NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Geography Chapter 2 Physical Features of India contains answers to the exercise questions given in ‘Contemporary India’. These solutions will help students for the preparation of CBSE Class 9 SST exam. All the answers are useful for exams as most of the questions are asked from the NCERT textbooks. So, students can study these solutions and score high in their exams.
NCERT Solutions For Class 9 Geography Chapter 2: Physical Features of India PDF
Question 1: Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) A landmass bounded by sea on three sides is referred to as
(a) Coast
(b) Island
(c) Peninsula
(d) none of the above
Answer: (c) Peninsula
(ii) Mountain ranges in the eastern part of India forming its boundary with Myanmar are collectively called as
(a) Himachal
(b) Uttarakhand
(c) Purvanchal
(d) none of the above
Answer: (c) Purvanchal
(iii) The western coastal strip, south of Goa is referred to as
(a) Coromandel
(b) Konkan
(c) Kannad
(d) Northern Circar
Answer: (b) Kannad
(iv) The highest peak in the Eastern Ghats is
(a) Anai Mudi
(b) Kanchenjunga
(c) Mahendragiri
(d) Khasi
Answer: (c) Mahendragiri
Question 2: Answer the following questions briefly.
(i) What is the bhabar?
Answer: The Northern plains can be divided into four regions. The rivers, after descending from the mountains deposit pebbles in a narrow belt of about 8 to 16 km in width lying parallel to the slopes of the Shivalik. It is known as bhabar. All the streams disappear in this bhabar belt.
(ii) Name the three major divisions of the Himalayas from north to south.
Answer: The Great or the Inner Himalayas or the Himadri, the Middle Himalayas or the Himachal, and the Outer Himalayas or the Shivaliks.
(iii) Which plateau lies between the Aravali and the Vindhyan ranges?
Answer: The Malwa plateau lies between the Aravali and the Vindhya Ranges.
(iv) Name the island group of India having coral origin.
Answer: Lakshadweep Islands is the island group of India having coral origin
Question 3: Distinguish between
(i) Bhangar and Khadar
| Bhangar | Khadar |
| These are the older alluvium or old soil and form the largest part of the Northern Plains. | The newer and younger deposits of the flood plains. Renewed every Year. |
| Lies above flood plains of rivers. | Is newer, younger deposit of flood |
| Presents a terrace like feature. | Contains calcerous deposits locally known as Kankar. |
| Less fertile | More fertile |
(ii) Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats
| Western Ghats | Eastern Ghats |
| Lies parallel to the Western Coast. | Lies parallel to the Eastern Coast. |
| They are continuous and can be crossed through passes only | They are discontinuous and irregular |
| The Western Ghats’ average elevation is 900 – 1600 metres | The Eastern Ghats average elevation is 600 metres |
| This range is a source of many large rivers. | No big river originates from this range. |
| It experiences orographic rain mostly in summer due to the summer monsoons. | It receives rain both in summer and winter, especially in winter through winter monsoons. |
| Soil is highly fertile. | Soil is not as fertile as western ghats. |
| Rice, spices, rubber and fruits like coconuts, cashew nuts etc. are grown. | Rice, ground nuts, cotton, tobacco, coconuts etc. are grown |
(iii) Converging and diverging tectonic plates (Extra)
| Converging Tectonic Plates | Diverging Tectonic Plates |
| When tectonic plates move towards each other, they are called converging plates. | When tectonic plates move away from each other, they are called diverging plates. |
| They collide or crumble or one of them slides under the other while moving towards each other. | They do not collide or crumble while moving away from each other. |
| Converging plates cause folds. | Diverging plates cause fractures in the crust. |
Question 4: Which are the major physiographic divisions of India? Contrast the relief of the Himalayan region with that of the Peninsular plateau.
Answer: The major physiography divisions of India are:
(i) The Himalayan Mountains
(ii) The Northern Plains
(iii) The Peninsular Plateau
(iv) The Indian Desert
(v) The Coastal Plains
(vi) The Islands
| The Himalayan Region | The Peninsular Plateau |
| Young fold mountains made from the uplift of the strata formed by the sedimentary rocks. | Created from igneous and metamorphic rocks after splitting of Gondwanaland. |
| Consists of the loftiest mountains and deep valleys. | Consists of broad and shallow valleys, and rounded hills. |
| The ranges have I-shaped and U-shaped valleys. | It has horsts, rift valleys and troughs. |
| It is the origin of perennial rivers. | It has rainfed, seasonal rivers. |
| From the point of view of geology, this region forms an unstable zone. | This region forms a stable zone |
Question 5: Give an account of the Northern Plains of India.
Answer: The northern plains are the granaries of the country. They provide the base for early civilisations. They are one of the most recent landforms. The northern plain has been formed by the interplay of the three major river systems, namely — the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra along with their tributaries. This plain is formed of alluvial soil. The deposition of alluvium in a vast basin lying at the foothills of the Himalaya over millions of years formed this fertile plain. It spreads over an area of 7 lakh sq. km. The plain being about 2400 km long and 240 to 320 km broad, is a densely populated physiographic division. With a rich soil cover combined with an adequate water supply and favourable climate, it is agriculturally a productive part of India.
Question 6: Write short notes on the following.
(i) The Indian Desert
Answer: The Indian desert lies towards the western margins of the Aravali Hills. It is an undulating sandy plain covered with sand dunes called barchans. This region receives very low rainfall below 150 mm per year (15 cm). It has arid climate with low vegetation cover. Streams appear during the rainy season. Soon after they disappear into the sand as they do not have enough water to reach the sea. Luni is the only large river in this region.
(ii) The Central Highlands
Answer: Central Highlands and the Deccan Plateau. The part of the Peninsular plateau lying to the north of the Narmada river, covering a major area of the Malwa plateau, is known as the Central Highlands. The Central Highlands are wider in the west but narrower in the east. The eastward extensions of this plateau are locally known as the Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand. The Chotanagpur plateau marks the further eastward extension, drained by the Damodar river.
(iii) The Island groups of India
Answer: India has 2 main island groups, namely Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar island. The Lakshadweep consists of many small islands located opposite the Kerala coast in the Arabian Sea. The islands of this group are formed of coral deposits called ‘atolls’ in Malayalam which refer to their ring or ‘horseshoe’ shape. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, on the other hand, are larger in size. They are more in number and more widely scattered. There are about 200 islands in the Andaman group and 19 islands in the Nicobar group.
OR
India has two groups of islands (i) The Lakshadweep islands, and, (ii) Andaman and Nicobar islands.
Lakshadweep Islands: Lakshadweep group of islands is composed of small coral islands. Earlier they were known as Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindive. In 1973, these were re-named as Lakshadweep. It covers a small area of 32 sq km. Kavaratti Island is the administrative headquarters of Lakshadweep. This island group has a great diversity of flora and fauna. The Pitti island, which is uninhabited, has a bird sanctuary.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands: The elongated chain of islands located in the Bay of Bengal extending from north to south. These are the Andaman and Nicobar islands. They are bigger in size and are more numerous and scattered. The entire group of islands is divided into two broad categories – The Andaman in the north and the Nicobar in the south. It is believed that these islands are an elevated portion of submarine mountains. These island groups are of great strategic importance for the country. There is a great diversity of flora and fauna in this group of islands too. These islands lie close to the equator and experience equatorial climate and have thick forest cover.
Question: Describe how the Himalayas were formed. (Extra)
Answer: According to the Theory of Plate Tectonics, the Earth’s crust was initially a single, giant super-continent called Pangea.Its northern part was the Angara land and the southern part was the Gondwana land. The convectional currents split the crust into a number of pieces, thus leading to the drifting of the Indo-Australian plate after being separated from the Gondwana land, towards north. The northward drift resulted in the collision of the plate with the much larger Eurasian Plate. Due to this collision, the sedimentary rocks which were accumulated in the geosyncline known as the Tethys were folded to form the mountain system of western Asia and Himalaya.