Erosion Landform (26. Valley )

                                                                                                                                                      Back to Erosion Landform 

Bridal Veil Falls,Yosemite National Park

• A valley called as dale.

• A very deep river valley called a canyon/ gorge.

• U-shaped / V-shaped are formation of valleys.

• Through the valley which a river runs.

• A small, secluded wooded valley known as;

                   a dell 

                   a glen (Scotland)

• A wide, flat valley is known as strath.

• A mountain cove is a small valley.

• Which  results from  erosion of a geologic window.

• A small valley surrounded by mountains/ ridges.

• It is sometimes known as a hollow.

Death Valley in bloom.

•  A deep, narrow valley is known as a coon.Such as;

                                        canyons

                                        ravines

                                        gorges

                                        gullies

                                        kloofs

• The exact shape depend on stream flowing through it.

• Rivers with steep gradients produce steep walls.

• Shallower slopes produce broader & gentler valleys.

• Some broad V examples ;

                                            Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
                                            Grand Canyon NP
                                            Inn valley 

• First human complex societies originated in river valleys.

                           e.g.    Nile                                          Tigris-Euphrates

                                     Indus                                       Ganges

                                    Yangtze                                    Huang He

                                    Mississippi                               Amazon

• A vale is a wide river valley.

• usually with wide flood plain / flat valley bottom.

• Vales commonly occur between  escarpment slopes of pairs of chalk downs.

U-shaped valley

U-shaped valley in Glacier National Park in Montana, United States.

• Carved by glaciers.

• It is normally U-shaped. 

• Often littered with small boulders.

• That were transported ice.

• Floor gradient doesn't affect valley's shape.

• Continuously flowing glaciers(ice age) & large-sized glaciers carve wide, deep incised valleys.

Carved valleys:

• Yosemite Valley
• Side valleys
• St. Mary River,Glacier National Park,Montana, USA.

Tunnel valley

• A tunnel valley is 

                                       Large

                                       Long

                                       U-shaped

• Originally cut under the glacial ice.

•  It is near the margin of continental ice sheets.

• Long: up to 100 km

• Wide: 4 km 

• Deep: 400 m 

• Formed by sub glacial erosion by water.

• Served as sub glacial drainage pathways.

• It carrying large volumes of melt water. 

• Their cross-sections exhibit steep-sided flanks similar to fjord walls, and their flat bottoms are typical of subglacial glacial erosion.

Hanging valleys

• A hanging valley is a tributary valley.

• The floor at a higher relief .

• They have U-shaped valleys.

• Waterfalls form at or near the outlet of the upper valley.

• Hanging valleys are product of varying rates of erosion of the main valley.

Hollow Valley

• It is a small valley/dry stream bed. 

• Formed by river valleys.

• e.g.Mansfield Hollow

e.g

• Aburra Valley (Colombia)
• Barossa Valley (Australia)
• Cauca Valley (Colombia)
• Central Valley (California) (California, United States)
• Danube Valley (Eastern Europe)
• Death Valley (California, United States)