INTRODUCTION

EARTH???
Earth is defined as land, the solid portion of the surface of the globe. Land is not merely soil; it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants, and animals.

EARTH FORM?
Earth form is the appearance of that portion of earth which the eye can view. The earth form can be changed by humans as per their desire and beautiful artificial landscape can be formed. The natural earth form is primeval, shaped and reshaped by climatic factors and adds to the natural landscape .

Earths Composition
In composition, the Earth is made of three nested spheres. At the center of the Earth, a body of intensely hot iron and nickel forms the core. A less dense and much larger middle sphere is made of materials rich in iron, magnesium and calcium comprises the mantle. The outermost layer is a thin veneer of lighter rocks called the crust. The crust beneath the oceans is composed of heavy, dark volcanic rocks such as basalt. Continental crust is composed mostly of lighter rocks rich in silica such as granite.

There is also an evidence of a tiny "innermost inner core" some 600 kilometers across.

The CORE

Thought to be composed of iron and nickel, the dense core of the earth lies below the mantle. It is thought, however, that the inner 1,260 km of the core are solid. The outer core is thought to be the source of the earth's magnetic field

LANDFORMS???
Landforms are features that make up the earth surface . There are many kind of landforms like desert, mountains and valleys.

Creation of Landforms
Some landforms are created by the action of wind, water and ice.This action physically changes the Earth's surface by carving and eroding land surfaces, carrying and depositing soil, sand and other debris. Clustural movement and other tectonic activities inside earth create Landforms;mountains.faults,sinks and volcanos.

Landforms are natural features of the landscape, natural physical features of the earth's surface, for example, valleys, plateaus, mountains, plains, hills, loess.

Valleys Plateaus Mountains Plains Hills

VALLEYS
A valley is a hollow or surface depression of the earth bounded by hills or mountains, a natural trough in the earth's surface, that slopes down to a stream, lake or the ocean, formed by water and/or ice erosion. Systems of valleys extend through plains, hills, and mountains. Rivers and streams flowing through valleys drain interior land regions to the ocean. At the bottom of many valleys is fertile soil, which makes excellent farmland. Most valleys on dry land are formed by running water of streams and rivers .The bottom of a valley is called its floor. Valleys are formed due to rivers or naturally due to formation of mountains at a distance. The characteristics of a valley are: 1) It is a low land. 2) It is situated between hills or mountains.

Mountains
Over long periods of time, mountains are created by tremendous forces in the earth with a steep top usually shaped up to a peak or ridge. Mountains occur more often in oceans than on land; some islands are the peaks of mountains coming out of the water. Mountains are formed by volcanism, erosion, and disturbances or uplift in the earth's crust. Most geologists believe that the majority of mountains are formed by geological forces heat and pressure producing changes under the earth's crust and movements in the earth's crust. They call this movement plate tectonics. Other processes are caused by horizontal compression that is the deformation of crustal strata which produces folds or wrinkles

The Himalayas, for example, were raised by the compression that accompanied collision of the Indian plate with the Eurasian plate. Another example is Europe's Alps and Jura mountains which were also formed by horizontal compression, generated in their case by collision with the African plate and the Eurasian plate.
1) They are raised land masses on the earths surface.

2) They have sloping sides.

Plains
Plains are broad, nearly level stretches of land that have no great changes in elevation. Plains are generally lower than the land around them; they may be found along a coast or inland. Coastal plains generally rise from sea level until they meet higher landforms such as mountains or plateaus. Inland plains may be found at high altitudes. A flood plain is the floor of a river valley beyond the river bed. A flood plain is formed of mud, sand, and silt that are left behind when the river overflows its banks. These materials are carried off by the river as it erodes the land upstream. A river in flood conditions can carry a large amount of eroded material, which the overflow waters deposit onto the flood plain.

It is an expanse of land which is broad , flat or has gently rolling areas. It is low in elevation. Many plains are formed due to slow sediment deposition by rivers. These kind of plains are usually very fertile in nature. For e.g. the Gang tic Plains

Plateaus
A plateau is a large highland area of fairly level land separated from surrounding land by steep slopes. Some plateaus, like the plateau of Tibet, lie between mountain ranges. Others are higher than surrounding land. Plateaus are widespread, and together with enclosed basins they cover about 45 percent of the Earth's land surface. Some plateaus, such as the Deccan of India and the Columbia Plateau of the United States, are basaltic and were formed as the result of many lava flows covering hundreds of thousands of square kilometers that built up the land surface.

Others are the result of upward folding; still others have been left elevated by the erosion of nearby lands. Plateaus, like all elevated regions, are subject to erosion, which removes great amounts of the upland surface. Low plateaus are often farming regions, while high plateaus are usually suitable for livestock grazing.

Hills
Hills are elevations of the earth's surface that have distinct summits, but are lower in elevation than mountains. Hills may be formed by a buildup of rock debris or sand deposited by glaciers and wind. Hills may be created by faults. Faults are a slight crack in the earth which can cause earthquakes. Hills are formed when these faults go slightly upward. The most famous hills in the world are the Loess hills. The Black Hills are also famous. You can find hills in low mountain valleys, plains, and even in your own backyard.

Hills are also formed by deep erosion of areas that were raised by disturbances in the earth's crust. Erosion forms hills by carrying away all of the soil on a mountain, causing a hill to be left behind. Humans also make hills by digging soil up and dumping it in a giant pile. Volcanoes form hills when they erupt. During the eruption, volcanic ash is spewed through the air; after the eruption, the lava or molten rock hardens and builds up a thick layer of lava rock. The ash falls on the hardened lava causing a layer of ash to form on the hill. When rain falls, this layer of ash mixes with the rainwater to form black colored water. This black water will freeze causing the lava rock to crack and crumble and eventually erode to form a hill.

Erosion
Erosion is a natural process which is usually made by rock and soil being loosened from the earth's surface at one location and moved to another. Erosion changes the landscape by wearing down mountains, filling in valleys, and making rivers appear and disappear. It is usually a slow and gradual process that occurs over thousands or millions of years. But erosion can be speeded up by such human activities as farming and mining. Erosion begins with a process called weathering; in this process, environmental factors break rock and soil into smaller pieces, and loosen them from the earth's surface.

When the wind whips up a dust storm that stings our eyes, its ability to move sail is very clear. But the most powerful erosive force on the earth is not wind but water, which causes erosion in its solid form of ice and as a liquid. Water in its liquid form causes erosion in many ways. Streams from tiny creeks to huge rivers carry tons of eroded soil and rocks every year.

Not all rock or soil react the same to the forces of erosion; hard rock that contains many cracks may wear away faster than softer rock because the cracks can cause big chunks of the rock to break. Soft rock will lose just tiny bits at a time. Most soils erode more quickly than rocks, since soil is made of smaller particles that are more easily washed or worn away. There are many different kinds of erosion such as beach erosion which is a serious problem that impacts many beaches today on Prince Edward Island. Waves that are constantly hitting the land are carrying the sand away with them out to sea. Shores are decreasing in size over years, and have caused many problems with shore side building and plant and animal life. Many efforts with plants have been made to stop erosion but they are very expensive, and are not always successful.

SUBMITTED BY :
Rahul Dhingra 24/10 Saurabh Singh