Peneplain
Topic: Landforms and their Evolution: Rivers, Groundwater, Glaciers, Waves and Wind · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 6 "Landforms and their Evolution"
Meaning
A peneplain is a low, nearly flat surface. Its name means "almost a plain". In Davis's cycle of erosion, it forms at the end of a very long period of river erosion, when all the high land has been worn down close to base level. Base level is the lowest level a river can cut down to, and the sea is the ultimate base level. Only a few hills of hard rock, called monadnocks, still stand on a peneplain.
Example
Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire, USA, stands above a worn-down plain. This classic case gave the monadnock its name.
Don't confuse with
- Pediplain: a pediplain is a flat surface in dry lands. It forms when pediments, the rocky floors at the foot of mountains, merge. A peneplain is made by river erosion in humid lands.
Related concepts
- Landform
- Cycle of erosion
- Youth stage
- Mature stage
- Old stage
- Monadnock
- Sheet erosion
- Lateral and vertical erosion