Class VII

Chapter 2 : The Earth and the Changes on it

Reference Notes

 The surface of the earth never remains static and constantly undergoes
changes.
 These changes are of two types - sudden changes and gradual changes.

SUDDEN CHANGES GRADUAL CHANGES

1. Originate inside the earth. 1. Originate above the earth.
2. Bring sudden or radical changes 2. Bring slow changes on earth.
on the earth.
3. Changes are visible instantly. 3. Changes are visible after a long
period.
Egs- Changes that occur due to Egs- Carrying of soil by rain
volcanic eruption, earthquake, water, changes in the course of
tsunami etc. a river, wind carrying soil
particles with them etc.

Examples of human factors that change the surface of the earth:-

 Cutting down of forests.

 Construction of roads, bridges and railway lines.
 Large-scale mining.
 Building of dams, etc.

External process:-

1. Any process working on the earth’s surface and bringing changes on it,
is known as external process.
2. The external process lowers the level of land by wearing away rock
particles. It raises the level of land where the soil particles are
deposited.
3. External processes include changes occurred due to includes
weathering and gradation.
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Weathering:-

1. Weathering refers to the process that breaks rocks into smaller particles.
2. It includes erosion and deposition. The rocks disintegrate as they are
exposed to all types of weather changes.
3. The effect of weathering can be seen on stone monuments and buildings
where pieces of stones get flaked off and iron railings get rusted.

Erosion Deposition
 Erosion or Denudation refers  Deposition refers to the
to gradual wearing and laying down of sediments
carrying away of loose which have been carried
particles of disintegrated from distant parts of the
rocks by the weathering and earth’s surface by the agents
agents of gradation like of gradation like running
running water, wind, moving water, wind, moving ice and
ice and sea waves. sea waves.

Factors that affect the rate of weathering and erosion:-

1) Temperature of place, 2) vegetation cover, 3) rainfall,

4) slope of land, 5) type of soil, and 6) changes in land use.

Gradation refers to levelling of land.

It occurs in two ways

Degradation Agradation.
Degradation means breaking and Agradation means adding of
wearing away of sediments and sediments and raising the level of
lowering the level of land. land.

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 AGENTS OF GRADATION
1. Running water:-
Running water is an important agent of gradation. A river has a life cycle like
all living beings. River takes birth in mountain or a hill, flows over plains and
finally ends when it reaches the sea. The three stages of a river are:-

Early stage Maturity stage Old stage

In its early stage, the In its maturity stage, the In its old stage, the river
river flows over steep river enters into plains becomes large and gets
mountains . divided into several
distributaries before
meeting the sea.
The river is young and The volume of water The river deposits silt,
its rate of erosion is increases and slopes of sand and sediments
maximum. land decreases, over a large area near its
resulting in slow speed mouth.
of river.
Due to down cutting During this stage the This large deposition
work of a river, it forms river forms meanders. helps in the formation
‘V’ shaped and ‘I’ (the twist and turn of of a delta. The Ganga-
shaped valleys, river because of slow Brahmaputra delta is
waterfalls etc. speed of river are called the world’s largest
meanders) delta.

2. Glacier:-

The mass of moving ice is called a Glacier.

Two types of glaciers are

Continental glaciers Mountain glaciers

Huge masses of ice which cover large Glaciers which occupy small areas
area of continent are called over the mountains are called
Continental glaciers. Mountain glaciers.
For example, Antarctica and For example, Siachin glacier and
Greenland Gangotri glacier of the Himalayas in
India.

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 3. Wind:- The soft horizontal movement of air that can be felt is called wind.

1. Regions where there is little rainfall and less vegetation, the land is
exposed to strong winds.
2. Loose particles are easily blown away by the strong wind. The action
of the wind is most common in the desert regions.
3. The strong wind has the capacity to rub and scrap rocks, resulting in
strange shaped rocks like mushroom rock.
4. The carried away material is deposited at a new place when the
speed of wind slows down.
5. This leads to the formation of various types of sand dunes. Sand
dunes can be found on the western parts of Rajasthan in India.

4. Sea Waves:-

 Sea waves are the most powerful agent of gradation along the sea
shore.
 The continuous striking of sea waves breaks the rocks. This type of
erosion results in the formation of steep sided cliffs facing the sea.
 The eroded material may deposit along the coast forming beaches.

Role of human beings in changing the face of land:-

1. Over population and industrialisation has disturbed the natural

environment to a large extent.
2. The human activity involves diverse land use like clearing of forests for
agriculture, construction of roads and new human settlements, etc.
3. Human beings should take care of all the resources for maintaining
ecological balance. This can be achieved through sustainable
development.

HANSRAJ MODEL SCHOOL, PUNJABI BAGH, NEW DELHI

 SOIL
Soil is the loose material found on the surface of the earth.
It is made up of

Organic particles and Inorganic particles.

Organic particles Inorganic particles

Organic particles are derived from Inorganic particles are derived from
dead remains of plants and animals. rocks. They include loose
disintegrated particles of different
sizes.
In the course of time, these particles The large sized particles are called
get decomposed and change into a gravel. The smaller ones are called
dark coloured material called sand, silt and clay.
humus.
The humus present in the soil A mixture of these particles gives
increases the fertility of land and is rise to different types of soil
rapidly formed in humid areas due according to their proportion like
to heavy growth of plants and rich sandy, loamy and clayey soils.
animal life. The humus is low in
desert soil.

FORMATION OF SOIL:-

1. Formation of soil is a very slow process. It takes thousands of years to

form a thin layer of soil.
2. The weathering process breaks the rocks into small particles which
are then carried away by water, wind etc., and get deposited at a
new place. Such soil is called transported soil.
3. The soil that is formed by weathering of a parent rock and remains
present on the same site is called residual soil.

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 4. The soil forming process continues over a long span of time and starts
developing in layers one over the other. These layers are called
horizons.
5. The lowest horizon is called bed rock, then comes the horizon of
weathered rock, followed by the sub-soil and top soil.
Bed rock  Weathered rock  Sub soil  Top soil HUMUS

DISTRIBUTION OF MAJOR SOIL TYPES

ALLUVIAL SOIL BLACK SOIL RED SOIL LATERITE MOUNTAIN DESERT SOIL
SOIL SOIL
Alluvial soil is aBlack soil is This soil is Laterite Mountain Desert soil is
very fertile soil popularly red in colour soil is soil is also known as
and forms major known as due to the found in popularly Arid soil.
agricultural land Cotton Soil presence of the known as
of our country. as it is largely iron regions of Forest soil.
used for particles. heavy
growing rainfall.
cotton.
It is formed by It has the It is highly It is It is and is It is loose
the deposition of ability to porous, fine formed by poorly grained and has
sediments by retain grained and the fertile and a very low
river. moisture and deep. leaching is found in water holding
become process the high capacity.
sticky when i.e. a altitudes of
wet. natural mountains.
process in
which
rainy
water
dissolves
minerals
from the
soil and
carry
them
away.
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It is confined to It is found in It is confined It is It is It is found in
northern and Deccan to peninsular confined confined to the Thar desert
coastal plains. plateau. India and to the hill the region.
some parts slopes of Himalayan
of north- peninsular region of
eastern plateau. the
India. country.

Examples - Examples- Examples: Examples: Examples: Example:

Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Kerala, Parts of Jammu and Western parts
Uttar Pradesh. Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka Kashmir, of Rajasthan.
Karnataka. Odisha. and Goa Himachal
Pradesh

Soil Erosion:-

Meaning:- The removal of the top layer of soil is known as soil erosion.

Causes:- Soil erosion is caused due to wrong human practices like cutting of
trees, overgrazing of animals, etc.

Need for soil conservation:- Conservation of soil is important/necessary

because soil erosion leads to decline in crop yield, landslides, floods,etc.

Measures to stop soil erosion/ Ways of soil conservation:-

 Plantation of trees
 Selective agriculture practices like crop rotation and multiple
cropping method.
 Spreading mass awareness towards prevention of soil erosion.
 Development and management of pastureland
 Adoption of soil conservation practices at local level.

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HANSRAJ MODEL SCHOOL, PUNJABI BAGH, NEW DELHI