Question

explain the characteristic features of the phisiographic divisions of India

Answer 1

The major physiographic divisions of India (i.e. The Himalayan Mountains, The Northern Plains, The Peninsular Plateau, The Indian Desert, The Coastal Plains, and The Islands). ... The great Himalayas, three parallel ranges in its longitudinal extent (i.e.

Answer 2

Answer:  On the basis of the tectonic history, stratigraphy and relief features, India may be divided into the following four physiographic divisions.

• The Northern Mountains:

It stretches across northern India from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh (about 2500 km) with a varying width of 240 to 320 km forming Himalaya in the East-West direction and its offshoots run in North-South direction along the India-Myanmar boundary traversing through Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram known as eastern hills. They represent the youngest and highest folded mountains of the earth formed by the tectonic collision of the Indian plateau with the Eurasian plateau.

• The Peninsular Plateau:

It covering an area of about 16 lakh sq km forms the largest and oldest physiographic division of India. It is bounded by the Aravallis in the North-West, Maikal range in the North, Hazaribagh and Rajmahal Hills in the North-East, the Western Ghats in the West and the Eastern Ghats in the East.

• The Coastal Plains the West Coast Plain:

This is a narrow coastal strip in the West facing Arabian Sea. The plain area between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea from the gulf of Kuchchh and Gulf of Khambat located on either side of Kathiawar Peninsula is called Gujarat Plains.

To the South the coastline is more rugged. It is called the Konkan Coast up to Goa and from there onwards in Karnataka, it is the Kanara Coast, further South the part that lies in Kerala is called Malabar Coast till Kanyakumari, the southern tip of the Indian mainland.

• The Islands:

There are a number of small and large islands some of which are of volcanic origin while some are of coral origin.

i. Lakshadweep islands in the Arabian Sea are a group of 36 coral islands. They are located off the coast of Kerala. These islands are mostly flat and hardly a few metres above sea level.

ii. Andaman and Nicobar Islands lie in the Bay of Bengal. They are a group of 324 islands which are volcanic in nature. Andaman Islands are separated from the Nicobar Islands by the ten degree channel. They are mostly rugged mountainous hills and considered submerged part of Arakanyoma fold belt.