Physical Features of India

Multiple Choice Questions

A landmass bounded by sea on three sides is referred to as

  1. Coast
  2. Peninsula
  3. Island
  4. None of the above

    Answer: (b) Peninsula

Mountain ranges in the eastern part of India forming its boundary with Myanmar are collectively called as

  1. Himachal
  2. Purvachal
  3. Uttarakhand
  4. None of the above

    Answer: (b) Purvachal

The western coastal strip, south of Goa is referred to as

  1. Coromandel
  2. Kannar
  3. Konkan
  4. Northern Circar

    Answer: Kannad

The highest peak in the Eastern Ghats is

  1. Anai Mudi
  2. Mahendragiri
  3. Kunchenjunga
  4. Khasi

    Answer: (a) Anai Mudi

Answer the following questions:

Question 1: What are tectonic plates?

Answer: The crust of the earth is not in the form of a continuous plate rather in the form of broken pieces. These pieces of the earth's crust are called tectonic plates.

Question 2: Which continents of today were part of the Gondwana land?

Answer: South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia and India were part of the Gondwana land.

Question 3: What is bhabar?

Answer: After descending from the mountains, the rivers deposit pebbles in a narrow belt. The width of this belt is about 8 to 16 km and it lies parallel to the Shiwaliks. This region is known as bhabar. All the streams disappear in this region.

Question 4: Name the three major divisions of the Himalayas from north to south.

Answer: Three major divisions of the Himalayas from north to south are:

Question 5: Which plateau lies between the Aravali and the Vindhyan ranges?

Answer: The Malwa plateau lies between the Aravali and the Vindhyan ranges.

Question 6: Name the island group of India having coral origin.

Answer: Lakshadweep

Question 7: Distinguish between

  1. Converging and diverging tectonic plates

    Answer: The converging tectonic plates move towards each other, while diverging plates move away from each other.
  2. Bhangar and Khadar

    Answer: Bhangar is the largest part of the Northern Plains and is formed by the oldest alluvium. On the other hand, Khadar is the younger deposit of alluvium.
  3. Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats

    Answer:
Western GhatsEastern Ghats
They lie along the Arabian Sea.They lie along the Bay of Bengal.
Average height is 900 to 1600 mAverage height is 600 m
They are almost continuous.They are interspersed by rivers.

Question 8: Describe how the Himalayas were formed.

Answer: The Indian Peninsula drifted towards the north and finally collided with the much larger Eurasian Plate. As a result of this collision, the sedimentary rocks which were accumulated in the geosynclines (known as Tethys) got folded and formed the mountain systems of the West Asia and Himalaya.

Question 9: Which are the major physiographical divisions of India? Contrast the relief of the Himalayan region with that of the Northern Plains of India.

Answer: The landmass of India can be divided into following 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

The Himalayan region is rugged and shows great variations in terms altitude. The Northern Plains, on the other hand, is more or less level and has least variations in terms of altitude. The Himalayan region is formed by rocks and unconsolidated sediments. The Northern Plains is composed of alluvial deposits.

Question 10: Write short notes on the following:

  1. The Indian Desert

    Answer: The Indian desert lies towards the western margins of the Aravali Hills. This region gets scanty rainfall which is less than 150 mm in a year. Hence they climate is arid and vegetation is scanty. Luni is the only large river but some streams appear during rainy season. Crescent-shaped dunes (barchans) abound in this area.
  2. The Central Highlands

    Answer: The Central Highlands lies to the north of the Narmada river. It covers the major portion of the Malwa plateau. The rivers in this region flow from southwest to northeast; which indicates the slope of this region. It is wider in the west and narrower in the east. Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand mark the eastward extension of this plateau. The plateau further extends eastwards into the Chhotanagpur plateau.
  3. The Island groups of India

    Answer: The Lakshadweep Islands are in the Arabian Sea. Its area is 32 sq km. The administrative headquarters of Lakshadweep is at Kavaratti island. This group of islands is rich in terms of biodiversity.

    The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are bigger in size and has more number of islands. This group of islands can be divided into two groups. The Andaman is in the north and the Nicobar is in the south. These islands too have rich biodiversity.

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