Plain

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Plain (disambiguation) and Plains (disambiguation).
Maniototo Plain of New Zealand

In

Horton Plains in Sri Lanka
.

Description

A plain or flatland is a flat expanse of land with a layer of grass that generally does not change much in

lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands.[1] Plains are one of the major landforms on earth, where they are present on all continents, and cover more than one-third of the world's land area.[2]

In a valley, a plain is enclosed on two sides, but in other cases a plain may be delineated by a complete or partial ring of hills, by mountains, or by cliffs. Where a geological region contains more than one plain, they may be connected by a pass (sometimes termed a gap). Coastal plains mostly rise from sea level until they run into elevated features such as mountains or plateaus.[3] Plains can be formed from flowing lava; from deposition of sediment by water, ice, or wind; or formed by erosion by the agents from hills or mountains.

savannah (tropical) or tundra (polar). In a few instances, deserts and rainforests may also be considered plains.[4]

Plains in many areas are important for

fertile, and the flatness facilitates mechanization of crop production; or because they support grasslands which provide good grazing for livestock.[5]

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:

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]

Curry County, eastern New Mexico, on the North American Great Plains

Notable examples

See also: Category: Plains by country
grasslands
in the southeastern area of South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean
Nineveh Plains (Bozan, Iraq)
A field plain in Liminka, Finland
View of Fields at Biccavolu, Eastern coastal plains, Andhra Pradesh, India
Yilan Plain, Taiwan
View of the South Småland peneplain at Store Mosse National Park in Sweden.
North Somerset Levels taken from Dolebury Warren, England, UK
Terrain near the central German town of Fulda.
The Wallachian Plain, in the southern part of Argeș County.
View of Messara from the hill of Phaestus, Greece.
Western Sydney
, Australia.
Looking southeast across the Taieri Plain, Otago, New Zealand.

America

Caribbean and South America

North America

Asia

Eastern Asia

North Asia

South Asia

Western Asia

Europe

Central Europe

Eastern Europe

Northern Europe

Southern Europe

Oceania

Australia

New Zealand

See also
  • Field – Area of land used for agricultural purposes
  • Flooded grasslands and savannas – Terrestrial biome
  • Flood-meadow – Land adjacent to a river subject to seasonal flooding
  • Machair – Fertile low-lying grassy plain
  • Meadow – Open habitat vegetated primarily by non-woody plants
  • Pasture – Land used for grazing
  • Prairie – Ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome
  • Rangeland – Biomes which can be grazed by animals or livestock (grasslands, woodlands, prairies, etc)
  • Water-meadow – Artificially irrigated meadow
  • Wet meadow – type of wetland

References

  1. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2007.11.012
    .
  2. ISBN 978-0-521-42740-1. Archived
    from the original on 2016-06-03.
  3. ISBN 978-0-14-051094-2
    .
  4. ISBN 9781402045516
    .
  5. ^ Powell, W. Gabe. 2009. Identifying Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) Using National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) Data as a Hydrologic Model Input for Local Flood Plain Management. Applied Research Project, Texas State University.
  6. ^ Goudie, A. S., ed. (2004). "Denudation chronology". Encyclopedia of Geomorphology. pp. 244–248.
  7. ISBN 9780120261321
    .
  8. ^ "Glossary of Landform and Geologic Terms" (PDF). National Soil Survey Handbook—Part 629. National Cooperative Soil Survey. April 2013. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  9. ^ Magilligan F.J., Gomez B., Mertes L.A.K., Smith, L.C. Smith N.D., Finnegan D., Garvin J.B., Geomorphic effectiveness, sandur development, and the pattern of landscape response during jökulhlaups: Skeiðarársandur, southeastern Iceland, Geomorphology 44 (2002) 95–113
  10. ^ Smith L.C., Sheng Y., Magilligan F.J., Smith N.D., Gomez B., Mertes L., Krabill W.B., Garven J.B., Geomorphic impact and rapid subsequent recovery from the 1996 Skeiðarársandur jökulhlaup, Iceland, measured with multi-year airborne lidar. Geomorphology vol. 75 Is. 1–2 (2006) 65–75
  11. ^ United States. Department of Conservation. Division of Geology. Glacial Sluceways and Lacustrine Plains of Southern Indiana. By William D. Thornburry. Bloomington: n.p., 1950. Web. <"Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2015-12-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)>.
  12. ^ "Lava Plateaus". Archived from the original on 2013-11-14. Retrieved 2014-01-26.
  13. ^ Migoń, Piotr (2004). "Planation surface". In Goudie, A.S. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Geomorphology. pp. 788–792.
  14. ^ "Pediplain". Encyclopedia Britannica.

External links

Look up plain in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
  • Media related to Plains at Wikimedia Commons
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