Landforms and Life | CBSE Class 6 Geography Notes

This note covers mountains, plateaus and plains, mountain environments and livelihoods, plateau resources, rivers and fertile plains, the Ganga plain, deserts, and the connections between landforms, human adaptation and culture.

What are landforms, and how do they influence life?

Definition: A landform is a physical feature of the Earth's surface. The three broad categories are mountains, plateaus and plains.

Mountains rise much higher than their surroundings. Plateaus are raised areas with more or less flat surfaces. Plains are extensive areas that are flat or gently undulating, meaning that their surfaces rise and fall gently.

Landforms take shape over millions of years. Their physical differences are connected with differences in climate and living things. Flora means the plants of a region, while fauna means its animals. Different landforms support a variety of flora and fauna.

How can a journey reveal different landforms?

A journey from Chhota Nagpur in Jharkhand to Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh and then Almora in Uttarakhand passes through contrasting landscapes. Chhota Nagpur provides the plateau setting, Prayagraj the plain, and Almora the mountain setting.

The important comparison is between the shapes of the land. A raised, fairly flat area differs from an extensive low plain. A steep mountain landscape differs from both. Looking at the surface and its surroundings helps identify the landform.

The drawing shows mountains behind a plateau on the left and a plain in front. Two mountains have snowy tops. A river winds from the mountains towards fields on the plain.

See Fig. 3.1 in your NCERT textbook

Why does the shape of land matter to people?

Humans have adapted to all landforms, but the number of people living on each kind varies across the world. Farming, herding, mining and river transport illustrate different connections between land and people's activities.

Landforms also influence culture. Mountains and rivers can be sacred places, while poems and traditions connect people with their surroundings. Each landform offers opportunities alongside challenges, so understanding a landscape involves both its physical features and the ways people live there.

How do mountains and hills differ?

A mountain has a broad base, steep slopes and a narrow summit, or top. It rises much higher than the surrounding landscape. Hills are lower highlands with less steep slopes and rounded tops.

Altitude is height above sea level. Sea level, also called mean sea level, is the average level of the ocean surface. Depending on their height, some mountains are covered with snow.

How are snow, altitude and rivers connected?

At lower altitudes, snow melts every summer and supplies water to rivers. At high altitudes, snow may never melt, leaving a mountain permanently snow-capped. The words “some” and “may” matter: snow cover is not identical on every mountain.

Precipitation is water reaching the ground from the atmosphere. Rain, snow and hail are common forms. Snow and hail are water in a solid state. At higher altitudes, snow falls if conditions are cold enough.

What do mountain examples show?

Most mountains occur in mountain ranges, or groups of mountains. Examples include the Himalayas in Asia, the Alps in Europe and the Andes in South America. Some ranges extend for thousands of kilometres.

The Himalayas are relatively young in the Earth's history, although they formed millions of years ago. Older mountains and hills, such as the Aravalli Range, have become shorter and rounder through erosion, the wearing away of the land.

Upliftment means the raising of the land. In the Himalayas, upliftment and erosion continue together, and the mountains are still growing in height. “Young” therefore describes their relative geological age, not an age measured in a few human lifetimes.

What plants and animals live in mountain environments?

Mountain environments contain forests, rivers, lakes, grasslands and caves. These different surroundings support diverse fauna. A mountain is therefore more than a bare peak: its slopes and other natural features are also places where living things make their homes.

How does vegetation change at higher altitudes?

Mountain slopes are often covered by montane forest, meaning forest growing in mountainous regions. Conifer trees are common there. These include pines, firs, spruce and deodar, which grow tall and cone-shaped and have thin, pointed leaves.

At higher altitudes, trees give way to grasses, mosses and lichen. Moss is a small green plant without flowers or true roots, often forming a cushion-like cover. Lichen is a plant-like organism that generally clings to rocks, walls or trees.

This change is a useful way to connect altitude with the mountain environment. Mountain vegetation changes with altitude, with trees giving way to grasses, mosses and lichen higher up. Different parts of the mountain support different forms of plant life.

Which animals illustrate mountain diversity?

Mountain fauna include the golden eagle, peregrine falcon, Canadian lynx, snow leopard, ibex, Himalayan tahr, mountain hare, yak, grey fox and black bear. The variety includes birds as well as mammals.

These examples belong to mountain environments across the world. They should not be treated as a list of animals that necessarily live together on one mountain. The range of forests, rivers, grasslands and caves helps show the diversity of mountain habitats, or places where organisms live.

The connection between landform and life includes people too. Mountain forests and scenery form part of the environment in which people farm, herd animals, travel and practise cultural traditions. Studying flora and fauna alongside human activities gives a fuller picture of mountain life.

How do people make a living in the mountains?

Terrain means land considered in terms of its physical features. Mountain terrain is usually rugged, or rough, and steep. Regular farming can only be practised in some valleys, lower areas between hills or mountains, often containing a river or stream.

How does terrace farming adapt to slopes?

Terrace farming means cultivating steps cut into a slope. Instead of treating a steep hillside as one continuous field, people cultivate the step-like areas. This is an example of adapting a farming practice to the physical form of the land.

Photograph: Terrace farming in north India (NCERT Class 6 Figure 3.5). The photograph shows cultivated fields arranged in successive steps, with raised edges separating them. Trees stand among the fields. The stepped surfaces make the change in level visible.

In many mountainous regions, herding is preferred to agriculture. Herding means tending groups of animals. The distinction between cultivation and herding helps explain why livelihoods differ across mountain regions rather than following a single pattern everywhere.

What opportunities do visitors bring?

Tourism is often an important source of income. Crisp mountain air and attractive scenery draw visitors. Activities include skiing, hiking, mountaineering and paragliding, involving movement over snow, walking, climbing mountains and flying with a gliding canopy respectively.

People have also visited mountain holy sites for centuries on pilgrimages, journeys made for religious purposes. Mountain travel can therefore connect recreation, income and religious life.

Bachendri Pal became the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest in 1984. She received the Padma Shri that year and the Padma Bhushan in 2019. She began climbing when young and led many women's climbing expeditions.

Arunima Sinha lost a leg in an accident at 22. Encouraged and trained by Bachendri Pal, she climbed Everest in 2013. She went on to climb the highest peak of every continent, including Mount Vinson in Antarctica, and received the Padma Shri in 2015.

Mountain opportunities come with limits. Excessive visitor numbers can put the fragile environment under pressure. Finding a balance between tourism and the environment is often difficult.

What challenges can mountain communities face?

Mountain life combines opportunities with natural and human-made challenges. Cold weather and heavy snowfall affect the setting in which people live. Sudden movements of snow, earth or water are other potential challenges. Uncontrolled tourism adds pressure from human activity.

How do the main hazards differ?

An avalanche and a landslide both involve material moving from a mountainside, but their descriptions differ. A cloudburst describes a rainstorm, while a flash flood describes sudden flooding. They are connected without being the same event.

Photographs: Positives and challenges of mountain life (NCERT Class 6 Figure 3.6). The photographic panel labels flash flood, landslide, avalanche, uncontrolled tourism, heavy snowfall, cloudburst and cold weather. The tourism photograph shows a crowded mountain road; the landslide photograph shows a broken road surface.

Why must opportunities and challenges be studied together?

Pure air and beautiful scenery are positive features of mountain life. Farming in some valleys, terrace cultivation, herding, tourism and pilgrimages show why mountains continue to support communities and visitors despite difficult conditions.

Resilience is the capacity to meet difficulties, adapt to them or overcome them. People's different ways of making landforms their homes demonstrate this capacity. Mountain life cannot be understood simply by listing hazards or simply by describing attractive scenery.

The same tourism that provides income can also create pressure when visitor numbers become excessive. Recognising both aspects preserves the connection between the landform, people's livelihoods and the environment on which those livelihoods depend.

What makes plateaus distinctive, and how are they used?

A plateau rises above surrounding land and has a more or less flat surface. Some of its sides are often steep. Its elevated position distinguishes it from a plain, even though both can have fairly flat surfaces.

Plateaus can be young or old in the Earth's history. Their heights range from a few hundred metres to several thousand metres. The Deccan Plateau in central and south India is among the world's oldest and formed through volcanic activity millions of years ago.

Case study: What distinguishes the Tibetan Plateau?

The Tibetan Plateau is the world's largest and highest plateau. Its average altitude is 4,500 metres, explaining its nickname, the “Roof of the World”. Its east-to-west length is nearly 2,500 kilometres, compared with the distance from Chandigarh to Kanyakumari.

In the table, m means metres, a unit of length, and km means kilometres, another unit of length. Each value measures a different feature, so the measurement column is essential.

Why are plateaus associated with mining and varied farming conditions?

Like mountains, plateaus contain rich mineral deposits, accumulations of minerals in the ground. They are called “storehouses of minerals”. Mining, the extraction of such resources, is a major activity, and many of the world's largest mines occur on plateaus.

The East African Plateau is known for gold and diamond mining. The Chhota Nagpur Plateau has huge reserves of iron, coal and manganese. These examples connect the physical landscape with an important economic activity.

Many plateaus have rocky soil, making them less fertile than plains and less favourable for farming. Lava plateaus, formed through volcanic activity, are an exception: they often have rich black soil. Plateau environments are therefore diverse.

Waterfall examples include Victoria Falls on the Zambezi in southern Africa, Hundru Falls on the Subarnarekha in the Chhota Nagpur Plateau, and Jog Falls on the Sharavati in the Western Ghats. Nohkalikai Falls drops from the Cherrapunji Plateau in Meghalaya.

Photograph: The Nohkalikai Falls emerging from the Cherrapunji Plateau (NCERT Class 6 Figure 3.7). The photograph shows a narrow waterfall descending a high cliff into a pool. Vegetation covers much of the surrounding slope, while exposed rock is visible beside the falling water.

How do rivers create fertile plains?

Plains have extensive flat or gently undulating surfaces without large hills or deep valleys. They are generally not more than 300 metres above sea level. “Generally” is part of the description, rather than an absolute limit for every plain.

What is the sequence of floodplain formation?

Floodplains are one type of plain formed by rivers. Sediments are the particles of rock, sand and silt carried by rivers; silt is fine material among these particles. Their movement connects mountain regions with the plains below.

1. Rivers originate in mountain ranges and collect particles of rock, sand and silt there.
2. Flowing water carries these sediments from the mountains towards the plains.
3. On reaching the plains, rivers deposit the sediments they have transported.
4. The deposited material makes the soil very fertile, supporting the growing of crops.

Agriculture, the cultivation of crops, is consequently a major economic occupation on these plains. Plains also support varied flora and fauna. Their importance is therefore connected both with human food production and with the wider living environment.

How can a map distinguish landform groups?

The world map uses orange for mountain ranges and brown for plateaus. The Himalaya, Rocky and Andes labels belong to ranges. Tibetan, Mongolian, East African and Patagonian label plateaus. The map is not to scale.

See Fig. 3.8 in your NCERT textbook

Green identifies river plains. Labels include Mississippi, Amazon, Nile, Indus, Yangtze, and Ganga & Brahmaputra. Read each label with the legend, the key explaining the colours, to distinguish a river plain from a plateau or range.

See Fig. 3.8 in your NCERT textbook

The map's colour key is as important as its place names. “Tibetan” becomes “Tibetan Plateau” when read with the plateau colour, while “Nile” identifies a river plain. Classifying features correctly is the main purpose of this map-reading exercise.

Fertile river plains have supported people for a very long time. The first civilisations developed around rivers in such plains thousands of years ago, and a large part of today's world population also lives on plains.

Case study: How does the Ganga plain support life?

The Ganga plain, also called the Gangetic plain, is an important example of the connection between rivers, fertile land and human settlement. About 40 crore people live in it, more than one-fourth of India's total population. A crore means ten million.

How is the river connected with the mountains?

The Ganga is the largest river originating in the Himalayas and is nearly 2,500 kilometres long. It has many tributaries, rivers that join another river. The Yamuna and Ghagara originate in the Himalayas too.

The Son, also called the Sone, originates in the Vindhya Range south of the Ganga plain. Tributaries of the Ganga therefore do not all originate in the same mountain range.

Which crops and occupations are important?

Major occupations include river fishing and agriculture. Food crops include rice, wheat, maize, barley and millets. Fibre crops, grown for their fibres, include cotton, jute and hemp.

Traditional farming has been mostly rainfed, meaning watered by rainfall. In recent decades, agriculture has turned towards irrigation, supplying water to fields through canal networks or by pumping groundwater, water below the ground.

Irrigation has increased agricultural production, but it has also contributed to groundwater depletion, or decrease. This creates a challenge for future farming. High population and pollution are other problems affecting the Ganga plains.

Why are rivers useful beyond cultivation?

The gentle slope of plains makes river navigation, travelling along rivers, easy and supports economic activities. Rivers were used extensively for travel in earlier times. Even today, people prefer boats for moving around along some stretches of the Ganga.

Photograph: River transportation on the Ganga (NCERT Class 6 Figure 3.10). The photograph shows boats close to the bank, with people and bundles beside the water. Buildings line the opposite background. It illustrates the river's use as a route for movement.

The Ganga plain brings together food production, fishing, settlement and transport. Its difficulties show that a productive landscape can also face pressure on water and environmental quality.

How are mountains and rivers connected with culture?

Landforms influence people's beliefs and traditions as well as their livelihoods. Many traditional communities regard mountains as sacred and worship them. Rivers also carry immense cultural value in both mountains and plains.

Why do mountain names and poetry matter?

Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain at 8,848 metres. Tibetans call it Chomolungma, meaning “Mother Goddess of the World”, and worship it as such. Nepalis call it Sagarmatha, meaning “Goddess of the Sky”.

Mount Kailash in Tibet is sacred to followers of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Bon, an ancient Tibetan religion. Reverence for mountain summits also occurs elsewhere in India and in other parts of the world.

Kālidāsa, who lived at least 1,500 years ago, is often considered the greatest poet of ancient India. His poem Kumārasambhava begins by invoking, or addressing with reverence, the Himalayas. Its imagery connects the mountains with the Ganga, deodar trees, peacocks and mountain people.

Such poetry presents mountains as part of a living cultural world. It links natural features, living things and human experience rather than treating the mountains simply as heights to be measured.

What makes river meeting places important?

A confluence is the meeting point of two or more rivers. Many communities regard a river's source, where it begins, and its confluence with one or two other rivers as sacred.

Numerous festivals, ceremonies and rituals take place at such locations in India. A river can consequently be important for farming, fishing and transport while also being a place of religious and cultural activity.

These relationships explain why studying landforms includes culture. The physical environment supplies the setting, but people's names, poems, journeys and ceremonies reveal the meanings they attach to it.

What do deserts and the five tiṇais reveal about adaptation?

The Earth's surface is complex, and experts often recognise landforms beyond the three main categories. Deserts are large, dry expanses with very little precipitation. Their flora and fauna are distinctive, and deserts are not all hot.

How do desert environments differ?

The Sahara in Africa and the Thar in the northwest of the Indian Subcontinent are hot deserts. The Gobi in Asia is a cold desert. Some experts also describe the Antarctica continent as a desert.

Despite harsh conditions, humans have adapted to most deserts. Communities living in the Thar, or migrating through it, have rich traditions such as folk songs and legends related to the desert. These connections show adaptability and resilience.

How did Tamil poetry connect landscapes and occupations?

The five tiṇais in ancient Tamil Sangam poetry are landscape categories associated with particular deities, lifestyles, moods and emotions. Deities are gods or goddesses. The categories connect natural surroundings with human experience.

In the table, cattle rearing means raising cattle, seafaring means travelling by sea, and arid means dry. Hunting and gathering involve hunting animals and collecting food from the environment.

Here, coastal regions are areas beside the sea. These five categories form a different classification from mountains, plateaus and plains. Their importance lies in their awareness of varied environments and the close links between those environments and human life.

Across mountains, plateaus, plains and deserts, people have found different ways to live with their surroundings. The land offers resources and possibilities, but it also brings difficulties. Adaptation means responding to both, while cultural traditions preserve people's connections with the places they call home.

Glossary

• Landform — A physical feature on the Earth's surface, broadly classified as a mountain, plateau or plain.
• Altitude — The height of an object or place above sea level.
• Precipitation — Water reaching the ground from the atmosphere, commonly as rain, snow or hail.
• Montane forest — A forest growing in mountainous regions, where conifer trees are common.
• Terrain — A stretch of land considered in terms of its physical features.
• Valley — A lower area between hills or mountains, often containing a river or stream.
• Terrace farming — Cultivation on steps cut into slopes, adapting farming to mountainous terrain.
• Avalanche — A sudden fall of snow, ice or rocks from a mountainside, often when snow starts melting.
• Plateau — Raised land with a more or less flat surface and often some steep sides.
• Sediments — Particles of rock, sand and silt that rivers collect, carry and deposit.
• Tributary — A river that joins another river, as the Yamuna joins the Ganga.
• Irrigation — Supplying fields with water, including through canal networks or by pumping groundwater.
• Confluence — The meeting point of two or more rivers, often regarded as sacred by communities.
• Desert — A large, dry expanse with very little precipitation and distinctive flora and fauna.
• Resilience — The capacity to meet challenges and difficulties, adapt to them or overcome them.

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: All mountains are permanently snow-covered. Correct: Depending on height, some have snow; at lower altitudes it melts in summer, while at high altitudes it may never melt.
• Misconception: The Himalayas are young mountains with rounded tops. Correct: They have tall, sharp peaks. Older mountains and hills such as the Aravallis have been rounded by erosion.
• Misconception: A plateau is simply a plain with another name. Correct: A plateau rises above surrounding land and has a more or less flat surface; some sides are often steep.
• Misconception: Every plateau has poor soil. Correct: Many have rocky soil, but lava plateaus often have rich black soil.
• Misconception: The Ganga is a tributary of the Yamuna. Correct: The Yamuna is a tributary that joins the Ganga.
• Misconception: Irrigation brings benefits without difficulties. Correct: It has increased agricultural production in the Ganga plain but has also contributed to groundwater depletion.
• Misconception: Every desert is hot. Correct: The Sahara and Thar are hot deserts, while the Gobi is cold.

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. A landform rises much higher than its surroundings and has a broad base, steep slopes and a narrow summit. Identify it and give its defining shape. [2 marks]

1. The landform is a mountain, rising much higher than the surrounding landscape.
2. Its defining shape combines a broad base and steep slopes with a narrow summit.

Q2. A river collects rock particles, sand and silt in mountains, carries them to plains and deposits them, making the soil fertile. Explain the connection between the river and farming in three points. [3 marks]

1. The river collects sediments, meaning particles of rock, sand and silt, in the mountains. These materials are the starting point of the connection.
2. The river carries these sediments to the plains and deposits them there, transferring material from the mountains to the plain.
3. The deposited sediments make the soil fertile. This fertility supports crop cultivation and helps explain why agriculture is important on floodplains.

Q3. Mountain terrain is usually rough and steep; regular farming is possible only in some valleys. People cut steps into slopes for crops, many regions favour herding, tourism often provides income, and excessive visitors strain the environment. Explain five links between terrain and life. [5 marks]

1. Rough, steep terrain limits regular farming to some valleys. This shows how the physical shape of the land restricts where ordinary cultivation can take place.
2. People practise terrace farming by cutting steps into slopes. Cultivating these steps is a way of adapting agriculture to a mountain setting.
3. In many mountainous regions, herding is preferred to agriculture. This provides another livelihood within regions where cultivation is restricted by the terrain.
4. Tourism often provides income to mountain communities. Visitors therefore connect the mountain environment with an economic opportunity for the people living there.
5. An excessive inflow of visitors puts pressure on the environment. Mountain communities consequently face the difficulty of balancing tourism's opportunities with environmental concerns.

Q4. A plateau stands above its surroundings and has a more or less flat surface, often with steep sides. Many plateaus have rocky soil, but lava plateaus often have rich black soil. Mineral deposits support mining. Explain these four features. [4 marks]

1. A plateau is elevated above the land around it. Its height relative to its surroundings is a key part of identifying this landform.
2. Its surface is more or less flat, while some sides are often steep. A flat top therefore does not make it a plain.
3. Farming conditions vary: many plateaus have rocky soil, but lava plateaus often have rich black soil. Their soils should not all be described alike.
4. Mineral deposits support mining as an important activity. Plateau resources therefore influence the economic occupations of people living in these regions.

Q5. In the Ganga plain, fishing and agriculture are major occupations; rice and wheat are food crops, and cotton and jute are fibre crops. Farming has been mostly rainfed, but canal and groundwater irrigation has increased production and contributed to groundwater depletion. Explain five features of life and farming. [5 marks]

1. River fishing and agriculture are major occupations. They connect people's livelihoods with the river and the land of the Ganga plain.
2. Rice and wheat are food crops grown in this region. They illustrate the role of cultivation in producing food on the plain.
3. Cotton and jute are fibre crops. Farming therefore includes crops grown for fibres as well as the food crops named in the question.
4. Traditional agriculture has been mostly rainfed, meaning watered through rainfall. Irrigation supplies fields with water through canals or by pumping groundwater.
5. Irrigation has increased production but also contributed to groundwater depletion. This decrease in groundwater creates a difficulty for the future of agriculture in the region.

Q6. Deserts receive very little precipitation. The Sahara and Thar are hot deserts, while the Gobi is cold. Humans have adapted to most deserts, and Thar communities preserve desert-related folk songs and legends. Explain three conclusions about deserts and life. [3 marks]

1. Very little precipitation is a defining desert feature. Temperature varies, as the hot Sahara and Thar contrast with the cold Gobi.
2. Humans have adapted to most deserts despite difficult conditions. Desert life therefore provides an example of people responding to a challenging environment.
3. Thar communities preserve folk songs and legends associated with their surroundings. The desert influences cultural life as well as the conditions in which people live.

Q7. A tributary joins another river. The Yamuna joins the Ganga, and the Son also joins the Ganga. The Yamuna begins in the Himalayas, while the Son begins in the Vindhya Range. State two conclusions about these tributaries. [2 marks]

1. Both the Yamuna and the Son are tributaries of the Ganga because they join it.
2. They originate in different ranges: the Yamuna in the Himalayas and the Son in the Vindhya Range.

Key takeaways

• Mountains, plateaus and plains differ in shape and environment, creating varied opportunities and challenges for human life.
• Some mountains have snow cover; melting snow at lower altitudes supplies rivers with water during summer.
• Terrace farming, herding and tourism illustrate different ways in which people adapt their livelihoods to mountain terrain.
• Plateaus contain valuable mineral resources, while their farming conditions vary between rocky soils and often fertile black soils on lava plateaus.
• Rivers carry and deposit sediments on floodplains, creating fertile soil that supports agriculture and human settlement.
• Irrigation has raised agricultural production in the Ganga plain while also contributing to the depletion of groundwater.
• Mountains, river sources and confluences have cultural significance for many communities, alongside their economic and environmental importance.
• Deserts may be hot or cold, and human adaptation across landforms demonstrates resilience and close connections with the environment.

Test yourself

How do hills differ from mountains?

Hills are lower highlands with less steep slopes and rounded tops. Mountains rise much higher than their surroundings and have broad bases, steep slopes and narrow summits.

What does altitude measure?

Altitude measures height above sea level. Sea level is the average level of the ocean surface, also called mean sea level.

Why is the Tibetan Plateau called the Roof of the World?

It is the world's largest and highest plateau, with an average altitude of 4,500 metres, explaining its nickname.

Which resources are associated with the Chhota Nagpur Plateau?

The Chhota Nagpur Plateau contains huge reserves of iron, coal and manganese, illustrating the connection between plateaus and mineral resources.

How do a cloudburst and a flash flood differ?

A cloudburst is a sudden, violent rainstorm. A flash flood is a sudden local flood, often caused by a cloudburst.

What is a confluence?

A confluence is where two or more rivers meet. Many communities regard such meeting places as sacred and conduct cultural or religious activities there.

What do the five tiṇais connect?

They connect landscapes with occupations, lifestyles, deities, moods and emotions, illustrating close relationships between the natural environment and human life.