert |
| 4 | Transantarctic Mountains | Antarctica | 3,542 km | 4,528 m (14,856 ft) | Mount Kirkpatrick |
| 5 | Great Dividing Range | Australia | 3,500 km | 2,228 m (7,310 ft) | Mount Kosciuszko |
| 6 | Himalayas | Asia | 2,576 km | 8,848 m (29,029 ft) | Mount Everest |
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