Physiographic Divisions of India Physiography Physiograph y of India
India can be divided into following physical divisions viz. The Northern Mountains
The North Indian Plain
The Peninsular Plateau
Great Indian Desert
The coastal Regions Regions
Islands
The Northern Mountains / Hialayan Mountains
Young Young and structurally fold mountains stretch over thenorthern thenorthern borders of India Run in a west-east direction fromthe Indus to the rahma!utra formed by the tectonic collision of the Indian !lateau with the "urasian !lateau #oftiest and one of the most rugged mountain barriers of the world form an arc$ which covers a distance of about %$&'' (m in length with varying width from &'' (m in (ashmir to )*' (m +runachal Pradesh The altitudinal variations are greater in the eastern eastern !art than in the western
The Trans Hialayas ,imalayan Ranges immediately to the north of the The Great ,imalayan Range are called the Trans ,imalayas Most of the !art of this ,imalayan range lies in the Tibet and hence also called Tibetan Himalaya The .as/ar$ (% 0Godwin austin1$ the #ada/h$ the (ailash and the (ara/oram are the main ranges of the trans ,imalayan system
!reater or Inner Hialayas / Hiadri Most continuous range consisting of the loftiest !ea/s with an average height of *$''' metres 2ontains all the !rominent ,imalayan !ea/s with core of this !art of ,imalayas is com!osed of granite
Perennially snow bound$ and a number of glaciers descend from this range
Prominent Ranges include Mt "verest$ (amet$ (anchen3unga$ Nanga Parbat$ +nna!urna
The "esser Hialaya or Hiachal +ltitude varies between 4$5'' to &$6'' metres and the average width is of 6' (m 7hile the Pir Pan3al range forms the longest and the most im!ortant range$ the Dhaula Dhar 8 the Mahabharat ranges are also !rominent ones 2onsists of the famous valley of (ashmir and the (angra 8 (ullu 9alley in ,imachal Pradesh 0Ma3ority of hill stations lies in this range1
The #hiwali$s The altitude varies between :'' to ))'' /m and the width varies between )' to 6' /m The longitudinal valleys lying between the ,imachal and ;hiwali/s are called DehraDun$ (otli Dun and Patli Dun
%astern hills and ountains The rahma!utra mar/s the eastern border of the ,imalayas eyond the Dihang gorge$ the ,imalayas bend shar!ly towards south and form the "astern hills or Purvanchal These hills run through the north eastern states of India 8 are mostly com!osed of sandstones for e> Pat/ai ,ills$ Naga ,ills$ Mani!uri ,ills and M i?o ,ills
Hialayan &egions fro %ast to 'est
Pun(ab Hialayas
)uaon Hialayas
Nepal Hialayas
This !art lies between the Indus and ;utle3 @ 6*' /m Arom west to east$ this is also /nown as (ashmir ,imalaya and ,imachal ,imalayaB res!ectively (ara/oram$ #ada/h$ Pir Pan3al$ .as/ar and Dhaola Dhar are the main ranges of this section This !art lies between ;utle3 and (ali rivers @ 4%' /m Its western !art is called Garhwal ,imalaya while the eastern !art is /nown as (umaon ,imalaya The general elevation is higher as com!ared to Pan3ab ,imalayas Nanda Devi$ (amet$ Trisul$ adrinath$ (edamath$ Gangotri are im!ortant !ea/s The sources of sacred rivers li/e the Ganga and the Yamuna are located in the (umaon ,imalayas Nainital and himtal are im!ortant la/es This !art lies between the (ali and Tista rivers @ C'' /m This is the tallest section of the ,imalayas and is crowned by several !ea/s of !er!etual snow Im!ortant!ea/s include Mount "verest$ (anchen3unga$ #hotse I$ Ma/alu$ Dhaula Giri and +nna!urna (athmandu is a famous valley in this region
This !art lies between the Tista and Dihang rivers @ 56'
/m
*ssa Hialayas
,as elevation much lesser than that of the Ne!al ,imalayas The southern slo!es are very stee! but the northern slo!es are gentle Im!ortant !ea/s of this region are Namcha arwa$ (ula (angri and 2homo #hari
The Northern Plain
Aormed by the inter!lay of the three ma3or river systems$ namely@ the Indus$ the Ganga and the rahma!utra along with their tributaries 2om!osed of alluvial soil which has been de!osited over millions of years$ about %&'' /m long and about %&' to 4%' /m broad 7ith a rich soil cover combined with adeuate w ater su!!ly and favourable climate it is agriculturally a very !roductive !art of India Divided into three sections$ vi? the Pun3ab Plain$ the Ganga Plain and the rahma!utra Plain
Pun(ab Plains
Aorm the western !art of the northern !lain 8 formed by the Indus and its tributaries with ma3or !ortion of this !lains in Pa/istan
!anga Plains
">tends between Ghaggar and Tista rivers The northern states$ ,aryana$ Delhi$ EP$ ihar$ !art of Fhar/hand and 7est engal lie in the Ganga !lains
+rahaputr a Plains
This !lain forms the eastern !art of the northern !lain and lies in +ssam
Based on the relief features; the northern plain can be divided into four regions, viz. bh abar, terai, bhangar and khadar.
+haba r
Terai
+hang ar
)hada r
+fter descending from the mountains$ the rivers de!osit !ebbles in a narrow belt The width of this belt is about C to )* /mB lies !arallel to the ;hiwali/s +ll the streams disa!!ear in this region The terai region lies towards south of the bhabar belt In this region$ the streams rea!!ear and ma/e a wet$ swam!y and marshy region hangar is the largest !art of the northern !lain and is com!osed of the oldest alluvial soil They lie above the ood !lains 8 resemble terraces The soil of this region is locally /nown as /an/ar and is com!osed of calcareous de!osits The ood!lains formed by younger alluvium are called /hadar The soil in this region is renewed every year and is thus highly fertile
The Peninsular Plateau
The !eninsular !lateau is triangular in sha!e 8 surrounded by hills$ com!osed of the oldest roc/s as it was formed from the drifted !art of the Gondwana land road 8 shallow valleys and rounded hills are the characteristic features of this !lateau
The !lateau can be broadly divided into two regions$ vi? the 2entral ,ighlands and the Deccan Plateau
The ,entral Highlands The 2entral ,ighlands lies to the north of the Narmada River 8 covers the ma3or !ortion of the Malwa !lateau The rivers in this region ow from southwest to northeastB which indicates the slo!e of this region
It is wider in the west and narrower in the east
undel/hand and aghel/hand mar/ the eastward e>tension of this !lateau
The !lateau further e>tends eastwards into the 2hhotanag!ur !lateau
The Deccan Plateau #argest !lateau in India$ ma/ing u! most of the southern !art of the country$ lies to the south of the Naramada River 8 sha!ed as downward-!ointing triangle
It is located between two mountain ranges$ the 7estern Ghats and the "astern Ghats
"ach rises from its res!ective nearby coastal !lain almost meet at the southern ti! of India The average elevation of 7estern Ghats is :'' @ )*'' metresB com!ared to *'' metres in case of "astern Ghats It is se!arated from the Gangetic !lain to the north by the ;at!ura and 9indhya Ranges$ which form its northern boundary ,ome of thic/ dar/ soil 0called regur1$ suitable for cotton cultivation
The Indian Desert
The Indian desert lies towards the western margins of the +ravali ,ills This region gets scanty rainfall which is less than )6' mm in a year$ ,ence they climate is arid and vegetation is scanty #uni is the only !rominent river but some streams a!!ear during rainy season
The ,oastal Plains The Peninsular plateau is flanked by stretch of narrow coastal strips which run along the Arabian Sea on the west and along the Bay of Bengal on the east.
'estern ,oastal Plains The Western Coastal Plainsis a thin stri! of coastal !lain 6' /ilometres in width$ much less than its eastern counter!art$ between the west coast of India and the 7estern Ghats hills$ which starts near the south of river Ta!i The !lains begin at Gu3arat in the north and end at (erala in the south including the states of Maharashtra$ Goa and (arnata/a The Gulf of (utch and the Gulf of (hambat lie on the northern !art
7estern coastal !lane is mainly divided into following sections
(athiawar 2oast - (utch to Daman 0Ta!ti$ Narmada$ ;abarmati 8 Mahi river de!osit huge load of sediments in the Gulf of 2ambay 8 form estuaries1 (on/an 2oast - etween Daman 8 Goa
(annada 2oast - etween Goa to 2annanore
(anya/umari 2oast - etween 2annanore to 2a!e 2amorin
Malabar coast H (annada 2oast (anya/umari 2oast
%astern ,oastal Plains Refer to a wide stretch of landmass of India$ lying between the "astern Ghats and the ay of engal These !lains are wider and level as com!ared to the western coastal !lains
It stretches from Tamil Nadu in the south to 7est engal in the north
"astern coastal !lane is mainly divided into following sections
Et/al coast J Deltaic !lains of Ganga to Mahanadi delta 0Aamous 2hil/a la/e is located in this !lain1
+ndhra 2oast J Et/al !lains to Pulicat la/e 02ontains deltas of Godavari 8 (rishna Rivers$ 8 famous (olleru la/e1
Northern 2ircars J Et/al 2oast +ndhra 2oast 0etween Mahanadi 8 (rishna1
2oromandal 2oast J etween (rishna 8 (anya/umari 02onsist of (averi Delta1
The Islands
Total %&5 islands in India J %'& islands in ay of engal and &4 in the +rabian ;ea
Aew coral islands in the Gulf of Mannar also
+ndaman and Nicobar Islands in ay of engal consist of hard volcanic roc/s
The middle +ndaman and Nicobar Islands are the largest islands of India #a/shadwee! islands in the +rabian ;ea are formed by corals The southern @ most !oint of India is in Nicobar Island$ /nown as Indira Point Aormerly Indira !oint was called Pygmalion Point$ it is submerged now$ after %''& Tsunami
