CLASS IX - SOCIAL SCIENCE GEOGRAPHY- LESSON 2 PHYSICAL FEATURES OF INDIA

1. PHYSICAL FEATURES OF
INDIA
 CLASS IX – SOCIAL SCIENCE
 GEOGRAPHY – CHAPTER 2
 (BY: MRS USHA JOY)

2. PHYSICAL FEATURES OF INDIA
 The land of India displays great physical variation.
 The Peninsular Plateau constitutes one of the ancient landmasses on
the earth’s surface.
 The Himalayas and the Northern Plains are the most recent
landforms.

3. GONDWANA LAND

4. PHYSICAL FEATURES OF INDIA
 MAJOR PHYSIOGRAPHIC DIVISIONS
 (1) The Himalayan Mountains
 (2) The Northern Plains
 (3) The Peninsular Plateau
 (4) The Indian Desert
 (5) The Coastal Plains
 (6) The Islands

5. Physical Map of India

6. The Himalayan Mountains
 The Himalayas are young and structurally fold mountains.
 They run in a west-east direction from the Indus to the Brahmaputra.
 The loftiest and one of the most rugged mountain barriers of the
 Its length is about 2,400 Km and width varies from 400 Km in
150 Km in Arunachal Pradesh.
 The Himalayas consist of three parallel ranges in its longitudinal

7. The Himalayas-Longitudinal divisions
 The Great or Inner Himalayas or the Himadri.
 Himachal or lesser Himalaya.
 Outer Himalayas or the Shiwaliks

8. The Himalayas

9. The Himalayas

10. The Great Himalayas
 The Great or Inner Himalayas or the Himadri.
 It is the most continuous range consisting of the loftiest
peaks with an average height of 6,000 metres.
 It contains all prominent Himalayan peaks and the folds are
asymmetrical in nature.
 The core is composed of granite, it is perennially snow
bound and a number of glaciers descend from this range.

11. Himachal or lesser Himalaya
 It is the most rugged mountain system
 The altitude varies between 3,700 and 4,500 metresand the
average width is of 50 Km.
 The Pir Panjal range, the Dhaula Dhar and the Mahabharat
ranges are the prominent ranges.
 The ranges are highly compressed and altered rocks.
 Famous valleys located here are Kashmir, the Kangra and
KulluValley.
 They are well-known for its hill stations.

12. The Shiwaliks
 The Shiwaliks extend over a width of 10-50 Km and an
altitude varying between 900 and 1100 metres.
 These are composed of unconsolidated sediments brought
down by rivers.
 They are covered with thick gravel and alluvium.
 The longitudinal valley lying between lesser Himalaya and
the Shiwaliks are known as Duns.
 Dehra Dun, Kotli Dun and Patli Dun are some of the well-
known Duns.

13. Latitudinal Division of the Himalayas
 These divisions (west to east) are demarcated by river
valleys.
 The part of Himalayas lying between
Indus and Satluj -- Punjab Himalaya
Satluj and Kali rivers-- Kumaon Himalayas
Kali and Teesta rivers-- the Nepal Himalayas.
Teesta and Dihang rivers -- Assam Himalayas

14. The Purvachals
 The Brahmaputra marks the eastern-most boundary
 Beyond the Dihang gorge, the Himalayas bend sharply to
the south and are known as the Purvachal or the Eastern
hills and mountains.
 These hills are mostly composed of strong sandstones,
which are sedimentary rocks and are covered with dense
forests.
 The Purvachal comprises the Patkai hills, the Naga hills,
the Manipur hills and the Mizo hills.

15. Gorges

16. The Northern Plain
• Formed by the interplay of the three major river systems — the Indus,
the Ganga and the Brahmaputra along with their tributaries.
• Formed of alluvial soil - The deposition of alluvium over millions
of years, formed this fertile plain.
• The northern plains have an area of 7 lakh sq. km, about 2400 km long
and 240 to 320 km broad.
• It is a densely populated physiographic division due to rich soil cover
combined with adequate water supply and favourable climate.

17. The Northern Plains
 In the lower course, the velocity of the river decreases which formation of
riverine islands.
 Majuli in Brahmaputra is the largest inhabited riverine island.
 Due to silt deposition many distributaries are there.
 It is broadly divided into three sec tions, The Punjab Plains ,the Ganga
Plains, the Brahmaputra Plains.
 The Punjab plains are formed by the Indus and its tributaries namely the
Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the Beas and the Satluj.
 This section of the plain is dominated by the doabs.
 ‘Doab’ is made up of two words ‘do’ meaning two and ‘ab’ meaning water.

18. Distributaries and Doabs

19. The Northern Plains
 These vast plains also have diverse relief features.
 Bhabar: deposit pebbles in a narrow belt of about 8 to 16 km, all the
streams disappear in this bhabar belt.
 Terai: the streams and rivers re-emerge and create a wet, swampy and
marshy region. It is a region of thick forest and wildlife, Dudhwa National
Park is located here.
 Bhangar: Formed of older alluvium, lies above the floodplains of the
rivers and presents a terracelike feature. It contains calcareous deposits,
locally known as kankar.
 Khadar: Formed of newer and younger deposits of the floodplains. It is
renewed almost every year and so are fertile.

20. Relief Features of the Northern Plains

21. The Peninsular Plateau
 It is a tableland composed of the old crystalline, igneous and
metamorphic rocks.
 It was formed due to the drifting of the Gondwana land.
 Two broad divisions are the Central Highlands and the Deccan Plateau.
 The Central Highland- north of the Narmada river, covering a major area
of the Malwa plateau.
 The Vindhyan range is bounded by the Satpura range in the south, the
Aravalis on the northwest, westward extension gradually merges with the
desert of Rajasthan.

22. The Peninsular Plateau
 The Sind, the Betwa and the Ken are the rivers draining from southwest
to northeast,
 The eastward extensions are known by Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand.
 The Chotanagpur plateau marks the further eastward extension,
drained by the Damodar river.

23. India – Physical Features

24. The Peninsular Plateau
 The Deccan Plateau is a triangular landmass that lies to the south of the
river Narmada.
 The Satpura range in the north, the Mahadev, the Kaimur hills and the
Maikal range in the east.
 Northeast- the Meghalaya, Karbi-Anglong Plateau and in the north
Cachar Hills.
 Three prominent hill ranges are the Garo, the Khasi and the Jaintia Hills.

25. Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats
Western Ghats
 It marked the western boundary -
from Gujarat to Kerela.
 They are regular stretch of
highland.
 More in height i.e. from 900-
1600m.
 More rainfall- orographic rainfall.
 Highest peaks are Anai Mudi,
followed by Doda Betta
Eastern Ghats
 It marked the eastern boundary
from Orissa to Kerela.
 They are dissected by rivers and
irregular
 less than western ghats ranging
from 600-900m.
 Rainfall is less -the monsoon winds
move parallel to the eastern ghats
 Highest peak of eastern ghats is
Mahendragiri

26. Peninsular Plateau
 The distinct feature is the black soil area known as
Decean Trap.
 This is of volcanic origin, hence, the rocks are igneous.
 These rocks have denuded over time and are responsible
for the formation of black soil
 Famous hill stations are Udagamandalam, popularly
known as Ooty and the Kodaikanal.

27. The Indian Desert
• It 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 the rainy season.
• Luni is the only large river
• Barchans (crescent-shaped dunes) cover larger areas

28. Barchans

30. The Coastal Plains
Western Coastal Plains
 lying towards west between
western ghats and Arabian sea
 belt of plains is narrow in width
 less fertile - no major rivers
 Receive more rainfall
 divided into Konkan Coast,Kannad
Coast and Malabar Coast
Eastern Coastal Plains
 lying towards the east between
eastern ghats and Bay of Bengal
 comparatively wider
 very fertile due to many rivers
 Receive comparatively less rainfall
 divided into Northern Circars and
Coromandal Coast

31. The Islands
 Lakshadweep Islands
 lying close to the Malabar coast of Kerala. It composed of small coral isalnds.
 Earlier they were known as Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindive.
 In 1973, these were named as Lakshadweep.
 It covers small area of 32 sq km.
 Kavaratti island is the administrative headquarters
 The Pitti island has a bird sanctuary.

32. Corals
 Coral polyps are short-lived microscopic organisms,
 They live in colonies, They secrete calcium carbonate.
 The coral secretion and their skeletons from coral
deposits in the form of reefs:
 E.g. barrier reef. fringing reef and atolls.

34. Andaman and Nicobar islands
 Bigger in size and are more numerous and scattered.
 Divided into two broad categories – The Andaman in the north and
the Nicobar in the south.
 These islands are the elevated portion of submarine mountains.
 Great diversity of flora and fauna are there and equatorial climate
and has thick forest cover.
 India’s only active volcano is found on Barren island.

35. India’s active volcano

36. Physiographic Divisions
 The mountains - major sources of water and forest wealth.
 The northern plains - the granaries of the country.
 The plateau - storehouse of minerals
 The coastal region and island groups - sites for fishing and port activities
 the diverse physical features of the land have immense future
possibilities of development

37. Chapter -2: Physical Features of India
Mountain Ranges: The Karakoram, The Zasker,
The Shivalik, The Aravali, The Vindhya, The Satpura,
Western & Eastern Ghats
Mountain Peaks – K2, Kanchan Junga, Anai Mudi
Plateau - Deccan Plateau, Chotta Nagpur
Plateau, Malwa Plateau
Coastal Plains - Konkan,Kannad, Malabar,
Coromandal & Northern Circar (Location and
Labelling)
Map Work