What are the plains? This is the exact opposite of the mountains

What are the plains and how they look, they know almost everything, because most people live on them. And the economic activity of man is also mainly connected with these forms of relief. At first glance, they all seem to be the same and monotonous, because they do not show sharp differences in altitude, as in mountainous countries, there are no terrible earthquakes, there are no avalanches and terrible streams of mudflow.

Flat or slightly hilly areas of land are called plains. They, unlike the mountains, are usually located on the ancient stable sections of the earth's crust, called platforms. Therefore, they are stable and inactive, and the history of their development is usually older and much more complex than that of the mountain belts of our planet.

In order to answer the question of what are plains, one must know about their great diversity. They may not only have different origins, but also different heights above sea level. Depending on this, there are:

• Lowlands;
• Elevations;
• Highlands.

To the lowlands are parts of the land with a height of up to 200 meters. In some inland regions of the continents, they may even be below the level of the World Ocean, an example being the Caspian lowland, whose height is minus 28 meters. Significant areas they occupy along the coasts of the seas and oceans. Everyone knows that such plains stretching along the Gulf of Mexico are swampy and often flooded areas. In some cases, coastal lowlands are located in areas of the earth's crust, which gradually drop. On one of these stands the famous Italian city of Venice, slowly going under the water. Residents of the Netherlands have won from the advancing sea almost a third of the territory of their country, which is constantly under threat of flooding.

Some lowlands are in the platform troughs, for example, the East Siberian Plain, and represent extensive wetlands, along which one or several large rivers flow.

Large areas are occupied by lowlands in valleys of large rivers. The Amazonian lowland in South America and the West Siberian in the Asian part of Eurasia are considered one of the largest plains of the planet. Mesopotamian - is the birthplace and prosperity of one of the most ancient civilizations.

What is the plains, referring to the hills, can be judged by the Great American and deserted central parts of Australia. Sometimes on the hilly elevated areas there are remains of ancient mountain ranges in the form of solitary elevations.

Plateau on all grounds belong to the plains, only raised above them to considerable heights. Often they are separated by deep canyons into separate parts. In their geological history, these areas of land were first aligned, and then elevated by new tectonic movements. A striking example of this is the Colorado Plateau, located in North America.

The smooth relief, favorable climate, good fertile soils contribute to the intensive development of these forms of relief, many of which are the most densely populated areas of the Earth. In this respect, the Great Plain of China, with such large megacities as Beijing and Tianjin, stands out.