24.1 - south asia landforms and resources
DESCRIPTION
A look at South Asia and its landforms and resources, focusing on the Himalayas.TRANSCRIPT
South Asia:South Asia:Landforms and ResourcesLandforms and Resources
South Asia:
Mountains and Plateaus
• The most noticeable terrain feature of the subcontinent is the Himalaya Mountains.
• The Himalayas were formed about 50 million years ago.
• Back when Pangaea broke apart, India would charging to the north and rammed into Asia.
• That’s one reason it’s sometimes called the subcontinent, because it’s like a continent in itself.
• When India hits Asia, the Indian plate subducts beneath the Eurasian plate, but the crust is forced upwards, producing the Himalayas, the world’s tallest mountain chain.
• In fact, the Himalayas are still growing at about 5 mm per year because the Indian plate is pushing in at about 67 mm per year.
• The Himalayas, of course, are where Mt. Everest is.
It’s 29,035 feet high – that’s 5.5 miles.
• Hindu Kush Mountains
• Along the western end of the Himalayas. Provide a barrier between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Former Taliban and possibly even Osama bin Laden hang out in the Hindu Kush.
• Khyber Pass is here which is a traditional route of invasion for everybody from Alexander the Great to the British.
• At its narrowest, it’s just 15 yards wide.
Khyber Pass, looking from Afghanistan to Pakistan
• Other mountain ranges:
• Vindhya
• Western and Eastern Ghats
• The arid Deccan Plateau lies in the middle. It’s arid because the mountains block moisture.
Rivers, Deltas, and Plains
• South Asia has three main rivers: the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra.
Indus
Brahmaputra
Ganges
• The rivers carry a great deal of alluvial soil (silt) that gets deposited on the alluvial plains and makes for an exceptionally fertile area.
• These plains support a massive population. Most of India’s 1 billion people live around here.
Offshore Islands
• Sri Lanka
• Quite tropical, with a mountain chain in the center and rivers flowing from them.
• Sri Lanka is its own country and not part of India.
• The Maldives
• A collection of 1,200 islands that make up an archipelago (a collection of islands).
• The islands are actually the tops of volcanoes surrounded by coral to make up smaller atolls.
• They’re short too. The highest point of the island country is 7.5 feet above sea level.
• The total land area is only 115 square miles, but has 400 miles of coastline.
• Of the 1,200 islands, only about 200 are inhabited.
• A better look at the atolls.
Natural Resources
• There’s a lot that’s dependent on water and soil.
• Those rivers and their soil provide for a lot of irrigation and rich farmland.
• That makes for a lot of agriculture as well as river-based products like fish in addition to sea fishing.
• The navigable rivers and the coastlines are good for transportation.
• Forests
• The timber industry is big.
• Rain forests produce sal, teak, bamboo, and sandalwood.
• Highland forests produce pine, fir, and others.
• Deforestation is a big problem, however.
• Minerals
• Plenty of ‘em.
• Coal, iron, uranium, diamonds, rubies, sapphires.