Summary

Geography Class 37

Geography Class 37 [17:11:00]

A brief overview of the previous class i.e. Himalayas and Q&A session

The Peninsular Block [17:43:00]

The peninsular block is a great complex of Ancient rocks which has existed as a single rigid block for Millions of years
It extends from Gujarat in the west to Meghalaya in the east and from Plains in the north to the southern tip of India in the south
[* Why did Meghalaya get separated?- A gap was formed named as "Malda gap" or "Garo-Rajmahal gap"]
This region was subjected to a few episodes of Tectonic activity
1) Submergence of the Western part of Western Ghats
2) Formation of Rift Valleys such as Narmada-Tapi etc
3) Formation of Deccan traps when the Indian plate was moving towards the Eurasian plate and it encountered the Reunion Hotspots

Mountain ranges in Peninsular Block [18:02:00]

Western Ghat and Eastern Ghat comparison [18:05:00]

	Western Ghats	Eastern Ghats
Extent	Gujarat (south of Tapi) to kanyakumari	South of Mahanadi to Nilgiri
States	Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu	Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamilnadu, Karnataka
Continuity	Continuous	Discontinuous [* Due to the rivers coming from the west which has eroded the eastern Ghats]
Slope	These are taller	These are a bit shorter
	Narrow	Wide
Topography	Highest peak- Anaimudi Overall height increases towards the south	Highest peak- Mahendragiri Some sources state that Zindgada's peak Height increases towards the North
Closeness with coast	Closer to the coast	A Bit far from the coast
Physiography	More river originates from western Ghat	Less river originates from eastern Ghat
Precipitation	Higher precipitation	Lower precipitation
Vegetation	Vegetation in Western ghat is an evergreen type	Vegetation- Deciduous
Biodiversity	Higher Biodiversity in Western Ghat	Lower biodiversity in Eastern Ghat

Plateaus of Peninsular Block [18:25:00]

Malwa plateau
Bundelkhand Plateau
Chotanagpur Plateau- Entire Jharkhand state
Meghalaya Plateau- Garo, Khasi, and Jaintia hills are part of this plateau
Deccan Plateau- Between Western Ghat and Eastern Ghat- Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Northern part of Telangana are covered in Deccan traps
Rayalseema Plateau- Region within Andhra Pradesh. [* It is called Rayalseema because it was ruled by the Clan of Rayas ]
Telangana plateau
[Krishna river marks the boundary between Rayalseema and Telangana plateau]
Karnataka plateau- Towards western ghat, it is a hilly region called Malnad and on the other side it is a plain region called Rolling plain/ Maidan
Dandakarnya plains

Plains of India [18:36:00]

Flat regions
Two types- Northern Plains and Coastal Plains
Northern Plains
How it originated?
The Northern Plains are formed by the deposition of sediments brought by the Himalayan rivers into the basin between the Himalayas and Peninsular blocks.
It extends for a total of 3200 KMs of which plains of India are for 2400 KMs
This is the largest alluvial plain in the world
It is divided into the Rajasthan plain, Punjab& Haryana Plains, Ganga plains, and Brahmaputra Plains

Rajasthan Plains [19:10:00]

It is a riverine plain
It is formed due to sediments brought by the rivers
They may have formed due to the drying up of the rivers which once existed in this region
The western part of Rajasthan is a proper desert called "Marusthali"
The eastern part of Rajasthan plains is called Rajasthan Bagar which is semi-arid due to the presence of river Luni

Punjab & Haryana Plains [19:20:00]

Ganga plains [19:26:00]

Brahmaputra Plains [19:31:00]

Types of Northern Plains [19:35:00]

Bhabhar-
It is a region of Porous gravel and boulders deposited by rivers entering the plains from the Mountains
In this region the smaller rivers disappear and start flowing underground
Terai-
It is a marshy region after Bhabhar where rivers start to re-appear. It is very fertile and widely used for the agriculture of rice and sugarcane
They are waterlogged regions and are prone to water-borne diseases/ Mosquito-borne diseases
Northern parts of UP, Bihar border, Nepal, Muzaffarnagar area.
Khadar
It is the alluvial plain just next to River valley.
It is made up of fresh alluvial soil which gets replenished every year
It is more fertile
Bangar
It is the older alluvial plain located away from the river valley
It is less fertile than Khadar
It is more settled.

Duars formation [19:50:00]

These are unconsolidated sediments deposited by rivers from mountains along the foothills of the North-east region i.e. West Bengal and Assam
They are best suited for tea cultivation

Coastal Plains [19:53:00]

They are formed by the sediments deposited by the rivers coming from the peninsular region
There are two coastal plains- The eastern coastal plains and The western coastal Plains

Western coastal plain	Eastern Coastal Plain
From Kutch to Kanyakumari	From Sundarbans to Kanyakumari
Narrow [* The length covered by rivers is less thus fewer sediments]	Wider [* Rivers flow for long distances and carry large sediments]
The maximum extent is 65 Km	Maximum extent is 150-200 Km
Dominated by Estuaries	Dominated by Deltas
The western coast is called a submerged coast. However, the Malabar coast is emergent one	The entire Eastern coast is emergent
The erosion process is more active	The deposition process is active- So more beaches, sandbars
The western coast is a broken coast or an Indented coast	The eastern coast is smooth. The coastline is smooth
Natural harbours and ports because of the broken coast and erosion.	Few of them are Natural harbours but most are artificial/ man-made port
Wider continental shelves around the western coast	Narrow continental shelves around the eastern coast
Kathiawad coast, Konkan coast, Malabar coast	Utkal plain, Northern circar, Coromanadal coast

The topic for the next class:- Drainage systems and Islands