| Physical regions |
| A physical region describes a large area which has some over-riding physical characteristic - for example it is low-lying or forms a basin. Other physical regions include plains, plateaux, and canyons and can therefore encompass a wide variety of different terrains. Physical regions may be given a distinct character by a geological process at work, like the badlands of South Dakota, its pinnacles and gullies sculpted by the water supplied by violent thunderstorms. The semi-arid badlands lack vegetation to bind the soil and protect the weak sedimentary rocks from terrential downpours.
Other physical regions are created by geological process on a much larger scale. The Deccan, for instance, is the southern, triangular-shaped peninsula of India; it is a high tableland with an average elevation of 600 m. It slopes gently eastward, but is bounded to both the east and west by hills - the Western and Eastern Ghats. Physical regions very often have climatic characteristics which also set them apart from their surroundings. The Deccan is no exception; the plateau is far more arid than the surrounding coastal strip.
The term physical region is also a useful way of describing large desolate regions like Dronning Maud Land in Antarctica or the Ar Rub' Al Khali (The Empty Quarter) of the Arabian Peninsula. |
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