Guidance Ias Ias
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Space Relationship of India with Neighbouring Countries GUIDANCE IAS IAS GUIDANCE Structure and relief Before moving ahead it is necessary to understand the terms- Structure & Relief. Structure Relief It refers to rocks of an It is the difference area. In particular the between highest point composition (what they and lowest point of the are made of), the area. arrangement of rocks and the nature (faulted For example- On or folded etc). Earth, the highest point is Mt Everest For example - (8848 mts) and the HIMALAYAS lowest point is Challenger Deep of AS composition - Mariana TrenchI Metamorphic Rocks (10,034 mts). Hence the relief of Earth is Nature - Folded 18,882 mts. Mountains ThereCE are 5 orders of Nrelief. For the sake of simplicity, structure and relief of India can be studied as- Four Groups or Four Physiographic Regions (i) Indian Peninsula - with Coastal Plains (ii) Himalayas - Started - Mesaziac (iii) Indo-Gangetic Plains (iv) Island GroupsGUIDA (1) IAS GUIDANCE 2 IAS GUIDANCE 3 IAS GUIDANCE 4 IAS GUIDANCE 5 IAS GUIDANCE 5 IAS GUIDANCE 7 IAS GUIDANCE 8 IAS GUIDANCE 9 IAS GUIDANCE 10 IAS GUIDANCE 11 Broad Division of Peninsula: 1) Central Highlands: a) Thar desert: • Semi-arid to arid landscape covered with Aeolian deposits (sedimentary). • Origin started with formation of Aravalli in purana period when there was development of sedimentary basement platforms of Aravalli. During marine transgression of tertiary period, further sedimentation continued under marine conditions. • Final stage of evolution corresponded with quaternary period when rejuvenation of Aravalli led to dismemberment & disappearance of rivers making them dry. Since then, dominant Aeolian processes have re-distributed sediments. It has 2 parts: Great Indian Desert – represents true desert whereby absence of relief causes very low precipitation. Eastern part of it is rocky desert while western part is sandy desert & is covered with shifting sand dunes. Streams are small & seasonal. Rajasthan Bagar – semi-arid region representing tropical steppe (short grassland). Some agriculture is undertaken. Northern part – dry belt & channels of ghaggar & mythical Sarasvati River are found. Southern part – Luni & and its tributaries are present. IAS Diagram: b) Aravalli Range: • Represents an old fold mountain which is nearing its peneplain stage of development. • Represent the oldest fold mountains of earth, formed in 2 stages – 1. Early Proterozoic – 2.1 billion years ago. 2. Late Proterozoic – 700 million years ago. (Also called as Delhi Orogeny.) In quaternary they also experienced rejuvenation related with faulting. • Its structure represent fan-folding with presence of anti & synclinorium. • Types of rocks – Igneous & metamorphic rocks forms core of Aravalli (i.e. granite & gneisses) representing a batholith & related metamorphosis. Also presence of limestone which have experienced metamorphism e.g. Abu hill is an exposedGUIDANCE batholith. • They can also be called as relict mountains. • Structure: towards southern part, they are broader & higher due to which they even intercept greater precipitation & are also forested (elevation > 1000m). As one moves north, their altitude declines & they also become narrow. Further north they are divided into fan-shaped ridges which break the monotonousity of Indus-ganga plains & give impression of actual extension of Aravalli’s. • Average relief is 400-600m, highest peak: gurushikar. c) Malwa plateau/uplands: • Origin – formed at the closing of Mesozoic along with formation of Maharashtra plateau from re-union hotspot volcanism. The magma emplaced during the period was very hot & fluid due to which it travelled far north leading to its formation. • General slopes – slopes towards north, average elevation in south is 600m & in north it is 400m. • River – Chambal & its tributaries. It is dissected by them and has led to formation of Badland topography – presence of gullies & ravines. Madhya Pradesh has a rolling topography. • Badland topography — Too many valleys, steeper valleys & many of them are dry. This is related to rejuvenation suffered in region during late tertiary & quaternary probably due to Himalayan orogeny. (12) • Rock – Basalt, which is susceptible to erosion & the process, has been further accelerated by man-made factors – extensive grazing & clearing of vegetation. Despite these problems it represents an important area of human’s agglomeration as it is sandwiched between hard terrains of Aravalli (west) & Bundelkhand (east). d) Bundelkhand: • Represent a shield formed during Archean period and since then it has suffered denudation and represents an erosion surface/peneplain. • Hard & crystalline structure made up of granite & gneisses, height 300-600m, slopes northwards towards Yamuna basin. • Latosol/red soils, absence of minerals of metallic nature. e) Vindhyas escarpment: • Origin – rocks forming this were deposited in purana basin during Proterozoic period. However, region experienced upwarping related with emplacement of batholith during tertiary period. In quaternary period, rejuvenation of Narmada fault has created escarpment structure. Thus, they look tall due to presence of Narmada fault in south. General elevation is in between 600-700m although at some places they can reach 900m. • Arc shaped, primarily sedimentary rocks which have been metamorphosed e.g. sandstones (used in red fort) & marbles (metamorphosed limestones). • Gently slopes towards north. Its southern slope is a scarp (steep). Diagram: IAS 2) Deccan plateau: a) Satpura range: • Old fold mountains, formed in early Proterozoic = (2-1.9 billion years ago). • Present Mountain like feature is related to it being a black mountain situated between Narmada river valley (north) & Tapi river valley (south). • Average elevation = (900m – 1000m). • Dhupgarh is highest peak (1350m) on mahadeo hills. Structure – crystalline rocks primarily granite & gneisses, also presence of sedimentary rocks like – limestone & marble. Western part is covered with basaltic lava. Slope – althoughGUIDANCE highest peak is on east, but general elevation decrease from west to east. Diagram: b) Deccan Basalt/Maharashtra plateau: • Origin – formed at the closing of Mesozoic from re-union hotspot volcanism. Fissures are located on northern- western ghats. Outlier of this is Kathiawar peninsula. • Basaltic plateau, presence of ridge and valley topography. • Residual hills are formed by differential erosion of Maharashtra plateau. • It is also known as Deccan traps. Its relief gently declines towards east in a step like manner which represents flow of lava sheets one after the other. • Kathiawar represents an outlier of this whereby intervening rocks have been removed by faulting & erosion by rivers like Sabarmati & Mahi. Diagram: (13) c) Karnataka plateau: • It represents one of the oldest shields of India-Dharwar Shield formed in Archean period. Thus, it represents old erosion surface/peneplains. • Although it has experienced rejuvenation so it reflected upward peneplains which has an elevation of 600-900m height. • Malnad – series of crystalline ridges is present, hills & valleys, receives greater precipitation & is more forested. Maidan – average altitude 600m, densely populated. Difference is more perceptible in human geography of region- Maidan is more populated. • Granite & gneisses – highly metamorphed. Diagram: d) Telangana & Rayalseema: • Old shield & platform like Karnataka plateau, part of Dharwar shield rocks made of granite & gneisses, they are old erosion surfaces. • In cudappah basin – sedimentary metamorphosed rocks are formed. • Average elevation 500-600m, lies in the rain shadow of eastern & western ghats. Dry deciduous vegetation is formed. Diagram: IAS 3) Western Ghats: • Represent an escarpment, continuous from north to south & act as water divide. Have passes. • Present height is reached as a result of tectonic rejuvenation of quaternary period, presence of several north-south fault zone which represents recent rejuvenation & many of these fault lines are still active. Diagram: • Altitude – Diagram: Southern hill complex:GUIDANCE due to rise and rejuvenation of southern granulite province in quaternary (which is separated from rest of Western Ghats by east-west fault-lines manifested in Palakkad/palghat gap), highest peak is found in southern most part of Western Ghats. • Parallel to western coast & forms an almost complete water divide. • Meet Eastern Ghats at Nilgiri range/hills. • They represent crystalline structure (made up of granite & gneisses) although in north they are covered with basaltic lava. • Four passes: 1) Bhorghat (connects Mumbai & Pune) 2) Thalghat gap (connects Mumbai & Nasik) 3) Palghat (Chennai & Kochi) 4) Shenkottah (Madurai to Kottayam city of Kerala). Diagram: (14) 4) Eastern Ghats: i. Eastern Ghats represents old fold mountain formed between (1.7-1.6 billion years ago). ii. Eastern Ghats represents a true mountainous character only in north in form of northern circars, south of which it is divided into several isolated hills which are even transverse to coast. This is because of flow of rivers which broke them into discontinuous hills. iii. Altitude continuously declines from north to south. iv. Structure – crystalline made of granite. 5) Eastern Plateau: a) Bastar and Dandakaranaya uplands: • Represent old shield formed in Archean period. Thus, they represent old erosion surface having rolling topography. This rolling topography is broken by presence of hills & valleys at some places. • Made up of granite