Free Sample Essay on The Northern Mountains

On the northern side, the Himalayan Mountains extend over 2,400 km from west to east. It is from the deep gorge of the Sindh in the west to the southern turning of the Brahamputra in the east.

The Himalayas appear as an arch with its convexity towards South while its extremities have swung south at both of its ends. In the north-west the turned arms appear as the Safed Koh, the Suleiman, and the Kirthar etc. and reach the Pakistani coast. This turning from the main Himalayas is of a hair pin variety.

Another hair pin turning in the north-east is represented by Indo-Burmese Hills, the Arakan Yoma and the Tenasserim.

Some geologists hold a different view. They think that the Himalayas cross the Brahamputra and enter into China.

The southern slope of the Himalayas is steeper than the northern one. It is, therefore, difficult to cross the Himalayas from south to north but easier from the opposite side. These physical features proved to be favourable to China in the Indo- China war 1962.

However, there is one aspect of this slope system which favours India immensely. The southern slopes have perennial ice and snow cover which provides water to India’s rivers after melting in summer season while those rivers which arc on the northern slope arc mostly dry or semi-dry with a few exceptions.

There are some other mountain systems which abut on the Himalayan chain. These mountains, starting from the Pamir in the anticlockwise direction, are the Karakoram, the Kunlun, the Altyn Tajjh, the Tien Shan, the Alay, the Trans Alay, the Hindukush, etc.

The Himalayas can be subdivided in many ways. One is according to the succession of the Himalayan ranges from north to south. Another one is on the basis of the west to east blocks of the Himalayas situated between the descending rivers from the Himalayas.

The Himalayan ranges which extend from the west to the east are parallel to one another. The northern most is called the Great Himalayas, another south of it is the Lesser Himalayas and the southernmost is known as sub-Himalayas. In between them are situated a number of longitudinal valleys’ eroded plateau surface and a variety of relief features.

(1) The Great Himalayas

These were formed nearly 35 million years ago (Oligocene). They are also known as Inner or Central Himalayas.

The core of these mountains is made up of Archaean rocks like Granite, Schists, Gneisses, while sides are made up of sedimentary rocks. In the Alpine Zone (5000 m) rhododendrons, trees with twisted stems, thick scrubs supporting multi-coloured flowers and grass grow.

The average height of the mountain ranges is about 6000 metres. The breadth ranges from the west to the east like a high wall which is about 120-190 km.

Main Peaks and Passes.

The highest peak of the world Mount Everest (Chomolungma) is 8,848 metres high. Other peaks are Kanchanjungha (8,598 m), Dhaulajiri (8,172 m), Nanga Parbat (8,126 m), Nanda Devi (7,817 m), Namcha Barwa (7,756 m). Out of these peaks Everest and the Dhaulagiri are situated in Nepal. All these peaks are snow clad throughout the year.

There are some passes at a very high elevation over 4500 m. previously traders and saints used to cross them but in 1962 the Chinese army used them for launching attack on India. Zojila Pass (3,445 m) connects Srinagar to Leh.

The Karakoram Pass connects Yarkand with India. Shipki Pass helps us to pass into Tibet from Shimla. The Niti Pass takes Indian pilgrims to Mansarover Lake and the Kailash valley.

The Nathu La in the east connects Darjeeling through Chumbi Valley to Tibet. Other passes arc Kbardungla (J.K.), Thagala andLipuLakh (Uttranchal), Nathula andJelepaLa (Sikkim)

The Himalayas have the following functions:

1. They act as climatic barrier between India and China.

2. They act as social and economic barrier between these two countries.

These Himalayas are still rising and are pretty active tectonically.

(2) The Lesser Himalayas (The Himachal)

It is also called the Middle Himalayas or Himachal Himalayas and was born 25 million years ago (Miocene). They have the following main characteristics:

They are parallel to the great Himalayan range and arc about 60-80 km wide. They are composed of metamorphic and unfossiliferous rocks. The height varies from 3500-5000 m. The southern slopes are rugged while, northern have thick growth of vegetation.

The folding and faulting has disturbed the succession of rocks and at places the succession is almost reversed. The folds have been torn off and have shifted in the form of nappes. Many examples of nappe are found in Garhwal, Himachal and Kashmir.

Some branches have emerged out of the great Himalayas and are included in lesser Himalayas like Dhauladhar, Pir Panjal, Najjtiba, Mahabharat range and Mussouri range. These ranges are snow clad and present a majestic view.

There are some tectonic valleys between the great and lesser Himalayas which are long and of large extent. Their origin is related to those plateaus which, earlier to the Himalayas were greatly eroded.

Some of them arc Aksai Chin, Deosai, Depsanjj and Lingzi Tang. These erosional surfaces existed prior to the Himalayas and belong to Cretaceous period (100-130 million years ago). The main examples of the longitudinal valleys are the Kashmir Valley and the Kathmandu Valley.

There are many health resorts and hill stations in the lesser Himalayas like Shimla, Chad, Musoorie, Chakrata, Nainital, Ranikhet, Almora and Darjeeling.

Their scenic beauty and salubrious climate attract people both in summer and winter. Tectonically this area is comparatively undisturbed and is made up of slate, limestone, quartz etc. Fossils arc almost non-existent.

The mountains have coniferous forests. At places, slopes are covered with grass and arc locally called Merg, like Sonmarg, Gulmarg, Tangmarg, Khilenmarg and Khajir.

(3) Tho Sub-Himalayas

They are also known as Siwalik Hills or Outer Himalayas. They consist of foot hills and run from Potwar Plateau to the Brahamputra valley.

They belong to the Tertiary epoch (12 million years ago) of geological history.

The rocks are formed by the deposition of materials eroded in the great and lesser Himalayas.

These are the foothills of the Himalayas which are about 900-1500 m high.

The width is 10-50 km. They are wider in the west but narrower towards the cast. These low hills are made of fluvial deposits like sand, clay and round stones. The northern plain abuts on to them in the south.

There are some valleys between the Siwalik and the Lesser Himalayas which are known as Dun in the west and Duars in the east. Most famous of these valleys are Dehradun, Kothridun, Patlidun, etc.

Dehradun is the most important dun and is situated at a height of 600 m. The other dunes arc Udhampur and Kotli (J & K) and Chaukhamba valley in Uttranchal.

When the Siwaliks were uplifted, the rivers descending from the north were dammed and were converted into lakes. These lakes were filled with sediments and called Dun.