2. final- hill typology overview

8/17/2019 2. Final- Hill Typology Overview

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Overview of Hill Typology

in India

Submitted by

11606, 11620,

11630, 11643

Submitted to

Dr. Minakshi Jain


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Contents

•

Indian Subcontinent Continental Drift

Geological processes

Geological timescale of the Indian Subcontinent

•Hills/ Mountain ranges in India

Types & location of ranges

Features – climate, soil, vegetation, environmental issues,

etc.

•Himalayas

Formation

Location

Eastern Himalayas

Western Himalayas

Greater, middle and lower Himalayas

Environmental issues

Conservation & Development

Present scenario


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Indian subcontinent

• Continental drift

According to the “Theory ofContinental Drift”, Earth was

composed of several giant plates

called tectonic plates on which

lie the continents and theoceans. The continents were

originally a single mass have

drifted apart from each other

over a period of million years.

• About 90 million years ago, during the late

Cretaceous Period, the Indian Plate began movingnorth and collided with Asia. The collision with the

Eurasian Plate along the modern border between

India and Nepal formed the orogenic belt that

created the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas


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Geological processes

The action of natural geological processes on

the earth’s surface produces a variety of

landforms.

• Glacial landforms are formed by the action of

ice

• Fluvial landforms are formed by the action of

water

• Aeolian landforms are formed by the action of

wind

• Weathering causes physical and chemical

breakdown of rocks

• Earthquakes generate landforms through

tectonic and volcanic processes• Coastal landforms are formed by the action of

sea waves along the coast


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Geological timescale

Hadean

Archean

Proterozoic

Paleozoic

Mesozoic

Cenozoic

4.5

Ga

3.8

Ga

2.5Ga

542 Ma

251 Ma

65 Ma

2

Ma

Ma- Million Years

Ga- Billion Years


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Physiographic regions of India

The Indian peninsula is uniquely positioned with a

diversity of geographical features.The major hill ranges in India

include

1. Himalayan range

– Western Himalayas

– Eastern Himalayas

2. Vindhya range

3. Aravali range

4. Satpura range

5. Ghats

– Western Ghats

– Eastern Ghats


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Aravali Range

•

The Aravali Range is the oldest mountain range in India,running across Rajasthan from northeast to southwest

direction, extending approximately 800 km (500 mi).

•The northern end of the range continues as isolated hills

and rocky ridges into Haryana, ending near Delhi.

•The highest peak in this range is Guru Shikhar at Mount

Abu, rising to 1,722 m (5,650 ft), lying near the border

with Gujarat.

•The Aravali Range is the eroded stub of an ancient fold

mountain.

•The range rose in a Precambrian event called the

Aravali –Delhi orogen.

•The range joins two of the ancient segments that make

up the Indian craton, the Marwar segment to the

northwest of the range, and the Bundelkhand segment

to the southeast.


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Vindhya Range

•The Vindhya range runs across

most of central India, extending

1,050 km.•The average elevation of these

hills is from 300 to 600 m (980 to

1,970 ft) and rarely goes above

700 metres (2,300 ft).

•They are believed to have been

formed by the wastes created by

the weathering of the ancient

Aravali Mountains.

•Geographically, it separates northern India from

southern India.

•The western end of the range lies in eastern Gujarat,

near its border with Madhya Pradesh, and runs east and

north, almost meeting the Ganges at Mirzapur.


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Satpura Range

•The Satpura Range begins in eastern

Gujarat near the Arabian Sea coast and runs

east across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh

and Chhattisgarh.•It extends 900 km (560 mi) with many

peaks rising above 1,000 m (3,300 ft).

•It is triangular in shape, with its apex at

Ratnapuri and the two sides being parallel tothe Tapti and Narmada rivers.

•It runs parallel to the Vindhya Range, which

lies to the north, and these two east west

ranges divide the Indo –Gangetic plain fromthe Deccan Plateau located north of River

Narmada.


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Western Ghats

•The Western Ghats or Sahyadri mountains run along the

western edge of India's Deccan Plateau and separate it

from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea.

•The range runs approximately1,600 km from south of the

Tapti River near the Gujarat –Maharashtra border and

across Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil

Nadu to the southern tip of the Deccan peninsula.•The average elevation is around 1,000 m (3,300 ft). Anai

Mudi in the Anai malai Hills 2,695 m (8,842 ft) in Kerala is

the highest peak in the Western Ghats.


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Features

•All major rivers of the peninsula originate in these

Ghats and much of the climate of central India isregulated by this mountain range.

•They have majorly black soil, red soil, laterite soil,

saline and alkaline soil

•They are home to tropical moist evergreen

forests which have climbers, lianas, epiphytes,

shrubs and dense canopy trees. Climatic regionsinclude tropical savanna, semi arid steppe and

tropical rainforest.


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•

There is a spurt in construction activity and the illegalextraction of construction materials from river beds has

caused severe environmental damage.

• The deforestation of slopes for commercial planting of

monoculture crops such as banana, rubber, etc. has

changed drainage patterns leading to increased run off

and loss of topsoil

Reservoir of the Anayirangal Dam,

Munnar, Kerala


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Conservation and Development

• The construction of hydro-electric

projects, the alignment of highways

and railways and tourism related

development need to be an integral

part of ecologically sensitive regional

planning based on the physical realitiesof the terrain, and a scientific

assessment of the true value of the

environmental, cultural, and aesthetic

resource represented by theselandscapes

• The Ghats have been assigned to three

levels of Ecological Sensitivity to its

different region, to enable effective

evaluation of the environmental impact

and the suitability or otherwise of

major construction initiatives in the

region.


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Eastern Ghats

• The Eastern Ghats are a discontinuous range of

mountains, which have been eroded and vivisected by

the four major rivers of southern India, the Godavari,

Mahanadi, Krishna, and Kaveri.

• These mountains extend from West Bengal to Orissa,

Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, along the coast and

parallel to the Bay of Bengal.

• Though not as tall as the Western Ghats, some of itspeaks are over 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in height.

• The Nilgiri hills in Tamil Nadu lies at the junction of the

Eastern and Western Ghats. Arma Konda (1,680 m

(5,510 ft)) in Andhra Pradesh is the tallest peak in

Eastern Ghats.


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Features

• In geological timescale the Eastern

Ghats are older than their Western

counterparts.

• They receive both the northwest and

southwest monsoon rains. They arewell vegetated and fertile.

• Alluvium soil, red soil, black soil and

laterite soil can be found here


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•

The landscape of the region is in aprocess of change, being affected by

the impact of developmental activities

associated with power projects,

industry, infrastructure and theexpansion of major urban centers as

well as extensive urbanization.

• Regions such as Niyamgiri hills (Orissa)

are being targeted for the exploitationof their buried mineral wealth.

• In more remote parts of the region,

native forests continue to be replaced

by commercial plantations andagriculture. This depletes biodiversity

and increases the risk of soil erosion.


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• The catchment of rivers extends over a vast arc

stretching from the Nilgiris in the south to theeastern extreme of the Satpura range.

• Water shed management to conserve soil and

water is a foundation for environmentally

sensitive landscape planning at both site and

regional scale.

• The region’s indigenous system of agriculture

have fallen into disuse and need to be revived

after study and research, to be incorporatedinto contemporary system of sustainable

management.


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Himalayas

• The Himalayas comprise of various high

peaks, the highest among them being

Mount Everest (8848 mts) and in IndiaMt. Kanchenjunga (8586 mts)

• The Himalayas run along the north border

of the country covering a total length of

2400 km. The range coordinates are from28°N and 82°E


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Formation of the Himalayas

• The Himalayas, which stretch some 2,900

kilometres between India, Pakistan, China, and

Nepal, is the world’s tallest mountain range.

• Millions of years ago, these mountain peaks

didn’t exist. The Asian continent was mostly

intact, but India was an island floating off thecoast of Australia.

• Around 220 million years ago,

around the time that Pangea

was breaking apart, Indiastarted to move northwards.

It travelled some 6,000 km

before it finally collided with

Asia around 40 to 50 millionyears ago.

Then, part of the Indian landmass

began to go beneath the Asian one,

moving the Asian landmass up,

which resulted in the rise of the Himalayas.


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• It’s thought that India’s coastline was

denser and more firmly attached to

the seabed, which is why Asia’s softersoil was pushed up rather than the

other way around.

• The mountain range grew very rapidly

in comparison to most mountainranges, and it’s actually still growing

today.

• The continued growth in the

Himalayas is likely due to the Indian

tectonic plate still moving slowly but

surely northward.


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Location

• The Himalayas stand like a mighty wall all along

the northern border of India. Their averagewidth varies about 240 km to 400 km with a

mean elevation of about 6,000 m. The Himalayas

cover an area of about 1 million sq. km. The

Himalayas form the largest/biggest and also

highest mountain range of the world.

• The Himalayas comprise of various high peaks,

the highest among them being Mount Everest

(8848 mts) and in India Mt. Kanchenjunga (8586

mts)

• The Himalayas run along the north border of the

country covering a total length of 2400 km. The

range coordinates are from 28°N and 82°E


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Eastern Himalayan Range

• The Patkai, or Purvanchal, are situated near India's

eastern border with Burma.• They were created by the same tectonic processes

which led to the formation of the Himalayas.

• The physical features of the Patkai mountains are

conical peaks, steep slopes and deep valleys.

• The Patkai ranges are not as rugged or tall as the

Himalayas.

• There are three hill ranges that come under the

Patkai:

• the Patkai –Bum,

• the Garo –Khasi –Jaintia

• and the Lushai hills.


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Features

• The range experiences Polar

climate. Precipitation and

humidity are very high in

the forest regions due to

the north east monsoon being dominant.• The range is characterized by mountain and

alluvial soils.

• The area is ecologically rich in natural and crop

related biodiversity. It hosts globally important

plant species and communities.

EASTERN HIMALAYAN RANGE


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• Climate change has affected the region, there is a

tendency towards a shifting monsoon season and

lack of winter precipitation. Heavy rains render theregion susceptible to weathering and leaching of

nutrients from top soil.

• Extensive areas of forests have been cleared over

the last century to make room for tea plantation.There is also concern about the use of toxic

pesticides in the gardens

• Annual floods remain a major concern. The river

swells and changes course, invading land on either

side.

• The region is ecologically fragile and suffers threats

to its environmental from deforestation, coal

mining operations, crude oil exploration, industries,

hydro power plants and insensitive development ofmilitary contonments.

Tea Gardens, Darjeeling


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Conservation and Development

•

There is an urgent need for regionallandscape planning on an ecological

basis to determine safest locations for

infrastructure and settlement.

• Policies for increasing forest cover toreduce run-off from river catchments

together with watershed management

would need to be an integral part of

environmentally sensitive regionalplanning.

• At the local level, site planning for

development of large areas needs to

protect sites from soil erosion andlandslides by storm water management

systems and landscape engineering like

slope grading, etc.


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Western himalayan range

The Himalayas can also be divided into four

latitudinal mountain ranges:

1) Tethys Himalaya or the Trans-Himalaya or

Tibetan Himalaya.

2) Greater Himalaya or Himadri or Himagiri.

3) Lesser Himalaya or Middle Himalaya or

Himachal or Antagiri.4) Siwalik or Outer Himalaya or Upagiri.

Western Himalayan Range


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• 1. Tethys Himalaya Range

• The Tethys Himalayan Range lies on the extreme northalso known as Tibetan Himalaya merges with the Tibetanplateau.

• The average height is 5500 to 6000 meter and the highestpeak is Leo Pergel (7420 m).

• 2. The Greater Himalayan Range

• The Greater Himalayan range is the highest mountainrange of the Himalayan system.

• This always remains snow-covered and is generallyreferred to as ‘Himadri.’ Its average altitude exceeds6,000 meters and its average width is 25 kilometers.

• 3. The Lesser Himalayan Range

•About 2 crore years ago at the time of second diastrophicmovement this Middle or Himachal Himalaya originated.

• This is located in the south of the Greater Himalayas andruns parallel to it in the east-west direction.

• Its average height is from 3,500 to 4,500 meters and it isnearly 80 kms wide on an average.

•

Its important branches are the Nag Tibba, Muoouri, PirPanjal and Dhauladhar.

• 4. The Sub-Himalayas or the Siwalik Mountain Range

• The southern-most range of the Himalayas is the Siwalikrange whose height varies from 900 to 1,500 meters.

• Its width varies from 10 to 50 kms. Its south slope issteeper than northern slope. The last organic movementgave birth to this Siwalik.


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Western Himalayan Range

• The Himalayan range is further divided into different

ranges:

• Pir Panjal Range: This is the largest range of the lower

Himalayas and runs from the southeast to northwest.

The Pir Panjal pass lies to the west of Srinagar and

comprises Banihal Pass, Sinthal Pass, Rohtang Pass ,

Munawar Pass and Haji Pir Pass.

• Ladakh Range: This range extends from the northern

side of Leh to the Tibetan border. It comprises Digar La

Pass and Khardung La Pass.

• Zanskar Range: This range is spread over an area that

starts from southeastern boundaries of Kashmir and

extends to the eastern limit of Baltistan. Singge La Pass,Runrang La Pass, Fotu (Fatu) La Pass, Marbal Pass and

Zoji La Pass are some of the passes of this range.

• Dhauladhar Range: This range rises from the plains of

India to the north of Mandi and Kangra. Hanuman ji Ka

Tiba or the 'White Mountain' is the highest peak of this

range.

• Karakoram Range: This range separates India from the

Central Asia and is also one of the laeger ranges of

Asia. It is home to the second highest peak of the

world, K2.


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FEATURES

• The range acts as a barrier to the southwest

monsoon coming from the Bay of Bengal.• It is the main watershed for the origin of river

Indus and the Ganga, and from the north in the

Tibet region it is also the origin of the river

Brahmaputra.

• Climate ranges from tropical at the base of the

mountains to one of permanent ice and snow at

the highest elevations.

• Physiographical complexity exerts a considerable

influence over the weather patterns in the region,as a result there is a considerable climatic

diversity, a variety of microclimatic conditions and

a unique range of ecosystems.

• Soils type include mountain soils and alluvial soils.

Ladakh Valley


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FLORA

• Nearly one third of the geographic

area of the himalayan province, is

covered with forests in various states

of ecological health.

• Nearly 30% of the forest species

found in the himalayas are not found

anywhere else in the world. Theseinclude oaks, pines , rhododendrons

and numerous lacuraceous species.

• The himalayan forests have a

tremendous variety of flora – from

the dense evergreen tropical forests

of the torrid bhabhar – siwalik belts

in the south through mixed

deciduous trees with grasslands in

the middle mountains to the sparsearctic type vegetation in the northern

belt.

• The shorea (saal) in the tropical

lowlands , the pine (chirpine) at the

lower elevations of the middle

mountains and the cedar (deodar)

and silver firs in the higher

elevations.

Oak tree

Rhododendron

tree

Pine tree


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• The forests of the siwalikterrane are dominatedby saal (shorea robusta) ,khair (acacia catechu) ,

haldu (adina cordifolia)and sain (Terminaliatomentosa) along withinfinite varities of shrubsand grasses.

•In the lower altitude ofthe lesser himalayas , thechirpine (pinusroxburghii) grows on dryslopes with poorconditions of soil, whileforests of oaks (quercusleucotrichophora), alder(alnus nepalensis) etc.cover moist slopes withgood soil.

• Higher altitude of thelesser himalayanmountains have forestscharacterized by kharsuoak ( quercus

semecarpifolia) , bluepine (pinus wallichii)etc.

saal (shorearobusta)

chirpine (pinus

roxburghii)

kharsu oak ( quercus

semecarpifolia)


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• Extreme climatic events like monsoon cloudbursts, winter

hailstorms, land slides and earthquakes are majorconcerns along with natural phenomena like slope

movement, high seismic activity, glacial lake outbursts,

floods, erosion and sedimentation.

• Most hill towns are undergoing rapid growth. Excessive

and largely unregulated land development has resulted indeforestation, loss of habitat, reduction in biodiversity

and pollution of natural water resources .

• Quarrying, together with the unmanaged disposal of

quarry and development waste has destroyed fertile top

soil in these areas.

RAPID GROWTH OF SHIMLA IN SANJAULI AREA


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• Development in hill areas should respect the scale and

ecological fragility of their setting, and take into account the

traditions and character of the place.

• The landscape setting should form the basis for planning in

these areas, with the objective of improving socio-economic

conditions of development and urbanization within a

framework to conserve the unique natural scenery of themountains.

• The relationship between tourism and environment requires

careful management so that tourist places remain unspoilt.

• Prevention and control of erosion and landslides is essential

for the maintenance of vegetation cover so as to keep thetopsoil layer intact. The protection of existing natural

vegetation within drainage corridors is vital, along with

planting species suitable for slope stabilization.

MOUNTAINS


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PRESENT SCENARIO

LAND USE:


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Major Threats at present

• Rapid increase in human and livestock

population.

• Deforestation and Degradation of forests.

• Extension of cultivation to marginal and highly

sloping lands.

• Overgrazing of grasslands.

• Adverse soil, physical and chemical

conditions.• Accelerated soil erosion and loss of

productive top soil.

• Siltation of rivers and reservoirs.

•Increasing incidence of landslides.

• Indiscriminate mining and quarrying without

adequate land conservation measures.

• Overexploitation of land for construction of

roads, dams, industrial and tourist facilities.


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Resources

• The Indian Geographical Journal

• Landscape in Architecture, LA Journal Of

Landscape Architecture. Mohammad Shaheer,

Geeta Wahi Dua, Adit Pal.

• Birth of the Himalaya by Roger Bilham

• Dynamic Himalaya by K S Valdiya

• Published by Universities Press (India) Ltd.

• Land Utilization in the Central Himalaya: Problems

and Management Options

• , by Kireet Kumar, P.P. Dhyani, L.M.S. Palni (Indus

Publishing Company)

• Ecology and man in the Himalayas , by A.K Kapoor

and Satwanti Kapoor ( MD Publications).

• The Himalayan Dilemma, by United Nations

University


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

•

Landscape architecture (LA journal of LandscapeArchitecture) - by Mohd. Shaheer, Geeta Wahi Dua,

Aditi Pal.

• Birth of the Himalaya - by Roger Bilham

• Dynamic Himalaya - by K S Valdiya (Published by

Universities Press (India) Ltd.)

• Land Utilization in the Central Himalaya: Problems

and Management Options - by Kireet Kumar, P.P.

Dhyani, L.M.S. Palni (Indus Publishing Company)

• Ecology and man in the Himalayas - by A.K Kapoor

and Satwanti Kapoor ( MD Publications)

• The Himalayan Dilemma, by United Nations

University

• The Indian Geographical Journal

• Bin Zhu et al. Age of Initiation of the India-Asia

Collision in the East-Central Himalaya.

• En.wikipedia.org

• www.britannica.com

•

swapsushias.blogspot.comi i

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