L A N D R E S O U R C E S

Resources available from the land

Aparna Joy
Ann riya
 Land resource

Land as a resource
•Land is among the most important natural resources.
Forest land
•It coveres up only 29% of the earth surface and all parts
of the land are not habitable.

•Land forms such as hills,valleys,plains,river basins and

wetlands include different resource generating areas that
the people living them depend on.

•If land is utilized carefully it can be considered a

renewable resource.
Desert land
•Land is converted to non renewable resource when
highly toxic industrial and nuclear wastes are dumped on
it.

•Land will be unproductive when,

1. if forests are depleted
2. intensive irrigation leads water logging
Pasture land
• Land on earth is as finite as any of our other Land resource
natural resources.

• Man needs land for

Building homes.
Cultivating food.
Maintaining pastures for domestic animals.
Developing industries to provide goods.
Supporting the industry by creating towns and cities.

• Man needs to protect

wilderness area in forests
grasslands
wetlands
mountains
coasts, etc.
to protect our vitally valuable biodiversity.
• A rational use of land needs careful planning. Land resource
• Protected Areas (National Park’s and Wildlife Sanctuaries) can only be
situated where some of the natural ecosystems are still undisturbed.
• These Protected Areas are important aspects of good landuse planning.
Land Degradation Land resource

•Land degradation refers to a decline in the overall quality of soil, water or vegetation condition commonly caused
by human activities.
•Every year, between 5 to 7 million hectares of land worldwide is added to the existing degraded
farmland.
 Land resource

Causes
•Deforestation by fire clearence
•Wind erosion
•Water erosion
•Pollution including industrial wastes
•Poor farming practises,chemical pestisides
•Livestocks including overgrazing
•salination

Drought due to land degradation

Effects
•Loss of quality of soil and decline in vegetation
•salinity/ brackishness of land
•Drought
•Soil erosion
•shortage of fuelwood and building materials in
many areas.

Land degradation due to poor farming practice

soil erosion Land resource
1.The process by which rocks fragments and soil aredetached from the original site, transported and
then eventually deposited at some new locality is termed as soil erosion.
2. The misuse of an ecosystem leads to loss of valuable soil through erosion by the monsoon rains and, to a
smaller extent, by wind.
3.Soil is washed into streams and is transported into rivers and finally lost to the sea.
4.The process is more evident in areas where deforestation has led to erosion on steep hill slopes as in the
Himalayas and in the Western Ghats.
5.These areas are called ‘ecologically sensitive areas’ or ESAs.
Types of soil erosion Land resource

Soil erosion

Geological Accelerated
Soil Erosion soil erosion

Erosion Loss of Soil

done naturally by Man’s Activity
Agents of soil erosion Land resource

Uniform removal of a thin layer

Sheet erosion of soil from a large surface area.
This is usually due to run-off water

Rapidly running water produces

Rill erosion finger shaped grooves
or rills over the area

when the rain fall is very heavy ,

water erosion Gully erosion Desert
deeper cavities land
or gullies are formed,
which may be U or V shaped.

occurs due to heavy rainfall

Slip erosion on slopes of hills and mountains.

fast running streams take a

turn in some other direction,
Bankerosion
they cut the soil and make
caves in the banks.
Wind erosion Land resource
Once this velocity is reached, the quantity of soil moved is dependent upon the particle size, the cloddiness
of particles, and wind velocity itself.
Saltation
The transport of hard particles over an uneven surface in a turbulent flow of air or water.
Suspension
Suspension occurs when very fine dirt and dust particles are lifted into the wind
Surface creep
The large particles which are too heavy to be lifted into the air are moved through a process called surface creep
Desertification Land resource
•The transformation of aerable or habitable land to desert, as aby a change in climatet or
destructive land use.
•Viewed as both a process and resulting condition.
•Is a global problem
•Leads to abandoned, desert like landscapes
causes consequences
•Over grazing •Reduced biological productivity
•Deforestation •Biodiversity loss
•Over cultivation •Loss of food security
•Inappropriate irrigation •Increase in soil erosion
•Drought •Decreasing water availability
•Climate change •Loss of biodiversity
Land slide Land resource

• A landslide (or landslip) is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement.
They result from the failure of the materials which make up the hill slope and are driven by the
force of gravity.
• Landslides are known also as landslips, slumps or slope failure
 Land resource
Causes Of Landslides

• downward sliding, falling, or flowing of masses

of soil, rock, and debris.
• Loss or absence of soil nutrients (e.g. after a
wildfire)
• Erosion of the toe of a slope by rivers or ocean
waves
• Weakening of a slope through saturation by
snowmelt, glaciers melting, or heavy rains
• Earthquakes
• Volcanic Eruptions

Causes Of Landslides
(by human beings)

•Vibrations from Machinery or Traffic

•Blast’s
•Construction
•Forestry Activities
 Land
resource

Mumbai land slide

• The 2000 Mumbai landslide was a landslide that occurred in Ghatkopar, a suburban neighbourhood
located in Mumbai, India on July 12, 2000.
 Land resource

Significance
Agriculture activities-:

These include horticultural operations; ranching, game farming, dairy, grazing, livestock operations, apiculture,
field and forage crop production, animal husbandry, hunting, forestry, forest management, fish
farming, inland fisheries, safeguarding of protective vegetation, biodiversity values etc.

Mining-:
Coal, bauxite, gold, iron, copper, chromite, manganese, salt, silver, lead, mercury, limestone, nickel, uranium
etc.

Oil and Gas-:

Petroleum

Industries/Plants-:
Power generation plants, storage of produce, farm tanks,

Construction-:
Roads, utility lines, dams, warehousing, real estate, water storage, buildings, airports, railways, pipelines, ports
and harbors,