NCERT Solutions Class 9 Social Science Chapter 2 Physical Features of India

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

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

(a) Coast

(b) Island

(c) Peninsula

(d) None of the above

Answer: (c) Peninsula

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

(a) Himachal

(b) Uttarakhand

(c) Purvachal

Answer: (c) Purvachal

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

(a) Coromandel

(b) Konkan

(c) Kannad

(d) Northern Circar

Answer: (b) Konkan

(iv) The highest peak in the Eastern Ghats is

(a) Anai Mudi

(b) Kanchenjunga

(c) Mahendragiri

(d) Khasi

Answer: (c) Mahendragiri

2. Answer the following questions briefly.

(i) What are tectonic plates?

(ii) Which continents of today were part of the Gondwana land?

Answer: The Gondwanaland included India, Australia, South Africa, South America, and Antarctica as a single landmass.

(iii) What is the bhabar?

Answer: The Bhabar is that narrow belt of the north Indian plain, which is covered with pebbles and lies along the foothills of the Shiwaliks from the Indus to the Teesta.

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

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

a. The Great Himalayas or Himadri

b. The Lesser Himalayas or Himachals c. The Outer Himalayas or Shiwaliks

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

Answer: The Malwa plateau lies between the Aravali and the Vindhya Ranges.

(vi) Name the island group of India having coral origin.

Answer: Lakshadweep Islands is the island group of India having coral origin. They lie close to the Malabar Coast of Kerala in Arabian Sea.

3. Distinguish between

(i) Converging and diverging tectonic plates

Answer:

(ii) Bhangar and Khadar

Answer:

(iii) Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats

Answer:

4. Describe how the Himalayas were formed.

Answer:  The Earth's crust was initially a single, giant super-continent called Pangaea. Its northern part was the Angaraland and the southern part was the Gondwana land. The convectional currents split the crust into a number of pieces, thus leading to the drifting of the Indo- Australian plate after being separated from the Gondwanaland, towards north. The northward drift resulted in the collision of the plate with the much larger Eurasian Plate. Due to this collision, the sedimentary rocks, which were accumulated in the geosyncline known as the Tethys, were folded to form the mountain system of western Asia and Himalaya.

5. Which are the major physiographic divisions of India? Contrast the relief of the Himalayan region with that of the Peninsular Plateau.

Answer: The physical features of India can be grouped under the following physiographic divisions

a. The Himalayan Mountains b. The Northern Plains

c. The Peninsular Plateau

e. The Coastal Plains f. The Islands

The Himalayas and Peninsular Plateau are different in the following ways:

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

Answer: The Northern Plains have been formed by the interplay of the three major river systems, namely– the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra along with their tributaries. These plains are made up of alluvial soil deposited in a vast basin lying at the foothills of the Himalaya over millions of years. These are fertile plains. They spread over an area of 7 lakh sq. km. These plains are about 2400 Km long and 240 to 320 Km broad. It is a densely populated physiographic division of India.

Climate and fertile alluvial soils make the plains suitable for agriculture and the availability of water is in abundance through the year.

The northern plain is divided into three sections, i.e. the Punjab Plain, the Ganga Plain and the Brahmaputra Plain.

1. The Punjab plains are formed by the Indus and its tributaries; like Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.
2. Ganga plains extend between Ghaggar and Tista rivers. The Indian states Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, part of Jharkhand and West Bengal lie in Ganga plains.
3. Brahmaputra Plains form the eastern part of the northern plain and lies in Assam.

1. Bhabar is the gently sloping coarse alluvial zone below the Siwalik Hills.
2. In the Terai region, the streams reappear and make a wet, swampy and marshy.
3. Bhangar is the largest part of the northern plain and is composed of the oldest alluvial soil. The soil of this region is locally known as kankar and is composed of calcareous deposits.
4. The floodplains formed by younger alluvium are called Khadar. This region is very suitable for intensive agricultural activities.

7. Write short notes on the following.

(i) The Indian Desert

Answer: The Indian Desert or the Thar Desert lies towards the western margins of the Aravali Hills. Its undulating plains are covered with the sand. This region gets scanty rainfall, which is less than 150 mm in a year. The climate found here is arid and vegetation is scanty. Luni is the only large river, but some streams appear during rainy season.

(ii) The Central Highlands

(iii) The Island groups of India

Ans.  India has two main island groups, namely Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Lakshadweep Islands:   They consist of many small islands located opposite the Malabar Coast of Kerala in the Arabian Sea. The islands of this group are formed of coral deposits called ‘atolls’. In Malayalam, they refer to their ring or ‘horse-shoe’ shape. They cover small area of 32 sq km. Kavaratti is the administrative headquarters of Lakshadweep. This island group has great diversity of flora and fauna.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands: The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are bigger in size and has more number of islands. There are about 200 islands in the Andaman group and 19 islands in the Nicobar group. There is great diversity of flora and fauna in this group of islands too. These islands lie close to the Equator and experience equatorial climate and have thick forest cover. India’s only active volcano is found on Barren Island in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

MAP SKILLS

On an outline map of India show the following.

(i) Mountain and hill ranges – the Karakoram, the Zaskar, the Patkai Bum, the Jaintia, the Vindhya Range, the Aravali, and the Cardamom Hills.

(ii) Peaks – K2, Kanchenjunga, Nanga Parbat and the Anai Mudi.

(iii) Plateaus- Chotanagpur and Malwa

(iv) The Indian Desert, Western Ghats, Lakshadweep Islands

Locate the peaks, passes, ranges, plateaus, hills, and duns hidden in the puzzle.Try to find where these features are located. You may start your search horizontally, vertically or diagonally.

Answer