Physical Features of India
I. Answer the following questions:
1. What are tectonic plates?
A. The crust of the earth has been formed out of seven major and some minor plates. The
movement of these plates results in the building up of stresses and causes folding, faulting and
economic activity.
2. What are the three types of tectonic plates?
A. i. Converging plates
ii. Diverging plates
iii. Transformation plates
3. Which process led to the formation of present landforms in India?
A. Geographical processes along with other processes like weathering, erosion and deposition led
to the formation of present landforms in India.
4. Which continents of today were part of the Gondwana land?
A. The Gondwana land included India, Australia, South Africa and South America as one land mass.
5. What is the bhabar?
A. The rivers after flowing down the mountains deposit pebbles in a narrow belt of about 8 to 16
km, in width lying parallel to the slopes of the Shiwaliks. It is known as bhabar.
6. What are dunes?
A. The longitudinal valley lying between the Himachal and he Shiwaliks are known as dunes.
7. Name the three major divisions of the Himalayas.
A. 1. Himadri or the Greater Himalayas.
2. Himachal or the Lesser Himalayas.
3. Shiwalik or the outer Himalayas
8. Which plateau lies between the Aravali and the Vindhyan ranges?
a. The Malwa plateau lies between the Aravali and the Vindhyan ranges.
9. Name the island group of India having coral origin.
A. The island group of India having coral origin is the Lakshadweep.
II. Distinguish between:
I. Converging and diverging tectonic plates.
A. Converging plates:
They come towards each other and form convergent boundary. They may collide and crumble or
one may slide under the other.
2. Diverging Plates:
They move away from each other and form divergent boundary.
II. Bhangar and Khadar:
A. Bhangar:
The largest part of the northern plain which lies above the flood plains of rivers and present a
terrace like feature is the bhangar. This is formed of older alluvium and the soil is less fertile.
B. Khadar:
The newer younger deposits of the flood plains. Khadar is renewed every year and very fertile,
ideal for intensive agriculture.
III. Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats:
Western Ghats:
They lie parallel to the western coast, higher than the Eastern Ghats. They cause orographic rain by
facing the rain bearing moist winds. The highest peaks include Anaimudi and Dodda Betta.
Eastern Ghats:
They stretch from the Mahanadi valley to the NIlgiris in the south. They are discontinuous and
irregular. The highest peak is Mahendragiri.
Q 10. Describe how the Himalayas were formed?
A. The convectional currents split the crust into a number of pieces thus leading to the drifting of
the Indo- Austrian plate after being separated from the Gondwana land, towards north. The
northward drift resulted in the collision of the plate with the much larger Eurasian plate. Due to
their collision, the sedimentary rocks which were accumulated in the geographic known as the
Tethys were folded to form the mountain system of the western Asia and the Himalayas.
Q 11. Which are the major physiographic divisions of India? Contrast the relief of the Himalayan
region with that of the peninsular plateau.
A. 1. The Himalayan Mountains
2. The Northern Plains
3. The Peninsular Plateau.
4. The Indian Desert.
5. The Coastal Plains.
6. The Islands.
The Himalayas are the most recent landforms. From the point of view of the geologists, Himalayan
ranges form an unstable zone. The whole mountain systems of Himalayas represent a very youthful
topography with hue peaks, deep valleys and fast flowing rivers. The peninsular plate constitutes
one of the ancient landmasses on the earth’s surface. It was supposed to be one of the most stable
land blocks. It is composed of igneous and metamorphic rocks with gently rising hills and wide
valleys.
Q 12. Give an account of the northern plains of India.
A. The northern plain as been formed by the interplay of the 3 major river systems, namely the
Indus, the Ganga, the Brahmaputra along their tributaries. This plain is formed of alluvial soil. The
deposition of alluvial is a vast basin lying at the foothills of the Himalayas over a million of years,
formed this fertile plain. It is a densely populated physiographic division. With an area covered with
adequate water supply and favorable climate, it is agriculturally a very productive part of India.
Q 13. Write short notes on the following:
1. The Indian Desert:
A. The Indian desert lies towards the western margins of the Aravalli hills. It is a sand plain covered
with sand dunes. This region receives scantly rainfall and has arid climate with low vegetative cover.
Streams appear during the rainy seasons. Luni is the only largest river in this region.
2. The Central Highlands:
A. The peninsular plateau consists of the central highlands and the Deccan Plateau. The part of the
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 Vindhyan ranges is bounded by the central highlands
on the south. The rivers like the Chambal, the Sind, the Satwa and the Ken flows from the south
west to the north east thus indicating the slopes.
3. Island groups of India:
A. The Lakshadweep Islands lie close to the Malabar coast of Kerala. It is composed of small coral
islands of India. Earlier they were known as the Laccadive, the Minicai and the Amandive.
Lakshadweep covers a small area of 32 sq. km. Karavatti Island is the capital of Lakshadweep. The
Pitti island which is not inhabited has a bird sanctuary. Andaman and Nicobar are elongated chains
of islands which are located in the Bay of Bengal extending from north to south. They are bigger in
size and numerous and scattered. The entire group of islands is divided into two broad categories.
Andaman in the north and the Nicobar in the south. Island groups are of great strategic importance
to our country. There is a great diversity of flora and fauna in this group of islands.
Q 14. Distinguish between eastern and western coastal plains.
A. Eastern coast:
 It is a wider plain and lies between Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal. The northern part of
the eastern coast is known as the northern circar and the southern part is called as the
coromandel coast.
 Large rivers such as Mahanadi, Kaveri, Godavari and Krishna form extensive deltas on this
coast.
 The largest salt water lake of India, Chilika is situated on this coast.
Western Coast:
 It is a narrow plain lying between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea.
 It is divided into three sections- The Konkan Coast, the Kannad Plain and the Malabar Coast.
 Mumbai, the largest port of India is situated here.
Q 15. The physiographic divisions of India are complimentary to each other. Explain
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The Himalayan ranges are the major source of water and forest health.
The Northern Plain is the granary of the country.
The plateau is the store house of minerals.
The coastal plains and island groups provide sites for fishing and port activities.