Class 10 Social Studies Quick Review | INDIA: RELIEF FEATURES
I)
India's Location
·
India lies in the northern
hemisphere and towards
south of Asian continent.
·
The country's main land lies between latitudes 8o4'
North, and 37o6' North and
68o7' East to 97o25' East longitudes.
II)
'India is a Peninsula'
·
A Peninsula is any landmass
that is surrounded by water on three sides and
land on one side.
·
India is surrounded by the Indian
Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west and the Bay of Bengal on the
east.
III)
India is known as the 'Sub continent'
·
Having vast area,
vast diversity in climatic conditions, variety of vegetation, life forms along with
advantages for growing many kinds of crops, way of living and languages makes
India as a subcontinent.
Class 10 Social Studies Quick Review | INDIA : RELIEF FEATURES
IV) IST and GMT
·
82o30' East longitude is taken as Indian standard
meridian and the time on it
is followed as Indian Standard Time.
IST is ahead by 5 1/2 hours of GMT.
·
Greenwich longitude is '0o' longitude which
passes through Greenwich city, London in England. The time on this longitude is
referred as GMT.
V)
Geological background and Major Relief
Divisions of India
·
The Indian peninsula
was part of Gondwana land. Over
200 million years ago
Gondwana land split into pieces and the Peninsular Indian plate moved towards North-East and collided with the much larger Eurasian
Plate (Angara land).
·
Owing to the collision and immense compression
force, mountains evolved through a folding process over millions of years.
·
The present form of the Himalayas is a result of this process.
·
The relief features
of the Indian landmass
can be divided into the following groups
:
|
1. 3. |
The Himalayas The Peninsular Plateau |
2. 4. |
The Indo-Gangetic plain The Coastal plains |
|
5. |
The Desert |
6. |
The Islands |
VI) The
Himalayas
·
Himalayas are located
towards the North of India.
These are the highest
and youngest folded mountains in the world.
·
Himalayas extend in the West-East
direction with a distance of 2400 km and
width, 500 km in the West to 200 km in the East.
VII) The Himalayas consists of three
parallel ranges. They are
1.
Greater Himalayas (Himadri)
2.
Lesser Himalayas (Himachal)
3.
Outer Himalayas (Shivalik)
·
The Greater Himalayas' average elevation is 6100 mts. above mean sea level and the Lesser Himalayas is 3500
mts. to 4500 mts.
·
Greater Himalayas have glaciers. The movement and melting of these glaciers are the sources of the
perennial rivers.
·
The Pirpanjal and Mahabarata ranges
are important ranges
of Lesser Himalayas.
VIII)
Himalayan valleys and Hill stations
·
Lesser Himalayas consist
of the famous valleys of Kashmir,
Kangra and Kulu.
·
This region is well known for many hill stations like Manali, Shimla, Mussoorie, Nainital,
Ranikhet etc. which are covered with ever green forests.
IX) Highest
Peaks
·
Greater Himalayas
are consist of the highest peaks like Everest, K2 Godwin Austin,
Kanchan Ganga, Annapurna,
Dhavalagiri, Namchabharva, Nanda Devi, Manaslu etc.
X)
Duns and Duars
·
The silt and sediments brought by the rivers got
deposited in the lakes of Shivalik Ranges.
·
After the rivers had cut their course through the
Shiwalik Ranges, the lakes are drained away leaving behind plains called Duns in the west and Duars in
the east.
·
Dehradun in Uttaranchal is
the best example of such plains.
XI)
Importance of the Himalayas
The formation
of the Himalayas influences India's climate in various ways
·
Himalayas provide natural protection to our country.
·
These act as barriers protecting the great plains of India from the cold winds from central Asia during severe
winter.
·
The Himalayas are the reason for summer rains and monsoon type of climate in the regions that are beyond the
Western Ghats of India.
·
In its absence,
this region would have remained
drier
·
The Himalayan Rivers are Perennial, which bring a lot
of silt and form the fertile northern plains.
XII) The Indo-Gangetic Plains
·
The Himalayan Perennial
Rivers, the Ganga, the Indus and the Bhrahmaputra
and their tributaries formed great
northern plains. These
plains are filled
with rich alluvial soil.
XIII) The Indo-Gangetic Plains are categorized into three divisions
They are ...
·
The Western
Part : Formed by Indus and its tributaries - the Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the Beas and the Sutlej.
·
The Central
Part : Formed by Ganga and its tributaries - Yamuna, Kosi, Sone etc.
·
The Eastern Part : The river Brahmaputra is mainly responsible.
·
"Doab" means the region with the fertile land
between the two rivers.
VIV) Himalayan rivers and their formations
Bhabar - The
region where gravel
and pebble sediments deposited by rivers.
It is porous in nature.
Terai - Swampy
and Marshy region
known for thick forest, rich wild life and agricultural operations.
XV)
The Peninsular Plateau
·
The Indian Peninsular Plateau is surrounded
by the seas on three sides.
·
It is mainly composed of the old crystalline, hard
igneous and metamorphic rock.
·
The topography of the plateau is slightly
tilted towards east.
·
The Southern most tip of the plateau
is Kanyakumari.
·
Chotangapur plateau is rich in mineral resources.
·
Western Ghats are higher than the EasternGhats.
·
In Nilgiris 'Dodabetta' is the highest
peak, which is (2637 mts). near to Udagamandalam (Ooty) a famous hill
station.
·
Western Ghats include Palani (Tamilnadu) Annamalai and Cardamom hills (Kerala).
·
Annaimudi of Annamalai
hills is the highest peak in the South India,
which is 2695 mts high.
·
The highest peak in
Eastern Ghats is Aroma Konda near Chintha
Palli.
XVI)
The Thar Desert
·
The Thar Desert
is located on the leeward
side of Aravallis in the North West to the country.
·
It occupies much of Western
Rajasthan.
·
'Luni' is the only river in this area which disappears in desert without
reaching the sea.
·
Indira Gandhi Canal is longest
(650 kms) canal in the country which provides
irrigation facility to the desert.
XVII)
The Coastal Plains
·
The southern part of the peninsular plateau is
bordered by narrow coastal strips along the Arabian
Sea on the west and the Bay of Bengal on the east.
·
The western coast
starts from the Rann of Kutch and ends at Kanyakumari. It is narrower than the east coast. This
plain is uneven and broken by hilly terrain. It can be divided into three
parts:
1)
Konkan Coast - Maharashtra and Goa.
2)
Canara Coast - Karnataka
3)
Malabar - Kerala
·
Bay of Bengal plains are wide and have a large surface
structure. It stretches from Mahanadi in Odisha
to Cauvery delta
in Tamil Nadu.
It can be divided into
three parts.
4)
Coramandal - Tamilnadu
5)
Circar - Andhra Pradesh.
6)
Utkal - Odisha
·
Lakes like Chilka (Odisha) Kolleru and Pulikat (Andhra
Pradesh) are also located in these plains.
XVIII)
The Islands
·
There are two groups of Islands in India. They are Andaman and Nicobar in Bay of Bengal and
Lakshdweep Islands in Arabian Sea.
·
Narkondam and Barren Islands in Andaman and Nicobar Islands
are volcanic in origin.
Lakshadweep Islands are of coral origin.
·
Southern most tip of India is found in Nicobar Islands
and called as Indira Point.
· Lakshadweep Islands are famous for a great variety of flora and fauna.
