Test: Class 11 Geography NCERT Based - 1 - UPSC MCQ

• The Karbi Anglong and the Meghalaya Plateau in the northeast and Rajasthan in the west are also extensions of this block.

• The north eastern parts are separated by the Malda fault in West Bengal from the Chotanagpur plateau. Chota Nagpur, plateau in eastern India, in north-western Chhattisgarh and central Jharkhand states.

• The plateau is composed of Precambrian rocks (i.e., rocks more than about 540 million years old). Chota Nagpur is the collective name for the Ranchi, Hazaribagh, and Koderma plateaus, which collectively have an area of 25,293 square miles (65,509 square km). Its largest division is the Ranchi Plateau, which has an average elevation of about 2,300 feet (700 metres).

• 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.

All of the statements are correct.

1. Zoji La: Nestled on National highway 1 between Srinagar and Leh, Zoji La is an important mountain pass.

2. Photu la: Fotu La pass on the Srinagar-Leh highway of the Himalayan Zanskar Range stands at a height of 13,478ft (4,108m) above the sea level.

3. Banihal Pass: Banihāl Pass, pass in the Pīr Panjāl Range in the Indian-held sector of the state of Jammu and Kashmir in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent.

4. Khardung La: Situated at an altitude of 18,379 ft. above the sea level, Khardung La makes one feel on the top of the world.

• Thar Desert, also called Great Indian Desert, arid region of rolling sand hills on the Indian subcontinent. It is located partly in Rajasthan state, northwestern India, and partly in Punjab and Sindh (Sind) provinces, eastern Pakistan.

• The Thar Desert covers some 77,000 square miles (200,000 square km) of territory. It is bordered by the irrigated Indus River plain to the west, the Punjab Plain to the north and northeast, the Aravalli Range to the southeast, and the Rann of Kachchh to the south.

• The subtropical desert climate there results from persistent high pressure and subsidence at that latitude. The prevailing southwest monsoon winds that bring rain to much of the subcontinent in summer tend to bypass the Thar to the east.

• The name is derived from thul, the general term for the region’s sand ridges. TheThar’desert sands overlie Archean (early Precambrian) gneiss (metamorphic rocks formed between 4 billion and 2.5 billion years ago), Proterozoic (later Precambrian) sedimentary rocks (formed about 2.5 billion to 541 million years ago), and more-recent alluvium (material deposited by rivers).

• The surface consists of aeolian (wind-deposited) sand that has accumulated over the past 1.8 million years.

• Deccan, the entire southern peninsula of India south of the Narmada River, marked centrally by a high triangular tableland. The name derives from the Sanskrit daksina (“south”).

• The plateau is bounded on the east and west by the Ghats, escarpments that meet at the plateau’s southern tip. Its northern extremity is the Satpura Range. The Deccan’s average elevation is about 2,000 feet (600 metres), sloping generally eastward.

• Its principal rivers—the Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri (Cauvery)—flow from the Western Ghats eastward to the Bay of Bengal. The plateau’s climate is drier than that on the coasts and is arid in places.

• Karakoram Range, Chinese (Pinyin) Karakorum Shan or (Wade-Giles romanization) K’a-la-k’un-lun Shan, great mountain system extending some 300 miles (500 km) from the easternmost extension of Afghanistan in a south easterly direction along the watershed between Central and South Asia. Found there are the greatest concentration of high mountains in the world and the longest glaciers outside the high latitudes.

• The Karakorams are part of a complex of mountain ranges at the centre of Asia, including the Hindu Kush to the west, the Pamirs to the northwest, the Kunlun Mountains to the northeast, and the Himalayas to the southeast.

• Ladakh Range, southeastern extension of the Karakoram Range, south-central Asia. The range extends southeastward for some 230 miles (370 km) from the mouth of the Shyok River in the Northern Areas (the sector of the Kashmir region administered by Pakistan), through Jammu and Kashmir state (the portion of Kashmir administered by India), to the border with the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

• With a crest line of about 20,000 feet (6,100 metres), the range parallels the northeast bank of the Indus River.

• The Ladakh Range is composed of granite rocks of the Ladakh batholith, which is bounded by the Shyok suture zone to the north and the Indus suture zone to the south. The climate is semiarid, with maximum summer temperatures exceeding 86°F (30°C) along the lower slopes and mean monthly temperatures in winter well below 32°F (0°C) at elevations above about 13,000 feet (4,000 metres).

• The Indus System is one of the largest river basins of the world. It is also known as the Sindhu, is the westernmost of the Himalayan rivers in India.

• It originates from a glacier near Bokhar Chu (31°15' N latitude and 81°40' E longitude) in the Tibetan region at an altitude of 4,164 m in the Kailash Mountain range. It receives a number of Himalayan tributaries such as the Shyok, the Gilgit, the Zaskar, the Hunza, the Nubra, the Shigar, the Gasting and the Dras.

1. Radial Pattern: It is a pattern characterised by out flowing rivers, away from a central point, analogous with the spokes of a wheel. It tends to develop on the flanks of a dome or a volcanic cone. A good example of a radial drainage pattern is provided by the rivers originating from the Amarkantak Mountain. Rivers like Narmada, Son and Mahanadi originating from Amarkantak Hills flow in different directions and are good examples of radial patterns. This pattern is also found in the Girnar Hills (Kathiawar, Gujarat), and Mikir Hills of Assam.

2. Trellis Drainage: It is a rectangular pattern formed where two sets of structural controls occur at right angles. In a trellis pattern, the river forms a net like system and the tributaries flow roughly parallel to each other. The old folded mountains of the Singhbhum (Chotanagpur Plateau) have drainage of trellis pattern.

3. Centripetal or inland drainage pattern: is opposite to the radial drainage pattern because it is characterized by the streams which converge at a point which is generally a depression or a basin. This pattern is formed by a series of streams which after emerging from surrounding uplands converge in a central low land which may be a depression, or a basin or a crater lake.The Kathmandu valley of Nepal presents an ideal example of centripetal drainage pattern wherein the tributary streams of the Bagmati converge in the tectonically formed circular basin. The depression formed at the top of Raigarh Dome in the Lower Chambal Basin has given birth to centripetal drainage pattern.

• The Peninsular drainage system is older than the Himalayan one. This is evident from the broad, largely traded shallow valleys, and the maturity of the rivers. The Western Ghats running close to the western coast act as the water divide between the major Peninsular Rivers, discharging their water in the Bay of Bengal and as small rivulets joining the Arabian Sea.

• Most of the major Peninsular Rivers except Narmada and Tapi flow from west to east. The Peninsular drainage system is older than the Himalayan one. This is evident from the broad, largely-graded shallow valleys, and the maturity of the rivers.

• The Western Ghats running close to the western coast act as the water divide between the major Peninsular Rivers, discharging their water in the Bay of Bengal and as small rivulets joining the Arabian Sea.

• Most of the major Peninsular Rivers except Narmada and Tapi flow from west to east. The Chambal, the Sind, the Betwa, the Ken, the Son, originating in the northern part of the Peninsula belong to the Ganga river system. The other major river systems of the peninsular drainage are – the Mahanadi, the Godavari, the Krishna and the Kaveri.

• Peninsular rivers are characterised by fixed course, absence of meanders and non-perennial flow of water.

The prominent rivers flowing through this Himalayan state are: The 2,900-km long Brahmaputra, major river of the state, is known for transport, irrigation and potable water source.

1. Siang River, a major tributary of Brahmaputra, provides enough opportunities for adventure sports, like tubing, fishing and trekking.

2. The Subansiri river emerging from the Himalayas is the biggest tributary of the Brahmaputra river.

3. Lohit river rises from Zayal Chu range of eastern Tibet and flows 200-km in Arunachal Pradesh criss-crossing Lohit and Namsi districts

4. Dibang river flows in the same Valley, a holy source for the Idu-Mishmi tribe, on which and a Dibang Multi-Purpose Project, a major hydropower project has been proposed.

5. Drangme Chhu river rises in western part of the state and joins with the southern region Mangde Chhu River.

6. Papumpare is a deep river in the same but beautiful river valley.

• The Narmada: It originates on the western flank of the Amarkantak plateau at a height of about 1,057 m. flowing in a rift valley between the Satpura in the south and the Vindhya range in the north; it forms a picturesque gorge in marble rocks and Dhuandhar waterfall near Jabalpur.

• After flowing a distance of about 1,312 km, it meets the Arabian sea south of Bharuch, forming a broad 27 km long estuary. Its catchment area is about 98,796 sq. km. The Sardar Sarovar Project has been constructed on this river.