Chapter-2 Physical features of India

Question/Answers
Q.1 Answer the following questions:
(i) What are tectonic plates?
Ans.i) The scientific concept that explains the movement of the crustal plates.
(ii) Which continents of today were part of the Gondwanaland?
Ans.ii) the Gondwanaland included India,Australia,South Africa, South America and
Antarctica as one single land mass.
(iii) What is the bhabar?
Ans.iii) The rivers,after descending from the mountains deposit pebbles in a narrow belt
of about 8 to 16 kilometre in width lying parallel to the slopes of the shivaliks it is known
as Bhabar.
(iv) Which plateau lies between the Aravali and the Vindhyan ranges?
Ans.iv) Malwa plateau.
(v) Name the island group of India having coral origin.
Ans.v. Lakshadweep Islands.
Q.2 Distinguish between the following:
(i) Converging and diverging tectonic plates.
Ans.i) Converging plates
1. When two plates move towards each other they are called converging plates.
2. The resultant activity is folding.
Diverging plates
1.when two plates move away from each other they are called
diverging plates.
2. The resultant activity is faulting.
(ii) Bhangar and Khadar.
Ans. ii) Bhangar
1. Bhangar lies away from the river.
2. It is an upland made up of old alluvium.
3. It contains calcareous nodules known as kankar.
4. It is not fertile and therefore not good for agriculture.
Khadar
1. Khadar lies next to the river.
2 . It is a lowland.
3. It is made of fine alluvium.
4. It is very fertile and good for agriculture.
(iii) Western ghats and Eastern ghats.
Ans.iii) Western ghats
1. Western ghats mark the Western edge of Deccan plateau.
2. Western ghats are continuous ranges.
3. They are higher with an average altitude of 900 to 1600 metres.
4. The highest peak in Western ghats is Anaimudi.
Eastern ghats
1. Eastern ghats mark the Eastern edge of Deccan plateau.
 2. Eastern ghats are dissected or broken.
3 They are comparatively lower with an average altitude of 600 metres.
4. The highest peak in Eastern ghats is Mahendragiri.

Q.3 Describe how the Himalayas were formed.

Ans.3 The convectional currents split The crust into a number of pieces, 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 due to
this collision, the sedimentary rocks which were accumulated in the geosyncline known as
Tethys were folded to form the mountain system of Western Asia and Himalaya.

Q.4 Name the three major divisions of the Himalayas from north to south. Also write the features
of each range.
Ans.4 the three major divisions of Himalayas from north to south are as follows:
1. The Himadri
2. The Himachal
3. The Shivaliks
The features of each range are as follows:
The Himadri
1. The northernmost range is known as the great or inner Himalayas or the Himadri.
2. It is the most continuous range consisting of the loftiest peaks.
3. It has an average height of 6000 metres.
4. It contains all the prominent peaks of Himalayas.
5. The folds of great Himalayas are asymmetrical in nature.
6. The core of this part of Himalayas is composed of granite.
7. It is perennially snow bound and a number of glaciers descend from this range.
The Himachal
1. The range lying to the south of the Himadri forms the most rugged mountain system and
is known as Himachal or lesser Himalaya.
2. The ranges are mainly composed of highly compressed and altered rocks.
3. The altitude varies between 3700 and 4500 and the average weight is 50 kilometre.
4. The Pir Panjal range forms the longest and the most important range, the Dhauladhar
and Mahabharat ranges are also prominent ones.
5. This range consists of a famous valley of Kashmir, the Kangra and Kullu valley in
Himachal Pradesh.
6. This region is well known for its hill stations.
The Shivaliks
1. The outermost of the Himalayas is called the Shivaliks.
2. It extends over a width of 10 to 50 km and have an altitude wearing between 900 and
1100 metres.
3. These ranges are composed of unconsolidated sediments brought down by rivers from
main Himalayan range located farther north.
4. The longitudinal valley lying between lesser Himalaya and the shivaliks are known as
dunes example Dehradun, Kotlidun and Patli dun.
Q.5 Which are the major physiographic divisions of India? Contrast the relief of the Himalayan
region with that of the peninsular plateau.
Ans.5 The major physiographic divisions of India are as follows:
1. The Himalayan mountains.
2. The northern plains.
3. The peninsular plateau.
4. The Indian desert.
5. The coastal plains.
6. The Islands.
The relief of Himalayas:
1. Himalayas are young fold mountains.
2. They have pointed peaks and rugged topography.
3. The average altitude is above 6000 metres.
The relief of peninsular plateau:
1. Plateau is the oldest land mass of our country.
2. It has rounded pics and smooth features.
3. the average altitude range between 600- 1600 metres above the sea level.

Q.6 Give an account of the northern plains of India.

Ans.6
● The northern plain has been formed by the interplay of three major river systems,
namely- the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra along with their tributaries.
● This plain is formed of alluvial soil.
● The deposition of alluvium in a vast basin lying at the foothills of the Himalayas over
millions of years formed this fertile plain.
● It spreads over an area of 7 lakh square kilometre. The plane being about 2400 km long
and 240-320 kilometre broad is a densely populated physiographic division.

Q.7 Write short notes on the following:

1. The Indian desert:
Ans.
● The Indian desert lies towards the Western margins of the Aravali hills.
● It is an undulating sandy plain covered with sand dunes.
● This region receives very low rainfall below 150 mm per year.
● It has arid climate with low vegetation cover.
● Streams appear during rainy season soon after they disappear in the sand as they do
not have enough water to reach the sea.
● Luni is the only large river in this desert.
● Barchans crescent shaped dunes cover larger areas but longitudinal dunes are found
near the Indo Pakistan boundary.
2. The Central Highlands:
Ans
 ● The part of the peninsular plateau lying to the north of the Narmada river covering a
major area of Malwa plateau is known as the Central Highlands.
● the vindhyan range is bounded by the central Highlands on the south and Aravali hills on
the Northwest.
● The flow of the rivers draining this region namely the Chambal, the sind, the Betwa, and
Ken is from South West to North East, does indicating the slope.
● The central Highlands are wider in the West but narrower in the East.
● The eastward extension of this plateau are locally known as the Bundelkhand and
Haghelkhand. The Chhota Nagpur plateau marks the further eastward extension,
drained by the Damodar River.
3. The island groups of India:
Ans. Lakshadweep island:
● Lakshadweep islands are located in the Arabian sea.
● They are made up of corals.
● It covers small area of 32 square kilometre.
● Kavaratti Island is the administrative headquarters of Lakshadweep.
● Lakshadweep Island has Pitti Island which is uninhabited and has a bird sanctuary.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands:
● Andaman and nicobar islands are located in the bay of Bengal.
● It is believed that these islands are an elevated portion of submarine mountains.
● They are bigger in size and are more numerous and scattered.
● Port Blair is the administrative capital of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
● India's only active volcano is found on barren Island in Andaman and Nicobar group of
Islands.