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Short answer type Question:
What are the features of plateaus?

Answer
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Hint: A plateau is a high elevated landform that on at least one side rises sharply above the surrounding area. On every continent, plateaus occur and take up a third of the land on Earth. They are, along with mountains, plains, and valleys, one of the four main landforms.

Complete Answer:
Two kinds of plateaus are available: dissected plateaus and volcanic plateaus. As a result of upward movement in the Earth's crust, a dissected plateau emerges. The gradual collision of tectonic plates is responsible for the uplift. For more than 10 million years, the Colorado Plateau in the western United States has been rising by around .03 centimetres (.01 inches) a year.

Numerous small volcanic eruptions that slowly build up over time, creating a plateau from the subsequent lava flows, make up a volcanic plateau. Much of the central portion of the North Island of New Zealand is occupied by the North Island Volcanic Plateau. Three active volcanoes still remain on this volcanic plateau: Mount Tongariro, Mount Ngauruhoe, and Mount Ruapehu.

Features of plateaus:
1. Elevated flat lands are plateaus. It is standing above the surrounding field, a flat topped table ground.
2. With steep slopes, the plateaus have one or two sides.
3. They also vary in height from a few hundred metres to several thousand metres.
4. The plateaus may be old or young. One of the most ancient plateaus is the Deccan plateau in India.
5. The highest plateau in the world is the Tibet plateau.
6. Plateaus are mineral storehouses such as gold, diamonds, iron, coal, etc.

Note: The Tibetan Plateau, situated in central Asia, is the highest plateau in the world. It extends through Tibet, China and India and covers an area of 1.5 million square miles (2.5 million square kilometres), four times the size of the state of Texas in the United States.
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