How are Valleys formed?

Valleys are wide plains or irregular areas with gradual slope between the mountains. In India, the city of Srinagar lies in one of the most beautiful valleys of the world.

Do you know how valleys are formed?
Mostly, the valleys are formed by rivers, when the water of the streams originating on hilltops falls down the side of the hill. The river water flows very fast due to the steepness of the slope and the force of water eats into the hillsides and makes a V shaped narrow bed. After sometimes it becomes U-shaped when the water from other sides joins it and increases its breadth. Finally, the bed of the river becomes flat and the floor of the river becomes wide and the area becomes like a plain. In this way, a valley is formed in thousands of years. Glaciers have also formed some valleys. Glaciers are rivers of ice, which move very slowly. A glacier picks up all the rocks and other projections that come in its path, breaks them up and redeposits them smoothly over the ground and forms a U- shaped valley. Sometimes river beds become dry when a river changes its direction. The valley formed in this way is called a dry valley. Sometimes, a valley is formed when the land sinks between the two fractures in the earth’s crust. This type of valley is called a rift valley. The Great Rift Valley of Africa is the most famous of this type of valley. It extends to more than 5000 km from Syria to East Africa. All the ancient civilizations started only in the valleys and man has been making homes in the valleys.