GEOGRAPHY (IX)-LESSON- 2 PHYSICAL FEATURES OF INDIA (LESSON NOTES)

                              GEOGRAPHY (IX)-LESSON- 2

PHYSICAL FEATURES OF INDIA

(LESSON NOTES)

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v INTRODUCTION
Ø The land of India displays great physical variation. Geologically, the Peninsular Plateau is one of the ancient landmasses on the earth’s surface while the Himalayas and the Northern Plains are the most recent landforms. The northern plains are formed of alluvial deposits. The peninsular plateau is composed of igneous and metamorphic rocks.
Ø In this lesson we will find out the different physical features of India.
v MAJOR PHYSICAL DIVISION OF INDIA
Ø The Himalayan Mountains
Ø The Northern Plains
Ø The Peninsular Plateau
Ø The Indian Desert
Ø The Coastal Plains
Ø The Islands.

PHYSICAL DIVISION OF INDIA

 
v THE HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINS
Ø The Himalayas are young-fold mountains which are the loftiest and one of the most rugged mountain barriers of the world.
Ø The Himalayas are 2400 km long, 400 km to 150 km wide from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh respectively and form an arch.
Ø Longitudinal Division of Himalaya (north to south)
§  Great or Inner Himalayas or Himadri:- It is the most continuous range consisting of the loftiest peaks with an average height of 6,000 metres. The core of this part of Himalayas is composed of granite It contains all prominent Himalayan peaks as Mount Everest, Kanchenjunga etc.
§  Middle Himalayas or Himachal:- South of the Himadri is known as Himachal or lesser Himalaya. It is composed of highly compressed and altered rocks. Its height is between 3,700 and 4,500 metres. It has different ranges as Pir Panjal range, the Dhaul Dhar and the Mahabharat ranges etc.. This region is well-known for its hill stations as  valley of Kashmir, the Kangra and Kullu Valley in Himachal Pradesh.
§  Outer Himalayas or Shiwaliks:- The outer-most range of the Himalayas is called the Shiwaliks. They extend over a width of 10-50 Km and have an altitude varying between 900 and 1100 metres. This part is covered with thick gravel and alluvium brought by rivers. The longitudinal valley
lying between lesser Himalaya and the Shiwaliks are known as Duns. Dehra Dun, Kotli Dun and Patli Dun are some of the well-known Duns
Ø Latitudinal Division of Himalaya (west to east)
§  Punjab Himalayas – between Indus and Satluj.
§  Kumaon Himalayas – between Satluj and Kali.
§  Nepal Himalayas – between Kali and the Tista.
§  Assam Himalayas (Eastern Himalayas) – Between Tista and the Dibang (Tsangpo).
§  Purvachal - Beyond the Dihang gorge, the Himalayas bend sharply to the south and spread along the eastern boundary of India. They are known as the Purvachal or the Eastern hills and mountains. It campries Naga, Patkai and Boom hills, Gao Khasi Jantia hills in Meghalaya ,the Manipur hills and the Mizo hills etc.
 
v THE NORTHERN PLAINS
Ø The Northern Plains spread over an area of 7 lakh sq. km, 240 km long and 240 km to 320 km broad.
Ø It is formed by the depositional work of the rivers over millions of years.
Ø  Due to rich soil cover combined with adequate water supply and favourable climate, it is densely populated areas.
Ø In the eastern side due to gentle slope, the velocity of the river decreases, which results in the formation of riverine islands. Like Majuli in Assam.
Ø Division of Northern Plain: -
§  Punjab Plain: - The Western part of the Northern Plain is referred to as the Punjab Plains. It is formed by the Indus and its tributaries, the larger part of this plain lies in Pakistan This section of the plain is dominated by the doabs.(Land between water).
§  Ganga Plain: - It extends between Ghaggar and Teesta rivers.
§  Brahmaputra plain: - It is formed by Brahmaputra river. Assam lies the Brahmaputra plain.
Ø Four regions of Northern Plains
§  Bhabar – Adjacent to the foothills of Shiwaliks, a narrow 8 to 16 km wide belt of pebbles and boulders is known as Bhabar. Here all the streams disappear.
§  Tarai – South of this belt, the streams and rivers re-emerge and create a wet, swampy and marshy region known as terai. This was a thickly forested region full of wildlife.
§  Bangar – Older alluvial plain which rises above the level of the flood plains is known as Bangar. The soil in this region contains calcareous
deposits, locally known as kankar.

§  Khadar – Newer and younger alluvial of the flood plains deposited by the rivers flowing down the plain is known as Khadar. They are renewed almost every year and so are fertile, thus, ideal for intensive agriculture. 

v THE PENINSULAR PLATEAU
Ø It is the oldest landmass. It is composed of the old crystalline, igneous and metamorphic rocks.
Ø It is a tableland which  formed due to the breaking and drifting of the Gondwanaland. It is rich in Black soil and Minerals.
Ø The plateau consists of two broad divisions, Namely: -
Ø The Central Highlands: -
§  The part of the Peninsular plateau lying to the north of the Narmada river, covering a major area of the Malwa plateau, is known as the Central Highlands.
§  It is bounded by Vindya and Satpura range in south, Aravalli in North west. The eastward extensions of this plateau are locally known as the Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand and Chotanagpur plateau.
§  The Central Highlands are wider in the west but narrower in the East.
§  The river flow in this areas are the Chambal, the Sind, the Betwa and the Ken from southwest to northeast, due to its slope.
Ø The Deccan Plateau: -
§  It is a triangular mass, lies to the south of the river Narmada and bounded by Western and eastern ghat in West and East sides.
§  Mahadev, the Kaimur hills and the Maikal range form its eastern extensions.
§  An extension of the Plateau is also visible in the northeast, locally
known as the Meghalaya, Karbi-Anglong Plateau and North Cachar Hills.
§  The Deccan Plateau is higher in the west and slopes gently eastwards.
 
v DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EASTERN GHAT AND WESTERN GHAT

WESTERN GHAT(Sahyadri)	EASTERN GHAT
1.    It lies in between western coastal plain and Deccan plateau.	It lies in between eastern coastal plain and Deccan plateau.
2.    The Western Ghats are higher than the Eastern Ghats	The eastern Ghat is lower than western ghat.
3.    They are continuous and can be crossed through passes only as Thal, Bhor and Pal Ghats.	The Eastern Ghats are discontinuous and irregular and dissected by rivers.
4.    The Western Ghats cause orographic rain.	It does not cause of rainfall due to lower height.
5.    The highest peaks is the Anai Mudi (2,695 metres) and Doda Betta (2,637 metres) is highest peak of Nilgiri hills.	Mahendragiri (1,501 metres) is the highest peak in the Eastern Ghats.

 
v THE INDIAN DESERT
Ø The undulating sandy plain covered with sand dunes towards the western margins of the Aravalli Hills is the Indian Desert.
Ø This region receives very low rainfall below 150 mm per year. It has arid climate with low vegetation cover.
Ø Most of the rivers disappeared in the sand. Only Luni is the largest river in this region.
Ø Crescent-shaped dunes called barchans cover large parts of the Indian Desert.
v THE COASTAL PLAINS
Ø The narrow’ coastal strips flank the Peninsular Plateau towards to the Eastern and western side is called as coastal plain. Features of these plains are :-

WESTERN COASTAL PLAIN	EASTERN COASTAL PLAIN
1.         It lies in between Arabian sea and western Ghat.	It lies in between Bay of Bengal and Eastern Ghat.
2.         It is a narrow plain	It is wider than western Ghat.
3.         It consists of three sections.    Konkan (Mumbai – Goa), Kannad Plain (central stretch) Malabar coast (southern Stretch)	It consists of two sections Northern circar (Nortern part) Coromandal (southern Part)
4. In this palin river did not formed delta. They formed estuaries.	In this plain Many rivers formed large delta.

 
v THE ISLANDS
Ø There are two island groups of India.
Ø The Lakshadweep Islands
§  There are 36 island in Lakshadweep. They are coral islands. These island groups lies in the Arabian Sea is close to Kerala.
§  Earlier they were known as Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindive. In 1973, these were named as Lakshadweep.
§  It covers small area of 32 sq km with 36 islands. Kavaratti island is the administrative headquarters of Lakshadweep.
§  This island group has great diversity of flora and fauna. The Pitti island, which is uninhabited, has a bird sanctuary.
Ø The Andaman and Nicobar Islands
§  Andaman Island consists of 204 small islands. It lies in Bay of Bengal.
§  The entire group of islands is divided into two broad categories – The Andaman in the north and the Nicobar in the south. Port Blair is the capital of these island groups.
§  It is believed that these islands are an elevated portion of submarine mountains.
§  It experiences equatorial climate and has thick forest cover.
§  India’s only active volcano, Barren Island is situated here.
v IMPORTANCE OF THESE PHYSICAL FEATURES OF INDIA
Ø These physical features makes our country richer in its natural resources as:_
§  The mountains are the major sources of water and forest wealth.
§  The northern plains are the granaries of the country. They provide the base for early civilisations.
§  The plateau is a storehouse of minerals, which has played a crucial role
in the industrialisation of the country.
§  The coastal region and island groups provide sites for fishing and port activities.
§  Thar desert provide the opportunities of tourism.

§  Thus, the diverse physical features of the land have immense future possibilities of development.