CBSE - Physical Features of India

Glaciers in the Great Himalayas — Gangotri, Chaturangi, Bhagirathi, Kharak, Satopanth, Kamet, Milam and Pindari.
Passes in the Great Himalayas — Karakoram pass, Shipkila pass, Nathula, Bomdila pass.

Mountain peaks - States
Kanchenjunga - Sikkim
Nanga Parbat - Jammu and Kashmir
Nanda Devi - Uttarakhand
Kamet - Uttarakhand
Namcha Barwa - Assam

(i) A landmass bounded by sea on three sides is referred to as
(a) Coast

(b) Island 

(c) Peninsula 

(d) None of the above.

ANS (c) Peninsula

Mountain ranges in the eastern part of India forming its boundaries with Myanmar
are collectively called :
(a) Himachal

(b) Uttaranchal 

(c) Purvanchal 

(d) None of the above

ANS (c) Purvanchal

The western coastal strip south of Goa is referred to as
(a) Coromandel

(b) Konkan 

(c) Kannad 

(d) Northern Circar

ANS (b) Kannad

The highest peak in the Eastern Ghats is
(a) Anai Mudi 

(b) Kanchenjunga 

(c) Mahendragiri 

(d) Khasi

ANS (c) Mahendragiri

Large fragments of the Earth’s crust torn due to the rising currents are called tectonic plates.

South America, South Africa, part of Asia (India, Arabia, Malaya), Australia and Antarctica continents were parts of the Gondwana land.

The Bhabar is that narrow belt of the plain which is covered with pebbles and lies along the foothills of the Shiwaliks from the Indus to the Teesta

The Great or the Inner Himalayas or the Himadri, the Middle Himalayas or the Himachal, and the Outer Himalayas or the Shivaliks.

The Malwa plateau lies between the Aravali and the Vindhya Ranges.

Lakshadweep Islands is the island group of India having coral origin.

(i) 

(ii)

(iii)

According to the Theory of Plate Tectonics, the Earth's crust was initially a single, giant super-continent called Pangea. Its northern part was the Angara land and the southern part was the Gondwana land. The convectional currents split the crust into a number of pieces, thus leading to the drifting of the Indo-Australian 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 this collision, the sedimentary rocks which were accumulated in the geosyncline known as theTethys were folded to form the mountain system of western Asia and  Himalaya.

The major physiography divisions of India are :
(i) The Himalayan Mountains
(ii) The Northern Plains
(iii) The Peninsular Plateau
(iv) The Indian Desert
(v) The Coastal Plains
(vi) The Islands
 

The Northern Plains have been formed from the alluvium that the mountain rivers deposited here. This turned the soil on the surfaced land fertile for growing a rich harvest of variety of crops. This led to the development of the Indus River Valley Civilisation. The rich soil was further aided by favourable climate and constant water supply from the rivers. Between the mouths of the Indus and the Ganga-Brahmaputra, the North Indian Plain covers a distance of 3200 km. It is 300 to 150 km wide at some places. The North Indian Plains have the Indus river system in the west and the Ganga-Brahmaputra river system in the east. The first includes Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Satluj. The Indus flows into the Arabian Sea. The second includes Ganga, its tributaries and the Brahmaputra which combine as Meghna as they drain into the Bay of Bengal. They form the world’s largest and fastest growing delta. The difference in relief has led the North Indian Plains to be divided into four zones : (i) Bhabhar, (ii) Tarai, (iii) Bangar and (iv) Khadar.

(i) The Indian desert lies towards the western margins of the Aravali Hills. It is an undulating sandy plain covered with sand dunes called barchans. This region receives very low rainfall below 150 mm per year (15 cm) . It has arid climate with low vegetation cover. Streams appear during the rainy season. Soon after they disappear into the sand as they do not have enough water to reach the sea. Luni is the only large river in this region.

(ii) 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 range is bounded by the Central Highlands on the south and the Aravali range on the northwest. The flow of the rivers draining this region, namely the Chambal, the Sind, the Betwa and Ken is from southwest to northeast, thus indicating the slope. The Central Highlands are wider in the west but narrower in the east.  The eastward extensions of this plateau are locally known as the Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand. The Chotanagpur plateau marks the further eastward extension, drained by the Damodar River.

(iii) India has 2 main island groups, namely Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar island. The Lakshadweep consists of many small islands located opposite the Kerala coast in the Arabian Sea. The islands of this group are formed of coral deposits called ‘atolls’ in Malayalam which refer to their ring or ‘horse-shoe’ shape. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
on the other hand, are larger in size. They are more in number and more widely scattered. There are about 200 islands in the Andaman group and 19 islands in the Nicobar group.

(i)Mountain and hill ranges – the Karakoram, the Zaskar, the Patkai Bum, the Jaintia, the Vindhya range, the Aravali, and the Cardamom hills.
(ii) Peaks – K2, Kanchenjunga, Nanga Parbat and the Anai Mudi.
(iii) Plateaus, Chotanagpur and Malwa
(iv) The Indian Desert, Western Ghats, Lakshadweep Islands

Answer

Khadar

Andaman and Nicobar 

Mahendragiri

Luni 

1. The Indian Desert lies towards to the western margins of the Aravali Hills.

2. It is covered with sand dunes and sandy plains.

3. There is very low rainfall below 150 mm per year in this region.

4. It has dry climate having low vegetation cover. 

1. The western coast is narrow plains extending between the Western Ghats and Arabian Sea.

2. It consist of three sections- Konkan, Kannad plain and Malabar Coast.

3. These Plaines are drained by many short and swift streams which are unable to form deltas. 

1. The plains are wide and level along the Bay of Bengal.

2. It is known as the Northern Circar in the Northern part while the Southern part is known as the Coramandal Coast.

3. The Mahanadi, the Godavari the Krishna and the Kaveri have formed the extensive delta on this coast. Lake Chilka is an important feature along the eastern coast. 

1. Geographers have explained the formation of physical features with the help of certain evidence based on theories.

2. ‘Theory of Plate Tectonic’ is one of them.

3. According to this theory, the crust of the earth has been formed out of seven major and some minor plates.

4. Due to the movement of the plates resulted in building up of stresses within the plates, leading to folding, faulting and volcanic activities. 

1. The Himalayan uplift out of the Tethys Sea and subsidence of the northern flank of the peninsular plateau resulted in the formation of a large basin.

2.  In due course of time, this depression gradually got filled with deposition of sediments by the river flowing from the mountains in the north and peninsular plateau in the south.

3.  A flat land of extensive alluvial deposits led to the formation of the northern plans of India. 

1. Coral Polyps are short lived microscopic organisms, which live in colonies.

2. They flourish in shallow, mud free and warm waters.

3. They secrete hard rock like substance.

4. The coral secretion and their skeletons from coral deposits in the form of reefs.

5. They are mainly of three kinds- barrier reefs, fringing reef and atolls.

6.  The Great Barrier Reef of Australia is good example of the first kind of coral reefs.

7. Atolls are circular or horse shoe shaped coral reefs. 

1. Peninsular Plateau is a table land composed of the old crystalline igneous and metamorphic rocks.

2. The plateau has broad and shallow valley and rounded hills.

3. The plateau consists of two broad divisions, namely the Central Highlands and Deccan Plateau.

4. The plateau consists of two broad divisions, namely the Central Highlands and Deccan Plateau.

5. Central Highlands are wider in the west, but narrow in the east.

6.    The Deccan plateau is a triangular land mass that lies to the south of the Narmada River. The plateau is higher in the west and slopes gently eastward.  
 

Folding and faulting 

Folding is a process the produces folds or bends in rocks due to compression forces acting on layers of rock in the earth’s crust

When the rocks are subjected to tensional forces they are stretched in opposite direction. Due to this stretching the rocks get fractured. Such fracturing of rocks is called faulting. 

It is a boundary which is formed due to the movement of plates towards each other. 

1. The Himalayan Mountains

2. The Northern Plains

3. The Peninsular Plateau

4. The Indian Desert

5. The Coastal plains

6. The Islands Group 

1. The rivers coming from the northern mountains carry alluvium with them and do the depositional work.

2. In the lower course, due to gentle slope the velocity of the river decreases which results in the formation of Riverine Islands.

3. Majuli, in the Brahmaputra River is the largest inhabited riverine island in the world. 

1. This island group is situated in Arabian Sea. The group of island is composed of small coral islands.

2. Earlier they were known as Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindive.

3. In 1973 these were names Lakshadweep.

4. It covers small area of 32 sq km.  

5. An administrative headquarters of Lakshadweep is Kavaratti Island. There is great diversity of flora and fauna in this island group. 

1. The chain of islands located in the Bay of Bengal extending from north to south.

2. They are more numerous and scattered and bigger in size.

3. This group of islands has been divided into two groups-the Andaman in the north and the Nicobar in the south.

4. These islands are believed to an elevated portion of submarine mountains.

5. There is a great strategic importance of these islands group of our country. 

1. There is a great physical variation in the landmass of India. Geologically the peninsular plateau constitutes one of the ancient lands mass on the earth surface.

2. It was considered to be one of the most stable land blocks.

3. The northern plains and the Himalayas are the most recent land forms. In the opinion Geologists Himalayan Mountains form an unstable zone.

4. The northern plains are formed of the alluvial deposits.

5. The peninsular plateau is formed by igneous and metamorphic rocks 

1. They are situated at the east to Deccan plateau.

2. They are parallel to eastern coast i.e. Coromandal , Northern Circar.

3. Northern Circar (between Mahanadi and Krishna rivers) and Coramandal (between Krishna and Kavari River) are the coastal plains.

4. Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri etc rivers are drawn this land form.

5. Mahedragiri with an altitude 1501 meters is the highest peak here.

6. They consist of eastern coastal plains. 

1. They are on reverse side of Eastern Ghats i.e. west to Deccan Plateau.

2. They are parallel to western coast i.e. Konkan, Kannad, Malabar etc.

3. Konkan (Mumbai to Goa), Kannad (Goa to Kerala) and Malabar (Kerala to kanyakumari) are the coastal plains here.

4. Narmada, Tapi, Sabarmati and Mahi etc rivers are drawn this land.

5. Anai Mudi with an altitude of 2695 meters is the highest peak here. F.    They constitute western coastal plains. 

1. Some plate come towards each other and formed convergent boundary.

2. Some plates move away from each other and form divergent boundary. They may either collide or crumble.

3. Plates may move horizontally past each other and join transform boundary. 

1. There is a great physical variation in the landmass of India. Geologically the peninsular plateau constitutes one of the ancient lands mass on the earth surface.

2. It was considered to be one of the most stable land blocks.

3. The northern plains and the Himalayas are the most recent land forms. In the opinion Geologists Himalayan Mountains form an unstable zone.

4. The northern plains are formed of the alluvial deposits.

5. The peninsular plateau is formed by igneous and metamorphic rocks. 
 

1. The Himalayas, Geologically young and structurally fold mountains stretch over the northern borders of India.

2. These mountain ranges run in a west east direction the Indus to Brahmaputra.

3. The Himalayas represent the loftiest and one of the most rugged mountains barriers of the world.

4. They form an arc which covers a distance of about 2400 km.  

5. There width varies from 400 km in Kashmir to 150 km in Arunachal Pradesh.

6. The Himalayas consist of three parallel ranges in its longitudinal extent. Those are Himadri, Himachal and Shiwaliks. 

1. The part of Himalayas lying between Indus and Sutlej has been traditionally known as Punjab Himalayas. But it is also known regionally as Kashmir and Himachal Himalaya from west to east.

2. The part of Himalayas lying between Sutlej and Kali River is known as Kumaon Himalayas.

3. The Kali and the Tista rivers demarcated the Nepal Himalayas.

4. The part between Tista and Dihang rivers is called Assam Himalayas.

5. The eastern most boundaries of the Himalayas are demarcated by Brahmaputra. Beyond Dihang gorge the Himalayas bend sharply to the south and spread along eastern boundary of India. They are called Purvanchal. 

Q.1. Which of the following is responsible for the variation in the colour of soil in different parts of India?
(a) Difference in rock formations (b) Weathering
(c) Erosion and deposition (d) Land use

Q.2. Which of the following has not been a factor in the creation and modification of India’s relief features?
(a) Geological formations (b) Population density
(c) Weathering (d) Erosion and deposition

Q.3. Which of the following is a plausible theory presented by Earth scientists to explain the formation of continents and oceans and the
various landforms?
(a) Theory of Motion (b) Theory of Plate Tectonics (c) Theory of Evolution (d) Theory of Relativity

Q.4. According to the ‘Theory of Plate Tectonics,’ the earth’s crust is formed of how many major plates?
(a) Three (b) Five 
(c) Seven (d) Ten

Q.5. According to the ‘Theory of Plate Tectonics,’ the movement of the plates result in some geological activity. Which one of the following is not such a geological activity?
(a) Volcanic activity (b) Folding (c) Faulting (d) Glaciation

Q.6. According to the ‘Theory of Plate Tectonics,’ when some plates come towards each other, which of the following is formed?
(a) Convergent boundary (b) Divergent boundary
(c) Transform boundary (d) Colliding boundary

Q.7. According to the ‘Theory of Plate Tectonics,’ when some plates move away from each other, which of the following is formed?
(a) Convergent boundary (b) Divergent boundary
(c) Transform boundary (d) None of the above

Q.8. According to the ‘Theory of Plate Tectonics,’ in the event of two plates coming together, which of the following is not possible?
(a) The plates may collide and crumble. (b) The plates may move horizontally past each other.
(c) The plates may form divergent boundary. (d) One plate may slide under the other.

Q.9. According to the ‘Theory of Plate Tectonics,’ what have been the effects of the movement of the plates?
(a) Change in position and size continents. (b) Formation of ocean basins.
(c) Evolution of the present landforms and relief of India. (d) All of the above.

Q.10. A landmass bounded by sea on three sides is referred to as _.
(a) Coast (b) Island (c Peninsula (d) None of the above

Q.11. Which of the following divisions of India has the oldest landmass?
(a) The Himalayas (b) The Northern Plains (c) The Peninsular Plateau (d) The Indian Desert

Q.12. The Peninsular Plateau of India is part of which of the following landmass?
(a) Angaraland (b) Gondwanaland (c) Tethys (d) Eurasian Plate

Q.13. Which of the following countries or continents was not a part of the ancient landmass of Gondwanaland?
(a) India (b) Australia (c) Europe (d) South America

Q.14. The northward drift of the Indo­Australian plate resulted in its collision with the much larger Eurasian plate. Which of the following was the result of this collision?
(a) The Gondwanaland split into a number of plates.
(b) The continents of Europe and Asia were formed.
(c) Sedimentary rocks accumulated in the Tethys geosyncline were folded.
(d) India and Australia were formed.

Q.15. Which of the following physiographic divisions of India was formed out of accumulations in the Tethys geosyncline?
(a) The Himalayas (b) The Northern Plains (c) The Peninsular Plateau (d) The Indian Desert

ANSWER 
Q.1 (a) Q.2 (b) Q.3 (b) Q.4(c) Q.5(d) Q.6(a) Q.7(b) Q.8(c)
Q.9(d) Q.10(c) Q.11(c) Q.12(b) Q.13(c) Q.14(c) Q.15(a) 

Q.16. The Himalayan uplift out of the Tethys Sea and subsidence of the northern flank of the peninsular plateau resulted in the formation of a
large basin. Which of the following physical divisions of India was formed due to filling up of this depression?
(a) The Himalayas (b) The Northern Plains (c) The Peninsular Plateau (d) The Coastal Plains

Q.17. Geologically, which of the following physiographic divisions of India is supposed to be one of the most stable land blocks?
(a) The Himalayas (b) The Northern Plains (c) The Peninsular Plateau (d) The Indian Desert

Q.18. From the point of view of geology, which of the following physiographic divisions of India is considered to be an unstable zone?
(a) The Himalayan Mountains (b) The Peninsular Plateau (c) The Indian Desert (d) The Islands

Q.19. Which of the following are young­fold mountains?
(a) The Aravalis (b) The Nilgiris (c) The Himalayas (d) The Sahyadri

Q.20. Which of the following physical features forms a natural barrier to the north of India?
(a) Kunlun Mountains (b) Plateau of Tibet (c) River Brahamaputra (d) The Himalayas
Q.21. The Himalayas consist of three parallel ranges in its longitudinal extent. Which of the following is the name of the northern­most range?
(a) The Himadri (b) The Himachal (c) The Shivaliks (d) The Purvanchal

Q.22. Which part of the Himalayas is perennially snowbound?
(a) Great Himalayas or Himadri (b) Lesser Himalayas or Himachal (c) Shivaliks (d) Purvanchal

Q.23. Which of the following is the highest peak in India?
(a) Mt. Everest (b) Kanchenjunga (c) Nanga Parbat (d) Nandadevi

Q.24. Which of the following is not a mountain pass in the Great Himalayas?
(a) Bara Lapcha La and Shipkila (b) Nathula
(c) Khyber pass (d) Jojila and Lipu Lekh 

Q.25. What are Lesser Himalayas known as?
(a) Himadri (b) Himachal (c) Shivaliks (d) Purvanchal

26. Which of the following ranges are not part of the Lesser Himalayas or Himachal?
(a) Pir Panjal (b) Dhaula Dhar (c) Mahabharat (d) Kamet

Q.27. In which division of the Himalayas are the famous valleys of Kashmir, Kangra and Kullu located?
(a) The Himadri (b) The Himachal (c) The Shivaliks (d) The Duns

Q.28. Which of the following ranges of the Himalayas are composed of unconsolidated sediments brought down by rivers?
(a) The Pir Panjal range (b) The Karakoram range(c) The Shivaliks (d) The Ladakh range

Q.29. The longitudinal valleys lying between lesser Himalayas and Shivaliks are known as .
(a) Kangra Valley (b) Patkai Bum (c) Passes (d) Duns

Q.30. From west to east, the divisions of the Himalayas are demarcated by river valleys. The part of the Himalayas lying between the Satluj and Kali rivers is known as .
(a) Punjab Himalayas (b) Kumaon Himalayas (c) Nepal Himalayas (d) Assam Himalayas

Q.31. Which two hills are located in the south­east of Eastern Ghats ?
(a) Mizo Hills and Naga Hills (b) Javadi Hills and Shevroy Hills
(c) Patkoi Hills and Manipuri Hills (d) Mizo Hills and Patkoi Hills

Q.32. Which islands of India are called Coral Islands?
(a) Lakshdeep (b) Andman and Nikobar (c) both (d) None of these

Q.33. A narrow gap in a mountain range providing access to the other side is :
(a) Mound (b) Pass (c) Strait (d) Valley

Q.34. The wet and swampy belt of the Northern Region is known locally as :
(a) Bhabar (b) Terai (c) Doab (d) Bhangar

Q.35. Find the odd one out
(a) Kanchenjunga (b) Nanga Parbat (c) Namcha Barwa (d) Anai Mudi

ANSWER 

Q.16(b Q.17(c) Q.18(a) Q.19. (c) Q.20 (d) Q.21(a) Q.22(a) Q.23(b) Q.24(c)
Q.25(a) Q.26(d) Q.27(b) Q.28(c) Q.29(d) Q.30­ (b) Q.31(b) Q.32(a) Q.33(b) Q.34. (b)