NCERT Solutions for Exploring Society: India and Beyond Chapter 3 Landforms And Life

About this chapter

A landform is a physical feature on the surface of the Earth. Landforms take shape over millions of years and fall into three broad categories — mountains, plateaus and plains (Fig. 3.1). Each has its own climate, its own flora and fauna, and its own way of life. Mountains are much higher than the land around them, with a broad base, steep slopes and a narrow summit . Young mountains like the Himalayas have tall, sharp peaks and are still rising; old ones like the Aravalli Range have been rounded by erosion. Lower highlands with gentle slopes and rounded tops are hills . A plateau rises above the surrounding land and has a more or less flat top , often with steep sides. Plateaus are ‘storehouses of minerals’ — the Chhota Nagpur Plateau has iron, coal and manganese — and they carry spectacu

• Chapter opening
• Introduction
• Snow, hail and precipitation
• Two verses from Kālidāsa's Kumārasambhava
• Challenges of life in the mountains (Fig. 3.6, page 50)
• The world map of landforms (Fig. 3.8)
• A satellite view of the Ganga plain (Fig. 3.9)
• –56Rivers, sacred sites and tourist destinations
• The chapter in three points
• End-of-chapter exercise