science

Plain

Plain is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Plain rather than just read about it. In short: In geography, a plain, commonly known as flatland, is a flat expanse of land that generally has few rapid or steep changes in elevation. Natural vegetation in plains can include prairies/grasslands, forests, savanah, tundra, and desert biomes, among others.

Key takeaways

Plain belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Plain to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Plain from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In geography, a plain, commonly known as flatland, is a flat expanse of land that generally has few rapid or steep changes in elevation. Natural vegetation in plains can include prairies/grasslands, forests, savanah, tundra, and desert biomes, among others. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands. Plains are one of the major landforms on earth, being present on all continents and covering more than one-third of the world's land area. Plains in many areas are important for agriculture. There are various types of plains, and biomes on them.

Description

A plain or flatland is a flat expanse of land with few rapid or steep changes in elevation. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands. Plains are one of the major landforms on earth, where they are present on all continents, and cover more than one-third of the world's land area. In a valley, a plain is enclosed on two sides, but in other cases a plain may be delineated by a complete or partial ring of hills, by mountains, or by cliffs. Where a geological region contains more than one plain, they may be connected by a pass (sometimes termed a gap). Coastal plains mostly rise from sea level until they run into elevated features such as mountains or plateaus. Plains can be formed from flowing lava; from deposition of sediment by water, ice, or wind; or formed by erosion by the agents from hills or mountains. Biomes on plains include grassland (temperate or subtropical), steppe (semi-arid), savannah (tropical) or tundra (polar). In a few instances, deserts may also be considered plains. Plains in many areas are important for agriculture because where the soils were deposited as sediments they may be deep and fertile, and the flatness facilitates mechanization of crop production; or because they support grasslands which provide good grazing for livestock.

Types of plain

Depositional plains The types of depositional plains include:

Abyssal plains, flat or very gently sloping areas of the deep ocean basin. Planitia , the Latin word for plain, is used in the naming of plains on extraterrestrial objects (planets and moons), such as Hellas Planitia on Mars or Sedna Planitia on Venus. Alluvial plains, which are formed by rivers and which may be one of these overlapping types: Alluvial plains, formed over a long period of time by a river depositing sediment on their flood plains or beds, which become alluvial soil. The difference between a flood plain and an alluvial plain is: a flood plain represents areas experiencing flooding fairly regularly in the present or recently, whereas an alluvial plain includes areas where a flood plain is now and used to be, or areas which only experience flooding a few times a century. Flood plain, adjacent to a lake, river, stream, or wetland that experiences occasional or periodic flooding. Scroll plain, a plain through which a river meanders with a very low gradient. Glacial plains, formed by the movement of glaciers under the force of gravity: Outwash plain (also known as sandur; plural sandar), a glacial out-wash plain formed of sediments deposited by melt-water at the terminus of a glacier. Sandar consist mainly of stratified (layered and sorted) gravel and sand. Till plains, plain of glacial till that form when a sheet of ice becomes detached from the main body of a glacier and melts in place depositing the sediments it carries. Till plains are composed of unsorted material (till) of all sizes. Lacustrine plains, plains that originally formed as the bed of a lake. Lava plains, formed by sheets of flowing lava.

Erosional plains Erosional plains have been leveled by various agents of denudation such as running water, rivers, wind and glacier which wear out the rugged surface and smoothens them. Plain resulting from the action of these agents of denudation are called peneplains (almost plain) while plains formed from wind action are called pediplains.

Structural plains Structural plains are relatively undisturbed horizontal surfaces of the Earth. They are structurally depressed areas of the world that make up some of the most extensive natural lowlands on the Earth's surface.

Notable examples

America

Caribbean and South America Altiplano (Bolivia, Peru, Chile) Altiplano Cundiboyacense (Colombia) Caroni Plain (Trinidad and Tobago) Chilean Central Valley Cancha Rayada Los Llanos Gran Chaco (Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay) Llanos (Colombia and Venezuela) Pampas (Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil) Coastal plains of Chile

North America Atlantic coastal plain (United States) Carrizo Plain (California, United States) Great Plains (Canada and United States) Guatemala South Coast (Guatemala) Gulf Coastal Plain (Mexico and United States) Interior Plains (Canada and United States) Lake Superior Lowland (Wisconsin, United States) Laramie Plains (Wyoming) Mississippi Alluvial Plain (Mississippi) Oxnard Plain (Ventura County, California) Snake River Plain (Idaho) Hempstead Plains (Long Island, New York)

Asia

Eastern Asia Chianan Plain (Taiwan) Depsang Plains (China and India) Honam Plain (South Korea) Kantō Plain (Japan) Kedu Plain (Indonesia) Kewu Plain (Indonesia) Mallig Plains (Philippines) Nōbi Plain (Japan) North China Plain (China) Osaka Plain (Japan) Pingtung Plain (Taiwan) Sarobetsu plain (Japan) Sendai Plain (Japan) Yilan Plain (Taiwan)

North Asia West Siberian Plain (Russia)

South Asia Bhuikhel (Nepal) Depsang Plains (India and China) Dooars (India and Bhutan) Eastern coastal plains (India) Indo-Gangetic Plains (Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan) More plains (India) North Bengal plains (Bangladesh and India) Punjab Plains (Pakistan and India) Terai (India and Nepal) Utkal Plains (India) Western coastal plains (India)

Western Asia Al-Ghab Plain (Syria) Aleppo plateau (Syria) Ararat Plain (Armenia and Turkey) Israeli coastal plain (Israel) Khuzestan Plain (Iran) Mugan plain (Azerbaijan and Iran) Nineveh Plains (Iraqi Kurdistan) Shiraki Plain (Georgia)

Europe

Central Europe Limagne (France) North German Plain Ochsenfeld (France) Pannonian Basin (Central Europe) Parndorf Plain (Austria) Westphalian Lowland (Germany)

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Plain

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Plain claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Plain before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Plain ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Plain

In research: Plain appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Plain in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Plain is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Agricultural land, Geography terminology, Grasslands, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Plain outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Plain in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Plain means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Plain out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Plain in simple terms?

Why does Plain matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Plain?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Plain.