physical features of india - class 9

Physical Features of India

Name: Ankita NandiClass: IX DRoll. : 04

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Contents :• Physical features of India

• Theory of Plate Tectonics

• Movement of the Plates

• Plate Boundaries• Major Physiographic Divisions• The Himalayan Mountains• The Northern Plains• The Peninsular Plateau• The Indian Dessert, The Coastal Plains and the islands• Conclusion

Presentation by : Ankita Nandi, Class - IX, Sec - D

PHYSICAL FEATURES OF

INDIAIndia is a vast country with varied landforms and physical features. It has big Himalayas, Beaches in the south, The Thar Desert in Rajasthan and the Deccan Plateau .

Hmm. . .think about it!


Even the colour of the soil varies from one region to another. For example: In Maharashtra we find both black soil and red soil. But, in Madhya Pradesh we find only Red soil. This variation in soil is due to the kind of rocks from which they are made.


The relief and physical features of India have evolved through different geological periods. During the process of formation of India as it looks today, The Indian landmass was subjected to:


The Physical features of India that you see today are the result of all these processes.


No one knows how exactly India was formed. However, scientists had several theories which try to explain the process. One such theory is the “Theory of Plate Tectonics”.


According to this theory, the earth’s crust is formed out of seven majors and some minor plates. When the plates move they cause disturbance in the continental crust. When the plates move, it leads to:

In fact most volcanoes are located at the edges of the Plates.

Movements of the plates


Plate Boundaries


Gondwanaland originally consisted of a number of land masses including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia and Indian subcontinent all joined together.

“What split up Gondwanaland?”

split the crust into a number of pieces, thus leading to the drifting of the Indo-Australian plate after being separated from the Gondwanaland, towards north. The northward drift resulted in the collision of the plate with the much larger Eurasian Plate.

Convectional currents


Due to this collision, the sedimentary rocks which were accumulated in the Geosynclines known as the Tethys were folded to form the mountain system of western Asia and Himalaya. This uplift caused a depression in the north. This depression formed a basin that concealed the sediment of river flowing from the mountains. The area in the north which is rich in fertile alluvial soil is called Northern Plains of India. Different physical features of India formed at different times.The oldest physical feature of India is the Peninsula Plateau. Its composed of Igneous and Metamorphic rocks. And has hills and wide valleys. The Himalayas are relatively younger physical feature. They consists of High peaks, deep valleys and Rivers that are fast flowing.


Major Physiographic DivisionsThe physical features of India can be

grouped under the following: The Himalayan Mountains

The Northern Plains

The Peninsular Plateau

The Indian Dessert, the

Coastal plains and The Islands

Hmm. . .think about it!

Click on any topic to go through it…!


The Himalayan MountainsThe Himalayas are fold mountains which cover

the northern part of India. They are geologically young as compared to other mountain ranges. The Himalayan range is the highest in the most rugged mountain range in the world. It extends from river Indus in the west to the Brahmaputra in the east.

Forming an arc of about 2400 km. The width of this range varies from 400km in Kashmir to 150km in Arunachal Pradesh. Altitudes of the mountains vary more than western parts. The Himalaya consists of three parallel ranges. The Himadri, The Himachal and The Shiwaliks.


The northern most range is known as the Great or Inner Himalaya or the ‘Himadri’. Its the most continuous range consisting of loftiest peaks with an average height of 6,000 metres. It contains the highest Peaks.

The great Himalayan folds are asymmetrical in nature. The core of this part of Himalayas is composed of Granite. Its perennially snow bound, and a number of glaciers descend from this range.

Himadri

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HimachalThe ranges lying to the south of the

Himadri forms the most rugged mountain system and is known as Himachal or lesser Himalaya. The compressed and altered rocks. The altitude varies between 3,700 and 4,500 metres and the average width is of 50 km. While the Pir Panjal range forms the longest and the most important range, the Dhaula Dhar and the Mahabharata range are also prominent ones. The range consists of the famous valleys of Kashmir, The Kangra and Kullu Valley in Himachal Pradesh. The region is well known for its hill Stations

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ShiwaliksThe outer most range of the

Himalayas is called the Shiwaliks. They extend over a width of 10-50 km and have an altitude varying between 900 and 1100 metres. These ranges are composed of unconsolidated sediments brought down by rivers from the main Himalayan Ranges located farther north. These valleys are covered with thick gravel and alluvium. The longitudinal valley lying between lesser Himalaya and the Shiwaliks are known as Duns, Dehra Dun, Kotli Dun and Patli Dun are some of the well-known Duns.

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The Himalayas are also divided into regions from east to west and have been demarcated by river valley. For example, the part of Himalayas lying between Indus and Sutlej has been traditionally known as Punjab Himalaya but it’s also known as Kashmir and Himachal Himalaya from west to east respectively.

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The Northern PlainThe northern plain is located in southern part of the Himalayan range. It has been formed by the interplay of three major river systems, namely- The Indus, The Ganga and the Brahmaputra along with their tributaries. The northern Plain is also known as Indo-Gangetic plain. This plain is formed of alluvial soil. Alluvium was deposited by the three river systems in the vast basin at the foothills of the Himalaya, forming this fertile plain. It spreads over an area of 7 lakh sq. Km. The plain being about 2400 km long and 240 to 320 km broad, is a densely populated physiographic division.The material deposited by a river as its velocity reduces may create riverine islands. Due to the deposition of huge quantity of silt, river split into numerous channel, called distributaries.


The northern plain is broadly divided into three sections. The Western part of the Northern plain is referred to as the Punjab Plains. Formed by the Indus and its tributaries, the larger part of this plain lies in Pakistan. The Indus and its tributaries- the Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the Beas and the Sutlej originated in the Himalaya. This section is dominated by the Doabs.

Doabs= Do+ab = two water,Which means doab is a piece of land which is drained by two water bodies.


The Ganga plain extends between Ghaggar and Teesta rivers. It’s spread over North India, Haryana, Delhi, U.P., Bihar, Partly Jharkhand and West Bengal to its east, Particularly in Assam lies the Brahmaputra Plain.There is quite a bit of variety of relief features in the northern plain. It can be divided into 4 regions:- Bhabar, Terai, Bhangar and Khadar. The Bhabar region is a narrow belt of level surface, lying parallel to the slope of the Shiwaliks. Its about 8 to 16 km in width and consists of pebbles deposited by the rivers. Streams and rivers re-emerge and create a wet ,swampy and marshy region known as Terai. The largest part of the northern plain is formed of older alluvium and lie above the food plains of the rivers and present a terrace like feature, this part is known as Bhangar. The newer, younger deposits of the flood plains are called Khadar.


Plateaus are also called Tablelands. The peninsular plateau is also a tableland. It was formed due to breaking of Gondwanaland. It is composed of the old crystalline,

Igneous and Metamorphic rocks. The Peninsular plateau consists of two broad divisions: Central Highlands and Deccan Plateau. The flow of the rivers named Chambal, The sind, the Betwa and ken is flowing from southwest to northeast. The eastward

extensions locally known as the Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand. Chhotanagpur plateau marks the further eastward extension, drained by the damodar river. The Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats mark the western and the eastern edges of the Deccan Plateau respectively. The highest peaks include the Anai Mudi (2,695m) and the Doda Betta (2,637m). Mahendragiri (1,501m) is the highest peaks in the Eastern Ghats. One of the district features of the peninsular plateau is the black soil known as Deccan Trap, the rocks are igneous and denuded over time and are responsible for the formation of it.

The Peninsular Plateau


The Indian DesertThe Indian Desert lies towards the western margins of the margins of the Aravali Hills. This region receives very low rainfall below 150mm per year. It has arid climate with low vegetation cover. Luni is the only large river in this region. Barhans cover larger areas but longitudinal dunes become near the Indo- Pakistan boundary.


The Coastal PlainsThe Peninsular plateau in flanked by stretch, running along the Arabian Sea on the west and the Bay of Bengal on the east. The western coast, sandwiched between the western Ghats and the Arabian Sea, is a narrow plain. The northern part of the coast is called the Konkan (Mumbai-Goa), the central stretch is called the Kannad Plain while the southern stretch is referred to as the Malabar coast.The plains along the Bay of the Bengal are wide the level. In the northern part, its referred to as the Northern Circar, while the Southern part is known as the Coromandel Coast. Large rivers such as the Mahanadi, the Godavari, the Krishna and the Kaveri have formed extensive delta on this Lake. Lake Chilka is an important feature along the eastern coast.


The IslandsLakshadweep Islands is composed of the small coral islands. They were earlier known as Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindive, were named as Lakshadweep. This island group has great diversity of flora and fauna. The Pitti island, which is uninhabited, has a bird sanctuary. These are Andaman and Niccobar islands. The entire group of islands is divided into two broad categories- The Andaman in the north and Niccobar in the south. These island group are of great strategic importance for the country.


Lakshadweep Island

Andaman and Nicobar

Islands Presentation by : Ankita Nandi, Class - IX, Sec - D

A detailed account of the different Physiographic units highlight the unique features of each region. It would, however, be clear that each region complements the other and makes the country richer in its natural resources. The mountains are the major sources of the water and forest wealth. The northern plains are the Granaries of the country while the plateau is storehouse of minerals. The coastal region and island group provide sites for fishing and port activities. Thus, the diverse physical features of the land have immense future possibilities of development.

ConclusionPresentation by : Ankita Nandi, Class - IX, Sec - D

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physical features of india - class 9

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