South Asia:South Asia:Landforms and ResourcesLandforms and Resources

South Asia:

Mountains and Plateaus

• The most noticeable terrain feature of the subcontinent is the Himalaya Mountains.

• The Himalayas were formed about 50 million years ago.

• Back when Pangaea broke apart, India would charging to the north and rammed into Asia.

• That’s one reason it’s sometimes called the subcontinent, because it’s like a continent in itself.

• When India hits Asia, the Indian plate subducts beneath the Eurasian plate, but the crust is forced upwards, producing the Himalayas, the world’s tallest mountain chain.

• In fact, the Himalayas are still growing at about 5 mm per year because the Indian plate is pushing in at about 67 mm per year.

• The Himalayas, of course, are where Mt. Everest is.

It’s 29,035 feet high – that’s 5.5 miles.

• Hindu Kush Mountains

• Along the western end of the Himalayas. Provide a barrier between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Former Taliban and possibly even Osama bin Laden hang out in the Hindu Kush.

• Khyber Pass is here which is a traditional route of invasion for everybody from Alexander the Great to the British.

• At its narrowest, it’s just 15 yards wide.

Khyber Pass, looking from Afghanistan to Pakistan

• Other mountain ranges:

• Vindhya

• Western and Eastern Ghats

• The arid Deccan Plateau lies in the middle. It’s arid because the mountains block moisture.

Rivers, Deltas, and Plains

• South Asia has three main rivers: the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra.

Indus

Brahmaputra

Ganges

• The rivers carry a great deal of alluvial soil (silt) that gets deposited on the alluvial plains and makes for an exceptionally fertile area.

• These plains support a massive population. Most of India’s 1 billion people live around here.

Offshore Islands

• Sri Lanka

• Quite tropical, with a mountain chain in the center and rivers flowing from them.

• Sri Lanka is its own country and not part of India.

• The Maldives

• A collection of 1,200 islands that make up an archipelago (a collection of islands).

• The islands are actually the tops of volcanoes surrounded by coral to make up smaller atolls.

• They’re short too. The highest point of the island country is 7.5 feet above sea level.

• The total land area is only 115 square miles, but has 400 miles of coastline.

• Of the 1,200 islands, only about 200 are inhabited.

• A better look at the atolls.

Natural Resources

• There’s a lot that’s dependent on water and soil.

• Those rivers and their soil provide for a lot of irrigation and rich farmland.

• That makes for a lot of agriculture as well as river-based products like fish in addition to sea fishing.

• The navigable rivers and the coastlines are good for transportation.

• Forests

• The timber industry is big.

• Rain forests produce sal, teak, bamboo, and sandalwood.

• Highland forests produce pine, fir, and others.

• Deforestation is a big problem, however.

• Minerals

• Plenty of ‘em.

• Coal, iron, uranium, diamonds, rubies, sapphires.