Kendriya vidyalaya

Smt. R.P Behra Mam

Aniket SahuBhagyaraj PandabG.SantoshBibhas Ch. Mahato

acknowledgement

We would like to express our special thanks of gratitude to our teacher “SMT. R.P. BEHRA” who gave us the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project on the topic “ THE PHYSICAL FEATURES OF INDIA” which also helped us in doing a lot of Research and We came to know about so many new thingsWe are really thankful to them.

We are making this project not only for marks but to also increase our knowledge.

THANK YOU

The physical features of India can be grouped

under the following physiographic divisions:

(i) The Himalayan Mountains(ii) The Northern Plains

(iii) The Peninsular Plateau(iv) The Indian Desert(v) The Coastal Plains

(vi) The Islands

(i) THE HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN:-

• The Himalayan ranges contain several high peaks. Mount Everest is the highest peak in the world.

• The Himalayan Mountains stretch in a long curve from Jammu and Kashmir in the west to Arunachal Pradesh in the east.

• Their length is about 2000 kilometers and width between 230 and 400 kilometers.

THE HIMALAYAS HAVE THREE MAIN RANGES THAT ARE:

(i)The greater Himalayas

(ii) The lesser Himalayas

(iii) The Shivalik hill ranges

The HimalayasThe Himalayas

The Greater Himalayas:- The highest range of the Himalayas is known as the greater Himalayas. It

is also called the Himadri.

The great Himalayas, the highest mountain range in the world, extend along the northern frontiers of Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Burma. They were formed geologically as a result of the collision of the Indian subcontinent with Asia.

The Greater Himalayas, or northern range, average approximately 6,000 meters in height and contain the three highest mountains on earth: Mount Everest (8,796 meters) on the China-Nepal border; K2 (8,611 meters, also known as Mount Godwin-Austen, and in China as Qogir Feng in an area claimed by India, Pakistan, and China; and Kanchenjunga (8,598 meters) on the India-Nepal border.

The lesser Himalayas :-The range lying to the south of the Himadri forms the most rugged mountain system & known as Himachal or the lesser Himalayas.The ranges are mainly composed of highly compressed and altered rocks.The altitude varies between 3700 & 4500 meters And Average width is of 50 km.The most important & longest range is the Pir Panjal range.The Dhaula Dhar & the Mahabharat Ranges consists of the famous valley of Kashmir, the Kangra and the Kullu valley in Himachal Pradesh.This region is well known for its hill station.

The Lesser Himalayas

Darjeeling - Tea field in Lesser Himalaya.

A view of Lesser Himalayas.

(iii) The Shivalik ranges• The Shivalik Hills or Range are the southernmost and geologically

youngest east-west mountain chain of the Himalayas.

• The Shivalik form a belt, which runs continuously from Jammu, Kangra valley, Sirmur district to Dehradun and finally ending up in the Bhabar tracts of Garhwal and Kumaon. The Shivalik extends about 1,689 km from southwest Kashmir through northern India into southern Nepal. The hills consists of 6000 meters of layered rocks

• The Shivalik crest at 600 to 1,200 meters and have many sub-ranges. They extend 1,600 km from the Teesta River in Sikkim, westward through Nepal and Uttarkhand, continuing into Kashmir and Northern Pakistan, and are cut through at wide intervals by large rivers flowing south from the Himalayas.

Importance of Shivalik hills

•The physical features and the climatic conditions of this region have played an important role in shaping and making it an important part from the rest of the country.

•The physical features and the climatic conditions of this region have played an important role in shaping and making it an important part from the rest of the country.

The Shivalik Ranges

Shivalik Hills

Kedarnath (Shivalik)

A view of Shivalik Range

The narrow belt of about 8 to 16 km in width lying parallel to the slopes of shiwalik are called Bhabar.

The streams and rivers re-emerge and create a wet ,swampy and marshy region known as terai.

The flood plains of the rivers and present a terrace like feature is known as bhangar.

The soil in this region contains calcareous deposits known as khadar.

The Peninsular Plateau

The peninsular plateau is a tableland composed of the old crystalline, igneous and metamorphic rocks.

It is formed due to the breaking and drifting of the gondwana land.

It has a broad and shallow valleys and rounded hills

This plateau consists of two broad divisions are:

Central highlands

Deccan plateau

the Central Highlands

The part of peninsular plateau lying to the north of the Narmada river covering a major area of the malwa plateau is known as the central highlands.

The extend of central highlands is from vindhya to aravalli hills.

The slope of central highlands is from south-west to north-east

The rivers Chambal, Sind, betwa and ken flow are according to the slope of the plateau.

The central highlands are wider in the west and are narrower in the east.

The chotanagpur plateau is the eastward extension of central highlands.

The chotanagpur plateau is drained from Damodar river.

Deccan Plateau The deccan plateau is a triangular

landmass that lies to the south of the river narmada.

The deccan plateau is higher in the west and slopes gently eastwards.

It is separated by fault from the chotanagpur plateau.

The western ghats and the eastern ghats mark the western and the eastern edges of the deccan plateau respectively.

Three passes from western ghats are:

1.Thal ghats 2.Bhor ghats3. Pal ghats

The western ghats are higher than the eastern ghats.

Their average elevation is 900 to 1600m as against 600m of the eastern ghats.

The eastern ghats stretches mahanadi valley to the nilgiri hills in the south.

The eastern ghats are discontinuous and are cut by the rivers.

1) The western Ghats cause pornographic rain by facing the rain bearing winds to rise along the western slopes of the Ghats.

2)The heights of western Ghats increases gradually.

3)The highest peaks include: We) Anai mudi (2,695m) ii) Doda betta(2,637m)

4) Mahendragiri (1,501m) is the highest peak in eastern Ghats.

Western Ghats

EASTERN GHATS

A place that receives less than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain per year is

considered a desert.Deserts cover more than one fifth of the Earth's land, and they are found on every

continent. Deserts are. part of a wider classification

of regions called "dry lands .These areas exist under a moisture

deficit, which means they can frequently lose more moisture through evaporation

than they receive from annual precipitation.

The Costal Plains

Coastal plains is a geologic feature found around the world and on both the eastern and western coasts of India. Coastal plains are characterized by an area of flat low lying land that is situated adjacent to a Water body often a sea or ocean. It is also of note that coastal plains are separated from the interior of the larger Land mass by other unique features. Coastal plains have limited vegetation. However grasses and trees are not uncommon. The coastal plains of India are relatively expansive regions which contribute significantly to the geography of the region.

The Costal Plains

THE ISLANDS

An island  is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by Water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or Holm. A grouping of geographically or geologically related islands is called an archipelago.

Conversely, when a piece of land is separated from the mainland by a man-made canal, for example the Peloponnese by the Corinth Canal, it is generally not considered an island.