Test: Indo-Gangetic Plain

• It was in the news due to Nepalese constitution issues.

• The Northern plains can be divided into four regions - two are discussed here.

• After descending from the mountains, the rivers deposit pebbles in a narrow belt of about 8 to 16km in width lying parallel to the slopes of the Shivalik. It is known as bhabar.

• All the streams disappear in this bhabar belt. South of this belt, the streams and rivers re-emerge and create a wet, swampy and marshy region known as terai. This was a thickly forested region full of wildlife. The forests have been cleared to create agricultural land and to settle migrants from Pakistan after partition.

• India's third geological division comprises the plains formed by the river Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra Originally.

• It was a geo-synclinal depression that attained its maximum development during the third phase of the Himalayan mountain formation approximately 64 million years ago.

• Since then, it has been gradually filled by the sediments brought by the Himalayan and Peninsular rivers Average depth of alluvial deposits in these plains ranges from 1,000 to 2,000 m.

Geosyncline

• It is a linear trough of subsidence of the Earth's crust within which vast sediment accumulate.

• The filling of a geosyncline with thousands or tens of thousands of feet of sediment is accompanied in the late stages of deposition by folding, crumpling, and faulting of the deposits, the intrusion of crystalline igneous rock and regional uplift along the axis of the trough generally complete the history of a particular geosyncline, which is thus transformed to a belt of folded mountains,

• According to the variations in relief features, the Northern plains can be divided into four regions.

• After descending from the mountains, the rivers deposit pebbles in a narrow belt of about 8 to 16 km in width lying parallel to the slopes of the Shivalik.

• It is known as bhabar. All the streams disappear in this bhabar belt. South of this belt, the streams and rivers re-emerge and create a wet, swampy and marshy region known as Terai. This was a thickly forested region full of wildlife.

The forests have been cleared to create agricultural land and to settle migrants from Pakistan after partition. Dudhwa National Park is located in this region.

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. This part is known as bhangar. The soil in this region contains calcareous deposits locally known as kankar. 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.

• Khadir or Khadar plains are those that are low-lying next to a river. Khadir areas are prone to flooding and sometimes include portions of former river-beds that became available for agriculture when a river changed.

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  Khadir soil consists of new alluvial deposits and is often very fertile. Bangar plains are more upland and consist of older alluvial soil. Bangar areas are less prone to flooding but are usually more sandy and less fertile as well.

• Terai is a belt of marshy grasslands, savannahs, and forests located south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Siwalik Hills, and north of the Indo- Gangetic Plain of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and their tributaries.

• The Terai belongs to the Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands ecoregion. In northern India, the Terai spreads eastward from the Yamuna River across Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The region is famous for rice and sugarcane cultivation.

• According to the variations in relief features, the Northern plains can be divided into four regions.

• After descending from the mountains, the rivers deposit pebbles in a narrow belt of about B to 16 km in width lying parallel to the slopes of the Shivalik. It is known as bhabar. All the streams disappear in this bhabar belt.

• The streams and rivers re-emerge and create a wet, swampy and marshy region known as terai South of this belt. This was a thickly forested region full of wildlife. The forests have been cleared to create agricultural land and to settle migrants from Pakistan after partition.

The Terai is the most productive region in Nepal, with the majority of the country's industries. Agriculture is the basis of the economy. Major crops include rice, wheat, pulses, sugarcane, jute, tobacco, and maize. In the eastern districts from Parsa to Jhapa, they support agro-based industries: jute factories, sugar mills, rice mills and tobacco factories.

• Sabarmati River is one example that originates in Rajasthan (Udaipur) and meets the Arabian Sea.

• Only a few rivers in Rajasthan do not drain into the sea. They drain into salt lakes and get lost in the sand with no outlet to the sea.

• Besides these, the Desert Rivers flow for some distance and are lost in the desert. These are Luni, Machhu, Rupen, Saraswati, Banas, Ghaggar and others.

The Great Plains of India is located to the north and south of the Shiwalik

• It is the alluvial deposits of rivers

• The average depth of the alluvium deposit increases from south to north

Paddy and jute are the correct answer.