Geography Class 9 : Chapter 2 - Physical features of India

In this page you get NCERT Solution Class 9 Social Science (Geography) Chapter 2 Physical features of India being given. Social Science have four parts. Social Science (Geography) Class 9th has been set by the CBSE Board. The speciality of this page is that here you can download pdf of NCERT Solution Class 9 Social Science (Geography). I expect that the given Class 9 Social Science (Geography) Solution Chapter 2 Physical features of India will be immensely useful to you.

Lesson 2
Physical Features of India

1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.

1) The land mass bounded by sea on three sides is referred to as 

a) coast   b) island   c) Peninsula   d) none of the above.

Ans: c) peninsula

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

a) Himachal   b) Uttaranchal   c) purvanchal   d) none of the above

Ans: d) none of the above

 

3) The Western coastal strip, south of Goa is referred to as

a) Coromandel   b) Kankan   c) Kannad   d) Northern Circars

Ans: c) Kannad

 

4) The highest peak in the Eastern Ghats is

a) anamudi   b) Kanchanjanga   c) Mahendragiri   d) Kashi

Ans: c) Mahendragir.

2. Answer the following questions briefly:

(i) What is the bhabar?

Ans: The Himalayan rivers, after descending from the mountains deposits pebbles in a narrow belt, lying parallel to the slopes of the Shivaliks. It is known as bhabar.

(ii) Name the three major divisions of the Himalayas from north to south.

Ans: 

1. The northernmost range is known as the Great or Inner Himalayas or the Himadri.
2. The range lying to the south of Himadri is known as Himachal or lesser Himalayas.
3. The outermost range of the Himalayas is called the Shivaliks.

(iii) Which plateau lies between the Aravali and the Vindhyan ranges?

Ans: The major area of the Malwa plateau or Central Highlands lies between the Aravali and the Vindhyan rangers.

(iV) Name the island group of India having Coral origin.

Ans: Lakshadweep islands of India have Coral origin.

3. Distinguish between:

(i) Bhangar and Khadar.

Ans: According to the age of alluvial soil in the Northern plains can be divided into two parts -Bhangar and khadar.

The older soil with calcareous deposits (called kankar) is called bhangar. The largest part of the northern plain is formed of older alluvium. This part is known as bhangar. While the part of the plane with younger, new deposits of the flood is called khadar. It is the fertile part of the plains.

(ii) Distinguish between Western ghats and Eastern ghats.

Ans: Western ghats-                                 

1. They are formed on the western side of the peninsular plateau.
2. They are regular and continuous and can be crosses through passes only.
3. They are comparatively higher in elevation, their average elevation is 900 t0 1600 metres.
4. The highest peak in the Western ghat is Anaimudi.

       Eastern ghats-

1. They are formed on the eastern side of the peninsular plateau.
2. They are irregular and discontinuous by rivers draining into the Bay of Bengal.
3. The average elevation is 600 metres.
4. The highest peak in the Eastern ghats is Mahendragiri.

4. Which are the major physiographic divisions of India? Contrast the relief of the Himalayan region with that of the peninsular plateau.

Ans: Major physiographic divisions of India are given below:

i ) The Himalayan mountains

ii) The Northern plains

iii) The Peninsular plateau

iv) The Indian deserts

v) The Coastal plains

vi) The Islands

Himalayan regions:

• The Himalayas formed by the folding process because of collision of the Indo- Australian plate with the Eurasian plate.
• It is made of sedimentary rocks.
• Himalayas are the youngest relief in India.
• It has some of the highest peaks of the world.
• The Indus, the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers originate from the Himalayas.

The Peninsular plateau:

• Peninsular plateau formed because of breaking of Gondwana land.
• It is made of metamorphic rocks.
• Peninsular plateaus are the oldest structure of the Indian subcontinent.
• The Central Highlands in Peninsular plateau are made of low hills.
• Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri are the east flowing rivers of the region and Narmada and Tapti are two main West flowing rivers.

5. Give an account of the Northern Plains of India.

Ans: The northern plains are an important physical feature of India. They have the following features.

1. It has an area of about 7 lakh sq. km. The plains are nearly 2400 km long and 240 to 320 km in breadth.
2. The plains are composed of alluvial soil and a highly agriculturally reproductive area.
3. The plain is crossed with three major rivers -the Ganga ,the Indus and the Brahmaputra.
4. It is divided into four parts due to relief differences - bhabar, terai, bhangar and khadar.
5. Due to favourable climatic conditions and other socio-economic factors, the northern plain is a very densely populated.

6. Write a short note on the following:

(i) The Indian desert

Ans: 

• The Indian desert lies towards the Western margins of Aravali hills.
• It is an undulating sandy plain covered with sand dunes.
• This region receives very low rainfall. (below 150 mm per year)
• It has arid climate with low vegetation cover.
• Luni is the only large river in this region.
• The Indian desert is popularly known as the Thar Desert.

(ii) The Central Highlands.

Ans: 

• The part of the Peninsular Plateau lying to the north of the Narmada river covering major area of the Malwa plateau is known as the Central Highlands.
• The Vindhyan range is bounded by the Central Highlands on the south and the Aravallis on the north. The further westward extension gradually merges with the sandy and rocky deserts of Rajasthan.
• The Central Highlands are wider in the west but narrower in the East.
• The eastward extension of this plateau are locally known as the Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand.

 

(iii) The island groups of India.

Ans: The Lakshadweep islands:

• The Lakshadweep islands group lying close to the Malabar coast of Kerala.
• This group of islands is composed of small Coral islands.
• It covers small area of 32 sq.km.
• Kavaratti island is the administrative headquarters of Lakshadweep.
• This island group has great diversity of flora and fauna. The Pitli island has a bird sanctuary.

Andaman and Nicobar islands:

• This chain of islands located in the Bay of Bengal.
• Andaman and Nicobar islands are bigger in size and are more numerous and scattered.
• The entire group of island is divided into two broad categories- the Andaman in the north and the Nicobar in the south.
• There is great diversity of flora and fauna in this group of islands.
• These islands lie close to equator and experiences equatorial climate and thick forest cover.

Extra Questions

1. What are tectonic plates?

Ans: Tectonic plates are large plates of rock that make up the foundation of earth's crust and the shape of the continents. The crust (upper part) of the earth has formed out of seven major and some minor plates.

 

2. Which continents of today were part of the Gondwana land?

Ans: The Gondwana land included India, Australia, South Africa and South America as one single land mass.

3. Distinguish between converging and diverging tectonic plates.

Ans: According to the 'Theory of Plate Tectonics' the movement of the plates results in the building up of stresses within the plates and the continental rocks above. Some plates come towards each other and are called convergent plates. While some plates move away from each other and are called the divergent plates.

4. Describe how the Himalayas were formed.

Ans: 

• The convection currents of the mantle fractured it into a number of pieces.
• The Indo -Australian plate after getting separated from the Gondwana land drifted slowly towards the north.
• It collided with the much larger Eastern plate in the northern hemisphere approximately 5 crores of years ago.
• The northern edge of the Indo- Australian plate was pushed beneath the Eurasian plate.
• Under the impact of this collision the sedimentary rock of the enclosed ocean were folded to form the mountain system of Central Asia including in the Himalayas.

5. Describe the river systems of the Northern Plains.

Ans: The three river systems in the Northern plains from east to west are the Brahmaputra, Ganga and Indus. A large part of the Indus system lies in Pakistan. The Indus and its tributaries – the Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the Beas and the Satluj originate in the Himalayas. This section of the plain is dominated by the doabs. The Ganga plain extends between the Ghaggar and Teesta rivers. It spreads over the states of Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, parts of Jharkhand and West Bengal. It has tributaries like the Yamuna, Gomati, Ghaghara, Son, Gandak and Kosi. The Brahmaputra Plain lies in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.

6. “The northern plains have diverse relief features”. Explain.

Ans: Northern plains have great diverse relief features. According to the variations in relief features, the Northern plains can be divided into four regions. The rivers, after descending from the mountains deposit pebbles in a narrow belt of about 8 to 16 km in width lying parallel to the slopes of the Shiwaliks. 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. The largest part of the northern plain is formed of older alluvium. It lies above the floodplains of the rivers and presents 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.