Here is the notes for Class 6 NCERT Geography – Chapter 6: Major Landforms of the Earth

 Internal & External Forces

  • Internal Forces: Originate from within the Earth. Cause sudden movements like earthquakes and volcanoes.
  • External Forces: Act on the Earth’s surface and shape the land through weathering and erosion by water, wind, and ice.
    • Erosion: The weathering away of rocks.
    • Deposition: Laying down of sediment carried by wind, water, or ice.

Major Landforms

  1. Mountains
  • Definition: Natural elevation of the earth’s surface with a peak.
  • Glacier: The permanently frozen river of ice in mountain is called glacier
  • Range: Mountain arranged in a line.
    • Ex- The Himalayas, The Alps and The Andes mountain
  • Types:
    • Fold Mountains:
      • Formed by the folding of rock layers
      • Types:
        • Young fold mountain
          • Mountain with rugged relief and high conical peaks
          • Ex- The Himalayas (Asia) and The Alps (Europe)
        • Old fold mountain
          • Low elevation
          • Worn down due to erosion
          • Ex- Aravali Range (Asia, India), The Appalachians (North America) and Ural Mountains (Russia)
  • Block Mountains
    • It is created when large areas broken and displaced vertically.
    • The Uplifted blocks (horsts) and Lowered blocks (graben) are formed.
    • Ex- Satpura abd Vindhyan Range (India), Rhine and Vosges mountain (Europe)
  • Volcanic Mountains
    • Formed by volcanic activity
    • Ex- Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa), Mt Fujiyama (Japan)
 Importance of Mountains:
  • Storehouse of water.
  • Source of rivers.
  • Rich in forests and wildlife.
  • Ideal for tourism and recreation.

  1. Plateaus

  •  Flat and elevated landform that rises above surrounding areas.
  • Less steep than mountains.
  • The Tibet plateau is the highest platea in the world (4000-6000m above the sea level)
  • Ex: Deccan Plateau (India), African Plateau.
 Importance of Plateaus:
  • Rich in minerals.
  • Good for mining activities.
    • African plateau (gold and diamond mining), Chhotanagpur plateau (coal and manganese)
  • Some areas are good for agriculture.
  • Great attraction for tourists.
    • Hundru falls (Jharkhand- Chhotanagpur plateau), Jog falls (Karnataka)

  1. Plains

  •  Large stretches of flat land, usually formed by river deposits.
  • Formed by rivers and tributaries.
  • The river flows down the slopes of mountains and erode them.
  • Rivers carry forward the eroded material and deposit their load consisting of stones, sand and along their courses.
    • Yangtze (China), Ganga and Brahmaputra (India)
  • They are generally, not more than 200 meters above the sea level.
  • Ex: Indo-Gangetic plains, Mississippi plains.
 Importance of Plains:
  • Agriculture-friendly.
  • Easy for building houses, roads, and railways.
  • Densely populated due to fertile land.
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