Question

Summary of physical features of india

Answer 1

The major landforms of India are plains, deserts, plateaus, mountains, and islands. Plains are low flat lands of less than 500 m above sea level. Deserts are arid region where annual rainfall is less than 25cm. Plateau is an elevated landmass with flat top surface resembling the shape of a table. Mountains are elevated landmass with prominent peaks. Hills are generally less than 1000m above mean seal level. And Mountains are above 1000m from sea level. India has the following soil types. (i) alluvial soil (ii) black soil (iii) red soil (iv) laterite soil (v) forest soil (vi) arid & desert soil (vii) saline & alkaline soil (viii) peaty & organic soil The earth's crust is made of rocks which are named as plates as per plate tectonics theory. These plate move slowly, and the movements cause the folding, faulting and volcanic activity on the crust. The present arrangement of landforms is the result of such movements in the past. The peninsular India was a part of ancient landmas named Gondwana. The Himalayas and west asian mountains were fromed by the movement and collision of the Indian plate with the Eurasian plate. Thus Himalayas was formed by folding of sedimentary rocks, beneath the tethys Sea and the large depression in the south of Himalayas was filled up by sediments brought down by Himalayan rivers to form the Great plains. The major physiographic divisions of India are Himalayan mountains, the great Plains of Northern India, the peninsular plateau, the thar desert and the coastal plains and Islands. Himalayas consists of three ranges named as Himadri, Himachal, and Siwaliks. The other important ranges are Aravalli, Western ghats, and Eastern ghats. The northern plains are drained by rivers Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra and are very fertile due the alluvium deposited by these rivers. The northern plains consists of four geological divisions namely the Bhabar, Terrai, Bangar and Khader. The Peninsular plateau consists of Central Highlands in the North and Deccan plateau in the south. This plateau region is older than Himalayas and is made up of metomorphic and igneous rocks. The plateau slopes from west to east. The thar desert has sandy soil formed partially due to wind erosion and by wind deposition. Luni is the only river found in this region. The Coastal plains are classified as east coastal plain and west coastal plain as per their location to the east and west of Deccan plateau. The east coastal plain has deltas formed by the peninsular rivers. The west coastal plain has large backwaters and lagoons. Andaman and Nicobar Islands in Bay of Bengal is of volcanic origin. The Lakshadeep Islands are made of corals.