India Physical & Political Features Test - 9

The Earth crust is the outermost and thinnest layer of earth which is made of various plates of different sizes known as Tectonics plates. It is believed that the crust is made up of 7 major and large plates and several minor plates. It was found the Pacific plate is the largest plate whereas the Juan de fuca plate is the smallest. The plates show movement which causes the vibrations of the ground or the earthquakes. It leads to folding, faulting and volcanic activities. A divergent boundary occurs when two tectonic plates move away from each other. Along these boundaries, earthquakes are common and magma (molten rock) rises from the Earth's mantle to the surface, solidifying to create new oceanic crust. When two plates come together, it is known as a convergent boundary.

The Indus is the western most River system in the subcontinent. Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Satluj are its main tributaries. The Ghaggar-Hakra River is an intermittent river in India and Pakistan that flows only during the monsoon season. The river is known as Ghaggar before the Ottu barrage and as the Hakra downstream of the barrage. The main tributaries of the Ghaggar are the Kaushalya river, Markanda, Sarsuti, Tangri and Chautang.

The Pir Panjal Range, also known as Panchaladeva in Hindu scriptures, is a group of mountains in the Lesser Himalayan region, running from east-southeast (ESE) to west-northwest (WNW) across the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is the longest range of the Lesser Himalayas.

The bhabar belt is formed when the Himalayan rivers, after descending from the mountains, deposit pebbles in a narrow belt of about 8 km to 16 km in width lying parallel to the slopes of the Shiwaliks. Due to porosity of the rocks in the bhabar belt, the streams disappear and flow underground.

The Chota Nagpur plateau in its entirety lies between the basins of the Ganges (Ganga) and Son rivers to the north and the Mahanadi River to the south. Through its centre, from west to east, runs the coal-bearing, faulted Damodar River valley.

The Indian Desert, popularly known as the Thar desert, lies towards the western margins of the Aravali Hills. It is an undulating sandy plain covered with sand dunes. Image result for luni is the only large river in indian desert.
Luni is largest river in the Thar desert in north-west India. It originates in the Pushkar valley of the Aravalli Range, near Ajmer, passes through the southeastern portion of the Thar Desert, and ends in the marshy lands of Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, after travelling a distance of 495 km.
About 85% of the Thar Desert is located within India, with the remaining 15% in Pakistan. In India, it covers about 170,000 km2 (66,000 sq mi), and the remaining 30,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi) of the desert is within Pakistan.

The three most important passes connecting the remaining India with the western coastal region (sandwiched between Western Ghats and Arabian Sea) are Thal ghat, Bhor ghat and Pal ghat (Palakkad).
Thal ghat is a ghat section in the Western Ghats near the town of Kasara in Maharashtra. The Thal ghat is located on the busy Mumbai–Nashik route, and is one of the four major routes, rail and road routes, leading into Mumbai.
Bhor ghat or Bor ghat or Bhore ghaut is a mountain passage located between Palasdari and Khandala for railway and between Khopoli and Khandala on the road route in Maharashtra, India, situated on the crest of the Western Ghats.
Palakkad, or Pal ghat, is a city in Kerala, a state in southwestern India. The 18^th-century Palakkad Fort has sturdy battlements, a moat and a Hanuman temple on its grounds.

The 'Chilka lake region' lies in between the deltas of Mahanadi and Godavari. Chilika Lake is a brackish water lagoon, spread over the Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts of Odisha state on the east coast of India, at the mouth of the Daya River, flowing into the Bay of Bengal, covering an area of over 1,100 km.

The largest part of the northern plain is formed of older alluvium. They lie above the flood plains of the rivers and present a terrace like feature. The newer, younger deposits of the flood plains are called khadar. They are renewed almost every year and so are fertile, thus, ideal for intensive agriculture.

The northern-most range is known as the Great or Inner Himalaya or the 'Himadri'. It is the most continuous range consisting of the loftiest peaks with an average height of 6000 metres. It contains all the prominent Himalayan peaks.

Anamudi is a peak in eastern Kerala state, southwestern India. Located in the Western Ghats range, it rises to 8,842 feet (2,695 metres) and is peninsular India's highest peak.

Chilika Lake is a brackish water lagoon, spread over the Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts of Odisha state on the east coast of India, at the mouth of the Daya River, flowing into the Bay of Bengal, covering an area of over 1,100 km. The largest freshwater lake in India is Wular Lake (also coined as Wullar). It is also one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia.

This is the correct answer. The longitudinal valleys lying between lesser Himalayas and the Shiwaliks are known as Duns. Dehra Dun, Kotli Dun and Patli Dun are some of the well-known duns.

Main features of the Peninsular Plateau:

(i) It is a table land composed of the old crystalline, igneous and metamorphic rocks.
(ii) It is formed due to the breaking and drifting of the Gondwana land.
(iii) It has broad and shallow valleys and rounded hills.
(iv) It consists of two broad divisions, namely, the Central Highlands and the Deccan Plateau.
(v) The Central Highlands are wider in the West but narrower in the East.
(vi) The Deccan Plateau is higher in the West and slopes gently eastward.

Kangchenjunga is the highest mountain peak in India and ranked 3^rd highest peak in the world with an elevation of 8,586 m (28,169 ft)in a section of the Himalayas called Kangchenjunga Himal delimited in the west by the Tamur River, in the north by the Lhonak Chu and Jongsang La, and in the east by the Teesta River. It lies between Nepal and Sikkim, India, with three of the five peaks (Main, Central, and South) directly on the border, and the remaining two (West and Kangbachen) in Nepal's Taplejung District.