Mountain ranges in India

 

Mountains are among the world’s most spectacular landscapes: stunning to look at, challenging to climb, and frequently desolate and forbidding. If you’re at the mountain tops, it’s challenging to be more exposed to the environment. A mountainous region is a collection of mountains interconnected by high land. Mountain ranges are composed of a group of peaks generated by the same method at the same period in the earth’s history. 

• Himalayan Range
• Karakoram Range
• Eastern Mountain Range/ Purvanchal Range
• Satpura and Vindhyan Ranges
• Aravalli Range
• Western Ghats
• Eastern Ghats

Himalayan mountain ranges :

The Himalayas are young fold mountains formed by the convergence of two tectonic plates. They constitute one of the 5 physiographic divisions of India. Along with acting as a grand barrier guarding India’s frontiers, they also act as a dividing range between the Tibetan Plateau in the north and India in the south.

The Himalayan Mountain ranges are considered as the abode of the mountains, and the youngest and highest mountain range in the world. The Himalayan Mountains extend up to 2,500 km in length. It stretches from Jammu and Kashmir in the north to Arunachal Pradesh in the east.

Karakoram range :

 Karakoram is a mountain range in the Kashmir region spanning the border of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwestern extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range falls under the jurisdiction of Gilgit-Baltistan, which is located in Pakistan. Its highest (and the world's second-highest) peak, K2, which is the world’s second-largest summit at about 8,611 metres. In Afghanistan, the Hindu-Kush Range would be a continuation of the Karakoram Range. Karakoram has the most ice sheets, with the exception of the Polar Areas. The world’s second and third-biggest glaciers, the Biaflo and the Siachen glacier are found in Tibet.

Eastern mountain range :

Eastern mountain ranges are also known as Purvanchal ranges.

The Purvanchal Range, is a vast mountain range located in the northeastern states of India, including Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura. It extends from the easternmost part of India, near the Brahmaputra River, to the southern part of the region, bordering Myanmar (Burma).

The structure of the Purvanchal Range is complex and primarily composed of folded and faulted rock formations. It is part of the larger Himalayan mountain system, which was formed as a result of the collision between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.

Satpura range :

In the central part of India, there are hills known as the Satpura Range. The range begins in eastern Gujarat and extends through Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra's border to Chhattisgarh. The Indo-Gangetic plain in northern India and the Deccan Plateau in the south are separated by this range, which runs parallel to the Vindhya Range to the north. A tall mountain range, the Satpura Range is bordered by the Narmada Graben in the north and the considerably smaller but adjacent Tapi Graben in the south.

Vindhya range :

The Vindhya range is a lengthy series of mountains in central India that forms the southern edge of the central uplands. The river spans more than 675 miles, beginning in Gujarat in the west, passing through Madhya Pradesh, and ending in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, where it merges into the Ganges River.

Towards Bihar, the range breaks into two sections: one section runs north of the Son River, and the other section runs between the Son and Narmada Rivers, finally reaching the Satpura Range at the Maikala Range or the Amarkantak Plateau.

• The Vindhya Mountain Range in central India is a very ancient mountain range. It is one of India's seven major sacred mountain ranges.
• These hills are less craggy and smaller in size than the others.
• They really serve as a dividing line between the Indo-Gangetic plains and the Deccan area of India.
• The Vindhya Range is a fragmented range of hills that forms the southern escarpment of India's central highland.
• These are non-tectonic mountains generated by the downhill faulting of the Narmada Rift Valley to their south, rather than plate collision.
• It stretches 675 miles (1,086 km) from Gujarat state on the west to about on the Ganges (Ganga) River valley in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
• The mountains run along the southern edge of the Malwa Plateau before splitting into two branches: the Kaimur Range, which runs north of the Son River into western Bihar state
• The southern branch, which runs between the upper reaches of the Son and Narmada rivers to meet the Satpura Range in the Maikala Range (or Amarkantak Plateau).
• At elevations ranging from 1,500 to 3,500 feet (450 to 1,100 metres), the Vindhya Range gives rise to the primary southern tributaries of the Ganges-Yamuna basin, which include the Chambal, Betwa, Ken, and Tons rivers.
• The mountains are flat-topped and plateau-like due to their horizontal sandstone nature.
• In the correct geological sense, the Vindhyas do not form a single range: the hills known as the Vindhyas do not lay along an anticlinal or synclinal ridge.
• The Vindhya range is a disjointed network of mountain ridges, hill ranges, highlands, and plateau escarpments.

Aravalli range :

Aravalli Range, hill system of northern India, running northeasterly for 350 miles (560 km) through Rajasthan state. Isolated rocky offshoots continue to just south of Delhi. The series of peaks and ridges, with breadths varying from 6 to 60 miles (10 to 100 km), are generally between 1,000 and 3,000 feet (300 and 900 metres) in elevation. The system is divided into two sections: the Sambhar-Sirohi ranges, taller and including Guru Peak on Mount Abu, the highest peak in the Aravalli Range (5,650 feet [1,722 metres]); and the Sambhar-Khetri ranges, consisting of three ridges that are discontinuous. The Aravalli Range is rich in natural resources (including minerals) and serves as a check to the growth of the western desert. It gives rise to several rivers, including the Banas, Luni, Sakhi, and Sabarmati. Though heavily forested in the south, it is generally bare and thinly populated, consisting of large areas of sand and stone and of masses of rose-coloured quartzite.

Western Ghats :

Older than the Himalaya mountains, the mountain chain of the Western Ghats represents geomorphic features of immense importance with unique biophysical and ecological processes. The site’s high montane forest ecosystems influence the Indian monsoon weather pattern. Moderating the tropical climate of the region, the site presents one of the best examples of the monsoon system on the planet. It also has an exceptionally high level of biological diversity and endemism and is recognized as one of the world’s eight ‘hottest hotspots’ of biological diversity. The forests of the site include some of the best representatives of non-equatorial tropical evergreen forests anywhere and are home to at least 325 globally threatened flora, fauna, bird, amphibian, reptile and fish species.

Eastern Ghats :

The Eastern Ghats, a majestic mountain range beautifies the eastern coast of India .

The Eastern Ghats, also known as Purva Ghat in Hindi, are a discontinuous range of mountains along the eastern coast of India.

The Eastern Ghats stretch along the eastern coast of India, running parallel to the Bay of Bengal. They extend from the northern state of Odisha, through Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu in the south.

The Eastern Ghats span approximately 1,700 kilometers (1,100 miles) from north to south.

The Eastern Ghats comprise various hill ranges and plateaus, including the Nallamala Hills, Shevaroy Hills, Palakkad Gap, and Mahendragiri. These hills are interspersed with fertile valleys and river basins.