Mountains of India by Dr. Gaurav Garg
Mountains, Hills and Plateau
● A portion of land surface, which could be small or big, rising above 900 metres is
regarded as " Mountains " ( पहाड़) and those which are below this are referred to as " Hills ".
● Mountains have a conical peak and steep slope, generally mountains are covered with snow, Eg.
Himalayas, Rockies and Andes mountains, etc.
● Hills ( पहाड़ी) → Height (300-900 metre), Dome shaped, formed by sedimentation.
● Plateau ( पठार) → height varies from 0 to 600 metres, plateaus are
generally flat shaped. example - Deccan plateau, Malwa plateau
(Madhya Pradesh), Kathiawar plateau (Gujarat), etc.
● Population wise order : Plateaus > Hills > Mountains.
● Heights of mountains or hills or plateaus are always measured from
sea level.
Figure Explained :-
● Our earth was not always like this as we see today.
● All the continents were connected to each other many million years ago.
● South America, Africa, India, Australia were all part of a single plate, also known as "Gondwanaland".
Fold Mountains
● Fold Mountains originate as a result of tectonic plates converging at a plate boundary.
● Tectonic plates are of two types (i) Continental plates, (ii) Oceanic plates.
● Fold mountains appeared due to convergence of these two plates.
● So, any material, be it rocks, which was previously present between that convergent area will get
compressed by the force experienced from both the sides and will rise up to form some disoriented
layered structure.
● Fold mountains are sometimes named as old fold and new fold.
➢ Old fold are those which are almost degraded, continuous denudation and weathering is happening
in these. Example (Aravali Ranges in Rajasthan and Ural Mountains in Russia). Old folds are also
known as Residual Mountains.
➢ New fold are Andes, Rockies, Alps, Atlas, Himalayas, etc.
● Figures Explained :-
➢ India was not connected to Asia many million years ago.
➢ These were two different plates - Indian Plate and Eurasian Plate.
➢ There was a Tethys Sea in between Eurasian and Indian Plate.
➢ With time Indian plate started coming towards Eurasian Plate and
then started rubbing against each other or converged at the plate
boundary.
➢ This conversion resulted in the formation of the Himalayas.
➢ These plates are still converging and some scientists even say that the height of the Himalayas is
still increasing year by year.
➢ Due to convergence, anticline and syncline are formed in fold mountains. (like crests and troughs in
waves).
Figure Explained :-
● Rockies Mountains in North America were formed due to collision between North American plate
(continental plate) and Juan de fuca plate (oceanic plate).
● Andes Mountains (longest mountain ranges in the World) in South America were formed due to collision
between the South American plate (continental plate) and Nazca plate (oceanic plate).
● Similarly, Alps Mountains (in Europe) and Atlas Mountains (in Africa) were formed due to collision
between African plate and Eurasian plate.
● These are all fold mountains.
Block Mountains
● When the earth's crust cracks, faulting takes place. Block Mountains are formed due to upliftment or
subsidence at regional level due to endogenetic forces.
● e.g. Vosges mountain in Europe, Mountain ranges of Satpura and Vindhya in India, The Sierra Nevada
Block Mountains in North America, Harz Block Mountains in Germany.
● Block Mountains formation explained :-
➢ Block mountains are formed due to cracks in earth's crust.
➢ In the figure, consider the green coloured part as 'Crust', yellow part as 'Lithosphere' and red part as
'mantel'.
➢ When the forces applied at the cracked part of earth's plate, the middle part can go upward
(forming the block mountains) and it can go downward (forming the rift), it depends on the type of
fault in earth.
➢ When the middle part moves upward, then the middle part will form the mountain and adjacent
parts will form rifts.
➢ And if the middle part moves downward, then the middle part will form a rift and adjacent parts will
form mountains.
Volcanic Mountains
● Volcanic Mountains formed due to volcanic activity.
● E.g. Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa and Mt. Fuji in Japan ( figure ).
Trans-Himalayan Ranges :-
➢ Karakoram
➢ Kailash
➢ Ladakh
Karakoram Range
● It is the longest and highest among all the trans-Himalayan ranges.
● Origin → Pamir Knot, highest plateau of the world and is also known as the “Roof of the World”.
● Pamir knot → It is a knot formed by convergence of
Hindukush Mountains (Afg-Pak), Sulaiman Mountains
(Pakistan), Karakoram Mountains (India) and Kunlun
Mountains (Tibet).
● Highest peak → Godwin Austin or Qogir or K 2 (8611m).
● K2 is Second highest peak in the world after Mt. Everest.
K2 lies in a disputed area of POK.
● [ If ques come asking for the highest peak of Himalayas
then it is 'Kanchenjunga'. But if ques comes asking for the
highest peak of India then it depends on options if
Kanchenjunga is not given and K2 is given then mark K2 ].
● Siachen Glacier – Highest glacier in India and longest in
India (76km).
● Nubra River originates from Siachen Glacier which is a
tributary of Shyok River which in turn is a tributary of Indus River.
● Siachen Glacier is the highest battlefield of the World.
● Baltoro Glacier - Located in Gilgit-Baltistan (63 km long). The glacier gives rise to the Shigar River, which
is a tributary of the Indus River.
● Biafo Glacier – 70 km – 2 nd Longest in India.
Ladakh Range
● Ladakh range lies to the south-east of the Karakoram ranges.
● It is separated by Shyok River from Karakoram and by Indus
River from Zanskar Range in the south.
● Khardung La Pass (India's highest motorable road).
● Chang La Pass is also in the Ladakh Range.
● These ranges extend into China where they are known as the
Kailash ranges . They include Mt. Kailash and Mansarovar
Lake.
● Pangong Tso (largest saline lake between India and China),
2/3rd in China and 1/3rd in India.
● Highest point - Stok Kangri . The peak is located in Hemis
National Park, It is the only national park in India north of the Himalayas.
● Hemis National Park is also the largest national park in India.
Kailash Range (Tibet)
● Ladakh ranges extended into China are known as the Kailash ranges .
● Highest point – Mount Kailash (6,638 m) .
● The mountain is located near Lake Manasarovar.
● Lake Manasarovar is the source of some of the longest Asian rivers - Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra, and
Karnali also known as Ghaghara (a tributary of the Ganges).
Himalayas – Zanskar (Greater Himalayas in Kashmir)
Zanskar range
● The Himalayas in Kashmir are called the Zanskar Range.
● It lies south of the Ladakh range.
● Cut across by the Zanskar river.
● These ranges extend into Uttarakhand.
● They contain some prominent peaks like Mt. Kamet, Nanda Devi (a biosphere reserve), Kedarnath etc.
● Lipu Lekh Pass that leads to Mansarovar is a part of these ranges.
● Spiti Valley, Lahaul Valley, and Kinnaur Valley are also a part of these ranges.
● Lipulekh pass (uttarakhand) and Nathu la pass (sikkim) both leads to Mansarovar.
0 Comments