1. India : Relief Features (Key Words)

10th Class E/M, Social Studies

Paper - I

1. India : Relief Features 

Key Words

v Standard Meridian: It is the meridian (longitude) which is used to describe time of a country, it should be the same for the whole country and all the places in a country should follow this time. The standard meridian of India is 82⁰.30¹ Eastern Longitude and it passes through the center of our country.

v Angara Land: 220 million years ago, there was a massive super continent called Pangaea. It was broke up into two land masses. 1. Angara Land 2. Gondwana Land. Angara Land was the northern part of Pangaea.

v  Gondwana Land: Southern part of Pangaea was called Gondwana Land. It was also divided into several continents. The Indian Peninsula was part of Gondwana Land.

v  Peninsula: It is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to main land. Ex: Indian peninsula, Italian peninsula

v  Hill Station: A hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than nearby plains or valley. Hill stations have a cool climate even during the peak summer months.

v  Duns: The valleys lying between the Lesser Himalayas and Shivalik ranges are called Duns.

  Ex:  Dehra Dun, Kotli Dun and Patli Dun

v  Purvanchal Range: The purvanchal mountains are a sub – mountain range of the Himalayas in northeast India. These ranges are called different names in different states.

v  Doab: The fertile land between the two rivers is called Doab

B Bhabar: The Himalayan rivers, while flowing down, deposit gravel and pebble sediments in a narrow belt 8 to 16 Kms width found parallel to hills of Shivaliks. This feature is known as Bhabar. Bhabar is porous in nature.

v  Terai: Smaller rivers and streams flow underground through Bhabar and re appear in lower areas and form a swampy and marshy region called Terai. The Terai had thick forest and rich variety of wild life.

v  Leeward: It is the direction downwind from the point of reference. The leeward region of mountains generally remains dry as compared to the windward.

v  Coastal Plains: A coastal plain is flat, low – lying land adjacent to a sea coast.

v  Coral:  It is a small calcium secreting marine polyp that occurs in colonies, mainly in warm shallow sea water. It forms the Coral Reefs.