There are many natural components that are studied in detail by the geography of the Earth. The relief is one of them. Our planet is beautiful and unique! Its appearance is the result of the action of a whole complex of various processes.
Why is the relief of the earth so diverse? We will try to answer this question as intelligibly as possible in this article.
Why is the relief diverse? The main reason
Deep underwater gorges and the highest peaked peaks, huge flat plateaus and swampy hollows, wide endless plains and hilly hills - all this can be found on the surface of our wonderful planet. Let’s try to answer a simple question: why is the relief of the Earth so diverse?
The main reason for this diversity is the mutual influence on the surface of the planet of internal (endogenous) and external (exogenous) processes. In turn, the catalyst for these processes, ultimately, is the energy of the sun.
The essence of endogenous processes is the movements of the earth's crust, which can be both vertical and horizontal. These movements not only change the general structure of the earth's crust, but also create new forms of relief.
While endogenous processes form the relief of the planet (they act as builders), exogenous processes hone and decorate it, being some kind of “sculptors” of earthly forms. They act on the surface of the Earth from the outside, through weathering of rocks, the work of surface and groundwater, wind and gravity. It is important to note that these processes have been and are happening on our planet all the time.
Denudation and accumulation - the main processes of relief formation
Now that you already know why the Earth's relief is very diverse, you can describe in more detail those processes that are responsible for this. It will be about denudation and accumulation, which are dialectically related.
Denudation is understood as the totality of all processes that are aimed at the destruction of rocks. The main driving force of denudation is gravity (the force of universal gravitation). Mountain landslides, mudflows, the movement of large glaciers and the flow of rivers - all this, one way or another, is connected with it. Denudation seeks to smooth out the terrain as much as possible.
Accumulation is the opposite process, which consists in the accumulation of rock particles in certain areas of the Earth’s surface. Nevertheless, denudation and accumulation are closely and inextricably linked. Due to accumulation processes, plains, terraces, deltas, dunes, coastal spits and the like are formed on the Earth's surface.
Genetic types of terrain
As a result of endogenous processes, the following relief types are formed:
Among the main types of relief of exogenous origin (genesis), it should be noted:
- fluvial relief (river valleys, gullies, ravines, ravines, etc.);
- glacial (oz, moraine ridges and plains, Kama, "lamb foreheads" , etc.);
- coastal or abrasive (marches, braids, abrasive shores, beaches, etc.);
- gravitational (landslides, landslides, scree);
- eolian (dunes, dunes);
- karst (caves, funnels, karst mines);
- suffosive (hearths, "steppe saucers");
- anthropogenic (relief created by human activity: quarries, mines, embankments, heaps, dams, etc.).
All these numerous landforms create that colorful and unique pattern of our planet.
Finally
After reading our article, the question of why the terrain of the Earth is so diverse can no longer drive you into a dead end. The appearance, the drawing of our planet, has been created for millions of years. The formation of the main forms of the earth's relief is based on various processes, such as endogenous (internal) and exogenous (external).