Mountains Plateaus And Related Landforms


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Mountains Plateaus And Related Landforms

Land Forms: Our earth consists of oceans and continents. The measure of land area on the carth surface is called Landmass. Land covers 29.2% of the surface area of our earth, and waters (oceans) cover approximately 7o.8% of it. Landmass includes continents and islands. There are three major types of Land forms found on the earth's surface - Mountains, Plains and Plateaus.

Mountain, Plateaus and Related Land forms: Vertical earth movements can cause the crust to warp and sometimes large areas of it are uplifted whilst others are depressed. The uplifted areas form plateaus, sometimes called tectonic plateaus, and the depressed areas form basins. There are two types of tectonic plateaus. Some slope down to surrounding lower land e.g. the Deccan Plateau of India. Other plateaus slope up to surrounding mountains and these are called inter-mountain plateaus. The Tibetan and Bolivian plateaus are the examples.

Rift valley is linear-shaped lowland between highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift or fault. This action is manifested as crustal extension, a spreading apart of the surface, which Subsequently further deepened by the forces of erosion. When the tensional forces are strong enough to the plate to split apart, it will do so such as a centre block will drop down relative to its flanking, forming a graben. This creates the nearly parallel steeply dipping walls. This feature is the beginning of the rift valley. As this process continues, the valley gets wider and wider until it becomes a  large basin that fills with sediment from the rift walls and the surrounding area. Examples of Rift Valleys: East African Rift and the Baikal Rift Zone, which are currently active, and the West Antarctic Rift.

Top 10 Tallest Mountains

Mount Everest                                        8,848m (29,029ft) Nepal/China

Qogir (K2)                                                8,611 m (28,250 ft) Pakistan

Kangchenjunga                                      8,586 m (28,169 ft) Nepal

Lhotse                                                       8,501 m (27,920 ft) Nepal

Makalu I                                                     8,462 m (27,765 ft) Nepal

Cho Oyu                                                      8,201 m (26,906 ft) Nepal

Dhaulagiri                                                   8,167 m (26,794 ft) Nepal

Manaslu I                                                     8,156 m (26,758 ft) Nepal

Nanga Parbat                                             8,125 m (26,658 ft) Pakistan

Annapurna I                                                8,091 m (26,545 ft) Nepal

The dormant volcano Mauna Kea (on the Big Island of Hawaii) could be considered the tallest mountain in the world . If you measure it from its base in the Hawaiian Trough (3,300 fathoms deep) to its summit of 13,796 feet, it reaches a height  of 33,476 feet.

Tallest mountains

(In Each Continent)

Mount Everest                                              8,848 m (29,029 ft) Asia

Aconcagua                                                    6,959 m (22,831 ft) S. America

Mount McKinley                                            6,194 m (20,320 ft) N. America

Mount Kilimanjaro                                        5,963 m (19,563 ft) Africa

Mount Elbrus                                                  5,633 m (18,481 ft) Europe

Puncak Jaya                                                  4,884 m (16,023 ft) Oceania

Vinson Massif                                                4,897 m (16,066 ft) Antartica

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