Friday, March 2, 2018

How Are Valleys Formed?

Valleys are the low lying areas present between two hills or two mountains. Valleys are usually formed near water bodies such as rivers and hence they are dense with vegetation and have great soil fertility. When water bodies such as rivers flow through mountains or hills they wear out the rock and the soil thus creating grooves within. These grooves over a period of time get deeper and deeper causing big dents within the mountain. These grooves are usually V-shaped or U-shaped and the curve deepens over a period of time to form valleys.


U-shaped Valley

The formation of valleys usually depend upon the speed of the flow of the water. Faster the flow, deeper and wider the valley. When glaciers form valleys they are called glacial valleys. The shape of glacial valley is U-shape. However when a valley is formed due to soil erosion it is usually V-shaped and these valleys are know as rift valleys. Due to it's rich soil fertility and dense vegetation, valleys can cater to civilizations. The valleys also tend to offer a favorable climate for living. And hence many such civilizations had known to flourish in the valleys. One such known civilization of valley is the Indus Valley Civilization on the Indus River. The world's deepest valley is the Kali Gandaki River in Nepal. It is known to lie between two Himalayan Peaks namely, Dhaulagiri and Annapurna which are 8000 meter high respectively.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...