Himalayas

The shiwalik ranges.The Lesser Himalayas.

Himadri.Trans Himalayas.

Consists of

Four Parallel Ranges.

Formation of Himalayas.

The Shiwalik Ranges.Siwalik Range, also called Siwalik Hills or Outer Himalayas, Siwalik also spelled Shiwalik, sub-Himalayan range of the northern Indian subcontinent. It extends west-northwestward for more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from the Tista River in Sikkim state, northeastern India, through Nepal, across northwestern India, and into northern Pakistan. Though only 10 miles (16 km) wide in places, the range has an average elevation of 3,000 to 4,000 feet (900 to 1,200 metres). It rises abruptly from the plain of the Indus and Ganges (Ganga) rivers (south) and parallels the main range of the Himalayas(north), from which it is separated by valleys. The Siwaliks are sometimes considered to include the southern foothills of the Assam Himalayas, which extend eastward for 400 miles (640 km) across southern Bhutan to the bend of the Brahmaputra River.

The Lesser Himalayas.To the north of the Shiwaliks and separated from them by a fault zone, the Lesser Himalayas (also called the Lower or Middle Himalayas) rise to heights ranging from 11,900 to 15,100 feet (3,600 to 4,600 metres). Their ancient name is Himachal (Sanskrit: hima, “snow,” and acal, “mountain”). These mountains are composed of both ancient crystalline and geologically young rocks, sometimes in a reversed stratigraphic sequence because of thrust faulting. The Lesser Himalayas are traversed by numerous deep gorges formed by swift-flowing streams (some of them older than the mountains themselves), which are fed by glaciers and snowfields to the north.

Himadri.Great Himalayas, also called Higher Himalayas or Great Himalaya Range, highest and northernmost section of the Himalayan mountain ranges. It extends southeastward across northern Pakistan, northern India, and Nepal before trending eastward across Sikkim state (India) and Bhutan and finally turning northeastward across northern Arunachal Pradesh state (India); throughout nearly all of its length it adjoins to the north the southern Tibet Autonomous Region of China. The range’s total length is some 1,400 miles (2,300 km), and it has an average elevation of more than 20,000 feet (6,100 metres). The Great Himalayas contain many of the world’s tallest peaks, including (from west to east)Nanga Parbat, Annapurna, Mount Everest, and Kanchenjunga.

Trans Himalayas.Trans-Himalayas, eastward continuation of the most northerly ranges of the Himalayas in the southern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It consists of an ill-defined mountain area about 600 miles (1,000 km) long and 140 miles (225 km) wide in the centre, narrowing to a 20-mile (32-km) width at the eastern and western ends. The Trans-Himalayas, mainly composed of granites and volcanic rocks of Neogene and Paleogene age (i.e., about 2.6 to 65 million years old), are bounded by the Kailas (southwest), Nganglong Kangri (north), and Nyainqêntanglha (southeast) mountain ranges and by the Brahmaputra (Yarlung Zangbo) River (south). Unlike the main Himalayas, the mountains are not divided by deep river gorges and lack a definite alignment. Passes average 17,500 feet (5,330 metres) in height, with the highest being Chargoding Pass (19,308 feet [5,885 metres]). The first recorded European sighting of the mountains was that of the Swedish explorer Sven Anders Hedin in 1906.