India Relief Features

 Major Relief Features of India

Time Zone Of India :

•For India the central longitude 82°30` E is taken as Standard Meridian

• which passes near Allahabad. This is the reference for Indian Standard Time (IST)

• It is 5½ hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Geological Background:

•World landforms originated from two giant lands namely Angara land (Laurasia) and Gondwana land.

•The Indian peninsula was  part of Gondwana land.

•Over 200 million years ago Gondwana land split into pieces

•Due to the collision and immense compression force, mountains evolved through a folding process over millions of years.

•The the present form of the Himalayas is a result of this process.

1.Himalayas

2.The Indo-Gangetic plain

3.The Peninsular Plateau

4.The Coastal plain

5.The Desert

6.The Island

1.The Himalayas:

§The Himalayan Mountains form the northern mountain region of India.

•They are the highest mountain ranges in the world

•These ranges are separated with deep valleys and extensive plateaus

•These mountain ranges start from Pamir Mountains Tajikistan in the west and extend up to Purvanchal in the east.

§These are Formed by Tectonic Forces

§They are 2400 Km in Length

§Prominent Features → Highest peaks, Deep valleys & Gorges, Glaciers, etc.

§These ranges are separated with deep valleys and extensive plateaus.

The Himalayas comprise three parallel ranges:

 Greater Himalayas:

•The the northernmost range is known as Greater Himalayas or Himadri.

•It Contains the highest peaks with an average elevation of about 6100 mts above Mean Sea Level (MSL).

•They are composed of snow and ice cover

•We can find glaciers here.

•The seasonal cycles of accumulation of ice, movement, and melting of glaciers are the sources of the perennial rivers.

“Lesser Himalayas”:

•The Ranges found to the south of the Greater Himalayas is called “Lesser Himalayas”

•These ranges are mainly composed of highly compressed rocks.

•The height ranges from 3,700 to 4,500 mts.

•The important ranges of this region are The Pirpanjal and Mahabharata ranges

•The Famous Valley of Kashmir, Kangra, and Kulu  in Himachal Pradesh is in the region of lesser Himalayas

Many hill stations like Shimla, Mussuorie, Nainital, Raniket etc. and are covered by evergreen forests.

“Shivalik”

•The southern most range of the Himalayas are the Shivaliks

•width of 10-50 kms

•altitude varying between 900 and 1100 mts.

•Example of Shivaliks :

•Jammu region - Jammu hills

•Arunachal Pradesh - Mishmi hills 

•Assom - Cachar hills

•These parts consist of thick gravel and alluvium.

Dun:

•The valleys lying between the Lesser Himalaya and Shivalik ranges are called as Duns.

•Dehradun, Kotli Dun and Patli Dun are some of the prominent Duns.