Page 125 - SST Class 06
P. 125

Different mountains have varying shapes and             be rugged and rocky and it
            heights. Old mountains are low in height and            may have steep sides. The
            have rounded peaks, as the Aravalli. The rounded        Deccan Plateau in South
            peaks occur due to erosion. In comparison, new          India   extends    for   over
            mountains have high and pointed peaks, as the           thousands of kilometres. The
            Himalayas.                                              highest plateau in the world

            Life in mountains is not easy, as it is difficult to    is Tibet , so it is called the    Southern Plateau
            construct roads, railways, bridges and buildings.       roof of the world .
            Farming is not easy in mountains as well. This is       As the land in a plateau is rocky and rugged, it is
            the reason that mountains are sparsely inhabited.       difficult to construct roads and railways. So, life is
            Some     mountain      ranges    are    completely      difficult here. But plateaus have rich deposits of
            uninhabitable.                                          minerals.

                  F ind Outind Out                                  Activity
                                                                     On the map of India mark different landforms with
            What are the three types of mountains?                   different colours.

                                                                        Quiz Time
                 Info Bits
                 Info Bits                                           Fill in the blanks :
            The largest river is the Amazon in South America in      1. A mountain is higher than the ________  areas.
            terms of volume of water and size, while the Nile in
            Egypt is the longest river extending to 6,695 km.        2. The total land area of Europe is about ________
                                                                        sq. km.
            Plains
                                                                     3. The ________   of lithosphere ranges from 6 to
            Plains stretch over long distances with a flat              60 km.
            surface. They are generally below 200m the sea           4. Plateaus have rich deposits of ________ .
            level. Plains have been formed by the rivers and
            their tributaries which originate in mountains and       5. Asia and Europe together are called ________ .
            bring with them sand and
            soil. As the water current                                                 HYDROSPHERE
            slows down in plains, sand                              Hydrosphere constitutes all water bodies on the
            and soil are deposited on
                                                                    Earth’s surface, such as oceans, seas, lakes, rivers,
            the   banks.    Plains   are                            ice-lines, glaciers etc. Due to abundance of
            extremely   level,  but   at
                                                                    hydrosphere, the Earth is also termed as the blue
            some places they may be                                 planet  or watery planet . This is the presence of
                                              Northern Plains
            rolling or undulating.                                  water that makes the Earth a        unique planet,
            The soil brought by rivers is very fertile for crops.   because water found in other planets is in frozen
            This is the reason that plains are thickly inhabited    form and cannot support life.
            areas. Plains are also favourable for other             About 71 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered
            activities, like construction of roads, railways and    with water. About 97 percent of the total water is
            buildings. The plains in North India have been
                                                                    found in oceans and the remaining water is
            formed by three rivers (Ganga, Sutlej and               present in other water bodies and atmosphere.
            Brahmaputra) and their tributaries.
                                                                            Just Think!
            Plateaus

            A plateau is a high flat land. Because of its flat       We throw garbage on land or into water bodies. Is
            surface, it is also called tableland . Its surface can   this a right practice?

                                                                                       Major Domains of the Earth
                                                                                                                 125
   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130