The Peninsular Plateau

 

Peninsular Plateau

 

The Peninsular Plateau is also known as Plateau of Peninsular India.It is roughly triangular in shape.It is composed of old crystalline, igneous and metamorphic rocks.It was formed due to the breaking and drifting of the Gondwana land and thus, making it a part of the oldest landmass. 

 

 

Features of the Peninsular Plateau

 

• It covers a total area of about 16 lakh sq kilometers.

• The average height of the plateau is 600-900m above sea level

• Most of the peninsular rivers flow west to east indicating its general slope.

• Narmada-Tapti are the exceptions which flow from east to west in a rift

• The Peninsular Plateau is one of the oldest landforms of earth.

• Peninsular Plateau is an aggregation of several smaller plateaus, hill ranges interspersed with river basins and valleys.

The plateau has broad shallow valleys and rounded hills.This plateau consists of two broad divisions which consists of other small plateaus.

 

•  The Central Highlands

1. The Malwa Plateau

2. The Bundelkhand

3. The Baghelkhand

4. The Chotanagpur Plateau

  

•  The Deccan Plateau. 

1. The Deccan Trap

2. The Western Ghats

3. The Eastern Ghats

4. The North-East Extensions

  

The part of the Peninsular plateau lying to the north of the Narmada river covering a major area of the Malwa plateau is known as the Central Highlands. The Deccan Plateau is a triangular landmass that lies to the south of the river Narmada.

 

Features of Central Highlands

 

• It is also known as the Madhya Bharat Pathar or Madhya Bharat plateau

• It is to the east of the Marwar or Mewar Upland.

• Most of plateau comprises the basin of the Chambal river which flows in a rift valley.

• The Kali Sindh, flowing from Rana Prataph Sagar, The Banas flowing through Mewar plateau and The Parwan and the Parbati flowing from Madhya Pradesh are its main tributaries.

• It is a rolling plateau with rounded hills composed of sandstone. Thick forests grow here.

 

 

Bundelkhand Upland

 

• Yamuna river to the north, Madhya Bharat Pathar to the west, Vindhyan Scarplands to the east and south-east and Malwa Plateau to the south.

• Spreads over five districts of Uttar Pradesh and four districts of Madhya Pradesh.

• Average elevation of 300-600 m above sea level, this area slopes down from the Vindhyan Scrap toward the Yamuna River.

• The area is marked by a chain of hillocks (small hill) made of granite and sandstone.

 

Malwa Plateau

 

• This plateau has two systems of drainage; one towards the Arabian sea (The Narmada, the Tapi and the Mahi), and the other towards the Bay of Bengal (Chambal and Betwa, joining the Yamuna).

• In the north it is drained by the Chambal and many of its right bank tributaries like the Kali, the Sindh and the Parbati. It also includes the upper courses of the Sindh, the Ken and the Betwa.

• It is composed of extensive lava flow and is covered with black soils

 

 

Baghelkhand

 

• North of the Maikal Range is the Baghelkhand.

• Made of limestones and sandstones on the west and granite in the east.

• It is bounded by the Son river on the north.

• The central part of the plateau acts as a water divide between the Son drainage system in the north and the Mahanadi river system in the south.

 

 

Chotanagpur Plateau

 

• Chotanagpur plateau represents the north-eastern projection of the Indian Peninsula.

• Mostly in Jharkhand, northern part of Chhattisgarh and Purulia district of West Bengal.

• The Son river flows in the north-west of the plateau and joins the Ganga.

• The average elevation of the plateau is 700 m above sea level.

• This plateau is composed mainly of Gondwana rocks.

 

 

Features of Deccan Plateau

 

• It covers an area of about five lakh sq km.

• It is triangular in shape and is bounded by the Satpura and the Vindhya in the north-west, the Mahadev and the Maikal in the north, the Western Ghats in the west and the Eastern Ghats in the east.

• Its average elevation is 600 m.

• It rises to 1000 m in the south but dips to 500 m in the north.

• Its general slope is from west to east which is indicated by the flow of its major rivers.

• Rivers have further subdivided this plateau into a number of smaller plateaus.

 

 

The Deccan Trap

 

• It is the Northwestern part of the deccan Plateau which is made up of lava flows.

• This is a large igneous province located on the deccan plateau of west - central India

• It is one of the largest volcanic features on the earth.

 

The Western Ghats

 

• The Western Ghats are the western edge of the deccan plateau

• They lie parallel to the western coast

 

The Eastern Ghats

 

• The Eastern Ghats are the eastern edge of the deccan plateau.

• It has an average elevation of 600m

• The eastern ghats are older than the western ghats.

 

 

The North - East Extensions

 

•  Karbi - Meghalaya Plateau is in fact an extension of the main Indian Peninsular Plateau

• It is originally two different plateaus - Karbi Anglong Plateau and Meghalaya Plateau