READING MATERIAL

THEORY OF TECTONIC PLATES

 There are seven major and some minor plates found
 The movements of these plates caused building up of stress with the plates and
continental rocks leading to:

A) FOLDING CONVERSION OF MOUNTAIN

PLATES BUILDING

B) FAULT DIVERGENT OCEAN

BUILDING

C) VOLCANIC FLOW OF LAVA DUE GAP CREATION FROM MAGMA

ACTIVITY CHAMBER PLATEAU, GREAT BARRIER (HORIZONTAL
MOVEMENT CAUSED COLLISION,
CRUMBLING AND SLIDING)

A) B)

C)

PHYSIOGRAPHIC DIVISONS OF INDIA

The physical features of India is divides into :

A) The Himalayan Mountains
B) The Northern Plain
C) The Peninsular Plateau
D) The Indian Desert
E) The Coastal Plains
F) The Islands

HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN RANGE

It consists of THREE PARALLEL RANGES:

A) Greater or Inner Himalaya called Himachal
B) Middle Himanchal called Himachal
C) Outer Himalaya called Shiwalik

And consist of four Longitudinal division from west to east:

A)Punjab Himalaya (in between Indus & Suttej River)
B)Kumaon Himalaya (in between Suttej & Kali River)
C)Nepal Himalaya (In between Kali & Teesta River)
D)Assam Himalaya(In between Teesta & Dihang River)
SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF HIMADRI

 Inner Himalaya
 Average height- 6000mtr
 Perpetual snow cover, lack of rich Flora
 Many important glaciers found
 Most continuous range with lofty peak
 Mount Everest, Kanchanjhanga & Nangaparbat, Namcha Barua

SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF HIMACHAL

 Rugged topography
 Compressed and altered rocks
 Average height- 3,700 to 4,500mtr
 Width- 50km
 Important Hill Stations- Mussorie, Nainital, Ranikhet, Simla, Darjeeling
 Important valley- Kashmir, Kangra, Kullu valley
 Important mt. Ranges- Pir Pranjal, Dhaula Dhar, Mahabharat

SPECIAL FEATURES OF SHIWALIK

 Also called outer Himalaya

 Longitudinal valley found
 10 to 15km width
 900 to 1100 meters of altitude
 Concon solidated sediments
 Gravel and Alluvial deposit

- Himalaya is also known as the young fold mountain because:

- Formed recently during the tertiary age
- Made up of sedimentary rocks
- Snow-covered peaks
- Parallel ranges with steep slope
- Lofty peaks

CHARACTERISTICS OF PURVANCHAL

 Consist of Patkai Bum, Naga Hills, Mizo or Lushai Hills

 Consist of Garo, Khasi, and Jaintia from West to East

NORTHERN PLAIN

 Situated at South of Himalaya

 Spread over 7lakh sq. Km from North to East about 2400km long & 240km to
320km wide
 Made of Alluvium brought by the river The Indus,The Bramhaputra & The Ganga
and its tributaries
 Divided into two river system- Lower course River split due to a decrease in slope,
heavily loaded taken by them are deposited at the mouth and form Delta leading to
no of Distributaries formation
DIVISION: FOUR DIVISION

A) BHABAR: - the foothill of Shiwalik deposited with pebbles and alluvial having a
width of 8 to 16km where the river disappears
B) TERAI: - south of Bhabar belt is Terai. The stream and rivers reemerge and create
a wet, swampy and marshy region is known as Terai. This region is rich
in Biodiversity, thick forest, and wildlife. Important Dudswa National Park
is situated here.
C)BHANGAR: - made up of old alluvial deposit. Lies above the flood plain of the rivers
and present a terrace-like feature. The soil of this region contains
Calcareous deposit locally known as Kankar
D)KHADAR:- young Alluvial deposit found in the flood plain, Peneplain, Delta and
riverbank

PENINSULAR PLATEAU

There are two major divisions of Peninsular Plateau: A)Central Highland and B)
Deccan Plateau

A) CENTRAL HIGHLAND “

 Lie in the North of the Narmada River

 The major area found: Vindhyachal Mt. Range, Vindhya scape land,
Kaimur Hills, Rajasthan upland, Madhya Bharat uplands, Aravali Range,
Bundelkhand upland. Important rivers found are Narmada, Mahi, Luni, Chambal,
Betwa River

C) DECCAN PLATEAU:

 South of Satpura mountain Range

 North Satpura to South Kanyakumari by 1500km
 Sahyadri west of Rajmahal hill
 Elevation- 1000mtrs
 Consist of Thal ghat, Bhorghat as important passes between Konkan and
Interior plateau
 Have Sahyadri in its central section running parallel to the west coast
 Important Rivers can be found- the Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri
Have three ranges radiate to three directions: I) Cardamon Hill towards South
II) Anamalai towards North
III) Palani towards North East

 Maharastra plateau made of lava, Tapti river flowing through it.

 Its central part consists of Mahadeva Hill, Eastern part consists of Maikal range,
South part covers Andhra & Karnatak plateau made up of Archean rock such
as gneiss, rivers such as Krishna & Kaveri flows through it
 In Baghelkhand Plateau river Son flows
 Chottanagpur Plateau, the extension of Deccan Plateau is made up of Granites
and Gneisses in Jharkhand having an elevation of 700mtr.
 It is the old erosional surface and the other three lava Hill found are Dalma,
Porhat, and Rajmal.
 River Damodar drains through it
  Chattisgarh Plain is situated in the South-Eastern part of the Satpura range.
Mahanadi river draining through it and mix with the Bay of Bengal in Odisha. It is
one of the fertile lands and supports agricultural activities
 To the South-West of it, Dandakaranya Plateau in Odisa- Chatishgarh

GHATS: WESTERN GHAT & ESTERN GHAT

WESTERN GHAT (WG) ESTERN GHAT

Situated at the edge of Great Peninsula Situated at the Eastern edge of Greater
Plateau and run North to South, almost Peninsular Plateau running from valley of
parallel to Arabian Sea Mahanadi to Kanyakumari
Continues mountain ranges with passes Continuous and broken as few rivers cut
such as Bhor Ghat and Thal Ghat pass through them
The average height of WG is 1000mts The average height of EG is 600mts
WG is known by different local name EG is also know as Garhjat Hill in
such as Sahyadri (in Maharastra & Mahanadi Valley, as Nallamala Hill
Karnatak), Further South, Nilgiris further south, and beyond that as Javadi
(Tamilnadu), still further south, Anaimali Hills and Shevaroi Hills near the Kaver
and Cardamom Hill (along the Kerla &
Tamilnadu boarder)
Anaimudi(2695Mts) in Tamilnadu is the Mahendragiri (1501mts) in Odisha is the
highest peak highest peak

COAST: WESTERN AND EASTERN COAST

A) WESTERN COAST:

 Narrow strip flanked by the Arabean sea on the West and the Western Ghat on
the East.
 Border states are- Gujarat, Maharastra, Karnatak, Kerla, Tamilnadu and Goa
 Know as Malva coast at the south and Konkan coast at the south
 Many beautiful lagoons, estuaries, ports along the coast are found
 River Narmada and Tapti flow through it
 Less fertile
 Important ports are- Kandala, Mumbai, Murmagao, Mangalore, and Cochi

B) ESTERN COAST:

 A wider strip of low land between the Bay of Bengal in the east and Eastern
Ghat in the west
 Border states are- West Bengal, Odisha, Tamilnadu
 Know as Nothern Circar in north and Coromandal coast in the south
 Lagoon such as Chillika and Pulicot found
 The important delta found here are Mahanadi, Godavari, Krisha, and Kaveri
deltas.
 Very fertile land hence known as Rice bowl of India
 Important port found are- Tuticorin, Chennai, Kolkata, Paradip, and
Vishakhapatnam

THE DESERT

 Lies towards the western margin of Aravali Hills

 And undulating sandy plain
 Mostly deposited with sand dunes
 Recieve low rainfall (below 150mm per year)
 Barchans is a crescent-shaped dune
 Luni River drains through this area
 Average Temp-nearly 40oC
 The dust storm is a common phenomenon
 Important vegetation belongs to Herbaceous or Stunted scrub(drought resistance,
exp- Acacia, euphorbia, Khajri
 Common soil type found - Lithosols (Shallow weathered soil) and Regosols (soft,
loose soil), well-drained texture, Calcareous, Infertile
 Low barren Hills are Barchan and sandy plain
 Important rock is gneiss (metamorphic) formed 2.5billion year ago

THE ISLAND GROUPS OF INDIA

A) LAKSHDWEEP:

 Close to Malbar coast of Kerala

 Small coral Island
 Area- 32 sq. Km
 The administrative headquarter is situated at Kavarti Island
 Have a great diversity of flora and fauna
 A human-unoccupied Bird sanctuary is found at the Pitti Island

B) ANDAMAN & NICOBER

 Elongated chain of Islands from north to south of Bay of Bengal

 Bigger in size & numerous and scattered
 Andaman region found in the North and Nicobar region found in South
 An elevated portion of submarine mountains
 Diversity of floral and fauna
 Close to equatorial and experience with equatorial climate and consist of thick
forest cover