what is a plain? mention its major types
Answers
ANSWER : In geography, a plainis a flat, sweeping landmass that generally does not change much in elevation. Plains occur as lowlandsalong valleysor on the doorsteps of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateausor uplands.
Answer:
In geography, a plain is a flat, sweeping landmass that generally does not change much in elevation. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or on the doorsteps of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands
Types of plain
A small, incised alluvial plain from Red Rock Canyon State Park (California).
A flood plain in the Isle of Wight.
Depositional plains
The types of depositional plains include:
Abyssal plains, flat or very gently sloping areas of the deep ocean basin.[6][7]
Planitia, the Latin word for plain, is used in the naming of plains on extraterrestrial objects (planets and moons), such as Hellas Planitia on Mars or Sedna Planitia on Venus.
Alluvial plains, which are formed by rivers and which may be one of these overlapping types:
Alluvial plains, formed over a long period of time by a river depositing sediment on their flood plains or beds, which become alluvial soil. The difference between a flood plain and an alluvial plain is: a flood plain represents areas experiencing flooding fairly regularly in the present or recently, whereas an alluvial plain includes areas where a flood plain is now and used to be, or areas which only experience flooding a few times a century.[8]
Flood plain, adjacent to a lake, river, stream, or wetland that experiences occasional or periodic flooding.
Scroll plain, a plain through which a river meanders with a very low gradient.
Glacial plains, formed by the movement of glaciers under the force of gravity:
Outwash plain (also known as sandur; plural sandar), a glacial out-wash plain formed of sediments deposited by melt-water at the terminus of a glacier. Sandar consist mainly of stratified (layered and sorted) gravel and sand.[9][10]
Till plains, plain of glacial till that form when a sheet of ice becomes detached from the main body of a glacier and melts in place depositing the sediments it carries. Till plains are composed of unsorted material (till) of all sizes.
Lacustrine plains, plains that originally formed in a lacustrine environment, that is, as the bed of a lake.[11]
Lava plains, formed by sheets of flowing lava.[12]
Erosional plains
Erosional plains have been leveled by various agents of denudation such as running water, rivers, wind and glacier which wear out the rugged surface and smoothens them. Plain resulting from the action of these agents of denudation are called peneplains (almost plain) while plains formed from wind action are called pediplains.[13]
Structural plains
Structural plains are relatively undisturbed horizontal surfaces of the Earth. They are structurally depressed areas of the world that make up some of the most extensive natural lowlands on the Earth's surface.[14]
Explanation: