How did topography affect the human settlements?
- Answers How did topography affect the human settlements? Topography means the nature of land. It has a great impact on the growth of settlements. Mostly people will try to settle in river valleys where the land is fertileand the water is easily available.
How did river valleys affect the early civilizations?
Clearly, river valleys had a powerful effect on the early formation of civilizations. The simplest suggestions would be that any population needs access to fresh water, and that rivers aid in agriculture. Both are true and relevant, but far from sufficient.
What are the advantages of river valleys?
River valleys offered unique advantages to expanding settlements and the state societies created to govern and defend them. If not for these advantages, it is questionable whether civilization might have occurred at all, or at least, whether it might have taken a very different form.
How do human activities affect landforms?
Human activities affect landforms by causing erosion (e.g., farming) that reduces surface soil and is carried down rivers to increase river deltas, removing parts of mountains or hills or filling in valleys for , by strip mining, by drilling, etc. Human activities effect landforms by building hills, digging canals, etc.
What are the dangers of valleys?
Summary: A new study has shown that living in a river valley at low altitude can increase the risk of developing lung problems. A new study has shown that living in a river valley at low altitude can increase the risk of developing lung problems.
What are the benefits of valleys?
Since the beginning of human development, valleys have been an important place for people because of their presence close to rivers. Rivers enabled easier movement and also provided resources like water, good soils, and food such as fish.
Which factors affect the formation of valleys?
These geological formations are created by running rivers and shifting glaciers. Valleys are depressed areas of land–scoured and washed out by the conspiring forces of gravity, water, and ice.
How do rivers influence settlement?
The water from the river provides rich soil for farming. This means the town will never go hungry and can trade any crops with other towns. The river provides transportation so as well as being able to travel, the people can trade their goods easily with other towns.
What are the advantages of living in a valley?
Top Benefits of Living in the Central ValleyPlenty of Small Town Charm. ... Close Proximity to Natural Attractions. ... Day Trips to Yosemite. ... Nearby Cities. ... Convenient Amenities. ... Delicious Local Produce. ... Get an Education. ... Cultural Diversity.More items...•
Are valleys constructive or destructive?
Valleys are formed through the destructive force, erosion, and the gradual wearing down of land by wind and water. For example, rivers can act as an erosion agent by grinding down rocks and soil and creating a V shaped valley.
What is valleys in geography?
valley, elongate depression of the Earth's surface. Valleys are most commonly drained by rivers and may occur in a relatively flat plain or between ranges of hills or mountains. Those valleys produced by tectonic action are called rift valleys. Very narrow, deep valleys of similar appearance are called gorges.
What causes valleys to change over time?
In this condition, more energy is expended laterally than vertically, and a river progressively broadens its valley floor. As a result, most river valleys change over time from narrow forms to broader ones, the shape at any time being dependent on baselevel, rock type, and rock structures.
What is a valley answer?
A valley is a long depression, or ditch, in Earth's surface. It usually lies between ranges of hills or mountains. Most valleys are formed by rivers that erode, or wear down, soil and rocks.
What influences where people settle?
Climatic, Economic, Physical, and Traditional Factors Similarly, physical factors like shelter and drainage, as well as soil quality, water supply, ports, and resources, can affect whether or not a location is suitable for building a city.
How the Nile river influenced settlement?
The Nile River brought water and rich fertile soil that the Egyptians used to grow crops in. The Egyptians knew which time of year the Nile River would flood, bringing its gift of rich soil. The Egyptians depended on the Nile River to flood otherwise they could not grow their crops and there would be a famine.
What type of landform is best for human settlement?
People prefer living on flat plains and gentle slopes. This is because such areas are favorable for the production of crops and to build roads and industries.
What is in a valley?
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over a very long period of time.
What are the types of valleys?
The different types include V-shaped (river), U-shaped (glacier), rift, and flat-floored valleys.
Where can valleys be found?
Valleys are most commonly drained by rivers and may occur in a relatively flat plain or between ranges of hills or mountains. Those valleys produced by tectonic action are called rift valleys. Very narrow, deep valleys of similar appearance are called gorges.
What is the importance of hills?
People have used hills for homes and urban areas for thousands of years. Many people have built their homes and villages on hills to avoid floods. The higher elevation also allows people to defend themselves.
How did river valleys affect civilization?
Clearly, river valleys had a powerful effect on the early formation of civilizations. The simplest suggestions would be that any population needs access to fresh water, and that rivers aid in agriculture. Both are true and relevant, but far from sufficient. It is worth observing that the construction of the earliest towns, ...
What were the advantages of the river valleys?
Emerging states in the river valleys offered other advantages, too. They could mobilize larger construction efforts, extending irrigation to cover more land. Not only could they generate larger agricultural surpluses, they could also store the surpluses more efficiently. Early administrations staffed by the first scribes oversaw the collection and distribution of such surpluses. Certainly there had to be other forces at work, too – such as the promises of early priesthoods to secure the blessings of the gods – but these fall outside of the question of what the river valleys uniquely had to offer. It is enough that these regions offered a scale of agricultural surplus, and the manpower to manage such surpluses, that made life in and around the new cities somewhat more secure and predictable than life in a more remote village.
Why did people build civilizations?
They were, for the most part, agricultural people used to a settled life in circumstances of relatively low population density who began to experience increasing population density and needed to deal with the social ramifications of that development. The reasons for this varied: the Nile Valley saw significant migration from the west as the Sahara gradually dried up , while early cities in Mesopotamia like Ur and Uruk drew more people to them, expanding their spheres of influence and laying the groundwork for more large settlements. Other areas, especially the Indus Valley and the Olmec heartland in southern Mexico, are less well-understood.
Why are river valleys important?
River valleys offered unique advantages to expanding settlements and the state societies created to govern and defend them. If not for these advantages, it is questionable whether civilization might have occurred at all, or at least, whether it might have taken a very different form. After centuries of setting precedents, these civilizations served as models for later civilizations, even where the new civilizations began with very different geographic realities than the river valley civilizations. Thousands of years later, the nations of the modern world still live with their legacies.
Which river valley did the earliest civilizations not arise in?
Not coincidentally, each of them emerged in important river valleys: the Nile, the Tigris and Euphrates, the Indus and Saraswati, the Yellow River (or Huang Ho), and the Coatzacoalcos and San Juan. In fact, of the earliest civilizations, the only one that did not arise in a river valley was that of the Minoans on Crete.
What were the advantages of the early civilizations?
Evidently, then, the people of the early civilizations saw advantages to gathering in higher concentrations in the river valleys. Part of it must relate to defense. Agriculture and animal husbandry generate wealth in the form of food stores, herds, and immovable improvements like irrigation ditches and levees. Invaders could make off with food and livestock, destroying improvements before leaving. States allowed for more and better-equipped warriors, as well as improvements like defensive walls. That, of course, presupposed larger agricultural surpluses, and these were only feasible in the great river valleys.
Why did the river valleys become more attractive?
When people needed to move on because of overcrowding, another location along the river became vastly more attractive than anything else, reinforcing the trend of settlement in the river valleys. Cities became interconnected and culturally linked, and regional states emerged over the city level.
How did the river valleys affect ancient civilizations?
Ancient River Valleys Provided Prosperity. Arising ancient civilizations in Egypt, the Near East, India, and China were impacted by vast river valley systems that sustained growth and prosperity. Most of the great Ancient civilizations arose around river valley communities, coinciding with the late Neolithic period and the emergence ...
Why did the River Valley civilizations develop into formidable empires?
In Mesopotamia, this was due, in part, to an early arms race of sorts as each newly emerging power developed new weapons technologies, siege strategies, and better weapons.
Why did Western civilizations begin with the river valley civilizations of Egypt and the Near East?
Unal Demirer, an archaeologist associated with the Antalya Museum, writes that, “Turkey was not only a passageway from which the ancient Asian Turkish culture was transmitted to Europe, but also, conversely, was a platform for Western Culture in its dialogue with Eastern Culture.” This is why all Western Civilization studies begin with the river valley civilizations of Egypt and the Near East.
What factors were associated with virtually all emerging civilizations?
Each one developed religious traditions associated with geographic considerations that included placing the gods in the “high places.”.
Where did the hunter gatherers settle?
In Egypt, former hunter-gathering groups settled in the dry river beds that once served as Nile River extensions in the Delta. Eventually, these communities established farms along the fertile banks of the Nile and built vast urban centers as well as the great monuments like the pyramids during the early years of the Old Kingdom.
Why do people live near volcanoes?
There are other benefits to living near volcanoes. Homes near volcanoes can have a natural hot-water supply from geothermal energy , which is thermal energy from within Earth. The rock underground near volcanoes can be warm enough to heat water for homes. In addition, people are fascinated by volcanoes.
How does desertification affect the world?
These areas make up 41 percent of Earth’s land area. However, over 100 countries are losing their drylands to desertification. The map in Figure 2.8 shows deserts as well as areas around the world that are at risk of desertification. Drought worsens desertification because it directly affects soil quality . Long-term drought reduces the moisture in soil, causing the soil to become dry and thin. The soil then becomes loose and blows away, changing the area into desert. Desertification is widespread and affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The loss of arable land in an area can change settlement patterns there. As you read in the Unit 1 Global Concern, long-term drought is threatening food production in Africa’s Sahel region. This problem is so severe that people are leaving their homes.
What are the effects of dust storms?
The dust raised during a dust storm can blow up to 8 km high, adding dust to the atmosphere. The strong, dusty winds damage equipment and buildings, as well as human skin and eyes. For people living in areas with dust storms, the dust may cause breathing problems. Dust storms can also have a positive impact. Winds can drop the dust thousands of kilometres from where it was picked up. The soils in Central and South American rainforests get most of their mineral nutrients from dust that came from the Sahara Desert in Africa.
How do volcanoes affect humans?
Earth’s physical processes, such as volcanoes, desertification, and earthquakes, can have major impacts on human settlements. As populations grow and population densities increase, the impacts from these processes will affect more and more people. VOLCANOES.
Why is access to food an ongoing challenge in the desert?
Access to food is an ongoing challenge in the desert, because water is needed to grow crops. Their solution is to create arable land in the desert through irrigation projects to grow their own crops and reduce food imports. Figure 2.11 shows how the landscape of Saudi Arabia has changed from 1987 to 2012.
What are the dangers of earthquakes?
Many earthquakes occur below oceans and can cause devastating tsunamis, or huge surface waves. All coastal settlements in earthquake zones are in danger. In March 2011, an earthquake approximately 150 km northeast of Japan caused a tsunami.
Why are the villages on the escarpment so westerly?
The most westerly villages are at the highest point of the escarpment, and tending to hang off the side, The siting was due to the prehistoric track which runs along the high ground, but the essential ingredient was the water . This exposed escarpment is a spring line. The villages would not have been settled without that ready water source, The more easterly villages are on another spring line on the other side of these blocks of limestone.
Why excavate land patches?
We excavate land patches to extract minerals / ore bodies located deep underground. Once the commercial activity ends we simply abandon the site. The debris lies strewn around. As the top soil is carted away natural green cover regrowth doesn't happen. We create a barren patches.
Why are earthquakes a factor?
If you're asking about the creation of landforms then earthquakes are a factor. Earthquakes can be seen as a land building process as tectonic activity causes landforms to uplift. Earthquakes occur at subduction zones this is where one tectonic plate passes under another tectonic plates. When these tectonic plates rub together and earthquakes occur the land above can uplift, this can make a landform bigger. I.e it is common for new landforms to be established that were once under the ocean.
How does landform affect food production?
Food production is necessary for the survival of humans, and landforms affect all types of food production. Scientists and farmers need to understand the soil and drainage of the land to successfully grow crops. Also since landforms affect climate they also affect agriculture. Agriculture is dependent on sunshine, water and soil. All of these aspects are effected by different types of landforms, such as mountain ranges, hills and water systems. According to a NASA-funded study, climate change is seriously affecting all types of food production.
Why do we take up monoculture?
We take up monoculture plantations to serve our commercial interest. Examples - Tea gardens, Teak Wood plantations, Eucalyptus plantations. Birds, herbivores need heterogenous green cover. With monoculture certain species of birds loose nesting sites, certains species feel stressed out as their food chain cycle undergoes massive change.
How does the structure of a landform affect humans?
The basic structure of a landform affects humans. The geology of a hillside or mountain affects humans who want to drive over it or even live on it . Scientists need to understand the structure of landforms so humans can safely use and live near them. Certain rocks, such as granite, are more stable to build on than other rocks, such as shale. Other factors about the structure of landforms are their drainage. Scientists must understand the way streams and other waterways move through a landform to be sure it is stable enough for all types of human activity.
How do landforms affect weather?
Landforms affect weather patterns. High up in mountains, the climate may be cooler, while lower in valleys the climate may be warmer. Mountain landforms may block rain clouds from entering valleys and snow may form at the top of a mountain rather than at the bottom of the mountain. Tornadoes provide another example of a landform's effect on humans. Tornadoes form in flat areas, such as the Great Plains. This flat area, also know as Tornado Alley, becomes a breeding ground for tornadoes when the tropical air from the Gulf of Mexico clashes with the icy air from Canada.
