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IASBABA 2024 – GEOGRAPHY

PLUTONIC ROCKS................................................................ 38
UNDERSTANDING GEOGRAPHY ........................................ 6
VOLCANIC ROCKS OR EXTRUSIVE ROCKS .................................. 38
UNIVERSE ......................................................................... 6
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS ..................................................... 38
WHAT IS THE UNIVERSE? ....................................................... 6
MECHANICALLY FORMED SEDIMENTARY ROCKS ........................ 39
ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE: ..................................................... 7
ORGANICALLY FORMED SEDIMENTARY ROCKS .......................... 39
GALAXIES: ........................................................................ 9 CHEMICALLY FORMED SEDIMENTARY ROCKS ............................ 40
TYPES OF GALAXIES: ............................................................. 9 METAMORPHIC ROCKS ................................................... 40
CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES: ...................................................... 10
ROCK CYCLE .................................................................... 41
STARS:.............................................................................. 11
TYPES OF FORCES ........................................................... 42
THE SOLAR SYSTEM .........................................................11
ENDOGENIC FORCES ............................................................ 42
SUN: ................................................................................ 14
EXOGENIC FORCES .............................................................. 42
MERCURY: ........................................................................ 15
VENUS:............................................................................. 15 FOLDING ......................................................................... 43
EARTH: ............................................................................. 15
FAULTS ........................................................................... 44
MARS:.............................................................................. 16
JUPITER: ........................................................................... 16 BLOCK MOUNTAINS........................................................ 45
SATURN: ........................................................................... 16
GRABEN OR RIFT VALLEY ................................................ 46
URANUS: .......................................................................... 17
NEPTUNE: ......................................................................... 17 VOLCANOES .................................................................... 46
PLANET 9 OR PLANET X: ...................................................... 17
CLASSIFICATION OF VOLCANOES ............................................ 48
ASTEROIDS AND ASTEROID BELT .....................................18
VOLCANIC MOUNTAINS .................................................. 48
TRANS-NEPTUNIAN REGION: ................................................ 19
INTRUSIVE LANDFORMS –..................................................... 49
COMETS:........................................................................... 20
LANDFORMS OF IGNEOUS INTRUSIONS ................................... 49
METEOR, METEOROID, AND METEORITE: ............................... 20
EXTRUSIVE LANDFORMS ...................................................... 51
METEOR SHOWERS – .......................................................... 21
COMPOSITE CONES ............................................................. 52
FUTURE TRENDS: ................................................................ 21
....................................................................................... 53
LOCATION ON A GLOBE........................................................ 21
ORIGIN OF VOLCANOES .................................................. 54
LATITUDES .......................................................................22
TYPES OF LAVA................................................................... 54
IMPORTANT LATITUDES: ...................................................... 22
SOME VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS ................................................ 54
LONGITUDES: ..................................................................22
GEYSERS AND HOT SPRINGS ........................................... 58
LONGITUDES AND STANDARD TIME: ...................................... 22
Hot Spring .................................................................. 59
THE INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE ............................................ 23
MOUNTAINS ................................................................... 59
WORKING OF IDL: ............................................................24
SOLAR SYSTEM ............................................................... 60
EARTH’S ROTATION: ........................................................... 25
EARTH’S REVOLUTION: ........................................................ 27 KUIPER BELT ...................................................................... 63
SOLSTICES: ........................................................................ 27 ROTATION OF EARTH ..................................................... 63
EQUINOXES: ...................................................................... 28 REVOLUTION OF EARTH ................................................. 64
DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME (DST):............................................ 28
COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND ............................. 64
EARTH’S MAGNETIC AXIS: ................................................... 28
GRAVITATIONAL WAVES ...................................................... 65
INTERIOR OF EARTH ........................................................29
BIG BANG THEORY.............................................................. 66
EXTRAPOLATION FROM METEORITES: ..................................... 30 COSMIC INFLATION ............................................................. 66
SEISMIC WAVES ................................................................. 30 MULTIVERSE ...................................................................... 66
SEISMIC WAVE MODEL ....................................................... 31 SPECTROGRAPHIC INVESTIGATION OF NEBULAR GAS (SING) ..... 67
REVISE .............................................................................. 33 PEVATRONS ...................................................................... 67
CHANDLER WOBBLE ............................................................ 67
EARTHQUAKES ................................................................34
NEPTUNE AND URANUS ....................................................... 68
CONSEQUENCES OF EARTHQUAKES ........................................ 35 BLUE STRAGGLER STARS ...................................................... 68
Some major Earthquakes ........................................... 35 SOLAR STORMS .................................................................. 69
CORONAL MASS EJECTION ................................................... 69
TSUNAMIS .......................................................................35
KILONOVA ......................................................................... 70
ROCK SYSTEMS ................................................................37
MOUNTAINS ................................................................... 70
IGNEOUS ROCKS ..............................................................37
EARTH MOVEMENTS ...................................................... 72
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IASBABA 2024 – GEOGRAPHY

DO YOU KNOW ................................................................75 THE KOPPEN CLIMATE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM........... 114
GEOMORPHOLOGICAL PROCESSES ..................................81 THE HOT, WET EQUATORIAL CLIMATE .......................... 117
PROCESSES DUE TO EXOGENIC FORCES ........................ 81 CLIMATIC CONDITION ........................................................ 117
LANDSLIDES .....................................................................85 NATURAL VEGETATION ................................................. 118
TYPES OF LANDSLIDE MOVEMENTS: ....................................... 85 THE TROPICAL MONSOON AND TROPICAL MARINE
TYPES OF LAND SLIDES ........................................................ 86 CLIMATES ..................................................................... 120
PARTS OF LANDSLIDE: ......................................................... 86
CLIMATIC CONDITIONS ...................................................... 121
EROSION .........................................................................87 THE SEASONS OF TROPICAL MONSOON CLIMATE ................... 121
THE RETREATING MONSOON .............................................. 122
FLUVIAL LANDFORMS .......................................................... 87
THE TROPICAL MARINE CLIMATE......................................... 122
CASCADES ......................................................................... 88
NATURAL VEGETATION ...................................................... 122
DEPOSITIONAL LANDFORMS ................................................. 89
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ........................................... 123
AEOLIAN LANDFORMS ......................................................... 90
GLACIAL LANDFORMS.......................................................... 91 THE SAVANNA OR SUDAN CLIMATE.............................. 125
WAVE LANDFORMS ............................................................ 91
CLIMATE ......................................................................... 125
KARST LANDFORMS ............................................................ 92
NATURAL VEGETATION ...................................................... 125
SURFACE LANDFORMS ......................................................... 93
LIFE IN SAVANAH .............................................................. 126
SUBSURFACE LANDFORMS.................................................... 93
THE HOT DESERT AND MID-LATITUDE DESERT CLIMATES
PLATEAU .........................................................................94
..................................................................................... 128
VOLCANIC PLATEAU ............................................................ 95
HOT DESERTS................................................................... 128
PLAINS .............................................................................95 CLIMATE ......................................................................... 129
DESERT VEGETATION......................................................... 130
STRUCTURAL PLAINS ........................................................... 95
ECONOMY ....................................................................... 130
DEPOSITIONAL PLAINS......................................................... 96
THE WARM TEMPERATE WESTERN MARGIN
OCEAN AND CONTINENTS ...............................................97
(MEDITERRANEAN) CLIMATE ........................................ 131
SHAPE OF THE CONTINENTS .......................................... 97
CLIMATE ......................................................................... 131
CONTINENTAL DRIFT ........................................................... 97
NATURAL VEGETATION ...................................................... 132
SEA – FLOOR SPREADING ..................................................... 99
PLATE TECTONIC THEORY ................................................... 101 THE TEMPERATE CONTINENTAL (STEPPE) CLIMATE ...... 134
DIVERGENT BOUNDARIES ..............................................104 CLIMATE ......................................................................... 134
NATURAL VEGETATION ...................................................... 135
OCEANIC – OCEANIC DIVERGENCE ....................................... 104
ECONOMY ....................................................................... 135
CONTINENTAL – CONTINENTAL DIVERGENCE ......................... 105
THE WARM TEMPERATE EASTERN MARGIN CLIMATE... 136
CONVERGENT BOUNDARIES ..........................................106
CLIMATE ......................................................................... 136
OCEANIC–CONTINENTAL CONVERGENCE .............................. 106
NATURAL VEGETATION ...................................................... 137
OCEANIC– OCEANIC CONVERGENCE .................................... 106
WILDLIFE ........................................................................ 138
CONTINENTAL- CONTINENTAL CONVERGENCE........................ 106
HUMAN SETTLEMENT ........................................................ 138
LAKES ............................................................................108 ECONOMY ....................................................................... 138
FORMATION AND ORIGIN: ................................................. 108 THE COOL TEMPERATE WESTERN MARGIN (BRITISH TYPE)
EARTH MOVEMENT .......................................................... 108 CLIMATE ....................................................................... 139
RIFT VALLEY LAKES ........................................................... 109
CLIMATE ......................................................................... 139
GLACIATION ..................................................................109 NATURAL VEGETATION ...................................................... 139
ECONOMY ....................................................................... 140
VOLCANIC ACTIVITY .......................................................... 110
CALDERA OR CRATER LAKES ............................................... 110 THE COOL TEMPERATE CONTINENTAL .......................... 141
LAKES FORMED BY EROSION ............................................... 110
CLIMATE ......................................................................... 141
WIND-DEFLATED LAKES..................................................... 110
NATURAL VEGETATION ...................................................... 141
LAKES FORMED BY DEPOSITION ........................................... 110
ECONOMY ....................................................................... 142
LAKES FORMED DUE TO LANDSLIDES, SCREES & AVALANCHES .. 111
MANMADE LAKES ............................................................ 111 THE COOL TEMPERATE EASTERN MARGIN (LAURENTIAN)
TYPES OF LAKES................................................................ 111 ..................................................................................... 142
FAMOUS LAKES OF INDIA ................................................... 112
CLIMATE ......................................................................... 143
INTRODUCTION .............................................................114 NATURAL VEGETATION ...................................................... 143
ECONOMY ....................................................................... 143
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THE ARCTIC OR POLAR CLIMATE ....................................144 OCEAN MEAN TEMPERATURE (OMT) AND SEA SURFACE
TEMPERATURE (SST) ........................................................ 167
CLIMATE ......................................................................... 144
NATURAL VEGETATION ...................................................... 145 DO YOU KNOW? ........................................................... 168
ECONOMY ....................................................................... 145
OCEAN LIFE ZONES ........................................................... 168
OCEANOGRAPHY ...........................................................145 OCEANIC TRENCH ............................................................. 171
CLIMATE CHANGE AND OCEAN............................................ 172
OCEANS .........................................................................146
MAJOR DOMAINS OF THE EARTH ................................. 175
THE RELIEF OF THE OCEAN ................................................. 146
THE CONTINENTAL SHELF ................................................... 147 LITHOSPHERE ................................................................ 175
CONTINENTAL SLOPE......................................................... 147
BIOSPHERE ...................................................................... 175
THE DEEP-SEA PLAIN ........................................................ 148
CRYOSPHERE .................................................................... 176
THE OCEAN DEEPS OR TRENCHES ........................................ 148
ATMOSPHERE .................................................................. 176
MINOR RELIEF FEATURES ................................................... 148
HYDROSPHERE ................................................................. 177
MID-OCEANIC RIDGES ...................................................... 148
SEAMOUNT ..................................................................... 149 ATMOSPHERE ............................................................... 178
SUBMARINE CANYONS ...................................................... 149
LAYERS OF ATMOSPHERE ................................................... 178
GUYOTS .......................................................................... 149
TROPOSPHERE.................................................................. 179
ATOLL ............................................................................ 149
STRATOSPHERE ................................................................ 180
THE TEMPERATURE OF OCEAN WATER ..........................150 MESOSPHERE ................................................................... 180
THERMOSPHERE ............................................................... 180
HORIZONTAL DISTRIBUTION OF TEMPERATURE ...................... 151
IONOSPHERE .................................................................... 181
VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION OF TEMPERATURE ........................... 151
CLIMATE AND WEATHER .................................................... 181
SALINITY OF THE OCEAN .................................................... 151
WEATHER: ...................................................................... 181
FACTORS AFFECTING SALINITY OF OCEAN ............................. 152
CLIMATE: ........................................................................ 182
OCEAN CURRENTS .........................................................153
CONCEPT OF TWILIGHT ................................................. 182
IMPORTANT OCEAN CURRENTS ........................................... 155
INSOLATION ................................................................. 183
CAUSES OF OCEAN CURRENTS ............................................ 156
PLANETARY WINDS........................................................... 156 LATENT HEAT ................................................................... 185
SALINITY: ........................................................................ 156
EARTH’S SOLAR RADIATION BUDGET ............................ 186
ROTATION OF EARTH: ....................................................... 157
HEAT BUDGET .................................................................. 187
TIDES .............................................................................158
GLOBAL ENERGY TRANSFER .......................................... 188
TYPES OF TIDES ................................................................ 159
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION .............................................. 188
CORAL REEFS .................................................................159
OCEANIC CIRCULATION ...................................................... 188
REEF ECOLOGY ................................................................. 159 TEMPERATURE PROFILE ..................................................... 188
TYPES OF REEFS................................................................ 160 MAPPING PATTERNS OF AIR TEMPERATURE .......................... 189
CORAL BLEACHING............................................................ 161 DIURNAL RANGE OF TEMPERATURE ..................................... 190
LAND AND WATER TEMPERATURE .............................. 191
CURRENT ISSUES ...........................................................162
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION........................................ 192
OVER FISHING.................................................................. 162
MERIDIONAL CIRCULATION ................................................ 193
KEY NUTRIENTS IN SEAFOOD .........................................163
HEADLY’S MODEL OF CELLULAR CIRCULATION......................... 194
LONG CHAIN OMEGA-3 FATS ....................................... 163 TROPICAL OR HADLEY CELL:................................................ 194
IODINE ......................................................................... 163 FERREL CELL..................................................................... 194
VITAMIN D ................................................................... 163 POLAR CELL ..................................................................... 194
IRON ............................................................................. 163 PLANETARY OR PERMANENT WINDS .................................... 194
CALCIUM, ZINC, OTHER MINERALS ............................. 164 ..................................................................................... 195
PREDATION OF TOP PREDATORS ......................................... 164 LOCAL WINDS .................................................................. 196
VARIABILITY OF ISOLATION ON EARTH .................................. 199
OCEAN ACIDIFICATION ..................................................164
TERRESTRIAL RADIATION.................................................... 199
CORAL BLEACHING............................................................ 165 ATMOSPHERIC STABILITY AND CLOUD FORMATION ................ 199
OCEAN DEAD ZONE .......................................................... 165
CLOUD FORMATION ..................................................... 200
HEAVY METAL POLLUTION ................................................. 165
TYPES OF CLOUDS ............................................................. 201
PLASTIC POLLUTION ......................................................166
FORMS OF PRECIPITATION .................................................. 201
OCEAN WARMING............................................................ 166 TYPES OF RAINFALL: .......................................................... 202
OFFSHORE DRILLING ......................................................... 167
CYCLONES ..................................................................... 203
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TEMPERATE CYCLONES ...................................................... 204 MINERAL RESOURCES: ....................................................... 241
TROPICAL CYCLONES ......................................................... 205
NORTHERN FERTILE PLAINS .......................................... 241
TROPICAL CYCLONES AND SOCIETY ...................................... 207
TEMPERATURE INVERSION ................................................. 208 THE BHABAR PLAINS ......................................................... 242
FOG .............................................................................. 209 THE TARAI TRACT ............................................................. 242
DEW .............................................................................. 209 THE BHANGAR PLAINS....................................................... 242
THE KHADAR PLAIN .......................................................... 243
UPPER ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION .............................211
MESO – REGIONS OF NORTHERN PLAINS .............................. 243
JET STREAMS ................................................................... 211 RAJASTHAN PLAINS........................................................... 243
TYPES OF JET STREAMS ...................................................... 211 PUNJAB HARYANA PLAINS ................................................. 243
PERMANENT JET STREAMS ................................................. 211 THE GANGA PLAINS .......................................................... 243
TEMPORARY JET STREAMS ................................................. 212 THE BRAHMAPUTRA PLAIN ................................................ 244
GEOSTROPIC WINDS ......................................................... 213
THE PENINSULAR PLATEAU ........................................... 246
THINK ON THSE BASIC CONCEPTS ..................................215
THE NORTH CENTRAL HIGHLANDS: ...................................... 246
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE ................................................... 215
THE WESTERN GHATS ................................................... 248
VERTICAL VARIATION OF PRESSURE ..................................... 216
EVAPORATION AND CONDENSATION .................................... 216 THE EASTERN GHATS .................................................... 248
PRESSURE BELTS ............................................................217 THE INDIAN DESERT ...................................................... 250
THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES ............................218 INDIAN DESERT ................................................................ 250
THUNDERSTORM .............................................................. 218 THE COASTAL PLAINS OF INDIA .................................... 250
TORNADOES .................................................................... 220
THE EASTERN COASTAL PLAINS ........................................... 250
CLIMATE CHANGE ..........................................................220 THE WESTERN COASTAL PLAINS .......................................... 251
APPLIED CLIMATOLOGY ..................................................... 222 THE ISLANDS ................................................................. 252
URBAN CLIMATE .............................................................. 222
ANDAMAN ISLANDS: ......................................................... 252
TYPES OF CLOUDS..........................................................224 NICOBAR ISLANDS: ........................................................... 253
LAKSHADWEEP ISLANDS ..................................................... 253
CIRRUS VS CIRROSTRATUS .................................................. 226
CUMULUS VS STRATOCUMULUS .......................................... 226 DRAINAGE SYSTEM ....................................................... 254
ALTOCUMULUS VS STRATOCUMULUS ................................... 226
NATURAL DRAINAGE SYSTEMS:........................................... 254
STRATUS VS NIMBOSTRATUS VS ALTOSTRATUS ...................... 227
DRAINAGE PATTERN ......................................................... 255
DO YOU KNOW? ............................................................227 DRAINAGE BASIN ............................................................. 258
USES OF DRAINAGE BASIN: ................................................ 259
RECENT CYCLONE ............................................................. 227
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DOLDRUMS AND HORSE LATITUDES...... 229 INDIAN DRAINAGE ........................................................ 260
POLAR EASTERLIES ............................................................ 229
DRAINAGE BASINS IN INDIA................................................ 260
WESTERLIES..................................................................... 229
THE HIMALAYAN DRAINAGE ............................................... 261
TRADE WINDS ................................................................. 230
EVOLUTION HIMALAYAN DRAINAGE: ................................... 261
PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS: ........................................233 GANGA RIVER SYSTEM ...................................................... 262
THE INDUS RIVER SYSTEM .................................................. 266
INDIA-POLITICAL............................................................234
THE BRAHMAPUTRA RIVER SYSTEM ..................................... 268
LOCATION OF INDIA .......................................................... 234
THE PENINSULAR DRAINAGE ........................................ 270
RELATIVE LOCATION OF INDIA ............................................. 235
PENINSULAR RIVERS:......................................................... 270
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF INDIA ..............................................235
EAST FLOWING RIVERS: ..................................................... 270
THE HIMALAYAS ............................................................236 MAHANADI: .................................................................... 270
GODAVARI: ..................................................................... 270
FORMATION OF HIMALAYAS ............................................... 237
KRISHNA: ........................................................................ 271
THE TRANS HIMALAYAS ..................................................... 237
PENNAR: ......................................................................... 271
GREATER HIMALAYAS ....................................................... 238
CAUVERY/KAVERI:............................................................ 271
LESSER HIMALAYAS........................................................... 238
WEST FLOWING RIVERS: .................................................... 272
SIWALIKS OR OUTER HIMALAYAS ........................................ 238
NARMADA: ..................................................................... 272
THE KASHMIR HIMALAYAS ................................................. 239
TAPTI: ............................................................................ 272
HIMACHAL AND UTTARANCHAL HIMALAYAS ......................... 239
FACTORS AFFECTING A RIVER’S REGIME: ............................... 274
KUMAUN HIMALAYAS ....................................................... 239
MAJOR CITIES ON RIVERS .................................................. 276
CENTRAL HIMALAYAS ........................................................ 240
EASTERN HIMALAYAS ........................................................ 240 INDIAN CLIMATE........................................................... 278
IMPORTANCE OF HIMALAYAS TO INDIA................................. 240
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IASBABA 2024 – GEOGRAPHY

CLIMATE AND WEATHER .................................................... 278 ANDHRA PRADESH POLICY: ................................................ 324
Location and Latitudinal Extent .............................. 278 ORGANIC FARMING .......................................................... 324
THE NORTHERN MOUNTAIN RANGES................................... 278 GENETIC EDITING.............................................................. 325
Distance from the Sea ............................................. 278 URBAN AGRICULTURE AND VERTICAL FARMING ...................... 325
Physiography ........................................................... 279 BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY ................................................. 326
Monsoon Winds....................................................... 279 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, AUTOMATION AND THE INTERNET OF
Upper Air Circulation ............................................... 279 THINGS ........................................................................... 326
FLOHN’S DYNAMIC CONCEPT OF MONSOON ....................... 280 BEES AND DRONES ............................................................ 326
FACTORS INFLUENCING INDIAN MONSOON ........................... 280
SOIL .............................................................................. 327
JET STREAMS ................................................................... 281
SUBTROPICAL JET STREAMS ................................................ 282 PROCESS OF SOIL FORMATION: ........................................... 327
FACTORS OF SOIL FORMATION: ........................................... 328
EL-NINO AND LA-NINA ..................................................283
SOIL EROSION .................................................................. 329
WHAT IS WALKER CIRCULATION?........................................ 284 WATERLOGGING............................................................... 329
ROLE OF TIBET PLATEAU .................................................... 286 DESERTIFICATION.............................................................. 330
MADDEN-JULIAN OSCILLATION ........................................... 287 SOIL CHARACTERISTICS ...................................................... 332
EQUINOO – EQUATORIAL INDIAN OCEAN OSCILLATION ........ 288 SOIL PROFILE ................................................................... 334
ALLUVIAL SOIL ................................................................. 335
CLIMATE ........................................................................289
RED SOIL ......................................................................... 335
WHAT IS CONTINENTALITY? ............................................... 289 BLACK SOIL...................................................................... 335
WHY THIS HAPPEN? .......................................................... 289 LATERITE SOIL .................................................................. 336
INDIAN MONSOON ........................................................... 290 MONTANE SOIL:............................................................... 336
THE NORTHEAST MONSOON (RETREATING MONSOON) AND ITS PEATY AND MARSHY SOILS: ............................................... 336
EFFECT............................................................................ 291
SEASONS IN INDIA ............................................................ 291
RAINFALL DISTRIBUTION IN INDIA........................................ 293
NATURAL HAZARDS .......................................................295
EARTHQUAKES: ................................................................ 296
EARTHQUAKE HAZARD MITIGATION .................................... 297
TSUNAMI: ....................................................................... 297
FLOODS: ......................................................................... 298
URBAN FLOODS ............................................................... 299
DROUGHTS:..................................................................... 300
TYPES OF DROUGHTS ........................................................ 300
LANDSLIDES: .................................................................... 301
DISASTER MANAGEMENT .................................................. 302
AGRICULTURE ................................................................307
TYPES OF AGRICULTURE:.................................................... 307
NOMADIC HERDING:......................................................... 307
PASTORAL NOMADISM...................................................... 307
SHIFTING CULTIVATION: .................................................... 308
Intensive Subsistence Farming: ............................... 308
Commercial Grain Farming: .................................... 309
MIXED FARMING:............................................................. 309
PLANTATION AGRICULTURE: ............................................... 309
Rubber ..................................................................... 310
Sugarcane ................................................................ 310
MEDITERRANEAN AGRICULTURE: ........................................ 310
Commercial Dairy Farming: .................................... 311
Livestock Ranching: ................................................. 311
TYPES OF CROPS............................................................... 311
NEW AGRICULTURAL TECHNIQUES ................................320
HYDROPONICS ................................................................. 320
AEROPONICS................................................................ 321
AQUAPONICS ............................................................... 321
VERTICAL FARMING .......................................................... 322
ZERO BUDGET NATURAL FARMING ...................................... 323

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IASBABA 2024 – GEOGRAPHY

UNDERSTANDING GEOGRAPHY Your coverage of topics will be broadly from above

categories only.
Let us go through few Previous Year Questions
from these topics: UNIVERSE
The Night sky visible from the earth’s surface
Q) Consider the statements regarding asteroids: provides the first interface for humans to view the
1. Asteroids are rocky debris of varying sizes cosmic expanse in the region surrounding Earth.
orbiting the sun. This beautiful view of nature has inspired
2. Most of the asteroids are small but some generations of humans to study about what
have diameter as large as 1000 km. constitutes the Universe.
3. The orbit of asteroids lies between orbits of
Jupiter and Saturn. What is the Universe?
Which of the above statements are correct? The Universe is everything we can touch, feel,
a) 1, 2, 3 sense, measure or detect. It includes living things,
b) 2 and 3 planets, stars, galaxies, dust clouds, light, and even
c) 1 and 2 time. Before the birth of the Universe, time, space
d) 1 and 3 and matter did not exist. The Universe contains
billions of galaxies, each containing millions or
Q) What would have happened if the earth did not even billions of stars. The space between the stars
rotate? and galaxies is largely empty. Space is also filled
a) Cold conditions on earth’s half portion with radiation, magnetic fields and high energy
b) Warm conditions on earth’s another half particles.
portion
c) No life possible in such extreme conditions The Milky Way is but one of billions of galaxies in
d) All of the above the observable universe. All the stars in all the
galaxies and all the other stuff that astronomers
can’t even observe are all part of the universe.
UPSC syllabus from Geography basically requires a Universe is, simply, everything.
sound coverage of NCERT and contemporary
aspects from current affairs. You do not need any The Universe appears to be about 13.8 billion
standard book except NCERT and few chapters of years old. Scientists arrived at that number by
G.C Leong (World Climate). measuring the ages of the oldest stars and the rate
at which the universe expands. They also
We can divide Geography into: measured the expansion by observing the Doppler
 Geomorphology shift in light from galaxies, almost all of which are
 Oceanology traveling away from us and from each other.
 Climatology
 Economic Geography No one knows the exact size of the Universe. All
 Biogeography we do know is that the visible Universe is at least
 Indian Geography 93 billion light years across. (A light year is the
 World Geography distance light travels in one year).
 Mapping etc.

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IASBABA 2024 – GEOGRAPHY

The CMB (Cosmic Microwave Background)
radiation, is very cold, only 2.725° above absolute
zero, thus this radiation shines primarily in the
microwave portion of the electromagnetic
spectrum, and is invisible to the naked eye.
However, it fills the universe and can be detected
everywhere we look. In fact, if we could see
microwaves, the entire sky would glow with a
brightness that was astonishingly uniform in every
direction. Though the Big Bang theory is the
leading explanation, some theorists have come up
Origin of the Universe: with alternative ideas or extensions to the Big
The best-supported theory of our universe's origin Bang Theory.
centers on an event known as the Big Bang. In
1929, American astronomer Edwin Hubble
discovered that the distances to far-away galaxies
were proportional to their redshifts. Hubble’s
observation implied that distant galaxies were
moving away from us, as the furthest galaxies had
the fastest apparent velocities. Hubble reasoned
that if the galaxies are moving away from us, then
at some time in the past, they must have been
clustered close together.

Hubble’s discovery was the first observational

support for Georges Lemaitre’s Big Bang theory of
the universe, proposed in 1927. Lemaitre
proposed that the universe expanded explosively
from an extremely dense and hot state (scientists
call it as the Singularity), and continues to expand
today. Subsequent calculations have dated this Big
Bang to approximately 13.7 billion years ago.

In the first moments after the Big Bang, the

universe was extremely hot and dense. As the
universe cooled, conditions became just right to
give rise to the building blocks of matter, like the
quarks and electrons of which we are all made.
Here, the Inflation Theory proposes a period of
extremely rapid (exponential) expansion of the
universe during its first few moments.

It took 380,000 years for electrons to be trapped

in orbits around nuclei, forming the first atoms.
These were mainly helium and hydrogen, which
are still by far the most abundant elements in the
universe.

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IASBABA 2024 – GEOGRAPHY

suggest that the visible universe is only 4% of what

Some other theories formulating origins of the universe is actually made of.
Universe include: (These don’t require detailed
explanation, knowing the name of such theories is
enough at this stage)

 Theory of Mirage of a Black Hole

 Plasma Theory of creation of Universe
 Theory of slow freeze or Big Freeze Theory
 White Hole

Other aspects of Universe: The story of universe is

incomplete with only the mention of stars and
galaxies. Astronomical and physical calculations

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A very large fraction of the universe, in fact 26%, is old, or less than 3 percent of its current age. Many
made of an unknown type of matter called Dark astronomers believe that galaxies are formed from
matter. Unlike stars and galaxies, dark matter smaller clusters of about one million stars, known
does not emit any light or electromagnetic as globular clusters, while others hold that galaxies
radiation of any kind, so that we can detect it only formed first, and later birthed globular clusters.
through its gravitational effects.
Here, the role of instruments like NASA’s James
An even more mysterious form of energy called Webb Space Telescope becomes pivotal as they
Dark Energy accounts for about 70% of the mass- help astronomers to peer into the universe's
energy content of the universe. Even less is known farthest reaches and earliest moments which
about it than dark matter. This idea stems from the could help in resolving lingering questions.
observation that all galaxies seem to be receding
from each other at an accelerating pace, implying Types of Galaxies:
that some invisible extra energy is at work.

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and optical

telescopes help map the distribution of dark
matter in colliding galaxy. The Very Energetic
Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System
(VERITAS) in Arizona, which can detect gamma-ray
radiation, is looking for the signature of dark
matter annihilation. The South Pole Telescope in
Antarctica and Chandra are placing limits on dark
energy by looking for its effects on galaxy cluster
evolution throughout the history of the Universe.

After getting an idea of the immense scale of

universe, it is natural for us to ask the question,
where is our solar system? It’s a small part of the
Milky Way Galaxy. Understanding what is galaxy
will help in knowing our place in the cosmic  Spiral galaxies – These look like giant
neighbourhood as well as give us a better view of pinwheels. Young stars burn much hotter
what constitutes universe. than older stars, so spiral galaxies are often
some of the brightest in the universe. Our
Galaxies: own Milky Way galaxy is a spiral galaxy
Galaxies are sprawling systems of dust, gas, dark along with about 60% of nearby galaxies.
matter, and anywhere from a million to a trillion  Elliptical galaxies – These are shaped like
stars that are held together by gravity. Nearly all stretched-out circles, or ellipses. Elliptical
large galaxies are thought to also contain galaxies are the largest and most common
supermassive black holes at their centres. galaxies observed. They make up about
20% of nearby galaxies.
Gravity had sculpted the first galaxies into shape
 Irregular galaxies – They don't have a single
by the time the universe turned 400 million years
common shape. Irregular galaxies are

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among the smallest galaxies scientists have instance, is in the Local Group, a galaxy
observed. About 20% of nearby galaxies group about 10 million light-years across
are irregular galaxies. that also includes the Andromeda galaxy
and its satellites. An interesting fact here is
Our Galaxy, the Milky Way galaxy is a that Andromeda galaxy and Milky Way
gravitationally bound collection of roughly a galaxy are coming close to each other and
hundred billion stars. It is a barred spiral galaxy are on a collision course.
around 13.6 billion years old with large pivoting  The Local Group and its neighbour galaxy
arms stretching out across the cosmos. Its disk is cluster, the Virgo Cluster, both lie within
about 100,000 light-years and just 1000 light-years the larger Virgo Supercluster, a
thick. Our Sun is one of these stars and is located concentration of galaxies that stretches
roughly 24,000 light years from the centre of our about 100 million light-years across. The
galaxy. The Milky Way galaxy is known as Akash Virgo Supercluster, in turn, is a limb of
Ganga in Hindi. Recently, scientists have detected Laniakea, an even bigger supercluster of
a long thin filament of dense gas connecting spiral 100,000 galaxies that astronomers defined
arms of the Milky Way galaxy. The rare feature has in 2014.
been named Gangotri wave over the glacier that  All these interstellar wonders have formed
gives rise to the Ganga River in India. an important part of human civilization
where ancient cultures looked to the sky
Clusters of Galaxies: for all sorts of reasons. By identifying
 Some galaxies occur alone or in pairs, but different configurations of stars, known as
they are more often parts of larger constellations and tracking their
associations known as groups, clusters, movements, they could follow the seasons
and superclusters. Our Milky Way, for for farming as well as chart courses across
the

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seas. There are dozens of constellations. if a star has mass 1.4 times that of our sun,
Many are named for mythical figures, such at the end of its life it will explode to form
as Cassiopeia and Orion the Hunter. Others a black hole.
are named for the animals they resemble,
such as Ursa Minor (Little Bear) and Canus The understanding of stars is important to know
Major (Big Dog). In ancient India, about our closest cosmic neighbourhood, i.e., the
constellations (Nakshatra) like Saptarshi Solar system. The name itself denotes the
were famous importance of our star, which is the sun. Thus, the
solar system refers to the Sun system. Let’s get to
Stars: know about this system now.
 Molecular clouds, which are dense clouds
of gas located primarily in the spiral arms
of galaxies are believed to be the The Solar System
birthplace of stars. Birth takes place inside
hydrogen-based dust clouds called
nebulae. Astronomers estimate there are
about 100 thousand million stars in the
Milky Way alone.
 Dense regions in the clouds collapse and
form protostars. Initially, the gravitational
energy of the collapsing star is the source
of its energy. Once the star contracts
enough that its central core can burn
hydrogen to helium, it becomes a ‘main
sequence star’. Our Sun is a main sequence
star.
 Along with main sequence and white dwarf The solar system is a collection of planets, moons,
stars, other groups include dwarfs, giants, asteroids, comets, dust and gas that orbit our local
and supergiant’s. Supergiant’s may have star, the sun. It includes the rocky inner planets
radii a thousand times larger than that of Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars; the gas giants
our own sun. The red giant phase of a star Jupiter and Saturn; and the ice giants Uranus and
is followed by the white dwarf stage where Neptune. Its location in the Milky Way galaxy is
it sheds its outer layers and becomes a evident from the diagram above.
small, dense body called a white dwarf.
White dwarfs cool for billions of years.
 Massive stars die by detonating as
supernovae. These catastrophic bursts
leave behind a small core that may become
a neutron star or even, if the remnant is
massive enough, a black hole. This is
decided based upon a limit, known as the
Chandrasekhar Limit. This limit has the Our solar system formed about 4.5 billion years
value of 1.4 times the mass of our Sun, i.e., ago from a dense cloud of interstellar gas and dust.

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The order and arrangement of the planets and These vital details of solar system can be better
other bodies in our solar system is due to the way understood by knowing about its origin.
the solar system formed. The solar system is
located in one of the smaller arms, called the Many theories have been proposed with regards
Orion-Cygnus Arm, or simply the Orion Arm of the to solar system’s origin, five key theories
Milky Way galaxy. considered to be reasonable in their explanation
of the various phenomena exhibited by the Solar
Planets form an important part of the Solar system System will be discussed here.
and according to the International Astronomical
Union (IAU), a true planet is one which –  The Accretion theory – Here, the Sun
passes through a dense interstellar cloud
 circles the sun without being some other and emerges surrounded by a dusty,
object's satellite gaseous envelope. The terrestrial planets
 is large enough to be rounded by its own can form in a reasonable time, but the
gravity but not so big that it begins to gaseous planets take far too long to form.
undergo nuclear fusion, like a star The theory does not explain many
 has cleared its neighbourhood of most phenomena and is therefore considered
other orbiting bodies the weakest of those described here.
 The Protoplanet theory – Dense regions in
The inner four planets closest to the sun, i.e., the interstellar cloud form and coalesce, as
Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, are often called the small blobs have random spins the
the ‘terrestrial planets’ because their surfaces are resulting stars will have low rotation rates.
rocky. Nearest to the Sun, only rocky material The planets are smaller blobs captured by
could withstand the heat when the solar system the star. The small blobs would have higher
was young. rotation than is seen in the planets of the
Solar System, but the theory accounts for
The four large outer worlds, i.e., Jupiter, Saturn, this by having the planetary blobs split into
Uranus and Neptune, are sometimes called the planets and satellites. However, the theory
‘Jovian planets’ because of their enormous size fails to explain how the planets came to be
relative to the terrestrial planets. They're also confined to a plane or why their rotations
mostly made of gases like hydrogen, helium and are in the same sense.
ammonia rather than of rocky surfaces.

The planets, most of the satellites of the planets

and the asteroids revolve around the Sun in the
same direction, in nearly circular orbits. When
looking down from above the Sun's North Pole, the
planets orbit in a counter-clockwise direction. The
planets orbit the Sun in or near the same plane,
called the ecliptic. The axis of rotation for most of
the planets is nearly perpendicular to the ecliptic.
The exception is Uranus which is tipped on its side.

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 The Capture theory – The Sun interacts this disk had
with a nearby protostar, dragging a to be
filament of material from the protostar. sufficient to
The low rotation speed of the Sun is allow the
explained as being due to its formation formation of
before the planets, the terrestrial planets the planets
are explained by collisions between the and yet be
protoplanets close to the Sun, and the thin enough
giant planets and their satellites are for the
explained as condensations in the drawn- residual
out filament. (Diagram besides) matter to be
 The Modern Laplacian theory – French blown away
astronomer and mathematician Pierre- by the Sun as
Simon Laplace first suggested in 1796 that its energy
the Sun and the planets formed in a output
rotating nebula which cooled and increased. In
collapsed. The slow spin of the Sun could 1992 the Hubble Space Telescope obtained
not be explained. The modern version the first images of proto-planetary disks in
assumes that the central condensation the Orion nebula. They are roughly on the
contains solid dust grains which create same scale as the Solar System and lend
drag in the gas as the centre condenses. strong support to this theory.
Eventually, after the core has been slowed,
its temperature rises and the dust There have been many attempts to develop
evaporates. The slowly rotating core theories for the origin of the Solar System. None of
becomes the Sun. The planets form from them can be described as totally satisfactory.
the faster rotating cloud. Thus, it is an evolving process based on emergence
 The Migrating Planets theory – It is widely of new evidences as and when the observation of
accepted that planetary migration has cosmos develops even further.
shaped and influenced the architecture of
the Solar System quite dramatically. The Along with the development of solar system, it is
migration aspect includes both internal important to understand a key concept involved in
migration within the solar system as well as emergence of life on planets. This is the concept of
external capture of planets or bodies Habitable Zone. The habitable zone is the area
where solar system’s travel across the around a star where it is not too hot and not too
Milky Way galaxy brings it in contact with cold for liquid water to exist on the surface of
such alien bodies. Recent instance of surrounding planets. Liquid water is presently
ʻOumuamua’, the first known interstellar considered to be vital for emergence of life. This
object detected passing through the Solar zone is alternatively known as the 'Goldilocks
System, can be evidence of this theory. Zone’. Earth is in the goldilocks zone of solar
 The Modern Nebular theory – The planets system, which is evident from the diagram below.
originate in a dense disk formed from
material in the gas and dust cloud that
collapses to give us the Sun. The density of

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After understanding this background of the Solar

system, let us now go into the details of the
constituent parts of Solar system, beginning with
our Sun.
Sun:
The sun is by far the largest object in our solar
system, containing 99.8% of the solar system's
mass. It sheds most of the heat and light that
makes life possible on Earth and possibly  At such high temperatures and pressures,
elsewhere. the Sun becomes a nuclear reactor, where
hydrogen is converted to helium. At the
same time, huge amounts of radiation are
produced.
 Its period of surface rotation is about 26
days at its equator but longer at higher
latitudes. The Sun becomes more active
every 11 years. At such times, the number
of dark sunspots on its surface increases.
At the peak of the sunspot cycle, there are
many more explosive solar storms, which
are harmful for modern human life on
earth.
 Sun’s atmosphere produces a stream of
charged particles (mainly protons and
 According to NASA, with the use of electrons) that are called the solar wind.
spectrographs, it clear that Sun is made up These particles flow outward from the Sun
of gas, about 91% hydrogen and 8.9% into the solar system at a speed of about
helium. Compared with other stars, the 400 kilometres per second. The solar wind
sun is relatively small and just one of the exists because the gases in the corona are
billions of stars in the Milky Way. so hot and moving so rapidly that they
 The temperature at its surface is about cannot be held back by solar gravity.
5500 degrees Celsius. In the centre, the Note: Recent probe by NASA to the Sun, Parker
temperature is about 15 million degrees Solar Probe, has become the first man-made object
Celsius. Interestingly, temperature of the to touch the surface of Sun and has provided great
corona, outermost region of the Sun's scientific insights into the working of Sun and the
atmosphere, is more than 1 million Solar winds.
degrees Celsius.

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Mercury: 
Diameter – 12,104 km
Mercury is the 
Orbit around the Sun – 225 Earth days
closest planet 
One Day – 241 Earth days
to the sun and 
Number of moons – 0
the smallest 
Average Surface Temperature – 465
planet in the degrees Celsius
solar system
 East to west spin, opposite direction of
and also is most of other planets.
fastest planet
Venus is sometimes referred to as Earth's twin as
in solar they are similar in size and topography. In 2020,
system. astronomers announced that they'd discovered
NASA's Messenger spacecraft revealed discovery
phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus. Recently,
of water ice and frozen organic compounds at there has been a renewed interest in the planet as
Mercury's North Pole. more than 3 missions have been planned to the
 Diameter – 4,878 km. planet in the coming decade.
 Orbit around the Sun – 88 Earth days
 One Day – 58.6 Earth days Earth:
 Number of moons – 0 Earth, our home
 No atmosphere planet, is the
 Day Temperatures– 427 degrees Celsius third planet
 Night Temperatures – minus 179 degrees from the sun. It
Celsius is a water world
with two-thirds
BepiColombo is Europe's (ESA) first mission to of the planet
Mercury. Launched on 20 October 2018, it is on a covered by
seven-year journey to the smallest and least water. Earth's
explored terrestrial planet in our Solar System. atmosphere is
Recently, it took closest trip past Mercury and sent rich in nitrogen and oxygen and it is the only world
valuable scientific information back to Earth. known to harbour life.
 Diameter – 12,760 km
Venus:  Orbit – 365.24 days
Venus is the  Day – 23 hours, 56 minutes
second planet  Number of moons – 1
from the sun Earth rotates on its axis at 467 meters per second
and is the and slightly more than 1,600 kph at the equator.
hottest planet The planet zips around the sun at more than 29 km
in the solar per second. We will study about Earth in detail in
system. Its coming modules.
thick
atmosphere is
extremely toxic and composed of sulfuric acid
clouds, the planet is an extreme example of the
greenhouse effect.

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Mars:  Day – 9.8 Earth hours
Mars is the fourth  Strongest magnetic field of any planet
planet from the  Number of moons – 79 (53 confirmed, 26
sun. It is a cold, provisional)
desert-like planet  Its four large moons are known as the
covered in iron Galilean satellites. These include Io
oxide dust that (closest), Europa (extensive ocean beneath
gives the planet surface), Ganymede (largest) and Callisto.
its signature red
hue. A famous feature in its swirling clouds is Jupiter's
 Diameter Great Red Spot, a giant storm more than 10,000
– 6,787 km miles wide. Recently in October 2021, NASA’s Lucy
 Orbit – 687 days spacecraft was launched on a 12-year journey to
 Day – 24 hours, 37 minutes Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids. (Note: Most of Lucy’s
 Number of moons – 2 (Phobos & Deimos) target asteroids are left over from the formation
 Average Surface Temperature – minus 60 of the solar system. These Trojans circle the Sun in
degrees Celsius two swarms - one that precedes and one that
Mars shares similarities with Earth – follows Jupiter in its orbit of the Sun.)
 It is rocky and has mountains, valleys and
canyons Saturn:
 Storm systems ranging from localized Saturn is the
tornado-like dust devils to planet-engulfing sixth planet
dust-storms. from the sun
It is likely that liquid water existed on the Martian and is famous
surface billions of years ago, and some scientists for its large and
think Mars may still have liquid water on its distinct ring
surface today. system. It is the
second-largest
Jupiter: planet in the
Jupiter is the solar system.
fifth planet Like Jupiter, Saturn is a gas giant composed of
from the sun helium and hydrogen, and it is the least dense of
and the largest the planets. Saturn's rings are made of billions of
planet in the ice particles and rocks.
solar system.  Diameter – 120,500 km
According to  Orbit – 29.5 Earth years
NASA, the gas  Day – About 10.5 Earth hours
giant is more  Number of moons – 82 (53 confirmed, 29
than twice as provisional)
massive as all the other planets combined.  Titan (one of the moons) makes up 96% of
the mass orbiting the planet
 Diameter – 139,822 km
 Orbit – 11.9 Earth years

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One of Saturn's moons, Enceladus, is covered in an
icy ocean which makes it a promising candidate for

finding extra-terrestrial life. (Given below is an Neptune:

image of moons of Saturn) Neptune is the
eighth planet
Uranus: from the sun
Uranus, the and is on
seventh planet average the
from the sun, coldest planet
was the first in the solar
planet to be system. It is
discovered known for its
using a supersonic strong winds.
telescope. The  Diameter – 49,530 km
ice giant is  Orbit – 165 Earth years
composed of  Day – 19 Earth hours
heavier elements which includes a mixture of  Number of moons – 14
water, methane and ammonia ice.  Average temperature (at the top of the
clouds) – minus 210 degrees Celsius.
 Diameter – 51,120 km  Neptune was the first planet predicted to
 Orbit – 84 Earth years (orbits on its side, exist by using math, rather than being
thus rolling like motion) visually detected.
 Rotation – East to west like Venus
 Day – 18 Earth hours Planet 9 or Planet X:
 Number of moons – 27 (13 rings too) In 2016,
 Average temperature – minus 195 degrees researchers
Celsius proposed the
 Coldest temperature in solar system – possible
minus 224.2 degrees Celsius existence of a
ninth planet,
now dubbed
Planet Nine or
Planet X.

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asteroid belt larger than 1 km in diameter and
 Size is estimated to be about 10 times the millions more smaller asteroids.
mass of Earth
 Orbits the sun between 300 and 1,000 According to a developing theory known as Grand
times farther than the orbit of the Earth Tack, in the first 5 million years of the solar system,
 Tilt would be on the order of 90 degrees Jupiter and Saturn are thought to have moved
 Planet Nine's existence is still theoretical inward toward the sun before changing direction
(as not observed directly) and heading back to the outer solar system. Along
 Its existence inferred by watching its the way, they would have scattered the original
gravitational effects on other objects in the asteroid belt before them, then sent material
Kuiper Belt. flying back to refill it.

Astronomers continue to come up empty in their The dwarf planet Ceres, about 950 km in diameter,
search for Planet 9. A recent 2022 sky survey using resides in the Main Asteroid Belt. Ceres is round
the 6-meter Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) yet is considered too small to be a full-fledged
in Chile found thousands of tentative candidate planet. However, it makes up approximately a
sources but none could be confirmed. third of the mass of the asteroid belt. While most
of the asteroid belt is made up of rocky objects,
The Solar systems many other things, apart from Ceres is an icy body. In 2007, NASA launched a
the Sun, planets and their moons. These include mission, Dawn, to visit Ceres and Vesta. Dawn
asteroids, comets, meteors and other similar reached Vesta in 2011 and remained there for
objects, which are discussed in the following over a year before traveling on to reach Ceres in
points. 2015.

Asteroids and Asteroid Belt

 Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets,
are rocky, airless remnants left over from
the early formation of our solar system.
 Asteroids range in size from Vesta, the
largest at 530 kilometres in diameter to
bodies that are less than 10 meters across.
 Asteroids come in a wide variety of types
and are classified based on their
composition.
 Some asteroids go in front of and behind
Jupiter. These are called Trojan asteroids.
 Asteroids that come close to Earth are
called Near Earth Objects (NEOs).
Our solar system extends much farther than the
eight planets that orbit the Sun. The solar system
Between Mars and Jupiter lies the asteroid belt
which is known as the Main Asteroid Belt. also includes the Kuiper Belt and Oort cloud that
lies past Neptune's orbit. These are sparsely
According to NASA, there are approximately
between 1.1 and 1.9 million asteroids in the main
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occupied ring of icy bodies, which we will study in  NASA's New Horizons mission performed
the following points. history's first flyby of the Pluto system on
July 14, 2015.
Trans-Neptunian region:
The Sun's heliosphere doesn't extend quite as far.
The heliosphere is the bubble created by the solar
wind, a stream of electrically charged gas blowing
outward from the Sun in all directions. The
boundary where the solar wind is abruptly slowed
by pressure from interstellar gases is called the
termination shock. This edge occurs between 80-
100 astronomical units.

Two NASA spacecraft launched in 1977 have

crossed the termination shock, viz. Voyager 1 in
2004 and Voyager 2 in 2007. Voyager 1 went
interstellar in 2012 and Voyager 2 joined it in 2018.
But it will be many thousands of years before the
two Voyagers exit the Oort Cloud.

Oort Cloud –
The Oort cloud lies well past the Kuiper Belt,
considered to be located between 2,000 and 5,000
Kuiper Belt – astronomical units (AU) from the sun.
Its existence was confirmed in 1992 and it is 30 to
55 astronomical units (AU) wide, according to  The
NASA. Here, One AU is the average distance outer
between Earth and the sun i.e. about 150 million edge of
km. the Oort
 It is a band of icy material existing past the Cloud may
orbit of Neptune. reach as
 Pluto, now considered a dwarf planet, far as
dwells in the Kuiper Belt. 10,000 up
 Recent additions include Makemake, to
Haumea and Eris. 100,000
 Another Kuiper Belt object dubbed Quaoar AU from
is probably massive enough but it has not the sun.
been classified as such yet  According to NASA, the Oort Cloud is home
 Scientists estimate the Kuiper Belt is likely to billions, or even trillions of objects.
home to hundreds of thousands of icy  The Oort Cloud is the boundary of the Sun's
bodies larger than 100 km wide, as well as gravitational influence, where orbiting
an estimated trillion or more comets. objects can turn around and return closer
to our Sun.

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 Sedna, which is about three-fourths the  Periodic Comets – also known as short
size of Pluto, is the first dwarf planet period comets, have an orbital period of
discovered in the Oort Cloud. fewer than 200 years. Most periodic
comets are hypothesized to be formed in
Comets: the Kuiper belt. Halley’s Comet is a periodic
comet with an orbit of 75.3 years.
 Non-periodic comets – also referred to as
long period comets, they have an orbital
period longer than 200 years. The Hale–
Bopp comet which was visible from Earth
with the naked eye for more than 18
months in 1997 is a non-periodic comet. It
is believed most of these comets are
originated in the Oort Cloud.
 Hyperbolic comets - These are comets with
no meaningful orbit. Most of these comets
Comets are frozen leftovers from the formation of will only orbit the Sun once and then are
the solar system composed of dust, rock, and ices. slingshotted by the Sun’s gravity outside
Comets orbit the Sun just like planets and the Solar System. It is believed some of
asteroids do, except a comet usually has a very these comets might even be interstellar,
elongated orbit. meaning they have travelled from other
As they orbit closer to the Sun, they heat up and systems.
spew gases and dust into a glowing head that can
be larger than a planet. This material forms a tail Lost comets - These are comets that for some
that stretches millions of miles. Comets are some reason or another have been “lost” after their
of the simplest cosmic objects to understand. They discovery, meaning their fate is unknown.
are composed only of three main parts (shown in
the image above) – Meteor, Meteoroid, and Meteorite:
 Nucleus – A comet’s nucleus is the rocky, They are all related to the flashes of light called
icy part of it which forms its solid core. ‘shooting stars’ sometimes seen streaking across
 Coma – It is the thin atmosphere formed the sky. But we call the same object by different
around the nucleus. It is created by the names, depending on where it is.
gases that are expelled from the core. It  Meteoroids are objects in space that range
can actually extend for thousands of in size from dust grains to small asteroids.
kilometres. Meteoroids more than 10 metres in
 Tail – It is the most visually impressive part diameter are classified as asteroids.
of the comet. It is the stream of dust and  When meteoroids enter Earth’s
gas that is left behind the comet as it atmosphere at high speed and burn up, the
travels and reacts to the Sun’s radiation. fireballs or shooting stars are called
The comet’s tail always points away from meteors.
the Sun.  When a meteoroid survives a trip through
There are five main categories of comets – the atmosphere and hits the ground, it’s
called a meteorite.

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Meteor showers – Since the medieval period, many believed that the
are a stream of meteors burning in Earth’s earth was flat, which made marking of locations on
atmosphere at a fast rate during a short period of a two-dimensional plane easy. After the scientific
time. revolution in the pre-modern period, it was
 As comets travel through their orbits, they realized that earth is practically a sphere (geoid to
leave dust and small pieces of rock and ice be precise), which made location marking on a
that split from it. These rocks float in space normal two-dimensional plane fraught with
for a long time. inaccuracies.
 When Earth’s orbit passes through one of
these areas, they enter the atmosphere Furthermore, the age of discovery made people
due to Earth’s velocity and gravity. At this realize the need for proper maps of earth, so that
point, they burn out in the atmosphere and exploration of the earth can be made more
can now be considered meteors. Halley’s effective. Over a period of time, this need led to
Comet even causes 2 separate meteor the development of a Global coordinate system. A
showers. geographic coordinate system is a coordinate
Future Trends: system that enables every location on Earth to be
In light of the above questions from the previous specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols.
year’s examination of civil services prelims, we can
try to make out a pattern where there is greater There are two major global coordinate systems,
probability of current affairs related topic being known as the “Geographic Coordinate System”
asked. Here, it is important to remember that and the “Universal Transverse Mercator System”.
UPSC won’t be asking questions directly from the The Geographic Coordinate System (GCS) is the
current news but rather it will try to frame most well-known coordinate system which uses
questions based on the basic understanding of the measures of latitude and longitude to determine
current affairs issue. your location. These latitude and longitude are
nothing but the ‘mysterious lines’ which we
For example, Parker Solar probe of NASA and discussed above
Aditya L1 of ISRO are in news, so aspirants should
try to go through the details of composition of
Solar system, with specific focus on Sun’s internal
makeup and its overall properties as well as
characteristics, which we have studied in above
module. This will help you in covering the syllabus
holistically from an exam perspective, rather than
just completing some topics from syllabus.

Location on a Globe
Everyone must be familiar with the ‘mysterious Geographic Coordinate
lines’ on maps and globes. They form a grid system
by which any spot-on Earth can be precisely
pinpointed and as we will see in the points below,
there's nothing mysterious about it.

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Universal Transverse Mercator System

Note: Mercator maps give true directions, but they

exaggerate the size of the land that is located far
from the equator. This happens as the longitude
and latitude lines are curved on the globe but
straight on the Mercator projection map. So, Looks
Longitudes:
can be deceiving!!
Lines of longitude are imaginary half-circles
running from the North Pole to the South Pole.
Latitudes Unlike parallels of latitude that are different sizes,
Lines of latitude extend east and west across the all lines of longitude are the same length. Meridian
Earth. These lines are imaginary. We cannot divide equatorial circle into 360°. These divisions
actually see a latitude line on the Earth. Latitude is of the equatorial circle are used to label the
measured both north and south from the Equator meridians.
and is measured in degrees.

Longitudes and Standard Time:

Important Latitudes: In ancient times, changing seasons, day and night
The seven important lines of latitude are – and position of the sun were some of the means
 Equator at 0 degrees to estimate time. People observed the path of the
 North Pole at 90 degrees north sun in the sky to estimate the time. The earth
 South Pole at 90 degrees south rotates from west to east and completes one
 Tropic of Cancer at 23.5 degrees north rotation in 24 hours. Thus, 360 longitudes face the
 Tropic of Capricorn at 23.5 degrees south mid-day sun one after the other in 24 hours.
 Arctic Circle at 66.5 degrees north All the places located on the same meridian have
 Antarctic Circle at 66.5 degrees south the same local time. The local time of one meridian
differs from the other. This led to a lot of confusion

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in deciding the timing zones as the world got more is the same throughout each zone and differs from
interconnected in the modern age. the international basis of legal and scientific time.
Consequently, in October 1884, International
Meridian Conference was held so that a global You need to understand that horizontal distance
standardized time could be established. The between 15o Longitudes is a lot especially near the
Greenwich Meridian is a north-south line selected equator. Hence in order to maintain the timeline,
as the zero-reference line for astronomical the standard timelines taken by countries are in a
observations. The line in Greenwich in London, UK multiple of 7.5o i.e. between each time zone there
represents the world’s prime meridian – is a difference of half an hour. Hence Indian
longitude zero degrees. Every place on Earth is Standard timeline is taken as 82.5oE longitude. It is
measured in terms of its distance east or west 5 hours and 30 min ahead of Greenwich Mean
from this line. Time.

The present system employs 24 standard The International Date Line

meridians of longitude, 15° apart (360o/24), The world is divided into 24 time zones (as shown
starting with the Prime Meridian through in the Standard
Greenwich, England. These meridians are Time Zone diagram
theoretically the centers of 24 Standard Time above), planned so
zones, although in practice the zones often are that noon is
subdivided or altered in shape for the convenience basically when the
of inhabitants. sun is crossing the
meridian, or line of
A notable example of such alteration is the longitude, of any
eastward extension of the International Date Line given location. But
around the Pacific Island country of Kiribati. Time there has to be a
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when they returned home, it would seem as
though an extra day had passed.

Places located immediately to the right and left of

the date line are 24 hours apart. This means that
on the left side of the International Date Line in
Tonga, when the time is noon on Monday, July 1st,
on the right side of the date line in Sāmoa, the time
is noon on Sunday, June 30th. (Fig B)

Despite its name, the International Date Line has

no legal international status and countries are
free to choose the dates that they observe. While
the date line generally runs north to south from
place where there is a difference in days, pole to pole, it zigzags around political borders
somewhere a day truly "starts" on the planet. The such as eastern Russia and Alaska’s Aleutian
International Date Line is an imaginary line Islands.
running mostly along the 180˚ meridian. (Figure
given to the right) Working of IDL:
A) 180˚ meridian B) International Date Line Let's say you fly from the United States to Japan,
The International Date Line determines where on and suppose you leave the United States on
earth the date changes. Cross the line from the Tuesday morning. Because you're traveling west
east to the west, and you gain a day. Cross from (Across Pacific), the time advances slowly thanks
west to the east, and you lose a day. to time zones and the speed at which your airplane
flies. But as soon as you cross the International
Without the International Date Line, people who Date Line, it's suddenly Wednesday. Hence you
travel west around the planet would discover that

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have suddenly lost a day. You didn’t get to live Because of this tilt, different locations on Earth
Tuesday and suddenly you are in Wednesday. receive different amounts of sunlight at different
times.
On the reverse trip home, you fly from Japan to
the United States. You leave Japan on Monday As Earth rotates on its axis, the different locations
morning, but as you cross the Pacific Ocean, the on Earth change position in relation to the Sun. A
day gets later quickly as you cross time zones city (red dot in the diagram besides) on Earth that
moving eastward. However, as soon as you cross faces toward the Sun at noon will rotate to face
the International Date Line, the day changes to away from the Sun 12 hours later. The positions of
Sunday. Hence you have gained a day. You’ll get to
live your Sunday one more time.

(Try to visualize this with a globe or the map that

has been given above.)

After understanding about the various imaginary

lines that we use to study earth and its motion in
space, let’s focus on the actual movements of
planet Earth to understand the view of the sky that
humans experience from the surface of the earth.
In ancient Greece, powerful gods were held
responsible for everything happening in nature.
The Greeks believed that sunrise and sunset were
caused due to Helios, the Sun god, who drove his Earth and the Sun over the course of a 24-hour
fiery chariot from one end of Earth’s sky to the rotation cause sunrise, sunset, day, and night.
other each day. Today, scientists know that these
stories are only myths. Do you know what really
causes sunrise, sunset, day, and night?

Earth’s Rotation:
‘Rotation’ refers to an object's spinning motion
about its own axis. Earth also spins around a
central line called an axis. This spinning movement
is called Earth’s rotation. Days and nights occur
due to rotation of the earth.

Earth’s axis is an imaginary vertical line that runs Precession of Earth's axis – Forces associated with
through the planet from the North Pole to the the rotation of Earth cause the planet to be slightly
South Pole. oblate, displaying a bulge at the equator.

This axis is slightly tilted at an angle of inclination The moon's gravity primarily, and to a lesser
of 23.45° with the normal i.e. it makes an angle of degree the sun's gravity, act on Earth's oblateness
66.55° from the plane of its orbit around the sun. to move the axis perpendicular to the plane of
Earth's orbit. However, due to gyroscopic action,
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Earth's poles do not ‘right themselves’ to a

Consequences of Earth’s rotation
position perpendicular to the orbital plane.
 Rotation creates a diurnal cycle of light and
Instead, they precess at 90 degrees to the force
darkness, temperature, and humidity
applied. This precession causes the axis of Earth to
changes.
describe a circle having a 23.4-degree radius
 Rotation requires the creation of
relative to a fixed point in space over about 26,000
standardized time zones. There are 24, one
years, a slow wobble reminiscent of the axis of a
for each hour of the earth's rotation.
spinning top swinging around before it falls over.
 Rotation causes the tides‐ the twice daily
rise and fall of sea level. Tides are
Here, precession refers to a change in the
complicated because they are the result of
orientation of the rotational axis of a rotating
both the gravity of the moon and the
body. Because of the precession of the poles over
gravity of the sun.
26,000 years, all the stars, and other celestial
 Coriolis force - Rotation causes a deflection
objects, appear to shift west to east at the rate of
of ocean and air currents. The earth rotates
0.014 degree each year.
much faster than the winds or currents
move. This causes a large deflection in the
At the present time in Earth's 26,000-year
direction that winds move. The Coriolis
precession cycle, a bright star happens to be very
force only operates on large features.
close, less than a degree, from the north celestial
pole. This star is called Polaris, or the North Star.
(Note: The above terms like tides, Coriolis force,
etc. will be covered in detail in future modules)
In this context, the Milankovitch cycles describe
how relatively slight changes in Earth's movement
Because one rotation takes 24 hours, one might
affect the planet's climate. The Milankovitch
think that each side of Earth spends approximately
cycles includes shape of Earth’s orbit
12 hours facing the Sun and 12 hours in darkness.
(eccentricity), angle Earth’s axis is tilted with
This is true of places located on or near the
respect to Earth’s orbital plane (obliquity) and
equator. However, as one moves towards the
direction Earth’s axis of rotation is pointed
North and South Poles, the length of daytime and
(precession).
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nighttime varies. The closer a city is to the North  As discussed earlier, the Earth is angled
or South Pole, the more extreme the difference in differently towards the Sun. This
daylight hours and night time hours are. This is due differentiation in angles provides us with
to the tilt of the axis and Earth’s revolution around different Sun intensities which results in
the Sun. four different seasons.
 If the Earth were exactly perpendicular to
Earth’s Revolution: its orbital plane, the seasons would not

Revolution refers the object's orbital motion occur. It would also cause both
around another object. Objects rotate around an hemispheres to experience approximately
axis, but revolve around other objects. The Earth 12 hours of daylight and darkness during a
rotates around its axis as it revolves around the 24-hour period.
sun.  The Earth’s current axis is 23.5 degrees, if
 Earth revolves in orbit around the sun in it were to be tilted more, this would result
365 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes with in warmer summers and colder winters
reference to the stars, at a speed of around respectively.
30 km/s. Solstices:
 The 6 hours, 9 minutes adds up to about an Occurring in June and December, the solstice
extra day every fourth year, which is marks either the start of winter or the start of
designated a leap year, with the extra day summer. (Relate the diagrams given above and
added as February 29th. besides to better understand these concepts)
 Earth's orbit is elliptical and reaches its
closest approach to the sun, a perihelion of The Summer solstice occurs at the moment the
147,090,000 km, on about January fourth earth's tilt toward from the sun is at a maximum.
of each year. Aphelion comes six months Therefore, on the day of the summer solstice, the
later at 152,100,000 km. The planet moves sun appears at its highest elevation with a
slower when it is at aphelion and faster noontime position.
when it is at perihelion.

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sun longer to rise and set. The equinoxes
are times at which the center of the Sun is
directly above the equator, marking the
beginning of spring and autumn. Given the
apparent disc of the Sun, and the
refraction, day and night actually become
equal at a point within a few days of each
equinox.

Daylight Saving Time (DST):

 Daylight Saving Time is the practice of
turning the clock ahead as warmer
The summer solstice occurs when the sun is
weather approaches and back as it
directly over the Tropic of Cancer, which is located
becomes colder again so that people will
at 23.5° latitude north, and runs through Mexico,
have one more hour of daylight in the
the Bahamas, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India, and
afternoon and evening during the warmer
southern China. For every place north of the
season of the year. Conserving fuel by
Tropic of Cancer, the sun is at its highest point in
reducing the need for artificial light is also
the sky and this is the longest day of the year.
one of the objectives of this practice.
 Daylight Saving Time varies somewhat
The opposite is true for the December Solstice or
from country to country. Countries in
Winter Solstice when winter starts in the North
equatorial and tropical climates do not
and summer begins in the Southern Hemisphere.
observe Daylight Saving Time. The months
The winter solstice marks the shortest day and
when the clock is set ahead and back differ
longest night of the year. In the Northern
between northern and southern
Hemisphere, it occurs when the sun is directly over
hemispheres.
the Tropic of Capricorn, which is located at 23.5°
south of the equator and runs through Australia, Earth’s Magnetic Axis:
Apart from the various axis mentioned above, the
Chile, southern Brazil, and northern South Africa.
earth also has a magnetic axis. It is represented by
a field of a magnetic dipole currently tilted at an
Equinoxes: angle of about 11° with respect to Earth's
 There are only two times of the year when rotational axis, as if there were an enormous bar
the Earth's axis is tilted neither toward nor
away from the sun, resulting in a nearly
equal amount of daylight and darkness at
all latitudes. These events are referred to
as Equinoxes.
 Astronomers also define the equinox as
the moment when the Earth’s Equator on
its axis passes the same plane of the Sun’s
equator. At the equator, the sun is directly
overhead at noon on these two equinoxes.
 Additionally, the days become bit longer at
the higher latitudes because it takes the

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magnet placed at that angle through the center of exact information about the interior of the earth.
Earth. What is its physical state, chemical composition,
density, temperature etc. But till now exact
The North geomagnetic pole actually represents answers of these questions are not known. Before
the South Pole of Earth's magnetic field, and we read about internal structure of the earth, we
conversely the South geomagnetic pole need to know why is it important to study that?
corresponds to the north pole of Earth's magnetic
field. The reasons are –

Now, while we have gone through the details of  It will help us in understanding the nature
mapping lines and various motions of earth in of earth material.
space, to help better understand and learn more  We’ll have a better understanding of
about these topics, you need to refer to a standard phenomenon like earthquake, volcanoes,
atlas. Observing the atlas and maps provided in it plate tectonics etc.
can immensely improve your map reading skills as  It can help us harness the earth’s energy
well as geographical awareness, which plays a and other resources.
crucial role in UPSC Civil services examination.  It will help us in finding other planets of
Further, whenever you get some free time in an same nature in the Universe, where life can
outdoor arena, you can watch the natural be possible.
geographical phenomena around like watching a
To know about the interior of the Earth, two
sunrise or a sunset. This can help in raising your approaches have been used-
curiosity in terms of geographical understanding
 Direct
of your surroundings. Make sure not to look
 Indirect
directly at the Sun during your observations.
Direct Methods include physically observing the
Having gone through the multiple concepts in internal layers of earth. It includes drilling, mining,
geography, it becomes essential to go through the volcanic, eruption, oil rigs etc.
previous year questions related to these topics in
UPSC Civil Services examination for ensuring a You need to know that none of these methods are
better performance in our own endeavor of acing conclusive. The reason of its inconclusiveness can
the examination. be understood by following example - The deepest
hole in the earth surface (a drill hole) is only about
INTERIOR OF EARTH 12km deep at the Akola peninsula near the White
From the solar system, lets land on our planet Sea in Russia. This is nothing as compared to the
Earth. Earth as we discussed is unique in its radius of the earth which is estimated to be
composition, atmosphere, air pressure and 6371km.
temperature. With all these coincidences, earth is
the only planet known to us which can sustain life.
So, let’s start our beautiful journey to know our
planet a little better.

Humans are very curious beings and this quest to

know more led to great discoveries. For a very
long-time scientists have been trying to find the Akola Peninsular Super Hole
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Similarly, the lava which comes out from the is at rest) in a swimming pool with our
interior of earth also comes out from the depth of hand, waves are generated on the surface.
hardly 200 – 300 km which is again negligible as This happens as energy is transferred from
compared to radius of earth. Hence the our hand to the water. This energy is
information received from the direct methods is transferred from a medium in the form of
very limited. waves. Hence, we can conclude that
through any medium energy is transferred
Indirect Methods, means extrapolating the in the form waves.
interior of the earth by indirect study. It includes  Also, in this case if we put some paper
study of meteorites and seismic waves. pellets on the surface of the water, we will
observe that the particles are moving up
Extrapolation from meteorites: and down with crest and trough of wave
 Our Earth is made up of the same material but they are not moving forward with the
of the cosmos, the chemical structure and wave. This shows that in propagation of
compounds found in the meteor can help wave the actual particles of the medium
in understanding the structure of earth or are not transported. They merely oscillate
how was the structure of earth in the early at their own place and transfer the
period of its formation. This method can energy.
talk only about the chemical properties  In similar fashion when an earthquake
and elements in the earth but not about its occurs, a large amount of energy is
physical state. released. It comes out in the form of sound
 Hence the most important and reliable and seismic waves. The seismic waves
method to understand and predict the transport the energy in the earth from one
interior of earth is through the study of point to other.
‘Seismic Waves’.

Seismic Waves
Seismic waves are generated due to release of
energy during an earthquake. They behave
differently in different physical mediums and
provide a good idea how the interior of earth must
be.

Broadly three types of waves are generated Primary Waves: (P) – Waves are longitudinal
during an earthquake- waves. i.e.
 Primary (P) waves The motion
 Secondary (S) waves (oscillation) of
 Surface waves particles is in
the direction
Before we study the action of seismic waves, let’s
of the
understand what exactly waves are!!
propagation
 The most common example of waves
of the wave.
observed by us is the waves on the surface
These waves
of Water. If we hit surface of water (which
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are the fastest of the three and are detected first. Seismic Wave Model
They have the shortest wavelength and highest Following points show how seismic waves
frequency. They can travel in solid, liquid and contributed to our current model of layered earth
gaseous medium. Their speed is almost double the (This is the reasoning which you need to
speed of S – Waves. understand properly):
 If the earth were homogenous throughout,
Secondary Waves: (S) - They are transverse waves seismic waves would travel in straight line
i.e. the motion (Oscillation) of the particles is paths at constant speed. But as it is
perpendicular to the direction of the propagation observed the waves travel in a curved path
of the waves. They are slower than P –waves. They showing an increase of density as we move
have relatively longer wavelength and lower in. Also, the waves travel much faster than
frequency than P – waves. These waves can travel the predicted speed, again showing the
only in solid medium. increase in density.
 The earth has a dense core producing a
The comparative penetration of P and S waves in shadow zone in which no seismic wave is
earth can be understood with the help of detected. Shadow zone of P- waves are
following speed graph. detected from 103 to 143 degrees, while
shadow zone for S-waves is detected
above 103 degrees as shown in the figure.

You can observe that at any given depth, the speed

of P- waves is almost double that of the S- waves.
Also, beyond Mantle, the S – waves are not found.
This shows that beyond that depth the matter is in
liquid state. We’ll discuss about it in detail.

Surface Waves: they are the slowest and are

 The pattern of the reflection and refraction
detected quite late. They travel only in upper layer
of waves shows the presence of layers of
or earth surface. They are the most destructive of
different discontinuities of different
the three waves. Even the surface waves are of
densities and states. They also show
two types – the one travelling in upper crust are
marked discontinuities. Because of the
called LOVE waves and the one travelling in lower
discontinuity you can see that there is a
crust are called RAYLEIGH waves.
sudden change in the speed of the P –
waves in the speed graph above.

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Analyzing the above results, model of earth is deep. It can be up to 70km under high mountains
predicted. and up to 8km under ocean. It represents less than
1% of earth’s total volume and its average density
The Following Video will help you understand the is 2.7 gm/cm3. It is known as ‘sial’ because of
interior of earth nicely. Do watch it. abundance of silicon and aluminium. It is also
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKZELJDr-4k divided into upper and lower crust divided by
Conrad discontinuity.
Note: Before we get to the classification, you
need to understand that whenever we are taking Mantle: The second layer of earth is called mantle.
about classifying anything, we need to ask a very It is separated from crust by Mohorovicic
basic question, that on what basis are we discontinuity. Its density ranges from 3.3 to
classifying. Based on that the classifications can 5.7gm/cm3. It is made of dense and rigid rocks
differ. So, if you get a question in exam, think which have the predominance of magnesium and
about the basis of classification first, rather than silicon. It is also separated as upper mantle up to
what you know. We will be reiterating this fact 700km and lower mantle from 700 to 2900 km.
again and again in different VANs. The upper and lower mantle is separated by
Repetti discontinuity.
Classification based on chemical composition and
density (Also known as Static Model): Core: The innermost layer is called core. It is
separated from mantle by Gutenberg
Crust: The outer most layer or shell of the earth is discontinuity. It lies from 2900 km to 6371 km. The
known as earth’s crust. On an average it is 30km density of core varies from 9.5 to 14.5gm/cm3. It

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contains alloy of Nickle and iron. It also has two S Waves Transverse S wave
parts – a liquid outer core separated by inner solid wave. Can shadow zone
core at 5150km by Lehman discontinuity. pass only shows
through solid. discontinuity
Classification based on Mechanical Properties as well as
(Also known as Dynamic model): presence of a
 Lithosphere: The top most solid layer is liquid layer in
called lithosphere. It is up to 100 km deep the interior of
including crust and some portion of upper earth.
mantle. Surface Moves on the Shows a
 Aesthenosphere: It is the second plastic Waves surface. Most discontinuity
layer under lithosphere. It stretches from destructive. between
100 km to 400km. It is also present in upper upper crust
mantle. Often students get confused while and lower
solving MCQs and think that Lithosphere crust.
contains part of upper mantle and
asthenosphere the lower mantle. Internal structure can be based on chemical
However, if you observe both are present composition as well as mechanical properties.
in Upper mantle only. Layers according to Chemical properties:
Layer Sub layer Discontinuities
 Mesosphere: It is an intermediate layer
Crust Upper Conrad
lying from 400km to 700km in depth.
(Average crust and discontinuity
 Pyrosphere: It includes semi solid lower
depth lower
mantle and outer liquid crust. Because of
35km) crust
very high temperature it gets its name.
Mohorovicic
‘Pyros’ means fire.
Discontinuity
 Barrysphere: It is the inner most solid core
(between Crust
of the earth stretching from 5150km to
and mantel)
6371km.
Mantle Upper Repetti
Revise (upto 2900 mantel discontinuity
Some important points – km) and lower
Type of Property Deduction mantel Gutenberg
wave discontinuity
P Waves Longitudinal Curving waves (between
wave. Can show change Mantel and core)
pass through in density with Core (2900 Outer Lehman
solid, liquid depth. – 5371km) core discontinuity
and gas. (Liquid)
P wave and Inner
Body wave. shadow zone core
discontinuity (Solid)
in the interior
of earth.

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Internal structure based on mechanical
Properties
Layer Depth
Lithosphere 100 – 200 km
(includes crust and
upper mantle)
Aesthenosphere 200 – 400 km
(includes upper
mantel)
Mesosphere Upto 2900 km
Barrysphere Upto 5150 km
Pyrosphere Upto 5371 km
 Shallow focus earthquake: These
earthquakes occur from the surface to the
Note: Barrysphere and pyrosphere are sometimes
used interchangeably so we don’t think a tricky depth of 70km, they occur in all seismic
question will be asked on this. belts and produce the largest percentage
of earthquakes.
EARTHQUAKES  Intermediate focus earthquake: They occur
Earthquakes are vibrations of the earth caused by between 70 and 300km below the surface
sudden movement of rocks that have been of the earth.
strained beyond their elastic limit.  Deep focus earthquake: They occur in the
range of 300 to 700km of depth.
Main causes of the earthquake are plate tectonics,
Both the intermediate and deep focus
volcanic eruption or anthropogenic activities like
earthquakes are limited in number and
explosions, reservoir induced seismicity etc. There
distribution. The maximum energy released by an
is a release of huge amount of energy in the form
earthquake decreases with increase in depth.
of sound and seismic waves causing shaking of
Hence most of the large and destructive
earth’s surface. The point where earthquake
earthquakes have shallow focus.
generates is called focus and the point just above
the focus on the surface is called epicenter. The
What is the difference between Earthquake and
magnitude of earthquake is estimated by Richter
Tremor?
scale, while intensity is described Mercalli scale.
The magnitude of the earthquake remains same  Tremor is the shaking or trembling of the
everywhere while intensity decreases going away surface of the earth before an earthquake
from the epicenter strikes, though it is common to talk about
a tremor and an earthquake in
Depth of focus: synonymous terms.
The depth of an earthquake generally varies from  At some places, tremors are classified as
about 10-700 km below the surface of the earth. earthquakes of smaller magnitude.
Although the movement of material within the  Tremors take place before an earthquake
earth occurs throughout the mantle and core, and forewarn about an impending
earthquakes are concentrated only in its 700 km. earthquake that may cause much damage.
Within this range earthquakes can be grouped  Earthquakes can trigger landslides in
according to depth of focus. mountainous regions and even tsunamis

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when the epicenter of an earthquake is 5. Agadir, Morocco – 1960
below the seabed. 6. Kakh, Iran – 1968
Consequences of Earthquakes
 Rise and subsidence of land surface. High Five major earthquakes that have struck India in
magnitude earthquakes can create fissures the past:
and embankments and thus results into  BIHAR. Magnitude: 8.1. January 15, 1934
new landforms deforming the ground  GUJARAT. Magnitude: 7.7. January 26,
surface. 2001
 Enormous Damage to property.  MARASHTRA. Magnitude: 6.4. September
 Loss of human and animal life. 30, 1993
 Devastating fires, floods and landslides.  ASSAM. Magnitude: 8.6. August 15, 1950
 Flash floods. Many a times due to  UTTARKASHI. Magnitude 6.1. October 20,
earthquake the dams and embankments 1991
gets ruptured and causes flash floods  KASHMIR. Magnitude 7.6. October 8,
resulting in loss of life and property. 2005
 Landslides
 Tsunamis. Tsunamis
The seismic waves travelling through the ocean
and sea water results into high sea waves which
are known as tsunamis. ‘Tsunami’ is a Japanese
term which has been universally adopted to
describe a large seismically generated sea wave.
These waves are responsible for causing
considerable destruction in certain coastal areas
where submarine earthquakes occur.

Pre – conditions for Tsunami:

For a Tsunami to occur, two conditions are
required:
Seismograph- an instrument that measures and
 There should be an earthquake from which
records details of earthquakes, such as force and
energy can be transferred.
duration.
 There should be a vertical displacement of
Magnitude 3 or lower earthquakes are mostly
the water. i.e. during earthquake the crust
imperceptible or weak and magnitude 7 and over
should move vertically. That’s why
potentially cause serious damage over larger
Tsunamis are originated near oceanic
areas, depending on their depth.
trenches where plates are being
Some major Earthquakes subducted.
1. Great libson earthquake – 1 November
 In Atlantic Ocean, a number of
1755
earthquakes occur on Mid – Oceanic ridge
2. Tokyo and Yokohama earthquakes – 1
but since there is no sudden vertical
September 1923
movement, Tsunamis are not formed.
3. San Francisco – 1906
Tsunamis can also be triggered if
4. Kansu (Loess region) China – 1920, 1927

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seamounts break. This can cause vertical  It may travel considerable distance. The
displacement of water. frequency of tsunami is highest in Pacific
Ocean.
Process of Generation of Tsunami:
 Since 1948, an International Tsunami
 When a tsunami is generated, its steepness
Warning Network has been in operation
i.e. height to length ratio, is very less. This
around the Pacific Ocean to alert coastal
enables it to pass unnoticed beneath the
residents to possible danger.
ships in the sea.
 As the wave approaches shore, the height
Note- The Tsunami that hit Indian Ocean in 2004
of the wave rapidly increases because of
had a magnitude of 9.1-9.3
rebound from the shallow surface. The
period of the wave remains constant,
velocity drops and the height increases.
 In confined coastal waters relatively close
to their point of origin, tsunamis can reach
a height of more than 30m. Tsunamis
travels at the speed of 100 -150 km/h
which may pick up 650-900 km/h.

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ROCK SYSTEMS  Not occur in strata (layers)

Just like various cells made our body, various trees  Not contain fossils
made forests. Similarly, various types of rocks  These rocks can be sub-divided on the
made earth’s crust. basis of mineral composition.

These rocks differ in –

 Texture - the degree to which something is
rough or smooth, or soft or hard
 Structure - the way in which the individual
molecules are arranged in the rock. It
defines whether a rock is crystalline or
amorphous.
 Mode of occurrence – defined by how a
rock has been formed.
 Colour – It is imparted by different
minerals present in the rock.
 Permeability – It defines the ability of rocks Acidic Igneous rocks – These rocks are formed by
to pass water or gas through them. solidification of Acidic lava i.e. the lava which has
Permeability can be present due to high silica content. These rocks are also called
porosity or due to joints and fractures Felsic rocks. The characteristics of these rocks are
present in the rocks. Rocks can be
 High proportion of Silica
impermeable also.
 Less dense
 Degree of resistance to denudation – It can
 Lighter color than basic rocks
be shaped by rocks physical and chemical
 Example – Granite
properties.

We know that types of rocks will decide the type Basic igneous rocks – These rocks are formed by
of soil (like colour, texture and use) vegetation and solidification of basic lava. These are also called
also land use. Mafic rocks. This lava rises up from the mantle
directly rather than being created due to
According to origin rocks can be divided into 3 subduction. We’ll understand more about
groups – subduction later when we will discuss plate
 Igneous rocks tectonics.
 Sedimentary rocks  Low proportion of Silica
 Metamorphic rocks  Dark color

IGNEOUS ROCKS
You can remember it by word ignite which means
to burn. So, igneous rocks are formed after cooling
and solidifying of molten rock (magma) from
beneath the Earth’s crust. They are called the
Primary Rocks.
 Structure – crystalline

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Volcanic Rocks or extrusive rocks
 Molten rocks
poured out of
volcanoes as
lava.
 Fine grain
because of
raid cooling.
 Dark color
 Example – basalt
 Places where these are found –
o Antrim - Northern Ireland
Classification of Igneous rocks on the basis of
o Deccan plateau – India
origin –
o Snake plateau – Columbia
 Example of polygonal columns – Columnar
basalt of Giant’s causeway in Antrim

Sedimentary Rocks
 As the name suggests they are formed
from layers of sediments accumulated over
long periods.
 They are also known as stratified rocks.
 Their characteristic layer formation helps
in differentiating these rocks with other
rocks.
 Strata thickness may vary from few
centimeters to meters.
Plutonic Rocks  Materials which form layers can be
 Formed – In brought from Streams, glaciers, winds or
depth of earth’s even animals.
crust
 Usually
medium to coarse
grained texture due
to slow cooling.
 Typically, light color
 Example – Granite, Diorite and Gabbro
 Exposed at the surface by the process of
denudation and erosion.

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Organically formed sedimentary rocks

Classification of sedimentary rocks according to Formed of – remains of living organisms (corals or
origin and composition shellfish). They can be broadly classified into two
Mechanically formed sedimentary rocks types -
 Formed by –
 Calcareous type rocks – limestone and
o Accumulation of materials
chalk
derived from other rocks.
o Limestone (called as
o Example – Sandstone which are
chunapatthar in hindi) – the
made of Sand grains, quartz
one which is used in Pan and to
fragments.
whitewash home.
 You must have observed in Rajasthan
 Carbonaceous rocks – formed of
and other places that sandstone is used
vegetative matter
to build structures.
o We know how coal is formed
(lot of pressure and heat
 Uses of Sandstone –
o Buildings
o Grindstones
 Sandstone types –
Grit – coarser type sandstone
Conglomerate – larger pebbles
firmly cemented to form a rock

Breccia – when the fragments are

angular
 Clay – finer sedimentary materials compacted the plant remains
o Use – brick making, shale or into carbon which become
mudstone peat, lignite or coal)

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Chemically formed sedimentary rocks o Limestone → Marble
 Formed of – one kind or another o Sandstone → Quartzite
solution which is precipitated o Granite → Gneiss
chemically. o Shale → Schist
 Example – o Coal → Graphite (one which is in
o Rock salt – derived from old sea our pencil)
bed or lakes
o Gypsum – evaporation of Salt
Lake.
o Potash and nitrate are also
obtained in similar way.

Metamorphic Rocks
Metamorphic rocks are those that have been
physically, and possibly chemically, altered by
heat, pressure and/or chemically active fluids.
Metamorphic rocks are associated with conditions
in the lithosphere where the pressures and
temperatures are greater than those that form
sedimentary rocks, but less than those that can
melt the rocks to form magma. Under great heat
and pressure, Igneous and Sedimentary rocks can Note: Try to make a list of some common rocks
convert into metamorphic rocks. and their igneous forms. Sometimes MCQs are
 Such heat and pressure can change them in asked on such matchings.
appearance or in other characteristics
 Example – Clay → Slate

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Rock Cycle

and, on planets containing life, a biogeochemical

The rock cycle is a basic concept in geology that cycle.
describes transitions through geologic time among
the three main rock types: sedimentary,
metamorphic, and igneous. Each rock type is
altered when it is forced out of its equilibrium
conditions. For example, an igneous rock such as
basalt may break down and dissolve when
exposed to the atmosphere, or melt as it is
subducted under a continent. Due to the driving
forces of the rock cycle, plate tectonics and the
water cycle, rocks do not remain in equilibrium
and change as they encounter new environments.
The rock cycle explains how the three rock types
are related to each other, and how processes
change from one type to another over time. This
cyclical aspect makes rock change a geologic cycle

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TYPES OF FORCES

Forces

Endogenic Exogenic

Slow Forces Sudden forces Pressure Temperature Humidity

Epeirogenic Orographic
Earthquakes Vulcanism
forces forces

Compression Tension

The above table will make you understand the type of forces acting together to shape our earth.
forces. The landforms created by them are called
Broadly the geomorphic forces are classified as Primary reliefs.
Endogenic forces and Exogenic forces.
Orogenic Forces: These forces are mountain
Endogenic Forces building forces. They act horizontally
Endogenic forces are the internal forces which are (Compression and tension) and causes folding,
responsible for the formation of new undulations faulting and Vulcanism. The landforms created by
on the surface of the earth. Since they create new these forces are called secondary reliefs. There
landforms, they are also known as the Forces of are three types of mountains found on earth on
Construction. the basis of formations, Fold Mountains, Block
Mountains and Volcanic Mountains. Where these
They are the result of the convectional currents features are found and how have they formed can
formed in the mantle. The source of this heat is be explained with the help of plate tectonic theory
the primordial heat of the interior and which has already been discussed. The individual
radioactive decay of elements. processes of folding, faulting and volcanism are
discussed in the next section of this module.
They can be broadly classified into slow forces and
sudden forces. Exogenic Forces
Slow forces are of two types – Epeirogenic and These are the external forces which degrades the
Orographic. existing landforms. As the role of endogenetic
forces is to create new undulations, the role of
Epeirogenic Forces: These forces act vertically and exogenic forces is to remove them and make the
leads to upwarping and downwarping of the surface planar. Three factors act simultaneously –
continents i.e. a large continental mass is pushed pressure, temperature and humidity to break the
upwards and downwards. They are extremely slow uplifted areas and fill the low-lying areas. The
landforms created by them are called tertiary

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reliefs. Endogenic and Exogenic forces keep secondary landforms are carved by the
working together to maintain the equilibrium. action of external forces i.e. the changes in
temperature, pressure and humidity.
Exogenic Forces are responsible for three types of Examples of these landforms are – gorge,
processes: canyon, V – shaped valley, sand dunes,
 Weathering Deltas etc.
 Mass wasting
 Erosion and decomposition Orogenic Forces can cause three types of
processes –
In this module we have discussed about the forces
and processes that shape our earth and landforms.  Folding
We hope that you enjoyed reading it. In the next  Faulting
module we will be discussing about individual  Vulcanism
landforms.
Folding
Due to heavy compression, the crust bends in a
On the basis of cause of formation landforms can
zigzag wavy fashion. This is called a fold. If the
be classified as –
bending is upwards forming a crest, it is called
1. Primary Landforms anticline. On contrary if it results into a trough, it
2. Secondary Landforms is called a syncline. It should be noted that folding
3. Tertiary Landforms is found in sedimentary and igneous rocks and not
in metamorphic rocks as they crumble under
Primary Landforms
compressive force.
 They are created by Epeirogenic forces
(Hope you remember what epeirogenic
Well, this is where we will take our funkiness to
forces are. They are vertical slow
endogenic forces).
 They are basically two landforms –
Continents and Oceans. They provide
landscape for other forces to carve
undulations.

Secondary Landforms
 They are formed by Orogenic forces.
Secondary landforms are created by the exponential heights. Watch this amazing Video.
forces of compression and tension. They
include folding mountains, Rift valleys, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy3ORIgyX
volcanoes, mid Oceanic ridges etc. yk
Primarily folding, faulting and vulcanism is
involved in the formation of these
landforms.

Tertiary Landforms
 They are formed by the action of exogenic
forces. These landforms are formed when
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This is how a folding mountain chain looks like…  Monoclinic fold- in this case one limb
inclines steeply at right angle from the
horizontal i.e. the slope is almost vertical.
 Isoclinic fold- they are formed when
compressive forces are so strong that both
the limbs of the fold become parallel but
not horizontal.
 Recumbent fold- compressive force are so
strong that the limbs become parallel as
well horizontal.
 Nappe- the compressive forces are strong
enough that one limb is fractured along the
axis and is thrust upon the other.
 Fan fold or anticlinorium- it is an extensive
 Anticline – upper part of wave or crest and broad fold consisting of several minor
 Syncline – lower part of wave or trough anticlines and synclines. Such folds
 Example- Himalayas, Rockies, Andes, Alps resemble to a fan.
 Synclinorium- it is a folded structure which
includes an extensive syncline having
numerous minor anticlines and synclines.
They are formed due to irregular
compressive forces.

Complicated forms of folds (Due to increase in the

compressional forces)

Types of Folds
 Symmetrical fold- it is the simplest kind of
fold where both the limbs are inclined Figure showing different types of folds
uniformly, making same angle with the
horizontal. They are an ideal case and
generally not found. They are formed Faults
when equal and gradual force act from A fault is a fracture in the earth’s crust due to
both sides of the crust. tension force. It can also occur due to compression
 Asymmetric fold- in this fold one limb dips in hard and brittle rocks.
more steeply than the other i.e. both the  When there is tension the crust ruptures.
limbs are inclined at different angles. One block is thrown upwards and the other
downwards. The upthrown block is called
Horst while the downthrown block is called

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Graben. The line along which the fault
occurs is called strike. This fault is called
normal fault and is most common. In case
of a normal fault, new surface is generated
in the form of scarp.
 When there is compression, in case of hard
rocks instead of folding, the faulting
occurs. The block with hanging wall is
thrown upwards while the one with
footwall is thrown downwards. This is
called a reverse fault. In case of a reverse
fault there is net destruction of the surface.
 When the forces are acting parallel to each
other, along the line of fault the blocks
move past each other without being
upthrown or downthrown. This is called
lateral fault. Fig: Block Mountain ranges

For Better understanding of Faults, watch the

following Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_ZRtS3Q
GHw

Block Mountains
 Folding occurs when the earth’s crust
bends while fault occurs when there is
crack in earth’s crust.
The landforms formed due to faulting of land are
 Fault i.e. crack occurs due to tension or
block mountains, rift valleys, Step Mountains,
hinge faults, scissors fault etc. compression.
 Tension - stretching
 Compression – force from 2 sides which
tried to press something.

Horsts or Block Mountains

 Caused by faulting in rocks.
 Tensional forces in earth pull the crust
apart and faults are developed, if the block
enclosed by faults remains or rise because
of subsiding of land on either side, the
Fig: block mountains.
upstanding block becomes horst or block.
 Example – Hunsruck mountains
o Vosges and black forest of
Rhineland

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VOLCANOES
Volcano is an opening or vent through which
molten lava, ash, gases etc. comes out from the
earth’s interior. Most of the volcanoes are
concentrated at convergent and divergent plate
boundaries but others, located in the interior of
plates are associated with hot spots.

Here is the most exciting Video which will give

you an experience that you have never had
before:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be7o6BYV
OzA

Types of Volcanic Eruptions:

 Icelandic: it flows as fissure eruption. The
lava is basaltic and has less viscosity. It
flows quietly and in large quantities
forming plateaus. There is no violent
activity or cone formation. ex. Columbia
(USA), Deccan plateau (India) etc.
The above diagram is also true for Narmada River  Hawaiian: there can be fissure, crater or
as well. It also flows between two Vindhya horst caldera eruptions. It forms small domes
and Satpura horst. from which mobile lava and gases erupt. It
produces fire fountains and only minor
Graben or Rift Valley amount of gases.
They are also caused by faults. Faults created  Stambolian: they form stratocones, i.e.
because of tensional forces can let down the lava comes out and solidifies in a layered
central portion or block between two adjacent structure. They have rhythmic to
fault blocks. This forms the Graben or Rift valley. continuous explosions resulting from
 Example – East African Rift valley is 3000 spasmodic gas escape. Sometimes clots of
miles long. lava are ejected producing bombs and
 Most of the rift valleys are due to tension scoria. It can have periodic more intense
rather than compression activity with outpouring of lava.
 Vulcanian: they are also stratocone
How to remember horst and graben? – Horsts is volcanoes. The associated lavas are more
your horse and graben is your Gadha (donkey). viscous. Sometimes the lava solidifies over
Now horse back is on greater height and Gadha’s the vent forming a crust resulting into gas
back has subsided because of weight. So now you pressure buildup leading to violent
will never forget horst and graben  explosions. After a long quite period
eruption occurs ejecting bomb, pumice
and ash. Lava flows from the top of the

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flank after main explosive eruption. Dark vertical coloumn for miles. It is narrow at
ash laden clouds, convulated, cauliflower base but expands outward at upper
shaped, rises to moderate heights more or elevations. But the clouds are generally
less vertical depositing tephra along the low in tephra.
flanks of volcano.  Pelean: it results from high viscosity lava
 Vesuvian: it throws extremely violent and delayed explosiveness. Conduit of
explosive gas charged magma from stratovolcano usually gets blocked by
stratocone vent. Eruption occurs after a dome or plug, some gas escapes from
long period of quite or mild activity. Vent lateral opening or by destruction or uplift
tend to be emptied to considerable depth. of plug.
The lava erupts in explosive spray and gas  Katmaian: it is a variant of Pelean eruption
cloud reaches to great height and deposits characterised by massive outpourings of
tephra. fluidized ash flows accompanied by
 Pilian: it is more violent form of visuvian widespread explosive tephra. Ignimbrites
eruption. Last major phase is uprush of gas are common end products. Also, hot
that carries clouds rapidly upward in springs and fumaroles are formed.

Fig: types of volcanic eruptions.

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Classification of Volcanoes are only the remnants of the volcanoes. In
many of the cases crater lakes are formed
On the basis of material erupted: by filling of water into craters. Acancagua
1. Basalt cone: basalt cones are very rare.
of Andes is a typical example of extinct
They are low rather than high because of
volcano.
fluidity of basaltic lava. Ex- Rangitoto (New
Zealand) and Skjaldbreit (Iceland) are most Volcanic Mountains
suitable examples.
2. Basalt dome: basalt domes are flat domes
formed by fluid basalt lava. They are less in
height and broad. Hawaiian volcanoes are
the best example.
3. Ash and cinder cones: these are high
volcanoes formed by high viscous lava. Ash
and cinder cones are built where eruptions
are explosive type with predominance of
pyroclastic material. Growth of an ash or
cinder cone begins around a crater.
4. Composite or strato cone: they are formed
by alternate sheets of lava and pyroclastic
material. It is formed by alternate periods
of explosive and quite eruptions. Most of
These mountains are made of volcanoes (made of
the largest volcanoes of the world falls
material ejected from fissures in the earth’s crust)
under this category. Mt Fujiyama of Japan,
Vesuvian of Italy, Cotapaxi and Chimbrazo
The material includes –
of Equador are good examples.
o Molten lava
On basis of periodicity: o Volcanic bombs
 Active volcanoes: volcanoes which o Cinders
constantly eject lava, gases, ash, cinder etc. o Ashes
are known as active volcanoes. There are o Dust and liquid mud
about 600 active volcanoes in the world,  These materials fell around the vent in
most of them being around pacific “ring of successive layers, building up a
fire”. The Stramboli volcano erupts so characteristic volcanic cone.
much fire that it has been termed as the  These mountains are often called as
lighthouse of the Mediterranean. mountains of accumulation.
 Dormant volcano: A volcano which has not  Example – Mt. Fuji (Japan)
erupted for a long time but still has o Mt. Mayon (Philippines)
probability of eruption is called dormant o Mt. Merapai (Sumatara)
volcano. Mt Kilimanjaro is one such o Mt. Agung (Bali)
volcano. o Mt. Catopaxi (Ecuador)
 Extinct volcano: a volcano which
functioned in long geological past but is no
longer active is called extinct volcano. They

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 Extrusive landforms - Magmas that reach

Landforms Associated with Vulcanic Activities the surface and solidify, form extrusive
Vulcanic activities affect Earth’s landforms. Solid, landforms.
liquid or gaseous materials may find their way to  Rocks formed by either plutonic or volcanic
the surface from some deep-seated reservoir activity are called igneous rocks
beneath. For example – Geyser and springs,
volcanic eruptions, sometimes gas sources are Landforms of Igneous Intrusions
found. Molten magma is mobile rock. It mostly Sill
enters in weak portions of crust.
The resultant landforms depend on many factors
like –
o Strength and fluidity of the magma
o Types of cracks, faults and joints
penetrated by magma
o Manner in which magma escapes
to the surface.

Intrusive landforms –
Magma while thrusting its way up to the  Sill – Intrusion of molten magma
surface may cool and solidify within the horizontally along the bedding planes of
crust as plutonic rocks. sedimentary rocks.
 Denudation of overlying sedimentary
strata in sill exposes the intrusion which

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looks like bold escarpment (a steep slope Various types of liths – Laccolith, Lopolith,
or cliff, such as one which marks the edge Phacolith, Batholith.
of a range of hills) All of them took place differently in the Earth’s
 Example – Great whin sill of NE England. crust and solidified within the upper layers of the
crust.
Dyke
Laccolith
 Large blister or igneous mound with a
dome shaped upper surface and a level
base fed by a pipe like conduit from below.
 Shape similarity – Dome
 Example – Henry mountains, Utah, USA

Lopolith
 A large igneous intrusion which is lenticular
in shape with a depressed central region.
 Shape similarity – Saucer
 Example – Bushveld lapolith of Transvaal,
Dyke – Intrusion of molten magma vertically
South Africa
 Denudation results – Upstanding walls or
shallow trenches
Phacolith
 Example - Cleveland Dyke of Yorkshire,
 Igneous rocks occupying the crest of an
England
anticline or the bottom of syncline and fed
o Isles of Mall and Arran in Scotland
by conduit which is below it.
o Quartzite dyke, North of Kuala
 Shape similarity – Lens
Lumpur
 Example – Corndon hill in shropshire,
Liths – igneous intrusions on larger scale. England

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Batholith o Snake basin, USA
 A very large igneous intrusion extending to  Basalt plateau example – NW Deccan and
an unknown depth in the earth's crust. also found in Iceland
 Shape similarity – irregular shape
 Example – Wicklow Mountains of Ireland Volcanic Cones
o Uplands of Britanny, France  Highly fluid lava (i.e. Basic lava) forms lava
o Main Range of West Malaysia domes or Shield volcanoes (with gently
rising slopes and Broad, flattened tops)
How did Batholith originate?  Example – Hawain volcano (best
It is believed that large masses of magma which developed lava domes)
was going up came into contact with country rock  Mauna loa
and metamorphosed them.  Kilauea (steep walled caldera with lava pit
These metamorphosed rocks with solidified of Halemaumau)
magma gave rise to extensive Batholiths.

Cinder Cone
Extrusive Landforms  Less fluid lavas (i.e. acid lava) forms – Ash
How do we get to know whether a landform is
and cinder cones (with large central craters
extrusive or not?
and steep slopes)
Nature and composition of Lava and ejected
 They are small volcanoes (not greater than
materials which reach the surface of earth.
1000 feet height)
 As we have already read that basic lava is
 Example – Mt. nuovo (near naples)
very fluid and it flows for long distances
o Mt. Paricutin (Mexico)
resulting in extensive lava plains.
 They form – Lava tongue, lava dammed
 Example – our Deccan plateau have
lakes, lava bridges, lava tunnels
formed in similar way

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Composite Cones
 Most volcanoes have this kind of cone. Caldera Cone or Volcano Cone
 Built by - Several eruptions of lava, ashes Crater formation – during an eruption the material
and other volcanic materials (come out from the top of cone is blown off or collapses into
through conduit from the main conduit vent widening the orifice into a large crater
from magma chamber/reservoir) which  Greatly enlarged depressions are called
forms lot of layers and increase the height. Calderas
 From the main conduit subsidiary pipes or  These are the result of violent eruptions
dykes reach to surface as feeder to accompanied by the subsidence of much of
parasitic cones (like water pipelines in our the volcano into the magma beneath.
house from main big pipeline). From these  Water may collect in the crater or the
subsidiary pipes lava comes out to the caldera forming crater or Caldera lakes e.g.
sides of cone. Lake Toba in Sumatra.
 Example – Mt. Etna (Sicily)
o Mt. Stromboli (Light house of
Mediterranean)
o Mt. Vesuvius
o Mt. fuji
o Mt. popacatapetl
o Mt. Chimborazo

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Origin of Volcanoes Over hot spots

 We have read that, volcanic activities are (Mauna loa, Hawaii)
associated with crustal disturbances and
mostly takes place where crust has weak
portion because of faulting or folding
 As we go deep inside crust temperature
increases (1°F increase with 65 feet) and so Some Volcanic Eruptions
we can expect interior of earth in semi
molten state which could consist of solid,
liquid and gaseous material, collectively
called as magma.
 Gases like – carbon dioxide, sulphurated
hydrogen and small proportions of
Nitrogen chlorine and other volatile
substances charged magma heavily.
 Gases and vapor increase the mobility and
explosiveness of Lava.

Types of Lava
Basaltic lava Acidic lava
Low viscosity High viscosity
Hot and runny Less hot and slow
Lower silica content Higher
Takes longer time to Cool and solidifies
cool and solidifying soon
Gas content retained Loses gases quickly
which makes it mobile and become viscous
Produces extensive Produces steep-sided,
and gentle sloping more localized
landform features
Frequent and gentle Less frequent and
eruptions violent
Lava and steam Ash, rocks, gases,
ejected steam and lava
Found at constructive Found at destructive
plate margins where margins where
magma rises from oceanic crust is
mantle destroyed Mt. Vesuvius
Example –  A somma-stratovolcano located on the
Example – Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy
Subduction zone (Mt.
Fissures along the
St. Helens)  Vesuvius has erupted many times since
Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Island arcs (Mt Pelee, and is the only volcano on the European
(Heimaey)
Martinique)

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mainland to have erupted within the last  After remaining dormant for almost half a
hundred years. century, an eruption m 1927 pushed up a
 Today, it is regarded as one of the most cinder cone from the submarine floor.
dangerous volcanoes in the world because  This new volcanic island was named Anak
of the population of 3,000,000 people Krakatau, meaning ‘the child of Mt.
living nearby. Krakatau’.
 Vesuvius was formed as a result of the
collision of two tectonic plates, the African Mt. Pelee
and the Eurasian. The former was
subducted beneath the latter, deeper into
the earth.
Mt. Krakatau

 A volcanic island situated in the Sunda

Strait between the islands of Java and
Sumatra in the Indonesian province of
Lampung.
 The most notable eruptions of Krakatoa
culminated in a series of massive
explosions over August 26–27, 1883, which  A semi-active volcano at the northern end
of Martinique, an island in the Lesser
were among the most violent volcanic
events in recorded history. Antilles island arc of the Caribbean.
 The 1883 eruption ejected approximately  Its volcanic cone is composed of layers of
25 km3 (6 cubic miles) of rock (OMG) volcanic ash and hardened lava.
 The volcano is currently in a dormant state.
 Erupted white-hot lava and super-heated
steam.
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White Island Eruption or Whakaari 
Active volcanoes – 500

Dormant and extinct volcanoes – 1000s

Occurrence – Costal Mountain ranges, off-
shore islands and in the midst of oceans,
but there are few in the interiors of
continents.
Pacific Region
 Greatest concentration – circum pacific
region (Pacific ring of fire) – Includes 2/3rd
world’s volcanoes.
 Western pacific – chain starts from
Aleutian Islands, Japan extending in south
up to Philippines, Indonesia (java and
Whakaari / White Island is an active andesite Sumatra particularly), pacific islands of
stratovolcano, situated 48 km off the north- Solomon, New Hebrides, Tease and North
northeast coast of the North Island of New Island, New Zealand.
Zealand in the Bay of Plenty.  Eastern pacific – Starting from Andes to
It recently erupted in December, 2019 killing Central America (particularly Guatemala,
many. Costa Rica and Nicaragua), Mexico and
The Distribution of Volcanoes in the World right up to Alaska.
 Volcanoes are mostly located in intensely
folded or faulted regions

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Atlantic  Gamalama (Halmahera, Indonesia)
 Few volcanoes  Agung (Bali, Indonesia)
 Many dormant or extinct  Slamet (Central Java, Indonesia)
 Example – Madeira, Ascension, St. Helena,
Cape verda Island. And Canary Island
Europe and Atlantic Ocean:
o Active – Iceland and Azores
Mediterranean  Stromboli (Eolian Islands, Italy)
 In alpine – folds – Vesuvius, Etna, Stromboli  Etna (Sicily, Italy)
and Aegean Islands  Campi Flegrei (Phlegrean Fields) (Italy)
Asia
Volcanoes of India:
 Mt. Ararat (recall with “are rat” or  Barren Island- Andaman: Active since
“Airavat” (indra’s elephant name)) 2017.
 Mt. Elbruz (elbows or eyebrows)  Narcondam Volcano: Also located in the
 It’s interesting and surprising that Andaman Sea, Narcandom is a dormant
Himalayas have no active volcanoes. volcanic island that last erupted 5,60,000
Africa years ago. Formed of andesite, the
volcano’s peak rises 710 above sea level.
 Mt. Killimanjaro and Mt. Kenya (east
 Deccan Traps: Now dormant, the Deccan
African rift valley – extinct) Traps volcano last erupted 66 million years
 Mt. Cameroon – only active volcano of ago. One of the earth’s largest volcanic
west Africa. features, the volcano lies in Maharashtra.
 Madagascar – some volcano cones but not  Dhinodhar Hills: Now extinct, the 386-
active volcanoes metre-high volcano last erupted more than
500 million years ago. Located in Gujrat,
 West Indian islands – Mt. pelee and St.
the area has now become a tourist and
vincet (violent explosion in recent times) pilgrimage spot.
 Lesser Antilles – made of volcanic islands  Dhosi Hill: A part of the Aravali Mountain
 Interior volcanoes in continents – rare range, the Dhosi Hill volcano last erupted
732 million years ago after which it went
Some famous Volcanoes extinct. The volcano is located in Dhosi,
Haryana, which is about a four-hour-long
Indonesia:
drive from Delhi.
 Karangetang (Siau Island, Sangihe Islands,  Tosham Hill: Tosham Hill is another extinct
Indonesia) volcano in Haryana that erupted 732
 Dukono (Halmahera, Indonesia) million years ago and belongs to the same
suite of igneous activity as Dhosi Hill.
 Ibu (Halmahera, Indonesia)
 Baratang: Baratang is not a regular volcano
 Semeru (East Java, Indonesia) spewing lava but is a mud volcano, which
 Merapi (Central Java, Indonesia) erupts mud and slurries and falls in the
 Sangeang Api (Indonesia) normal habitable temperature range.
 Raung (East Java, Indonesia)  Loktak Lake: A supervolcanic caldera, the
extinct volcano that existed at Loktak lake,
 Krakatau (Sunda Strait, Indonesia)
located in Manipur, erupted 100 million
 Kerinci (Sumatra, Indonesia) years ago.
 Sinabung (Sumatra, Indonesia)
 Lokon-Empung (North Sulawesi, Indonesia)
 Soputan (North Sulawesi, Indonesia)

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Geysers and Hot Springs

 Can sprout up to height of 150 feet from

Geysers under the earth.

How does geysers work?

 Water near volcanic or thermal region is
heated beyond boiling point.
 Jet of water emitted with explosion and it
is triggered or cause ny gases which seep
out from heated rocks

Where they are found?

 Mostly in 3 areas – Iceland
o New Zealand - Rotorua district of
North Island
o USA - Yellowstone Park (old faithful
– world’s best-known geyser)
 Fountains of hot water and superheated
stream.
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Hot Spring  Alpine
 Can be found anywhere on the Earth
where water is sinked deep enough
beneath the surface to be heated by
interior forces.
 Rises without any explosion (in geyser
explosion is there)
 Contains – dissolved minerals
 Uses – dissolved minerals, heat house,
swimming pools and domestic purposes.
 Locations - Honduras, Canada, Chile,
Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Japan, New
Zealand, Fiji and the United State
 Caledonian –
o Time period - 320 million years ago
Mountains
o Mountains which raised –
Classification on the basis of formation:
Scandinavia and Scotland
As we discussed earlier, mountains are created by
Orogenic Forces. Since orogeny leads to three
 Hercynian –
types of landforms, on the basis of formation
o Time period – 240 million years ago
Mountains can be classified as –
o Mountains which formed – Ural
 Folding Mountains (Russia), Pennies and welsh
 Block Mountains highlands (Britain), Harz
 Volcanic Mountains (Germany), Appalachians
(America), High plateaus of Siberia
As these mountains are denuded by exogenic
and China
forces, the remnant of these mountains are called
Residual mountains.
 Alpine –
o Time period – 30 million years ago.
Classification on the basis of Age:
o Mountains formed – Young fold
According to age, the mountains can be classified
mountains – Alps, Himalayas,
as –
Andes and Rockies.
 Pre – Cambrian
NOTE- Read G.C Leong thoroughly. This is a simple
 Caledonian
book with crisp content.
 Hercynian

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Solar System  It is the brightest among

Brief Overview of our Planets planets because it has the
Mercury  Geologically inactive for highest albedo due to the
billions of years because highly reflective sulfuric
there is no atmosphere on acid that covers its
Mercury atmosphere.
 It may appear as a bright  It is also considered as
star-like object but is less Earth’s sister planet or
bright than Venus. Earth’s twin because of their
 It has surface temperatures similar size, mass, bulk
that vary diurnally more composition and similar
than on any other planet in physical features such as
the Solar System (−173 °C at high plateaus, folded
night to 427 °C during the mountain belts, volcanoes,
day) because of lack of etc.
atmosphere.  A day on Venus is equivalent
to 243 earth days and lasts
Venus  It is the brightest planet in longer than its year (224
the solar system and is the days).
third brightest object visible  It rotates in the opposite
from earth after the sun and direction (clockwise) to
the moon. most other planets.
 The surface of Venus is  In the ancient literature,
totally obscured by a thick Venus was often referred to
atmosphere composed of as the morning star and
about 96% carbon dioxide, evening star.
covered with clouds of
highly reflective sulfuric Mars  It is often referred to as the
acid. “Red Planet” because of the
 The atmospheric pressure at reddish iron oxide prevalent
the planet’s surface is 92 on its surface.
times that of Earth (roughly  Mars can easily be seen from
found at 900 m (3,000 ft) Earth with the naked eye.
underwater on Earth). Mars is less dense than
 Venus is by far the hottest Earth, having about 15% of
planet in the Solar System, Earth’s volume and 11% of
even though Mercury is Earth’s mass.
closer to the Sun. This is  Mars has a thin atmosphere
because of the greenhouse and has surface features
effect arising from high ranging from impact craters
concentrations of CO2 and of the Moon and the valleys,
thick atmosphere. deserts, and polar ice caps of
Earth.

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 Mars has two irregularly Jupiter  It is composed mostly of gas
shaped moons, Phobos and and liquid swirling in
Deimos, which are thought complex patterns with no
to be captured asteroids. solid surface.
 Liquid water cannot exist on  Jupiter’s four large moons
the surface of Mars due to (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and
low atmospheric pressure Callisto), called the Galilean
(less than 1% of the Earth’s). satellites because Galileo
 Mars is the site of Olympus discovered them.
Mons (shield volcano), the  Because of its rapid rotation
largest volcano and the (once every 10 hours), the
highest known mountain planet’s shape is that of an
(24 km) in the Solar System. oblate spheroid (slight bulge
 Landforms visible on Mars at the equator).
strongly suggest that liquid  The outer atmosphere is
water has existed on the visibly segregated into
planet’s surface. several bands, resulting in
 Mars lost its magnetosphere turbulence and storms.
4 billion years ago, possibly
because of numerous Saturn  Saturn’s rings are probably
asteroid strikes, so the solar made up of billions of
wind interacts directly with particles of ice and ice-
the Martian ionosphere, covered rocks.
lowering the atmospheric  Titan is the second-largest
density. moon in the Solar System
 The atmosphere of Mars (larger than Mercury) and it
consists of about 96% is the only satellite in the
carbon dioxide, 1.93% argon Solar System with a
and 1.89% nitrogen along substantial atmosphere
with traces of oxygen and (nitrogen-rich).
water.
 Methane has been detected Uranus  Unlike other planets, it spins
in the Martian atmosphere on its sides, that is its axis of
(may indicate the existence rotation lies in nearly the
of life). plane of its orbit. (The poles
 Methane can exist in the of Uranus lie in a plane
Martian atmosphere for only where equators of other
a limited period before it is planets lie)
destroyed — estimates of its  Venus and Uranus have a
lifetime range from 0.6-4 retrograde rotation
years. (clockwise), i.e., opposite of
sun’s rotation. The other six
planets rotate about their

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axis in the direction of sun’s that remains is the
rotation i.e rocky material.
counterclockwise.
 All eight planets in the Solar Meteorites • A meteoroid is a chunk
System revolve the Sun in of space rock. If it burns
the direction of the Sun’s up while entering the
rotation, which is Earth’s atmosphere it’s
counterclockwise when called a meteor and if a
viewed from above the Sun’s piece lands, it’s called a
north pole. meteorite.
• Millions of meteoroids
Neptune  Uranus and Neptune (the ice travel through the
giants) are called the twins Earth’s atmosphere
of the outer solar system. every day, but most are
 They are surrounded by a small and burned up
thick atmosphere of quickly. Very few reach
hydrogen and helium and the ground.
contains a higher proportion • A meteorite that is seen
of “ices” such as water, or detected as it lands
ammonia, and methane ice are called “falls”, with
giants” to emphasise this those that are
distinction. discovered later being
referred to as “finds”.
Meteoroids more than
10 metres in diameter
Asteroids  Asteroids are small, are classified as
rocky objects that orbit asteroids.
the Sun.
 Most asteroids are Comets • Comets, like asteroids,
found orbiting in the are small celestial
Asteroid Belt, a series of bodies that orbit the
rings located between Sun. However, unlike
the orbits of Mars and asteroids, comets are
Jupiter. composed primarily of
 Most asteroids are frozen ammonia,
irregular in shape methane or water, and
because they are too contain only small
small to exert enough amounts of rocky
gravitational pull to material. As a result of
become spherical in this composition
shape. comets have been
 Some asteroids are given the nickname of
blown out comets. "dirty snowballs.
When the ice is gone, all
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• A comet has four  It takes approximately 24 hrs to
components: a nucleus, complete one rotation.
a coma, a dust tail and  Days and nights occur due to rotation
an ion tail. of the earth.
• Comets are believed to  The circle that divides the day from
originate in one of two night on the globe is called the circle of
regions – the theorized illumination.
Oort Cloud, or the  Earth rotates on a tilted axis that makes
Kuiper Belt found an angle of 23.5° with the orbital plane.
beyond the orbit of  Rotation Movement of earth on its axis
Neptune and the dwarf for 24 hours is called Earth Day.
planet Pluto.
Effects of Rotation
 Rotation creates a diurnal cycle of light
Kuiper Belt and darkness, temperature, and
• It is similar to the asteroid belt found humidity changes.
between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter,  Rotation of Earth is responsible for day
but it is 20 times as wide and somewhere and night.
between 20- 200 times more massive.  Rotation causes the tides‐ the twice
• The ices are frozen volatiles that are made daily rise and fall of sea level.
up of methane, nitrogen, ammonia and  The Coriolis Force. When the Earth
water. rotates on its axis, it prevents air
• At least three dwarf planets are located in currents from moving in a straight line
the Kuiper belt: Pluto, Haumea and north and south from the equator.
Makemake. Instead, it results in one of the effects
of rotation of the Earth: the Coriolis
ROTATION OF EARTH Effect. This deflects winds to the right
in the Northern Hemisphere and to the
left in the Southern Hemisphere.

 Earth rotates along its axis from west to

east.

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REVOLUTION OF EARTH Effects of Revolution
 Revolution along with the earth’s tilted
axis leads to changing seasons across
the hemispheres.
 The speed of the Earth’s revolution has
influenced the state of the Earth. On
account of the speed of pivot, a
diffusive power is made which prompts
the straightening of the Earth at shafts
and protruding at the middle.
 The Earth’s revolution influences the
development of water in the seas. The
tides are redirected because of the
turn.
 The speed of revolution additionally
 The motion of the earth around the sun influences the development of the
in its orbit is called revolution. breeze. Because of revolution, winds
 It takes 365¼ days (one year) to revolve and the sea flow redirect to one side in
around the sun. the Northern Hemisphere and to one
 Six hours saved every year are added to side in the Southern Hemisphere.
make one day (24 hours) over a span of
Summer and Winter Solstice
four years. This surplus day is added to
the month of February.  The longest day of 2021 for those living
north of the Equator is June 21.
 Thus, every fourth year, February is of
29 days instead of 28 days.  This Day is referred to as the summer
solstice, the longest day of the summer
 Such a year with 366 days is called a
season.
leap year.
 It occurs when the sun is directly over the
 Revolution leads to change in Seasons.
Tropic of Cancer, or more specifically right
 During one revolution around the Sun,
over 23.5 degree north latitude.
Earth travels at an average distance of
 The maximum amount of sunlight received
about 150 million km.
by the Northern Hemisphere during this
 Earth revolves around the Sun at an
time is usually on June 20, 21 or 22.
average speed of about 27 km (17 mi)
 In contrast, the Southern Hemisphere
per second, but the speed is not
receives most sunlight on December 21, 22
constant. The planet moves slower
or 23 when the northern hemisphere has
when it is at aphelion and faster when
its longest nights– or the winter solstice.
it is at perihelion.
 During the Northern Hemisphere
Cosmic Microwave Background
summer, the North Pole points toward  The cosmic microwave background (or
the Sun, and in the Northern CMB) fills the entire Universe and is
Hemisphere winter the North Pole is leftover radiation from the Big Bang. The
tilted away from the Sun. universe is still expanding today, and the
expansion rate appears different

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depending on where you look. The CMB New Source of Gravitational Waves
represents the heat leftover from the Big  Scientists have for the first time detected
Bang. gravitational waves – ripples in the fabric
 We can't see the CMB with our naked eye, of space-time – produced by the collision
but it is everywhere in the universe. of a neutron star and a black hole.
 It is invisible to humans because it is so  This finding confirms that there are
cold, just 2.725 degrees above absolute neutron star-black hole systems and will
zero (minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit, or help answer many questions about the
minus 273.15 degrees Celsius.) cosmos, from star formation to the
 This means its radiation is most visible in expansion rate of our universe.
the microwave part of the electromagnetic  Gravitational waves are produced when
spectrum. celestial objects collide and the ensuing
 The universe began 13.8 billion years ago, energy creates ripples in the fabric of
and the CMB dates back to about 400,000 space-time which carry all the way to
years after the Big Bang. That is because in detectors on Earth.
the early stages of the universe when it  This is the first-time scientists have seen
was just one-hundred-millionth the size it gravitational waves from a neutron star
is today, its temperature was extreme: 273 and a black hole Previous gravitational
million degrees above absolute zero. wave detections have spotted black holes
 The CMB is useful to scientists because it colliding, and neutron stars merging but
helps us learn how the early universe was not one of each.
formed. Gravitational Waves
 It is at a uniform temperature with only
small fluctuations visible with precise
telescopes.
 By studying these fluctuations,
cosmologists can learn about the origin of
galaxies and large-scale structures of
galaxies and they can measure the basic
parameters of the Big Bang theory.
 The first space mission specifically
designed to study the cosmic microwave
 Gravitational waves are 'ripples' in space-
background (CMB) was the Cosmic
time caused by some of the most violent
Background Explorer (COBE), launched by
and energetic processes in the Universe.
NASA in 1989.
Gravitational waves are invisible.
o NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave
 They are incredibly fast. They travel at the
Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) in 2001
speed of light (186,000 miles per second).
o European Space Agency’s – Planck
Gravitational waves squeeze and stretch
in 2009
anything in their path as they pass by.
 Some examples of events that could cause
a gravitational wave are:

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o when a star explodes forming early stars and galaxies, the
asymmetrically (called a descendants of which are visible today.
supernova) Cosmic Inflation
o when two big stars orbit each  Building on the Big Bang Theory, American
other. Physicist Alan Guth proposed the theory of
o when two black holes orbit each cosmic inflation in 1981.
other and merge.  Cosmic inflation has become an important
 In 2015, scientists detected gravitational concept in the study of the early universe.
waves for the very first time. They used a  The theory of cosmic inflation proposes a
very sensitive instrument called LIGO period of extremely rapid exponential
(Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave expansion of the universe during its first
Observatory). These first gravitational few moments (starting at 10−36 seconds
waves happened when two black holes after the Big Bang singularity, to be exact).
crashed into one another. The collision  The universe developed from a tiny speck
happened 1.3 billion years ago. But the (hypothetically containing the entirety of
ripples didn’t make it to Earth until 2015. space) into something much, much bigger.
 The first detection of gravitational waves Cosmic inflation explains how this occurred
was a very important event in science. uniformly in spite of the rapidness of the
Before this, just about everything we knew process.
about the universe came from studying
waves of light. Now we have a new way to Do You Know?
learn about the universe by studying waves  Hubble's law, also known as the Hubble–
of gravity. Lemaitre Law: is the observation in
Big Bang Theory physical cosmology that galaxies are
 The Big Bang Theory is the leading moving away from Earth at speeds
explanation for how the universe began. proportional to their distance. In other
 It says the universe as we know it, started words, the farther they are, the faster they
with an infinitely hot and dense single are moving away from Earth.
point that inflated and stretched, first at Multiverse
unimaginable speeds, and then at a more  Multiverse theory suggests that our
measurable rate over the next 13.8 billion universe, may not be the only one.
years to the still-expanding cosmos that we  There may be an entirely different
know today. universe, distantly separated from ours
 Astronomers can see the "echo" of the and many more such universes may exist.
expansion through a phenomenon known  There may be an infinity of universes, all
as the cosmic microwave background. with their own laws of physics, their own
 After its initial expansion, the universe collections of stars and galaxies and maybe
cooled sufficiently to allow the formation even their own civilizations.
of subatomic particles, and later atoms.  It could be that our universe is just one
 Giant clouds of these primordial elements member of a much grander, much larger
mostly hydrogen, with some helium and multitude of universes: a multiverse.
lithium, later coalesced through gravity,  The most prominent reasoning for
multiverse comes from ‘inflation theory’.

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Inflation theory describes a hypothetical swept by the space station as it orbits
event that occurred when our universe around the earth.
was very young, less than a second old. In
an incredibly brief amount of time, the PeVatrons
universe underwent a period of rapid
expansion, "inflating" to become many  PeVatrons, the source of some of the
orders of magnitude larger than its highest energy particles that whip across
previous size. our galaxy.
 Inflation of our universe is thought to have  Streams of particles called cosmic rays
ended about 14 billion years ago. However, travel at breakneck speeds around our
inflation does not end everywhere at the galaxy and they also strike our planet’s
same time, it is possible that as inflation atmosphere.
ends in some region, it continues in others.  They typically consist of protons but
 While inflation ended in our universe, sometimes also include atomic nuclei and
there may have been other, much more electrons.
distant regions where inflation continued  They all carry an electric charge; this means
— and continues even today. that their paths deviate and scramble as
 Individual universes can "pinch off" of they go through our galaxy’s magnetic
larger inflating, expanding universes, field.
 This means that it is no longer which
creating an infinite sea of eternal inflation,
filled with numerous individual universes. direction they originally came from,
effectively masking their birthplace.
 But when the particles that are part of
Spectrographic Investigation of Nebular Gas
(SING) cosmic rays collide with the gas near
 The research students from Indian supernova remnants, they produce gamma
Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), in rays; some of the highest-energy forms of
collaboration with the Russian Academy of radiation that exist.
Sciences, is building a project called  These particles get trapped by the chaotic
Spectrographic Investigation of Nebular magnetic fields near supernova remnants.
Gas (SING), set to be launched in 2023.  They pass through the supernova’s shock
 The SING project will be used to study and wave multiple times and each time they
analyse the makeup of interstellar gas in do, they gain speed and energy.
the region around the Chinese Space  These particles are boosted to 10 times the
Station. energy that the Large Hadron Collider, the
 The SING project would be the first space- most powerful man-made particle
collaboration involving India and China, accelerator, can generate.
and primarily deals with sending and
Chandler Wobble
positioning a spectrograph, an instrument
Earth completed its spin in 1.59 milliseconds less
that splits light into constituent
than 24 hours on June 29 this year.
frequencies and wavelengths, to study
ultraviolet radiation.  The Earth’s rotation is affected by major
 This will help analyze the make-up and forces of nature including the oceans,
sources of interstellar gas in the region that tides, churnings in its inner and outer

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layers, and even the climate, which at the matches observations of both planets from
moment is going through consequential the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, as
changes. well as the Gemini North telescope and the
 While scientists are yet to conclude the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility.
reasons behind the downtrend in Earth’s
rotational speed, it is being attributed to Reasons For Colour Difference
the Chandler wobble.
 The model shows that the haze around
 Chandler Wobble, according to Nasa, is a
motion exhibited by Earth as it rotates on Uranus is thicker than that around
its axis. Neptune.
 Uranus has stagnant, sluggish atmosphere
 Scientists in 2000 solved this mystery and
said that the principal cause of the which makes it appear a lighter tone than
Chandler wobble is fluctuating pressure on Neptune.
 If there was no haze in the atmospheres of
the bottom of the ocean, caused by
temperature and salinity changes and Neptune and Uranus, both would appear
wind-driven changes in the circulation of almost equally blue as a result of blue light
the oceans. being scattered in their atmospheres.
 There are three aerosol layers in the
 While two-thirds of the Chandler wobble is
caused by ocean-bottom pressure atmospheres of Neptune and Uranus.
 The key layer that affects the colours is the
changes, the remaining one-third is by
fluctuations in atmospheric pressure. middle layer, which is a layer of haze
particles that is thicker on Uranus than on
Neptune and Uranus Neptune.
Scientists have discovered the reason for the  On both planets, methane ice condenses
colour difference between Neptune and Uranus. onto the particles in this layer, pulling the
particles deeper into the atmosphere.
 Neptune and Uranus have much in  Because Neptune has a more active,
common they have similar masses, sizes, turbulent atmosphere than Uranus does,
and atmospheric compositions. Neptune’s atmosphere is more efficient at
 However, their appearances at visible churning up methane particles into the
wavelengths, Neptune is a rich, deep azure haze layer.
hue, while Uranus is a distinctly pale shade  This removes more of the haze and keeps
of cyan. Neptune’s haze layer thinner than it is on
Uranus, with the result that the blue colour
Reason For lack of Explanation Until Now of Neptune looks stronger.

 The reason why this difference had not Blue Straggler Stars
been explained so far was the absence of
similar data for comparison.  Blue Stragglers are outlier stars to the
 Previous studies of the spectrum of each conventional stellar theory,as they are
planet concentrated on individual deviant from the norms of main sequence
wavelength regions. stars.
 In the new comparison, researchers have  Under standard stellar evolution, as time
developed a single atmospheric model that passes, each star evolves differently

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depending on its mass, in which all stars Coronal Mass Ejection
born at the same time should lie on a
clearly defined curve in the Hertzsprung-  Sometimes, a bubble of gas gets burped
Russell diagram. out of the sun. Imagine it like a bubble
 Blue stragglers appear to be lagging behind escaping from a bucket of soap water.
 This bubble, typically containing billions of
most of the other stars in the cluster in its
evolution toward a cooler, reddish state. tonnes of matter, ploughs through the
 Since they lag behind their peers in the solar wind and travels in a random
evolution, they are called stragglers, more direction at a speed of several million
specifically, blue stragglers, because of kilometers per hour.
 Such a bubble that has cut loose from the
their hot, blue colour.
 These are unusually hot and bright stars sun’s corona is called ‘coronal mass
found in the cores of ancient star clusters ejection’ (CME) or ‘solar storm’.
 If a CME happens to be coming in the
known as globulars.
direction of the earth, it is a cause for
Three Hypotheses for Blue Stragglers concern.
 Scientists says that it has been known for
 This evasive behavior is due to these stars some time that the sun undergoes cycles of
gaining mass from a binary companion. high (maxima) and low (minima) CME
 The straggler draws matter from the giant activity. Right now, there is an upswing and
companion and grows more massive, hot, it will reach a maximum in a few years.
and blue, and the red giant ends up as a
normal or smaller white dwarf. Impact of solar storms
 The straggler draws matter from a
 It all depends upon the individual solar
companion star, but there is a third star
that facilitates this process. storm.
 Usually, the earth’s magnetic field —
Solar Storms magnetosphere — will ward off the
 Just as the sun keeps sending us light and dangerous incursions; the CME could pose
heat, it also throws out a lot of other danger only if the magnetic field is
material in all directions, including towards overwhelmed.
Earth.  The magnetic field, on the sun-facing side
 In fact, there is a constant stream of of the earth, extends to about 65,000 km,
charged particles — electrons and protons well within the range of earth’s satellites.
— that escape from the sun’s atmosphere (Actually, the magnetic field on the day
(corona) and spread across space. This side gets compressed to 65,000 km by the
stream is called ‘solar wind’. solar winds; on the night side, the
 We are protected from the solar wind by magnetosphere is much bigger).
our magnetic field, which deflects the  If a big CME occurs, some satellites could
particles away. be lost; there is nothing we can do about it.
 As for the earth-based systems, such as
power grids and telecom networks, even if
a big CME hits the earth, only countries in
the upper and lower latitudes are in danger

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of getting affected. Being near the equator, Fold Mountains  Mountain ranges
India is relatively safe. mainly consisting of
 A large solar storm hitting the earth might uplifted folded
happen once in a century. The last big one sedimentary rocks
was in 1859. The ‘Carrington Event’ shut are called Fold
down telegraph and electrical systems for Mountains.
many days.  They are formed due
to the force of
Kilonova compression arising
 A kilonova (also called a macronova or r-
from
process supernova) is a transient
the endogenic or
astronomical event that occurs in a
internal forces.
compact binary system when two neutron
 Synclines (trough)
stars or a neutron star and a black hole
and anticlines (crest)
merge.
are part of Fold
 Kilonovae are thought to emit short
Mountains.
gamma-ray bursts and strong
 The Himalayas in
electromagnetic radiation due to the
Asia, the Alps in
radioactive decay of heavy r-process nuclei
Europe, the Rockies
that are produced and ejected fairly
in North America,
isotropically during the merger process.
and the Andes in
 This is a bright afterglow of the collision
South America are
that’s made of decaying heavy elements.
the most prominent
 Scientists have been able to determine
fold mountains of
that one kilonova is enough to seed the
the world.
equivalent of 100 Earths with precious
 Since these were
metals.
formed during the
Solar Conjunction most recent
mountain building
 Solar conjunction generally occurs when a period, they are also
planet or other solar system object is on known as Young Fold
the opposite side of the Sun from the Mountains.
Earth.
 From an Earth reference, the Sun will pass Block Mountains  Block Mountains are
between the Earth and the object. also formed by the
 Communication with any spacecraft in internal or
solar conjunction will be severely limited endogenic earth
due to the Sun’s interference on radio movements which
transmissions from the spacecraft. cause the force of
tension and faulting.
MOUNTAINS  The down-lifting or
uplifting of land in
TYPE FEATURES between two parallel

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faults results in the materials it is made
formation of Block of.
Mountains.  These portions
 A block mountain is remain unweathered
also called while its surrounding
as Horst and the rift area gets eroded
valley formed as a constantly. This
result of faulting is results in the
called Graben. formation
 Examples: The Sierra of Residual or Relict
Nevada in North Mountains.
America, Black  Examples: Hills like
Forest Mountains in Nilgiri, Palkonda,
Germany etc are Parasnath and
typical examples of Rajmahal and
Block Mountains. Mountains like the
Aravalli, the Vindhya,
Volcanic  The mountains and the Satpura are
Mountains formed by the some of the
accumulation of examples of Relict
volcanic materials Mountains in India.
are called as Volcanic
Mountains or
Mountains of
accumulation.
 Examples: Mount
Mauna Loa in Hawaii
Island, Mount Popa
in Myanmar, Fuji
Yama in Japan etc.
are some examples.

Residual or Relict  The process of

Mountains wearing down
depends on the
shape and structure
of the rocks upon
which it acts.
 Some portions of an
elevated area escape
from the process of
weathering due to
the hardness of the

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EARTH MOVEMENTS

 The Earth’s rotation (Coriolis effect) can

Endogenetic Movements - The large-scale influence where convection currents
movements on the earth’s crust or its surface travel.
brought down by the forces emanating from deep
Endogenetic earth movements are mainly of two
below the earth’s surface are called as endogenic
types: diastrophism and the sudden movements.
geomorphic movements or simply endogenic
movements.
Diastrophism - It is the general term applied to
 The ultimate source of energy
slow bending, folding, warping and fracturing.
behind forces that drive endogenic
 Epeirogenic or continent forming
movements is earth's internal heat.
movements act along the radius of the
Earth’s internal heat is a result of mainly
earth; therefore, they are also called radial
radioactive decay (50% of the earth’s
movements. Their direction may be
internal heat) and gravitation (causes
towards (subsidence) or away (uplift) from
pressure differences)
the centre. The results of such movements
 Differences in temperature and pressure
may be clearly defined in the relief. Raised
among various layers of the earth give rise
beaches, elevated wave-cut terraces, sea
to density differences and these density
caves and fossiliferous beds above sea
differences give rise to conventional
level are evidences of uplift.
currents.
 Examples of Uplift in India: Raised
 Convectional currents in the mantle drive
beaches occur at several places along
the lithospheric plates (crust and upper
the Kathiawar, Nellore, and Tirunelveli
mantle) and the movement of the
coasts. Several places which were on the
lithospheric plates (tectonics) is the cause
sea some centuries ago are now a few
behind endogenic movements.
miles inland due to upliftment. For
example, Coringa near the mouth of the
Godavari, Kaveripattinam in the Kaveri
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delta and Korkai on the coast of Weathering -It is defined as mechanical
Tirunelveli, were all disintegration and chemical decomposition of
flourishing seaports about 1,000 to 2,000 rocks through the actions of various elements of
years ago. weather and climate. Its processes are responsible
 Orogenic or the mountain-forming for breaking down the rocks into smaller
movements act tangentially to the earth fragments.
surface, as in plate tectonics. Tensions  Chemical weathering causes rocks to
produce fissures (since this type of force decompose or dissolve and reduce them to
acts away from a point in two directions) a fine clastic state through chemical
and compression produces folds (because reactions by oxygen, water or acids.
this type of force acts towards a point from o Solution - when something is
two or more directions). In the landforms dissolved in water or acids, the
so produced, the structurally identifiable water or acid with dissolved
units are difficult to recognise. contents is called solution.
o Carbonation - is the reaction of
Sudden Movements - These movements cause carbonate and bicarbonate with
considerable deformation over a short span of minerals.
time, and may be of two types. o Hydration - is the chemical addition
 Earthquake - It occurs when the surplus of water.
accumulated stress in rocks in the earth’s o Oxidation - means a combination of
interior is relieved through the weak zones a mineral with oxygen to form
over the earth’s surface in form of kinetic oxides or hydroxides.
energy of wave motion causing vibrations o Reduction - when oxidised minerals
(at times devastating) on the earth’s are placed in an environment
surface. Such movements may result in where oxygen is absent, reduction
uplift in coastal areas. takes place.
 Volcanoes - a volcano is formed when the  Physical weathering - The disintegration of
molten magma in the earth’s interior rocks by some applied forces is called
escapes through the crust by vents and physical or mechanical weathering. These
fissures in the crust, accompanied by applied forces could be due to the action of
steam, gases (hydrogen sulphide, sulphur gravity, heat and water.
dioxide, hydrogen chloride, carbon dioxide o Unloading - involves removal of
etc.) and pyroclastic material. overlying rock load because of
continued erosion. It causes a
Exogenetic Movements: The geomorphic release of vertical pressure on the
processes on the earth’s crust or its surface rock resulting in expansion of upper
brought down by the forces emanating from layers which further results in
above the earth’s surface are called exogenetic disintegration of rock masses.
movements. Exogenetic Forces derive their o Temperature changes - with the
strength from the earth’s exterior or are rise in temperature, every mineral
originated within the earth’s atmosphere. expands, and as the temperature
Examples of forces – the wind, waves, water etc. falls, a corresponding contraction
takes place. Continuous cycle of

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expansion and contraction aids in mass movements. Mass movements are
weakens rock materials leading to very active over weathered slopes rather than
its disintegration. over unweathered materials. No geomorphic
o Frost weathering - occurs due to agent like running water, glaciers, wind, waves and
the growth of ice within pores and currents participate in the process of mass
cracks of rocks during repeated movements. Mass movements are aided by
cycles of freezing and melting. gravity
o Salt weathering - many salts in
rocks like calcium, sodium,
magnesium, potassium expands
due to thermal action, hydration
and crystallization.
 Biological weathering - this refers to
disintegration and decomposition of rock
masses due to growth or movement of
organisms. Burrowing and wedging by
organisms like earthworms, termites,
rodents etc., help in exposing the new
surfaces to moisture and chemical attack  Erosion - involves acquisition and
causing their decomposition. Decaying transportation of rock debris. Erosion
plant and animal matter help in the results in degradation of the surface relief
production of humic, carbonic and other i.e. wearing down of the landscape. When
acids which enhance decay and solubility massive rocks break into smaller fragments
of some elements. Human activities like through weathering and any other process,
ploughing and cultivating cause mixing of erosional geomorphic agents like running
air, water in the minerals, thereby aiding in water, groundwater, glaciers, wind and
weathering process. waves remove and transport it to other
places
Significance of Weathering  Deposition - is a consequence of erosion.
 Weathering is the first step in the Gradually, the erosional agents lose their
formation of soil from rocks. velocity and hence, the materials carried
 Weathering weakens soil and rocks and by them start to settle themselves. The
makes it easy to exploit natural resources. coarser materials get deposited first and
 Weathering leads to natural soil finer ones later. The same erosional
enrichment. agents, viz. running water, glaciers, wind,
 Weathering leads to mineral waves and groundwater act as
enrichment of certain ores by leaching aggradational or depositional agents also.
unwanted minerals leaving behind the
valuable ones. Types of Mass Movement: Creep; Fall, Slip, Flow;
Mass Movements - these movements transfer the Solifluction; Rock Glaciers; Slumping (Earthflow);
mass of rock debris down the slopes under the Mudflow (lahar); Debris Flow, Debris Slide, Debris
direct influence of gravity. The debris may carry Avalanche; Rockslide; Rockfall; Debris Fall.
with its air, water or ice. The process of weathering

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Do You Know the south and the Andaman-Sumatra
region to the southeast.
Northeast India is Prone to Earthquakes- Why?  This region comprising of Shillong Plateau,
According to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Mikir hills, Assam valley, Tripura fold belt
our country falls in four seismic zones. The entire and the Bengal basin (Bangladesh) is jawed
Northeast falls in Zone V, with the highest risk, and in 3-ways between the three tectonic arcs.
the region has a turbulent history of 18 The interaction of these three uniquely
devastating earthquakes in the past century. In placed tectonic arcs makes North East
fact, Northeast India is one of the six most India an interlocked region of high
seismically active regions on Earth along with seismicity.
California, Japan, Mexico, Taiwan, and Turkey.
 Moreover, the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxes
 Seismicity is a term which expresses the is a complex triple junction that joins the
frequency of occurrence of earthquake in a Indian and Eurasian plates with the
region in the past as well as probable northern end of the Burma plate where the
occurrence in the future. Some region Himalayan arc takes a sharp turn of about
experiences higher magnitude of 900 and meets the Indo-Burma ranges.
earthquake, whereas some experience
 The tremors of some recent earthquakes
lower magnitude.
have been attributed to the Kopili fault
 Depending on magnitude and frequency, zone closer to Himalayan Frontal Thrust.
we generally define a place as a region of This is a seismically active area falling in the
high seismicity and low seismicity. highest Seismic Hazard Zone V. It is
Seismicity of a particular region depends associated with collisional tectonics
on the tectonic condition pertaining to because of the Indian Plate sub-ducting
number and type of movement of faults in beneath the Eurasian Plate. Subduction is a
that region. geological process in which one crustal
 Earthquake is a natural phenomenon plate is forced below the edge of another.
which is responsible for continuous  The high seismicity in this region can also
geological formations and modifications of be attributed to the collision tectonics
Earth. Therefore, assessing earthquake is between the Indian Plate and the Eurasian
necessary in terms of location, frequency, Plate in the north and subduction tectonics
magnitude to evaluate the extent of along with the Indo-Myanmar range (IMR)
devastation and threat that it possesses. in the east
 One of the most seismic hazard zones is  Deaths and destruction during an
Northeastern part of India. This region has earthquake mostly occur due to the
witnessed several major earthquakes collapse of the buildings. North-east India
causing large scale devastation. The main has seen a significant increase in
cause of this high seismicity in North East population density and also witnessed a
India is its unique placement of tectonic growth of unplanned urbanization. This
plates and their interactions. has caused human population and
 This region consists of eastern and north- different structures to be vulnerable.
eastern Himalayas to the north, Indo-
Burma ranges to the east, Bangladesh to The enormous investment outlays for
strengthening the road network, rail network and

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air transport network for the North Eastern region  Most earthquakes occurring in the region
proposed will have to be designed with special are related to subduction of the India-
attention to the earthquake risk and vulnerability Burma tectonic plate under the Java-
in the region. Sumatra tectonic plate.

Simultaneously, there is a greater need to North India:

strengthen the medical preparedness and mass  North India is located near boundary
casualty management facilities in the region. The between the Eurasian and Indo-Australian
public awareness on earthquake risk and plate tectonics. Obviously, there’s
vulnerability will become the foundation for an immense pressure where these two plates
enlightened multi-stakeholder initiative to launch meet. Every once in a while, the stress
a concerted attempt to usher in a culture of releases in the form of vibrations.
preparedness, mitigation and improved  Besides, seismologists feel that the
emergency response in the North Eastern Region. tectonic plates west of the epicentre of the
recent Nepal earthquake are still locked,
The Bureau of Indian Standards has classified indicating that another trigger is about to
regions in India into four seismic zones on the go off.
basis of historical seismic activity.
 Zone-2, Zone-3, Zone-4 and Zone 5. Peninsular India:
 Of these, the least threatened is Zone 2  The general understanding of earthquakes
and the highest risked is Zone-5. in Peninsular India is that the Precambrian
 All the states of North-East, Jammu and terrain is heterogeneous in strength,
Kashmir, Uttarakhand and parts of crisscrossed with rifts, shear zones and old
Himachal Pradesh fall under Zone-5. orogenic belts and these ancient zones of
 Delhi falls in Zone-4, central India falls weak crust get reactivated from time to
under relatively low danger zone of Zone- time and rupture.
3, while most of the south falls in Zone-2  When Indian and Eurasian plates collided
with limited danger, but it is a thicker because of intense pressure the peninsula
classification. has up warped in many places. The ancient
There are some areas in Delhi which can be as rifts that had crisscrossed the nations
dangerous as Zone-5. Thus, there may be many subsurface strata are suddenly being
places in the southern states which may be activated.
hazardous like zone-4 or zone-5.
The threat is as real as it gets and preparedness is
Reasons why some regions are prone to the only solution to avert something that is
Earthquakes in India: – beyond human control. Although none of the
Northeast: metropolises have been hit by major quake in
 The geological stress in the Northeast’s India recently, the potential devastation it could
hills, due partly to frequent tremor-driven cause is catastrophic.
weakening of the Himalayas, and the
colliding of the Himalayan plate with the
Indo-Burmese plate, has put the entire
region on high alert.

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Volcanic Activity in the Oceans is Almost Parallel the longest volcanic mountain range in the
to the Coastlines. Why? world.
According to the plate tectonic theory, earth’s  Another divergent plate boundary is the
crust is divided into several major and minor rigid East Pacific Rise, which separates
slabs called plates. These plates move horizontally the massive Pacific plate from the Nazca,
over the underlying asthenosphere. These plates Cocos, and North American plates.
sometimes move towards each other, sometimes  The East African Rift is an example of a
they move apart and other times one will sink single tectonic plate being ripped in two.
while the other rises over it. Along the Horn of Africa, the African plate
is tearing itself into what is sometimes
called the Nubian plate (to the west,
including most of the current African plate)
and the Somali plate (to the east, including
the Horn of Africa and the western Indian
Ocean). Along this divergent plate
boundary are volcanoes such as Mount
Nyiragongo, in the Democratic Republic of
Congo, and Mount Kilimanjaro, in Kenya.

2. Convergent Plate Boundaries

There are two types of plate boundaries that exist  At a convergent plate boundary, tectonic
parallel to the coastlines and responsible for plates move toward one another and
volcanic activity. collide. Oftentimes, this collision forces
the denser plate edge to subduct, or sink
1. Divergent Plate Boundaries beneath the plate edge that is less dense.
 At a divergent boundary, tectonic plates  These subduction zones can create
move apart from one another. They never deep trenches. As the denser plate edge
really separate because magma moves downward, the pressure and
continuously moves up from the mantle temperature surrounding it increases,
into this boundary, building new plate which causes changes to the plate that
material on both sides of the melt the mantle above, and the melted
plate boundary. rock rises through the plate, sometimes
 The Atlantic Ocean is home to a divergent reaching its surface as part of a volcano.
plate boundary, a place called the Mid- Over millions of years, the rising magma
Atlantic Ridge. Here, the North American can create a series of volcanoes known as
and Eurasian tectonic plates are moving in a volcanic arc.
opposite directions. Along the Mid-Atlantic  The majority of volcanic arcs can be found
Ridge, hot magma swells upward and in the Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped
becomes part of the North American and string of about 425 volcanoes that edges
Eurasian plates. The upward movement the Pacific Ocean. The Aleutian Islands,
and eventual cooling of stretching from Alaska to Russia in the
this buoyant magma creates high ridges on Bering Sea, for instance, run parallel to the
the ocean floor. These ridges are Aleutian Trench, formed as the Pacific
interconnected, forming a continuous and
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plate subducts under the North American  Taal, Philippines
plate.  La Palma, Canary Islands
 The mighty Andes Mountains of South
America run parallel to the Peru-Chile The Pacific country of Tonga experienced a large
Trench. These mountains are continually volcanic eruption recently followed by
built up as the Nazca plate subducts under a tsunami that flooded parts of the capital,
the South American plate. The Andes Nuku’alofa. The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-
Mountains include the world’s highest Hunga Ha'apai submarine volcano in January
active volcano, Nevados Ojos del Salado, 2022 was one of the most explosive volcanic
which rises to 6,879 meters (over 22,500 events of the modern era.
feet) along the Chile-Argentina border.  The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga
Haʻapai volcano sent shockwaves across
Other than these two types of volcanoes there the South Pacific.
exists a third type known as Hotspot volcanoes  It produced a giant thump heard at least as
which are far away from the tectonic activity pf the far away as Fiji, 700 kilometres north-west.
plate boundaries and therefore are not parallel to The same thump was later picked up
the coastline. The best example of hot spot worldwide by instruments designed to
volcanism is the Hawaiian Islands. monitor for nuclear tests.
 Heat released from water and hot ash in
the plume remained the biggest source of
Volcanic Eruptions and its Impact
gravity waves on earth for the next 12
Q. Mention the global occurrence of volcanic
eruptions in 2021 and their impact on the regional hours. The eruption also produced ripple-
environment. UPSC Mains 2021. like gravity waves that satellite
observations show extended across the
48 volcanoes were in continuing eruption status as Pacific basin.
of 12 August 2022. An eruption marked as  Scientists found that in the hours after the
"continuing" does not always mean persistent eruption, hurricane-speed winds and
daily activity, but indicates at least intermittent unusual electric currents formed in the
eruptive events without a break of 3 months or ionosphere – Earth’s electrified upper
more. atmospheric layer at the edge of space.

Eruptions in 2021
 Mount Etna, Italy
 Fagradalsfjall,
Iceland
 Kilauea, Hawaii
 Semeru, Indonesia
 Soufrière, St
Vincent
 Nyiragongo, DRC
 Hunga Tonga-
Hunga Ha’apai,
Tonga

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Do You Know?  Andisol is a type of soil formed from
 Vulcanologists rate eruptions on an eight- volcanic ash. Andisols are generally very
point explosivity index (VEI), in which each fertile, support extensive agricultural
one-point increase represents a 10-fold development, and exist mostly around the
increase in power. The eruption of Ring of Fire.
America’s Mt St Helens in 1980 was VEI-5. Gases
The 1991 eruption of Mt Pinatubo in The  Most gases from a volcano quickly blow
Philippines was VEI-6. Ditto for the 1883 away. However, heavy gases such as
eruption of Krakatoa in Indonesia. The carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide can
biggest in recorded history, the 1815 collect in low-lying areas. The most
eruption of Mt Tambora, also in Indonesia, common volcanic gas is water vapor,
was VEI-7. followed by carbon dioxide and sulfur
dioxide. Sulfur dioxide can cause breathing
Major Health Threats from a Volcanic Eruption problems in both healthy people and
 Volcanoes spew hot, dangerous gases, ash, people with asthma and other respiratory
lava, and rock that are powerfully problems. Other volcanic gases include
destructive. People have died from hydrogen chloride, carbon monoxide, and
volcanic blasts. Volcanic eruptions can hydrogen fluoride. Amounts of these gases
result in additional threats to health, such vary widely from one volcanic eruption to
as floods, mudslides, power outages, the next.
drinking water contamination, and  Although gases usually blow away rapidly,
wildfires. Health concerns after a volcanic it is possible that people who are close to
eruption include infectious disease, the volcano or who are in the low-lying
respiratory illness, burns, injuries from areas downwind may be exposed to levels
falls, and vehicle accidents related to the that may affect health. At low levels, gases
slippery, hazy conditions caused by ash. can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat. At
When warnings are heeded, the chances of higher levels, gases can cause rapid
adverse health effects from a volcanic breathing, headache, dizziness, swelling
eruption are very low. and spasm of the throat, and suffocation.

Volcanic Ash Do You Know?

 Exposure to ash can be harmful. Infants, Volcanic eruptions occur only in certain places and
elderly people, and people with respiratory do not occur randomly. This is because the Earth’s
conditions such as asthma, emphysema, crust is broken into a series of slabs known as
and other chronic lung diseases may have tectonic plates. These plates are rigid, but they
problems if they breathe in volcanic ash. “float” on a hotter, softer layer in the Earth's
Ash is gritty, abrasive, sometimes interior. As the plates move, they spread apart,
corrosive, and always unpleasant. Small collide, or slide past each other.
ash particles can abrade (scratch) the front
of the eye. Ash particles may contain Sixty percent of all active volcanoes occur at the
crystalline silica, a material that causes a boundaries between tectonic plates. Most
respiratory disease called silicosis. volcanoes are found along a belt, called the “Ring
of Fire” that encircles the Pacific Ocean. Some

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volcanoes, like those that form the Hawaiian Deforestation, unmindful agricultural
Islands, occur in the interior of plates at areas practices, disturbing natural drainage
called “hot spots.” system, mountain blasting etc., are some
other events
Although most of the active volcanoes we see on
land occur where plates collide, the greatest According to Geological Survey of India, roughly
number of the Earth's volcanoes are hidden from 15% of the country’s landmass is prone to
view, occurring on the ocean floor along spreading landslides.
ridges.  The National Disaster Management
Authority lists the Himalayan states,
Volcanic Eruption does not occur in Baltic Sea? Arakan-Yoma belt in the north east,
 The Baltic Sea does not lie in between the Meghalaya plateau, Western Ghats and
tectonic plates but instead the Basathic Nilgiri hills as landslide vulnerable areas.
rock found in Baltic Sea, that is transported  Himalayan Region – Habitable regions
by glacier so volcanic eruptions do not include J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim etc.,
occur in Baltic Sea. are highly prone to tectonic events, young
fold mountains, so the geological
The Himalayas are Highly Prone to Landslides. equilibrium has not been reached,
Why?  Western Ghat region including Nilgiris:
A landslide is a downward and outward movement (high rainfall and overexploitation,
of slope materials like rocks, soil and so on under habitations and developmental activities.
the influence of gravity. gravity and accumulation Strategies:
of soft soil, debris and rocks on a steep slope are  Formulation of Landslide mitigation
the primary reason for a landslide. plan with active collaboration of the
Centre, the states, domain experts and civil
Reasons for the vulnerability of hilly areas: society.
Natural Factors:  Proper zonation and strict enforcement
 Intense rainfall and cloud bursts loose of the zonal regulations, so that both
traction of soil and land equilibrium and natural conservation and development
induces slides. works can be synergized.
 Mass accumulation due to deposition and  Building drains in the vulnerable areas to
subsequent dredge with respect to gravity. remove the surface water faster and safely
 Tectonic activities like earthquakes,  Afforestation should be carried out in
tremors, volcanic events destabilize these areas to prevent soil from loosening
equilibrium. and terrace cultivation should be
 Grazing, soil erosion, sheer wind forces encouraged to break the force of water
etc., also induces landslides. and debris moving down the slope.
 Slope stability measures: These measures
Anthropogenic Factors: include providing buttresses, shear keys,
 Construction activities including power sub-drains, soil reinforcement, surface
projects, infrastructure etc., alters the protection, slope modification, retaining
natural geography and stability of the walls, gabion wall, breast wall, etc.
region.

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 Early Warning Systems: As landslides are Mass wasting is the movement of rocks and soil
very localized and confined to intense down the slope. The only force causing this
monsoon periods, it is envisaged that an movement is gravity. Note that no external agent
early warning system would provide
immense benefit in alerting people living in
high hazard areas.

Geomorphological Processes

Will be focusing on the Exogenic forces and

landforms created by them.
These are the external forces which degrades the
existing secondary landforms. As the role of
endogenetic forces is to create new undulations,
the role of exogenic forces is to remove them and is acting in this case and this is what differentiates
make the surface planar. mass wasting with erosion.
Erosion is an ex-situ process where a moving agent
Three factors act simultaneously – pressure, breaks a bigger body into smaller particles and
temperature and humidity to break the uplifted carry those particles from one place to another
areas and fill the low-lying areas. The landforms due to kinetic energy and then deposits them.
created by them are called tertiary reliefs.
Endogenetic and Exogenetic forces keep working Note: A question can be asked on the type of
together to maintain the equilibrium. different landforms formed by different agents.
We will discuss them briefly here.
Exogenic Forces are responsible for three types of
processes:
 Weathering
PROCESSES DUE TO EXOGENIC FORCES
 Mass wasting
 Erosion and decomposition Weathering
Weathering is the process of disintegration of
Weathering is an in - situ process of breaking of
rocks near the surface by the action of
large rocks in smaller blocks or particles by the
temperature, pressure and humidity. It can also be
changes of temperature, pressure and humidity or
due to Chemical changes. Weathering is an in-situ
chemical reactions.
process i.e., it occurs at its own place and an
external agent is not required. The broken rock is
called the regolith.

Broadly Weathering can be of two types:

1. Physical Weathering
2. Chemical Weathering

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Biological weathering is considered to be the third Similar to the process of ice crystal growth, the
type, but actually it is a part of Physical and rocks also get disintegrated by the growth of salt
chemical weathering. crystals in the pores. This process is dominant in
the dry area.
Physical Weathering During long drought periods, the ground water is
moved to the surface of the rock by capillary
action. As the water evaporates from the surface,
tiny salt crystals are left behind. As the salt crystals

Physical weathering produces regolith from

massive rock by the action of forces strong enough
grow in the pores, they push the rocks and break
to fracture the rock. Some of the most important
them in the form of granules. This is called
processes of physical weathering are:
granular disintegration.

Frost Action:
Fig: Difference between block disintegration and
It is generally found in colder climates. During the
granular disintegration
day the water enters the pores and joints between
the rocks. During night, as the temperature drops,
Fig: Granular weathering due to salt crystal
this water freezes and expands. The expansion of
growth
water in freezing can fragment even the hardest
rocks, given many cycles of freeze and thaw.

Fig: Frost action during winter Unloading and Exfoliation:

Salt Crystal Growth Unloading is the process that relieves the
confining pressure on the underlying rock. As the

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rock above is slowly worn away, the pressure is temperature drops. This causes fractures in the
reduced and rock expands slightly in volume. rocks and they ultimately break down.
These rocks crack in layers that are more or less
parallel to the surface creating a type of jointing Fig: explaining the process of thermal expansion
called the ‘Sheeting Structure’. The layer of rocks weathering
breaks in concentric slices like the onion peel.

Fig: Explaining the process of exfoliation

Chemical Weathering
Fig: Top view of rock showing exfoliated sheets The erosion or disintegration of rocks, building
materials, etc., caused by chemical reactions
Thermal Expansion and Contraction: (chiefly with water and substances dissolved in it)
This process takes place where diurnal range of rather than by mechanical processes. There are
temperature is high i.e. there is a large difference several types of Chemical Weathering.
in the daily highest and the lowest temperatures.
Because of these temperature changes a lot of Hydrolysis and Oxidation:
stress develops in the rock. They expand when the Hydrolysis is the most important process in
temperature rises and contracts when chemical weathering. It is due to the dissociation
of H2O into H+ and OH- ions which chemically
combine with minerals and bring about changes,
such as exchange, decomposition of crystalline
structure and formation of new compounds.
Water acts as a weak acid on silicate mineral

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Oxidation is the reaction of a substance with Acid rain is also harmful for architectural
Oxygen. structures, especially made of marble.

Fig: Weathered statue due to Acid Action

Biological Weathering
Fig: A rock getting physically weathered by a tree
Biological weathering is the weakening and
subsequent disintegration of rock by plants,
animals and microbes. It can occur due to physical
stress like in case of penetration of plant’s roots,
physical impact of the hooves of the animal etc. or
due to chemical changes caused by them like
action of worms, lichens etc.

Fig: These lichens can cause chemical changes on

Acid Action:
the rock’s surface
Chemical weathering is also produced by acid
action, most commonly Carbonic Acid. Carbon Mass Wasting
dioxide gets dissolved in water to form a weak Mass wasting, also known as slope movement or
acid. Now a day since the concentration of Sulphur mass movement, is the geomorphic process by
oxides and Nitrogen oxides is increasing in which soil, sand, regolith, and rock move
atmosphere because of the burning of the fossil downslope typically as a mass, largely under the
fuels, the acidity of the rain has also increased. force of gravity, but frequently affected by water
Carbonate sedimentary rocks, especially and water content as in submarine environments
limestone and marble are highly susceptible to this and mudflows.
type of weathering.
Note: Point to be considered is that that Mass
wasting is only because of the gravitational pull
and not due to any other external agent.

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The following figure will help you revise the
concept of Mass wasting:

Landslides
A landslide is the movement of rock, debris or
earth down a slope. They result from the failure of
the materials which make up the hill slope and are
driven by the force of gravity. Landslides are
known also as landslips, slumps or slope failure.

 Lateral spreads are the result of

Types of landslide Movements: movement involving lateral extension
 Falls are masses dislodged from very steep accommodated by shear or tensile
slopes or escarpments which then free-fall, fractures. This type of movement is
bounce, or roll downslope. Falls usually earthquake-induced.
move extremely rapidly.  Slides displace masses along one or more
 Topples are a forward rotation around a discrete planes. Slides may either be
pivot point low or below one or more rotational or translational in their
masses. movement.

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 Rotational movement is where the plane Human Causes:
is curved. The mass rotates backwards  Vibrations from machinery
around a common point with an axis  Blasting of mines
parallel to the slope.  Earthwork which alters the slope
 Translational movement is where the  Construction, agriculture or forestry
plane is more or less planar or gently activities which can affect the amount of
undulating. The mass moves roughly water entering the soil.
parallel to the ground surface.
Prevention of Landslides:
 Flows are masses moving as a deforming,
Many methods are used to remedy landslide
viscous unit without a discrete failure
problems. The best solution, of course, is to avoid
plane.
landslide-prone areas altogether.
 More than one form of movement may be
represented in some landslides.
Listed below are some common remedial methods
Movement in this case is often described
used when landslide-prone slopes cannot be
as complex.
avoided.
Types of Land Slides
Improving surface and subsurface
drainage: Because water is a main
factor in landslides, improving
surface and subsurface drainage at
the site can increase the stability of a
landslide-prone slope. Surface water
should be diverted away from the
landslide-prone region by channeling
water in a lined drainage ditch or
sewer pipe to the base of the slope.
The water should be diverted in such
a way as to avoid triggering a
landslide adjacent to the site. Surface
water should not be allowed to pond
on the landslide-prone slope.

Parts of Landslide: Excavating the head: Removing the soil and rock
at the head of the landslide decreases the driving
Causes of Landslides: pressure and can slow or stop a landslide.
Natural Causes:
Additional soil and rock above the landslide will
 Ground water pressure acting on the slope.
need to be removed to prevent a new landslide
 Loss of vegetation from forming upslope. Flattening the slope angle
 Weakening of slope due to melting of at the top of the hill can help stabilize landslide-
glacier or heavy rainfall prone slopes.
 Earthquakes
 Volcanic eruptions Buttressing the toe: If the toe of the landslide is at
the base of the slope, fill can be placed over the
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toe and along the base of the slope. The fill The rocks are broken at one place and the broken
increases the resisting forces along the failure
surface in the toe area. This, in turn, blocks the
material in the head from moving toward the toe.
Constructing piles and retaining walls: Piles are
metal beams that are either driven into the soil or
placed in drill holes. Properly placed piles should
extend into a competent rock layer below the
landslide. Wooden beams and telephone poles are
not recommended for use as piles because they
lack strength and can rot. particles are carried by the agents to far distances
Removal and replacement: Landslide-prone soil and are deposited.
and rock can be removed and replaced with
stronger materials, such as silty or sandy soils. It is the most destructive process shaping the
tertiary reliefs.
Preserving vegetation: Trees, grasses, and
vegetation can minimize the amount of water Agents of Erosion
infiltrating into the soil, slow the erosion caused by There are broadly five agents which cause erosion
surface-water flow, and remove water from the and carve distinct landforms:
soil.  Running surface water – The landforms
made by surface streams are called fluvial
Rock fall protection: Rock falls are contained by landforms.
(1) ditches at the base of the rock exposure, (2)  Wind – these landforms are formed in arid
heavy-duty fences, and (3) concrete catch walls and semi – arid regions where the action of
that slow errant boulders that have broken free wind is dominating. These landforms are
from the rock outcrop. called Aeolian.
 Glaciers – These landforms are carved by
Erosion Glaciers in high alpine mountains.
Erosion is the act in which earth is worn away,  Waves – They are formed by the action of
often by water, wind, or ice. It is an ex-situ process waves on the edge of the continent.
where an external agent is involved. The  Karst – These landforms are formed by the
fragments break because of external impact i.e., action of underground water on Karst or
kinetic energy. Unlike weathering where only Lime stone region.
gravity is involved.
Fluvial Landforms
Or Landforms Made by Water Channel

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Erosional Landforms – Cascades
Cascades – You all must have seen stepped
waterfalls which don’t fall from a great height but
falls step wise. They are called cascades.

Rapids – If you have done white water rafting, you

must know what a rapid is. for a short distance,
there is a sudden increase in the slope of stream.
Note that this increase is not enough to cause a
free fall, but steep enough to suddenly increase
the flow of water. This is called a rapid.
V-Shape Valley – In youth stage the flow of water
in stream is too fast. Because of this vertical
River Water Capturing – This happens when the
erosion at the center is much faster than lateral
origin of a lower stream shifts upward due to
erosion. This causes river streams to carve a V
headward erosion and touches the side of a
shape valley in mountains.
stream flowing in a higher valley. As the water
flowing in higher valley gets another valley to flow
Pot Holes – pot holes are formed in river valleys
with a steeper slope, it shifts its path and starts
due to abrasion caused by a big boulder on the
flowing in the new valley. This phenomenon is
surface of the channel. Because of the flow of
called River water capturing.
water, it rotates at its place. As friction is acting
between the surface and the rock, the rock gets
The preconditions for river water capturing to
reduced in size and also a depression is formed on
occur are –
the surface. This depression is called a pot hole.
 There should be a difference in height of
Once the bolder gets small enough for the stream
the two streams.
to carry it, it pushes it downstream.
 Lower stream should be on the windward
side so that it can receive ample rainfall for
Waterfalls and Plunge Pools – Waterfalls are
headward erosion.
formed when water directly falls from a steep
 The slope of lower stream should be
slope. As it hits the valley, because of impact, a
steeper.
plunge pool is formed.
It is believed that Yamuna River captured the
water of Saraswati. Saraswati in modern times is
left as a seasonal stream called Ghaggar which
flows from Haryana to Rajasthan.

Meanders – Meanders is the name given to snake

like zig – zag shape made by river channel in a plain
area. This occurs due to erosion on one bank and
deposition on another. On the convex side the
water flow is faster causing erosion. This side is
called the cliff bank. On the concave side as the
flow of water is slow, sand deposition is there. This
is called point bar.
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 Cuspate delta – it is formed along the edge
Depositional Landforms of the bank at the mouth of a river. It is

Ox bow lake – It is formed due to deposition of

sand on the concave side of the meander. The
steepness of the curve increases and meander
gets detached from the river channel. The
stagnant water of the meander forms an ox bow
lake.

Flood plain – Flood plain is the area on both the

sides of river bank to the extent where flood water formed when the density of sediments is
reaches. Flood water renews the deposits in the equal to that of ocean water. The best
flood plains and replenishes the nutrients making example of this delta is made by River Tiber
them fertile. As long as the water remains on the (Italy)
flood plain, it is called ‘Bet’ land.  Bird Foot delta – It is a branched delta and
is formed when the density of deposits is
Braided channel and Riverine Island – Riverine
islands are formed in old stage of river when
sediments get deposited in the river channel itself.
These deposits of sand divide the channel into
multiple parallel streams looking like a hair braid.
This channel is called braided channel.

Natural Levees – This is the uplifted part on both

sides of the bank. This is formed due to deposition
of sand on the edges. It creates a natural barrier
between river channel and the floodplain.
less than the density of ocean water. The
Delta – Delta is the final depositional formation of particles are carried away inside the ocean
a river before it meets the ocean. The deposits to a long distance before they settle down.
carried by river are deposited at the mouth of a The best specimen of bird foot delta is
river forming a large alluvial fan. It is called a delta. made by Mississippi river.
On the basis of shape deltas are of three types –
 Arcuate Delta – this is the most common
type of delta and is formed when the
deposits of river have higher density than
ocean water. This makes deposits heavier
and they get deposited at the mouth
forming an outward arc. The best examples
of such deltas are Sunderbans and Nile
delta.

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Aeolian Landforms
Or Landforms Made by Winds
Erosional Landforms

Blowout – Wind blows the top soil in desert areas

and forms a depression.

Demoiselles – They are pillars formed due to

differential erosion. If resistive rocks are on the
surface, the erosion occurs on the sides rather
than top and the lower soft rocks are eroded.

Zeugen – It is a beautiful ridge carved by the action

of wind, moisture and frost.

Mushroom Rock Depositional Landforms

Sand Dunes – They are found in sandy desert.
Mushroom Rock – probably the most famous Sand dunes are mounds of sand formed as wind
erosional Aeolian landform. The wind erodes a deposits sand brought from rocky deserts.
large rock from the bottom and carves a Largest of the Sand dunes are called Barchans.
mushroom like shape in it. They are formed in the direction of flow of the
Yardang wind. Largest Barchans are found in the desert of
Saudi Arabia.
Yardang – When the wind is blowing on one side
of the rock it gets eroded from one side and carves Seifs – Seifs are also sand dunes but much smaller
a table like structure. in size. They are found in regins where sand is less
and they are found in a group i.e. multiple seifs are
found together.

Nephkha – they are sandy deserts by the side of a

mountain range. The mountain range breaks the
momentum of air and decrease in speed allows
the particles to settle down.

Loess – Loess are fine deposits taken to thousands

of kilometers from their region of origin. Fine loess
of Plain of Normandy are formed by particle
Dreikanter – It is formed the same way mushroom
deposited from Sahara. Another example of loess
rocks are formed but it looks like an inverted cone
is Manchuria plain which gets its sediments from
attached to the ground with a very small neck.
Mongolia.
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Glacial Landforms coast. Fjords are common in Norway, Greenland
and New Zealand.

Depositional Landforms

Erosional Landforms
Arete – It is also known as biscuit tray topography.
If you have been to Himalayas, you must have seen
that mountains are pyramidal in shape with sharp
edged. These sharp edges are called Arete. Outwash Plain – It is formed by melting of the
glacier. A water stream is formed leaving debris
Cirque – Between the edges, the face of the behind.
mountain looks like someone has scooped the
material out of it. This depression is called cirque. Eskers - A long narrow ridge, often sinuous,
composed of stratified sediment and marking the
Horn – The sharp spear looking top of a mountain former location of a glacial tunnel.
is called Horn.
U – Shape Valley – the Formation of a U – Shape Drumlin – It is a collection of round boulders in the
valley is similar to that of a V – Shape valley. But outwash plain. A collection of such boulders looks
unlike V shape valley where the flow of water is like an inverted basket. This is also called Egg
significantly faster in the center, in case of a glacier basket topography.
the speed of snow is relatively a bit faster than the
outer snow. Also, the mass of Snow is high. Kettle Holes – They are formed by plucking of
Because of this a U shape valley is formed. boulders and rocks from the out wash plain and
creating a depression.
Hanging Valley – When a glacier fills a former
river valley it is at a much higher level and Kame – they are broken ridges or unassorted
therefore any tributary glaciers will join the main depositions forming a mound.
glacier also at a higher level. Once the glacier has
eroded it leaves the tributary valley hanging at the Morain – They are the most famous deposits.
side of the main valley. If a stream enters the Pieces of gravel and boulders get accumulated
hanging valley it plunges over the edge as a along the edge of the glacier as well as the mouth.
waterfall. These deposits are called Lateral moraine and
terminal moraine respectively.
D – Fjord - Steep-sided narrow entrance-like
feature at the coast where the stream meets the Wave Landforms
Erosion Landforms

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Note: Erosional landforms from waves are carved perpendicular sand bar is attached to the
on the cliff side which has resistant rocks. continent from one end, it is called a Spit.
Notch – A notch is formed by the direct impact of
the primary waves. Primary waves are those which
move perpendicular to the coast. Due to impact
and abrasion a cavity is formed on the wall which
is called a notch.
Note: Primary waves are responsible for erosional
landforms and secondary waves are responsible
for deposition.

Cave – It is formed when a notch enlarges to form

a cave.
Hook – If an ocean current is moving along the
Stack – As the erosion continues the roof of the coast where spit has formed, the spit gets curved
cave becomes thinner and finally falls down. The in the direction of the current. This curved spit is
walls of the cave remain intact forming Pillars. called hook. Sometimes, there are several
They are called stacks. Finally, these stacks wither branches coming out of spit curving in the same
away leaving stumps. direction. It is called a compound hook.

Cove – A cove is a small type of bay or coastal inlet. Loop – When hook gets too curved, it touches the
Coves usually have narrow, restricted entrances, coast from the other end and forms a complete
are often circular or oval, and are often situated loop forming a lake. The lake is called lagoon and
within a larger bay. the sandbar enclosing is called a loop.
Remember, there is a difference between cove
and a cave. Tombolo – If a sand bar connects a continent with
an island forming a natural bridge, it is called a
Depositional Landforms
Tombolo.

Karst Landforms
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution
of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and

Beach – Beach is the most famous depositional

landform of waves. Depending on the size of
sediments, beaches can be Boulder beach, shingle
beach or sand beach.

Sand bar – It is the deposition of sand extending

into sea. On the basis of formation, it can be
parallel sand bar or perpendicular sand bar. If a

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gypsum. It is characterized by underground Sink hole – It is a small deep depression formed on
drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has the surface. A sinkhole is a depression in the
also been documented for more weathering- ground that has no natural external surface
resistant rocks, such as quartzite, given the right drainage. Basically, this means that when it rains,
conditions. Subterranean drainage may limit all of the water stays inside the sinkhole and
surface water, with few to no rivers or lakes. typically drains into the subsurface. Sinkholes are
However, in regions where the dissolved bedrock most common on Karst Terrain.
is covered (perhaps by debris) or confined by one
or more superimposed non-soluble rock strata, Doline – Few sinkholes combine to form a larger
distinctive karst features may occur only at depression called Doline. Sometimes clay gets
subsurface levels and be totally missing above settled on the bottom of Doline stopping water to
ground. seep through it. When water gets accumulated in
the doline, it is known as a Doline Lake.
Preconditions for formation of Karst Landform –
 Rainfall should be optimum (Semi-arid Uvala – several Dolines combine to form a Uvala.
region). Rainfall should be moderate i.e. it
shouldn’t be high otherwise it will dissolve Polje – When an underground cave collapse, over
the entire rock structure without forming the surface a large depression is formed. It is called
desired topography. It should be too low Polje.
either otherwise water won’t be able to
dissolve the rock at all. Subsurface Landforms
 The thickness and area of limestone rock Stalactites and Stalagmites –
bed should be large enough for carving. Stalactite and stalagmite, elongated forms of
 The rock should be jointed and density of various minerals deposited from solution by slowly
joints should be high so that water can
penetrate through cracks systematically
eroding the rock bed.
 Rocks should not be porous otherwise
water will penetrate through the body of
the rock and dissolve the whole rock rather
than surface erosion.

Surface Landforms
Different depressions are formed on the surface
by seeping of water –
dripping water. A stalactite hangs like an icicle
from the ceiling or sides of a cavern. A stalagmite
appears like an inverted stalactite, rising from the
floor of a cavern.

Column – When stalactite and stalagmite meet,

they form a complete pillar in the underground
cave. This is called a column.

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Apart from the above tertiary landforms, there  Example – Tibet plateau between
are some other landforms that can be secondary
or tertiary based on how they have been formed.
Let’s discuss them in detail.

Plateau

Himalayas and Kunlun

Elevated upland with extensive levelled surfaces

and usually descends steeply to the surrounding
lowland.
 Also known as Tablelands
 Most highlands are subject to erosional
process and so, plateaus are no exception.
 According to mode of formation and
physical appearance plateau are of 3 types
– Tectonic, Volcanic and Dissected.

Bolivian Plateau between two ranges of Andes.

Tectonic Plateaux
 As the name suggests they are formed
because of Movements inside the earth The intermont plateaus are some of the most
which sometimes caused uplifting of extensive and highest plateau in the world.
leveled land.
 They have uniform altitude and
considerable size.
 Example – Deccan plateau (India)
o Meseta of central Iberia (tilted
tectonic plateau)
o Harz of Germany (faulted)

Intermont Plateaux
 Plateaus enclosed by fold mountains
(Intermont means situated between
mountains)

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Volcanic Plateau o Deccan plateau – Managanese,
 Similar to volcanic mountain, the volcanic coal and Iron
plateau formed from the solidification o Western Australia plateau – Gold
successive layers deposited by basaltic lava and Iron
which comes from inside the earth.
 Also known as lava plateau Plains
 Example – Antrim plateau of Northern A plain can be –
Ireland o Level or undulation
o North western part of Deccan o Rises up to 100 feet above sea level
plateau  These are best land of a country and
o Columbia – Snake plateau intensively cultivated and populated.
 Economic importance of a plain increases if
Dissected Plateaux a river also passes through it.
 As the name dissected suggests, they are
 Example – Indo – Gangetic plains
as a result of weathering and erosion by
o Mississippi plain
running water, ice and winds
o Yangtze plain
 Weathering and erosion and gradually
 Some most extensive temperate plains are
worn down and made surfaces irregular
grasslands like Russian steppes, North
 In Humid highland, stream and sometimes American Prairies and Argentina Pampas.
glaciation cut deep narrow valleys in the
 On the basis of their formation 3 types –
plateau which are dissected plateaux.
Structural, depositional and erosional
 Example – Scottish Highlands plains.
 In drier countries vertical corrosion by
rivers and abrasion by winds will dissect
Structural Plains
the plateau into steep-sided tabular
masses termed mesas and buttes,
intersected by deep canyons. This is a
common feature of arid and semi-arid
areas, e.g. in the south-western USA.

 Structurally depressed areas of the world

 Mineral rich – Most of these plateaus are
 Most extensive natural lowlands
mineral rich
 Because they are formed from the
 Example – African plateau – Gold,
horizontal bedded rocks they are relatively
Diamond, copper, Manganese and
undisturbed by the crustal movements of
chromium
the earth.
o Brazilian plateau – Iron and
 Example – Great plains of Russian platform
Manganese
o Great plains of USA

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o Central lowlands of Australia How large rivers help in the making of largest
depositional plains?
Depositional Plains

 Deposition name itself suggests that these

plains are formed by deposition of
materials brought by various agents of
transportation
 Rise towards adjacent highlands
 Their fertility and economic development
depend on types of sediments that are
deposited by transportation.

Figure

Active erosion in the upper course results in the large quantities of alluvium brought down to lower course
and deposited to form extensive alluvial plains, flood plains and deltaic plains
 These are most productive in agriculture.
 Example – Mile delta of Egypt (Rice and cotton)
o Ganges delta (Rice and Jute)

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OCEAN AND CONTINENTS  How are glacial evidences found in tropical

regions of Brazil, Indian peninsula,
Australia and Congo basin.
SHAPE OF THE CONTINENTS
After the interior of earth, the second thing that
caught the attention of scientists/geologists/
geographers was the shape of the continent and
location of landforms. They could find a pattern
and hence they started proposing different
theories as to how the continents might have been
shaped. As all those theories are not a part of our
syllabus, we will be focusing on three important
theories.

While pondering over these points he came up

Continental Drift with two possibilities:
The theory of continental drift was put forth by
 The climatic zones might have shifted from
Alfred Wegener, a German meteorologist, polar
one region to another while the continents
explorer, astronomer and a geologist. He is in fact
stayed at their places.
known as the father of continental drift.
 If the climatic zones stayed stationary but
In a lecture in 1912, Wegener proposed a startling
the continents changed their places.
theory of ‘continental drift’.
As it was difficult for the climatic belts to shift as
Postulate: they are controlled by the position of the sun i.e.
He postulated that all the earth’s land had once tilt of the earth, it appeared more probable that
been joined into a single supercontinent the land masses were shifted.
surrounded by an ocean. He named this land mass Direction of drift
“Pangaea” (Pan = all, gaea = earth) and the ocean According to Wegener, the continents drifted in
“Panthalassa” (pan = all, thalassa = ocean). two directions:
According to the theory this continental mass  Towards the equator
started breaking up about 200 million years ago.  Towards the west
Since then, the pieces had moved to their present
positions and are still moving. Towards the Equator: The reason of the equator
ward drift was attributed to the rotation and the
equatorial bulge of earth while the westward
Wegener was drawn to this idea because of the movement was due to the gravitation pull of the
puzzling questions he had in his mind. moon and the sun. (pole-fleeing force and tidal
 How could tropical ferns have grown in force)
London, Paris, Bonn and even in On account of equator ward drift, Africa and
Greenland? Eurasia were pushed closer together and the
 Why are the coal belts found in extremely Tethys Sea deposits located in between the two
cold regions of tundra? were raised in the form of folded mountains of
Alps, atlas, Tianshan, Zagros, Hindukush and
Himalayas. The peninsula of India and Africa was
separated from Australia and Antarctica.
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Towards the West: On account of the westward Brazil display even greater resemblance in their
drift, north America and south America got structure and rocks.
separated from Europe and Africa and Atlantic
Ocean came into existence.

Evidences in support of Continental Drift

“Jig saw” fit- Wegener was struck by the
geographical similarity between the opposite
coasts of the Atlantic Ocean. The outlines of the
two coasts appears to be the detached portion of
the other i.e. The east coast of north and South
America can be exactly fit into the left coast of
Africa and Europe.

Fig: Similar Geological structure

Permo-carboniferous glaciations- it presents a

strong proof that at one point of time these land
masses were assembled together, since the
evidences of this glaciation are found in Brazil,
Falkland Island, South Africa, Indian peninsula as
well as Australia. It is difficult to explain these
extensive glaciations on the basis of existing
distribution of landmass and water. According to
Wegener at the time of Pangaea, the South Pole
was situated near Durban of the present coast of
Fig: showing the Jig – saw fit South Africa.

Geological structure- there is remarkable Similar Fossil remains of terrestrial animals are
similarity in geological structure along the two found on both coasts of the Atlantic. This cannot
coasts of Atlantic. The best example is provided by be possible if the two landmasses were not joined
the Appalachian Mountains of North America as it quite impossible for these animals to swim
which come right up to the coast and continue across the Atlantic.
their trend across the ocean in old Hercynian
Mountains of south west Ireland, Wales and Note: Here the term ‘terrestrial’ is important.
central Europe. The opposite coasts of Africa and Had they been marine they would have swum
across the ocean. But it is hardly possible for a

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terrestrial animal to swim across the ocean to die else in the outer space away from the
on the other coast. earth’s gravitational pull.
 A beautiful Video to understand the
Continental Drift:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq9kLzm36
h0

Sea – floor Spreading

The hypothesis of sea floor spreading was put

forward by H. Harry Hess in 1960. This was a new
development which again proved the theory of
continental drift.

The migratory pattern of some animal species also Note: Before you read further, just think of an
hints towards the joined land mass. For example, answer to this question. Where do you think you
the entire lemming (a rodent) population crosses will find the oldest rocks, continent or the Ocean
the North America and falls in the Atlantic. This is floor?
estimated that they have not forgotten their 90% of you will think that they are found on the
route, when the landmasses were joined, they ocean floor.
might have travelled to Europe and central Asia.
It was believed that the age of the rocks of the
Criticism of Continental Drift ocean bed is greater than the age of the rocks
The continental drift theory was undeniably
found on continents. But in reality, it was the other
convincing. But so much of the theory was based
way round. The age of the oldest rock has been
on speculation and inadequate evidence. It
estimated to be 3.9 billion years in Canada. On
provoked a lot of criticism and controversy. Also,
contrary, the age of the oldest rock in the sea bed
since Wegener was a meteorologist, it was difficult
has been found to be not more than 200 million
for the geological fraternity to accept and digest a
years which is relatively very young.
theory given by him.
Also, a remarkable feature of the oceanic surface
The greatest criticism of this theory was due to the
was the interconnected mountain ranges (ridges)
controversial forces which were stated to have
whose formation was not explained till then.
caused the drift.
In the opinion of Hess, the submarine ridges or the
 According to experts had the gravitational mid oceanic ridges were the direct result of the
force of moon or sun was so strong to upwelling flows of the magma from hot areas in
cause the landmass to break, then it would the upper mantle and perhaps deeper sources.
have stopped the rotations of the earth When the mantle convection brings magma up to
and made it stationary. the crust, the crust is fractured and magma spills
 Also, in order to cause a drift in landmass out and cools to form a new sea floor, building the
the rotations required should be at such a ridges and spreading laterally.
high speed that it would have thrown the
atmosphere (the gases) and everything Some important facts were established by the
geologists about the floors of the ocean-
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 The crust below the ocean floor was found to convection currents and the floor moves away
only 7-8 km thick. on either side of the ridges and finally gets lost in
 The existence of mid Atlantic ridge was the ocean trenches situated along the continental
known, but it was found that mid oceanic margins. It is through this process of spreading
ridges are present in every ocean and they that the ocean floor has been built. In other words,
are subjected to earthquakes and volcanic the ocean floor is relatively new feature which is
eruptions. constantly being built, regenerated, and subjected
 The rocks of the ocean floor were found to constant lateral spreading and finally is
not older than the cretaceous period destroyed in trench systems and becomes re-
anywhere (about 200 million years). incorporated in to the mantle.
 The normal and reverse magnetic
anomalies are found in alternate manner A conversation between a Trench and a Ridge:
on either side of the mid- oceanic ridges. Trench: Hey Ridge!! Watsupp dude??
 The youngest crust is at the mid oceanic Ridge: Nothing.. same old.. same old.
ridge. With increasing distance from these Trench: What are you up to these days?
centers, earth’s surface is increasingly Ridge: As usual.. I am making new oceanic
older. The oldest seafloor is found near crust. See I am getting taller every day. What
Japan in western pacific called the are you doing?
Pigafetta basin. Trench: Nothing dude.. I am busy eating the old
crust.. You see it has to be recycled.. to
On the basis of the above discoveries, Hess maintain the balance. Sometimes when I am
postulated that the ocean floor is moving. The hot
magma rises up along the mid oceanic ridges due

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not able to digest it, I throw it out from a
Volcano.
Ridge: Ohh you are doing a brilliant job!! What
are people doing these days??
Trench: Well, 99.99% of them, those who have
got a life, they don’t care about us. The rest
who are burning their jawani for UPSC are
reading our conversation… :P :P

Plate Tectonic Theory they can be classified into continental plates and
The term plate tectonics was first used by Tuzo oceanic plate. La Pichon divided the earth into
Wilson, of the University of Toronto but the theory seven major and nine minor plates.
of plate tectonics was first published by W.J Major Plates Minor Plates
Morgan of the Princeton University in 1962. This African Plate Arabian plate
theory is based on the concept of ‘sea- floor North American Bismark plate
spreading’ advocated by Hess. It is an
plate
improvement over the Wegener’s continental drift
South American plate Caribbean plate
theory and has been considered as the most
Antarctica Plate Carolina plate
sophisticated and comprehensive theory about
Australian plate Cocos Plate
the drift of continents and expansion of sea floors.
Eurasian plate Juan de Fuca Plate
Pacific plate Nazca plate
Hypothesis:
Philippines plate
According to this theory the lithosphere is
Persian Plate
believed to have been broken into fragments
Anatolian Plate
which are in constant movement with respect to
China plate
each other. The movement of these plates is
attributed to the convention currents being Fiji plate
generated in upper mantle. The margins of Fig: showing the global plates
the plates are the sites of considerable
geologic activity such as sea floor spreading,
volcanic eruptions, crustal deformation,
mountain building and continental drift.

Tectonics is derived from the world

tektonikos (greek), meaning building or
construction, refers to deformation of the
earth’s crust as a result of internal forces.

Lithospheric Plates:
A plate is a broad segment of the
lithosphere (crust + rigid upper mantle), Most of the plates include both continental and
that floats on the underlying asthenosphere and oceanic crusts. The area of the places is fairly large
move independently of the other plates. Broadly in comparison to their depth and thickness. It has
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also been established that the depth of the plates Note: Study the following table and below
is even less under the oceanic crust. diagrams very carefully. If you can understand and
remember the following table, you will be able to
Three types of motion are possible between the explain the formation of all the secondary reliefs.
plates:
 Divergent or constructive plate margins
 Convergent or destructive plate margins
 Transform or conservative plate margin

Plate Margins or Boundaries and Related

Landforms:

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Plate Boundary Plate Seafloor Events Observed Examples

Movement
Divergent Ocean - apart Forms by Ridge forms at spreading Mid
plate Ocean seafloor centre. Plate area Atlantic
boundaries spreading increases. Many small ridge, east
volcanoes and pacific rise
earthquakes
Continent New ocean Continent drifts apart, East African
-Continent basin may ocean may intrude. rift.
form as the Formation of rift valleys
continent and block mountains
split
Convergent Ocean - together Destroyed at Dense oceanic lithosphere Western
plate Continent subduction plunges beneath less South
boundary zones dense continental crust. America
Earthquake traces path of
down moving plate as it
descends into
asthenosphere. A trench is
formed. Subducted plate
partially melts and magma
rises to form continental
volcanoes.
Ocean - Destroyed at Denser crust plunges into Aleutians
Ocean subduction lighter crust and is
zone subducted forming a
curved trench and a
volcanic arc.
Continent- NA Collision between masses Himalayas,
Continent of gigantic continental alps
lithosphere. Neither mass
is subducted. Plate edges
are compressed, folded
and uplifted
Transform Past each Neither A transform fault is San
plate other created nor formed where plates move Andreas
boundary destroyed past each other. Strong fault.
earthquakes along the
fault

National Geographic has come for our rescue

once again. Watch the following video.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDqskltCixA

Divergent Boundaries
At a Divergent boundary, plate move away from each other. These boundaries are called the constructive
plate boundaries as new crust is formed here.

Oceanic – Oceanic Divergence

When a divergent boundary occurs beneath oceanic lithosphere, the rising convection current below lifts
the lithosphere, producing a mid-ocean ridge. Tension forces stretch the lithosphere and produce a deep
fissure. As the magma tris to rise up it smoothly reaches the surface and by getting in contact with water it
gets solidified rising the height of the ridge. As more lava tries to rise up it makes space for itself by pushing
the ocean floor.

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a classic example of this type of plate boundary. The Ridge is a high area compared
to the surrounding seafloor because of the lift from the convection current below.

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Continental – Continental Divergence

Continental-continental divergence causes a continent to separate into two or more smaller continents
when it is ripped apart along a series of fractures. The forces of divergence literally tear a continent apart as
the two or more blocks of continental crust begin slowly moving apart and magma pushes into the rift
formed between them. Eventually, if the process of continental rifting continues (it may fail, leaving the
continent fractured but whole), a new sea is born between the two continents.

In this way rifting between the Arabian and African plates formed the Red Sea.

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Note: Oceanic – Continental Divergence does not exist in nature.

Convergent Boundaries
At a convergent boundary, plates collide and as such are sometimes called “destructive” boundaries because
they result in removal or compression of the surface crust. Convergent plate boundaries are responsible for
some of the most massive and spectacular of earthly landforms: major mountain ranges, volcanoes, and
oceanic trenches. The three types of convergent boundaries are: oceanic–continental convergence,
oceanic–oceanic convergence, and continental–continental convergence

Oceanic–Continental Convergence
Because oceanic lithosphere includes dense basaltic
crust, it is denser than continental lithosphere, and so
oceanic lithosphere always underrides continental
lithosphere when the two collide.
The dense oceanic plate slowly and inexorably sinks
into the asthenosphere in the process of subduction.
The subducting slab pulls on the rest of the plate—
such “slab pull” is probably the main cause of most
plate movement, pulling the rest of the plate in after
itself, as it were.

Oceanic– Oceanic Convergence

If the convergent boundary is between two
oceanic plates, subduction also takes place. As
one of the oceanic plates’ subducts beneath the
other, an oceanic trench is formed, shallow- and
deep-focus earthquakes occur and volcanic
activity is initiated with volcanoes forming on the
ocean floor. With time, a volcanic island arc (such
as the Aleutian Islands and Mariana Islands)
develops; such an arc may eventually become a
more mature island arc system (such as Japan and
the islands of Sumatra and Java in Indonesia are
today).

Continental- Continental Convergence

Where there is a convergent boundary between two
continental plates, no subduction takes place
because continental crust is too buoyant to subduct.
Instead, huge mountain ranges, such as the Alps, are
built up. The most dramatic present-day example of
continental collision has resulted in the formation of
the Himalayas.

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Causes of Plate Tectonics  Counterparts of this succession are found
The movement of lithospheric plates is believed to in Africa, Falkland Island, Madagascar,
be driven by the convectional currents formed in Antarctica and Australia.
the mantle. The convectional currents are formed  Overall resemblance of the Gondawana-
to dissipate heat generated in the earth’s interior type sediments clearly demonstrates that
due to radioactive decay of elements. Another these landmasses had remarkably similar
source of heat is the primordial heat of earth histories.
which has been trapped due to solidification of  The glacial tillite provides unambiguous
earth’s crust. Primordial heat is the heat which is evidence of palaeoclimates and also of
present since the time earth was formed. drifting of continents.

The upward convectional current is called Mantle Placer Deposits

plume. These mantle plumes when move under  Placer deposit-natural concentration of
the plates cause a drag/resistance on the lower heavy minerals caused by the effect of
surface of the plates and causes them to move gravity on moving particles.
driving the whole plate tectonics. The following  When heavy, stable minerals are freed
diagram will help in better understanding of the from their matrix by weathering processes,
concept. they are slowly washed downslope into
streams that quickly winnow the lighter
matrix.
 Thus, the heavy minerals become
concentrated in stream, beach, and lag
(residual) gravels and constitute workable
ore deposits.
 Minerals that form placer deposits have
high specific gravity, are chemically
resistant to weathering, and are durable;
such minerals include gold, platinum,
cassiterite, magnetite, chromite, ilmenite,
rutile, native copper, zircon, monazite, and
Do You Know various gemstones.
The Indian Plate
Tillite
 The Indian plate includes Peninsular India
 It is the sedimentary rock formed out of
and the Australian continental portions.
deposits of glaciers.
 The subduction zone along the Himalayas
 The Gondawana system of sediments from
forms the northern plate boundary in the
India is known to have its counterparts in
form of continent— continent
six different landmasses of the Southern
convergence.
Hemisphere.
 In the east, it extends through Rakinyoma
 At the base, the system has thick tillite
Mountains of Myanmar towards the island
indicating extensive and prolonged
arc along the Java Trench.
glaciation.

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 The eastern margin is a spreading site lying  Lakes are extremely varied in terms of
to the east of Australia in the form of an origin, occurrence, size, shape, depth,
oceanic ridge in SW Pacific. water chemistry, and other features.
 The Western margin follows Kirthar  Lakes may be fresh-water or salt-water
Mountain of Pakistan. (saline).
 It further extends along the Makrana coast  Most of the world's largest lakes are fresh-
and joins the spreading site from the Red water, with some exceptions (e.g., Caspian
Sea rift southeastward along the Chagos Sea, Aral Sea, and Great Salt Lake).
Archipelago.  Lakes are temporary features of the Earth’s
 The boundary between India and the crust. And they will eventually be
Antarctic plate is also marked by oceanic eliminated by the double process of
ridge (divergent boundary) running in draining and silting up.
roughly W-E direction and merging into the  Lakes which do not have a natural outflow
spreading site, a little south of New and lose water solely by evaporation or
Zealand. underground seepage or both and they are
 India was a large island situated off the known as endorheic lakes.
Australian coast, in a vast ocean.
 The Tethys Sea separated it from the Asian Formation and Origin:
continent till about 225 million years ago.
 India is supposed to have started her Earth Movement
northward journey about 200 million years
ago at the time when Pangaea broke.
 The positions of India since about 71
million years till the present.
 It also shows the position of the Indian
subcontinent and the Eurasian plate.
 The two major plates were separated by
the Tethys Sea and the Tibetan block was
closer to the Asiatic landmass.
 During the movement of the Indian plate
 Tectonic Lakes
towards the Eurasian plate, a major event
 Rift Valley Lakes
that occurred was the outpouring of lava
and formation of the Deccan Traps.
Tectonic Lakes
Lakes  Due to the warping, sagging, bending and
fracturing of the earth’s crust, tectonic
A natural lake is a fairly large body of water depressions occur. Such depressions give
occupying an inland basin (low-lying geographic rise to lakes of immense sizes and depths.
area).  Tectonic uplift may interfere with natural
 Lakes cover only about 1 percent of the land-drainage patterns in such a way as to
continents, and contain less than 0.02 produce lake basins.
percent of the world's water.  Examples-Lake Titicaca, the Caspian Sea,
Tso Moriri and Pangong Tso.

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Rift Valley Lakes  When this dead ice melts, kettle lakes are
 These lakes typically form at fault lines formed.
where plates meet and earthquakes are  Example – Heart Lake in Ontario, Canada.
more common. When adjacent plates
separate at fault lines, the steep, narrow Rock-hollow Lakes
gap between them can result in the  These lakes are formed when the glacier
formation of a graben. erodes the surface and water accumulates
 The most famous graben lakes are Lake in the depression.
Baikal and the African rift valley lakes,  These lakes are commonly found in
including Lake Tanganyika Scandinavian countries, Canada, and the
 Other examples include Malawi, Rudolf, other Arctic regions.
Edward, Albert, the Dead Sea.  In Finland, it is estimated that there are
over 35,000 such lakes.

Glaciation Ribbon Lakes

 When the glacier and its accompanying
 Cirque Lakes rocks erode the underlying soft rocks,
 Kettle Lakes deepening the valley floor.
 Rock-hollow Lakes  The depression created is surrounded by
 Lakes due to morainic damming of valleys hard rocks.
 Lakes due to the deposition of glacial drifts  When the glacier recedes or disappears,
this depression is filled with rainwater
Cirque Lakes creating ribbon lakes.
 Cirques are bowl-shaped, amphitheater-  Ribbon lakes are long finger-shaped lakes,
like depressions that glaciers carve into usually deep.
mountains and valley side walls at high  Examples of ribbon lakes include
elevations. Windermere, the largest natural lake in
England
 A tarn or corrie is a proglacial mountain
lake, pond or pool, formed in a cirque Lakes formed due to morainic damming
excavated by a glacier. A moraine-dammed lake occurs when the terminal
 Examples moraine has prevented some meltwater from
o Chandra Taal in Himachal Pradesh, leaving the valley. Its most common shape is that
India of a long ribbon (ribbon lake).
o Upper Thornton Lake Cirque in  Examples –
North Cascades National Park, U.S. o Windermere lake in England.
o Argentina/Chile: General
Kettle Lakes Carrera/Buenos Aires Lake
 The stagnant dead ice blocks in a o Chile: Calafquén Lake, Panguipulli
previously glaciated area are surrounded Lake
and buried by the sediments deposited by o Ireland: Lough Dan
meltwater in the outwash plain.

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Volcanic Activity  Lakes may occur in them if they become
Caldera or Crater Lakes blocked with the material.
 A caldera is a natural depression formed on  The collapse of limestone roofing in
a volcano after the eruption. underground caves may expose long,
 The top and the sides collapse inward as narrow lakes that were previously
the magma chamber empties, creating a underground.
depression.  Examples- Lake Scutari, Yugoslavia and Lac
 Earth isn't the only planet that has de Chaillexon, The Otjikoto Lake in Namibia
calderas. Other planets have them as well, is a permanent karst lake.
including Venus and Mars. The moon also
has calderas. Wind-Deflated Lakes
 A caldera has steep sides and is roughly  In deserts, the deflating effect of winds
circular in shape. generates deep hollows that can reach the
 Examples- water table and enable water to seep out,
o Lonar in Maharashtra generating tiny shallow lakes.
o Krakatao in Indonesia.
 Excessive evaporation transforms them
o Crater Lake in Oregon, US
into salt lakes or Playas.
Lakes formed due to subsidence of the volcanic  Examples- Egypt's Qattara Depression and
land surface Utah's Great Basin in USA.
 The lava flow may form fake hollow crusts
as it cools. If this crust collapses, Lakes formed by Deposition
depressions form in which lakes can
River Deposits
develop.
 During a flood, a river may shorten its path
 E.g., Myvatn of Iceland.
by severing its meandering loops, leaving
behind a horseshoe-shaped channel
Lave Blocked Lake
known as ox – bow lake.
 In volcanic regions a stream of lava may
 Examples- Rio Grande, Mexico, Lower
flow across a valley, become solidified and
Ganga, India and Flood-plains of Lower
thus dam the river forming a lake
Mississippi.
 E.g., a lava flow blocks the Jordan valley
forming the Sea of Galilee which is an Marine Deposits or Lagoons
inland lake, rather elongated in shape.
 Wind and wave action can isolate lagoons
along beaches, which are surrounded by
Lakes formed by Erosion tiny spits of land known as lagoon lakes.
 A lagoon is a body of shallow water
Karst Lakes
isolated from a larger body of water by
 Karst lakes arise as a result of cave
barrier islands or reefs.
collapse, especially in water-soluble rocks
 Lagoons are known as Haffs in East
such as limestone, gypsum, and dolomite.
Germany and Poland.
This is referred to as karstification.
 Example- Lake Chilka
Rainwater's solvent action on limestone
carves out solution hollows.

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Lakes formed due to Landslides, Screes & temporary lakes
Avalanches receive water from
 Landslides or screws can obstruct valleys, transitory sources
causing rivers to be dammed and such as rain.
temporary lakes to develop.  These are often made
 Lakes developed as a result of these of fresh water. The
processes are referred to as barrier lakes. term "seasonal lakes"
 Such lakes have a brief lifespan because refers to lakes that
the loose shards that accumulate across arise during the rainy
the valleys will soon burst under pressure season.
and give way to the water.  These lakes are deep
 When they unexpectedly fail, the dammed and hold more water
water pours down, producing floods. than can ever
 Example- Lakes that are formed in evaporate.
Shiwaliks (Outer Himalayas)  Great Lakes of North
America and the East
Manmade Lakes African Rift Lakes.
 Aside from natural lakes, man has recently
produced artificial lakes by creating a
concrete dam across a river valley, allowing
river water to be retained and used to
make reservoirs.
 Man's mining operations, such as the tin
mine in West Malaysia, have resulted in
the formation of countless lakes. Freshwater  A freshwater lake is a
 Many fishing lakes have been created as a Lakes body of still, unsalted
result of inland fish cultivation. water that is
 Example- Lake Mead, Colorado River in the surrounded by land.
United States of America and Lake Nasser,  They are often
Egypt. located in low-lying
Types of Lakes locations and are
 Temporary Lakes supplied by streams,
 Permanent Lakes rivers, and runoff
 Freshwater Lake from the surrounding
 Saline Lakes area.
 Freshwater lakes
Type About provide a distinct
Permanent  Permanent lakes are environment for
Lakes lakes that receive microbes since they
water from differ from other
permanent sources aquatic habitats such
such as rivers and as the ocean and
springs, whereas flowing water.

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 The vast majority of
lakes on the planet Famous Lakes of India
are freshwater lakes
fed by rivers and with Pulicat Lake  Andhra Pradesh
outflowing streams.  Country’s second-
 Wular Lake, Kolleru largest brackish-water
Lake etc. lake or lagoon.
 The barrier island of
Sriharikota separates
Saline Lakes  Salt lakes, also known the lagoon from the
as saline lakes can Bay of Bengal and is
arise when there is no home to the Satish
natural outlet for the Dhawan Space Centre.
water or when the  Pulicat Lake Bird
water evaporates Sanctuary
quickly and the water
table's drainage Chilka Lake  Odisha
surface has a higher-  India’s largest coastal
than-normal salt lagoon and the
content. world’s second-
 These lakes are salty largest lagoon.
due to excessive  The largest brackish
evaporation (negative water lagoon in the
freshwater balance, Asia.
more water is lost  First Indian Wetland
through evaporation of International
than obtained from Importance.
rivers).  Under Tentative
 The Dead Sea, for UNESCO World
example, has a salinity Heritage site.
(salt content) of 250
parts per thousand, Vembanad  Kerala
whereas Utah's Great Lake  The longest lake in
Salt Lake has a salinity India
of 220 parts per  It is the second largest
thousand. Ramsar site in India.
 Playas, often known  The Nehru Trophy
as salt lakes, are a Boat Race is
typical characteristic conducted in a
of deserts (recall portion of the lake.
desert landforms).
Wular Lake  J&K
 Largest Freshwater

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Lake in India. Water Bodies Salinity (g/kg)
 The lake is one of the Don Juan Pond- 44%
Indian Wetlands Antarctica
designated as a Gaet'ale Pond- 43%
Ramsar site. Total 75 Ethiopia
Ramsar Sites in India. Lake Retba- Senegal 40%
Lake Vanda- 35%
Sambhar  Rajasthan Antarctica
Lake  India's largest inland Lake Assal- Djibouti 34.8%
Salt Lake Dead Sea- Israel, 33.7%
 Surrounded by the Jordan, Palestine
Aravali hills on all Little Manitou Lake- 18%
sides Canada
Lake Urmia-Iran 8.5–28%
Loktak Lake  Manipur Great Salt Lake-USA 5–27%
 Freshwater lake in Red Sea 3.6-4.1%
Northeast India
Pacific Ocean 3.5%
 Keibul Lamjao- This
Lake Van- Turkey 2.4%
park is seen floating
over the lake which is
considered as the only
floating National Park.
 Loktak Lake is said to
be the home and last
natural shelter of the
endangered state
animal Sangai.
 The phumdis (local
name) or swamps in
the shape of a circle
floating at the surface
of the Loktak Lake
provide a beautiful
sight of the lake.

A hypersaline body of water contains higher saline

levels than that of oceans. The salinity is caused by
the concentration of sodium chloride or other
salts. These bodies of water lack outputs, meaning
that they lose water only through evaporation, a
process which leaves mineral salts behind.

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Introduction along the Nile River and the southern coast of the
Mediterranean, the climate was much hotter and
The earliest known climatic classification scheme drier than on the islands and northern coast of
originated with the ancient Greeks, perhaps 2200 that sea.
years ago. Although the “known world” was very
small at that time, Greek scholars were aware of At the other end of the world known to the Greeks,
along the Danube River and the northern coast of
the Black Sea, things were much colder, especially
in winter. So, the Greeks spoke of three climatic
zones: the Temperate Zone of the mid-latitudes, in
which they lived (Athens is at 38° N); the Torrid
Zone of the tropics to the south; and the Frigid
Zone to the north. Because they knew that Earth is
a sphere, they suggested that the Southern
Hemisphere has similar Temperate and Frigid
Zones, making five in all.

the shape and approximate size of Earth. They

knew that at the southern limit of their World,
THE KOPPEN CLIMATE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

It is by far the most widely used modern climate classification system. Wladimir Koppen (1846–1940) was a
Russian-born German climatologist who was also an amateur botanist.

The first version of his climate classification scheme appeared in 1918, and he continued to modify and refine
it for the rest of his life, the last version being published in 1936.

The modified Koppen system describes five major climate groups (groups A, B, C, D, and E) which are
subdivided into a total of 14 individual climate types, along with the special category of highland (H) climate.

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Highland climate is not defined in the same sense as all the others. Climatic conditions in mountainous
areas have almost infinite variations from place to place, and many of the differences extend over very
limited horizontal distances. Koppen did not recognize highland climate as a separate group, but most of the
researchers who have modified his system have added such a category.

THE HOT, WET EQUATORIAL CLIMATE

Distribution:
 Found between - 5° and 10° N and S of
equator
 Greatest extent – Amazon lowlands,
Congo, Malaysia and East indies
 Away from equator, a modified type of
 No Winter
equatorial climate with monsoonal
influences developed because of shore  Moderation of temperature because of –
trade winds. o Cloudiness
o Heavy precipitation
 Within tropics - the equatorial highlands
have a distinctively cooler climate because o Land and sea breezes
of altitude. E.g., Cameron Highlands in  Diurnal range of temperature – small
Malaysia, the Northern Andes, and the  Annual range of temperature – small
Kenyan Highlands in East Africa.
Precipitation:
Climatic Condition  Heavy Rainfall (200 cm and above), well
Temperature: distributed throughout year
 Uniformity of Temperature throughout  Rainfall every month.
year.  No dry season
 Mean monthly temperature: 26o – 28o C  Double rainfall peak –
with very little variation

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Natural Vegetation

o Peculiar Feature (no other climate

has this feature)
 Tropical Rain Forest-High rainfall and
o Coincide with equinoxes temperature.
 Amazon lowlands (very dense forest)
o Sometimes it is upset by local
called ‘Selvas’.
conditions
 Growing season all-rounder like Jacque
 Mornings – bright and sunny (because
Kallis  (seeding, flowering, fruiting and
great heat)
decaying)
 High evaporation and convectional air
 No drought and cold
currents
 Convectional rain with cumulonimbus Characteristic Features
clouds Variety of Vegetation
 Torrential shower - Torrential rain or a  Multitudes of evergreen trees –
torrential downpour, is any amount of rain mahogany, ebony, mangrove, greenheart,
that is considered especially heavy. It is cabinet woods and dyewoods.
accompanied by lightning and thunder. It is  Smaller palm trees
so much that desert receive this much in a  Climbing plants - lianas or rattan
year  Epiphytic or parasitic plant (live on others)
 Orographic or relief rain – in mountains.
 Relative Humidity – high (80%)

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Distinct Stratification
 The top layer is captured by long tress
which makes thick canopy. It is so much
thick that the plants which grow on surface
don’t get enough sunlight.
 The next layer – smaller trees
 Ground - ferns and herbaceous plants
 Undergrowth- Less Dense.

Multiple Species
 More than 200 species of tree. Multiple
species of trees occur in a particular area,
trees do not occur in homogenous stands
or pure stands.
Cocoa Plant
Forest Clearings  Cocoa is also in great demand by North
 Forests have been cleared for lumbering or America and Europe for chocolate
shifting cultivation production. Mostly cultivated in western
 Coastal areas and brackish swamps have Africa. Nigeria and Ghana one of the
mangrove forest. largest exporters.
 Other crops – oil pam, coconuts,
Life and Development in the Equatorial Regions sugarcane, coffee, tea, tobacco, spices,
 Sparsely populated. cinchona, bananas, pineapples and sage.
 Hunters and collectors live in forest.
 Shifting cultivation is practiced
 Food availability – abundant Factors Affecting the Development of Equatorial
o Rivers and streams provide fishes Regions
o Forest – fruits, nuts and other
Equatorial climate and health
forest products
 Because of excessive heat and high
 Crops – manioc, yams, maize, bananas and
humidity, body sweats lot and loses vigor
groundnuts
and energy
 Plantation established in Java, Sumatra,
 Danger of sunstroke, malaria and yellow-
Malaysia, west Africa and central America
fever.
after coming of Europeans.
 This leads to decrease in working capacity
 Favorable climate for west lover crops
and immunity of body.
which are grown here – Natural Rubber,
Cocoa and Oil palm
Prevalence of bacteria and insect pests
 Natural Rubber- Malaysia, Indonesia and
 We have read that excessive humidity
Thailand- leading producers. Currently
helps in promoting growth of germs.
Thailand is the leading producer in the
 Germs and bacteria transmit easily
World followed by Indonesia.
through moist air.

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 Equatorial conditions are ideal for the  Though the tropics have great potential in
survival of such organisms. timber resources, commercial extraction is
 Insects and pests’ spread diseases as well very difficult.
as injure crops.  Even if trees can be cut then transporting
 They plague both men and animals. them is not easy.
 Livestock farming is not easy because of
Jungle hinders development and maintenance absence of meadow grass, even on the
 It is not easy to clear and maintain these highlands
jungles  Bullocks or buffaloes – used as beasts of
 To do any kind of developmental work or burden. Yield by them is lower than
even for farming, first forests have to be temperate cattles.
cleared which is not easy task as the
growth rate of them is very high.
THE TROPICAL MONSOON AND TROPICAL
 And even if they are cleared then there are
MARINE CLIMATES
dangerous animals, snakes and many more
dangers.
 After construction they need to be
maintained and thick undergrowth covers
them again and so it’s very costly to do and
maintain such tedious job.
 Many remote parts of the Amazon basin,
the Congo and Borneo are without modern
communication lines. The rivers form the
only natural highways.

Rapid deterioration of tropical soil

 Heavy leaf falls and decomposition of Distribution:
leaves by bacteria, a thick mantle of humus  On-shore wet monsoon in summer
makes the soil fairly fertile. But shifting  Off-shore dry monsoon in winter
cultivation utilizes it.  Countries - Indian subcontinent-
 And remaining job is done by torrential Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, parts
downpours which remove the important of Vietnam and South China and Northern
nutrients from soil Australia
 The soil degenerates rapidly with  Tropical marine climate – same climate is
subsequent soil erosion and soil modified by on shore trade winds. It has
impoverishment even distribution rainfall. Countries -
 Indonesian island of Java is an exception, Central America, West indies, northeastern
because of its rich volcanic ashes and the Australia, the Philippines, parts of East
energetic local people. Africa, Madagascar, the Guinea Coast and
eastern Brazil
Difficulties in lumbering and livestock farming

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Climatic Conditions  Punjab gets small amount of rain fall,
 Basic cause of monsoon - difference in the because of cyclonic sources, which is
rate of heating and cooling of land and sea. important for cereals.
 Summer- Sun is overhead at the Tropic of  When north east monsoon blows over Bay
Cancer- the great land masses of the of Bengal, they acquire moisture and bring
northern hemisphere are heated. Central rainfall to eastern coastal region like
Asia- intense low-pressure region. Andhra Pradesh and TN.
 Sea takes time to get heated and remain
cool. The hot dry season (March to mid-June)
 While in southern hemisphere there is  As Sun shifts towards tropic of cancer,
winter and so there is high pressure in the temperature rises
interior of Australia.  While Mumbai is moderate but still many
 Winds blow outwards as the South-East parts are hotter and even schools and
Monsoon to Java, and after crossing the colleges are close for 2 months.
equator are drawn towards the continental  Heat and low relative humidity are
low-pressure area reaching the Indian unbearable
subcontinent as the South-West Monsoon.  Coastal districts have some relief due to
 Reverse condition in winter. sea breeze.

 By May, low pressure is developed over

The Seasons of Tropical Monsoon Climate North West India.
The tropical monsoon climate in Indian sub-  We have seen Loo (strong, hot and dry
continent has 3 distinct seasons – summer afternoon wind from the west
The cool, dry season (Oct. to Feb) which blows over the western Indo-
 Temperatures are low Gangetic Plain region of North India) also.
 In north frosts may occur at night  Dust storms – frequent
 Centre of high pressure (HP) – Punjab  Rainstorms ‘break’ in middle of June.
 North east monsoon –dry winds – little or
no rain to India

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The rainy season (mid-June to Sep) The Tropical Marine Climate
 South west monsoon burst in mid-June.  A tropical marine climate is usually
 Almost whole of rain is this rainy season experienced by islands and coastal areas
(95% rainfall in 4 months) (see graph also). 10° to 20° north or south of the equator.
 They receive rainfall all the time because of
o This concentration of rainfall is trade winds.
characteristic feature of topical  Rainfall – orographic as well as
monsoon climate convectional
 The ocean is the main influence in creating
the tropical marine climate.
 There are two main seasons — the wet
season and the dry season.
 The annual rainfall is 1000 to over 1500
mm. (no month without rainfall)
 The temperature ranges from 25 °C to
35 °C.
 The trade winds blow all year round and
are moist, as they have passed over warm
seas.
 Due to the steady influence of the trades,
the tropical marine climate is more
favorable for habitation, but it is prone to
severe tropical cyclones, hurricanes or
typhoon.
 There is torrential downpour all over
country which immediately reduces the Natural Vegetation
temperature.  Natural vegetation of tropical monsoon -
 Some of the windward stations on the Normally deciduous, because of dry period
Himalayan foothills have very heavy during which they shed their leaves to
rainfall, though this is partly orographic. withstand drought.
 Average annual rainfall, the wettest place  Natural vegetation of tropical marine -
is Mawsynram, Meghalaya, India, with Heavy rainfall area’s vegetation is forest.
11,873 mm (467 in) of rain per annum. (Southern Burma, peninsular India,
northern Australia and coastal regions with
The Retreating Monsoon a tropical marine climate)
 The rain falls start to decrease gradually as  Open forest
the rainy season ends.  Less luxurious v/s tropical
 It starts from northern India in mid-  Fewer species
September and gradually moving back  Yield valuable timber (best - teak)
from whole of India. o Used for ship, building, furniture
 Monsoon role in India – farmers, drought, and other construction purposes
severe floods.  Sal, acacia and eucalyptus - other varieties
of timber

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 Rainfall decreases in summer – forest → o wet paddy - grown on lowlands in
thorny scrubland or savanna with flooded fields or in terraced
scattered trees and tall grass. uplands
 Indian subcontinent has very less rainfall o dry paddy - regions of lower rainfall
and so it has semi-desert conditions.  Minimum of 50 inches of rainfall is
 And so Monsoonal vegetation is most required during the growing season.
varied, ranging from forests to thickets and  Drought can be very detrimental to rice’s
from savanna to scrubland. cultivation.
 Irrigation water from rivers, canals, dams
Agricultural Development or wells is extensively used.
 Monsoon forests are cleared for farming.  Other food crops like maize, millet,
 The huge population needs to be fed and sorghum, wheat, grain and beans are of
so there is enormous pressure on land. subsidiary importance.
 In want of land forest are cleared nonstop
and this had sometimes resulted in soil Lowland Cash Crops
erosion  Range of lowland tropical cash crops is
 Tropical agriculture is mainly rainfall cultivated for the export market.
dependent and countries like India, China,  Cane sugar is most important
eastern Brazil etc. economy is agriculture  2/3rd of world sugar production comes
dominated. from tropical countries.
 Sugar grown on plantation or small land
Types of Agriculture farms with abundant rainfall and sunshine
 Major producers – China, India, Java etc.
Jute
 Growing area - Ganges - Brahmaputra
delta in India and Bangladesh.
 leading hard fibre for the manufacture of
sacks
 Manila hemp from Philippines is used to
make high quality ropes

Other crops
 Indigo (India and Java), Cotton, bananas,
coconuts and spices.
Wet Paddy Cultivation
 Rice – staple crop Highland Plantation Crops
o Growing areas – tropical lowlands
 Role of Europeans in introducing
with 70-inch rainfall
plantation crops in tropical has already
o Most characteristic crop of the
been known to you. They have also
monsoon land
introduced tea and coffee plantation
o Total acreage of it > any other crop
mainly for exports to Europe.
 2 main varieties of paddy –

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 Coffee was originally grown in Ethiopia and o 2nd greatest money earner for
Arabia but now Brazil accounts for half of Burma after rice.
world’s production. o It takes as long as 100 years for a
o Also cultivated on highland slopes teak tree to mature into
between 2000 feet and 4500 feet in commercial timber.
Central America, India and eastern  Green teak is heavy and so problem in
Java. transportation so it is necessary to ‘poison’
the tree several years before actual felling,
so that it is dry and light enough to be
floated down the Chindwin and the
Irrawaddy to reach the saw mills at
Rangoon.

Shifting Cultivation

Tea Plantation
 Tea originally belonged to China, who is
still an important producer of it.
o Moderate temperature
o Heavy rainfall
o Highland slopes
 Also thrives in tropical monsoon zone but
at higher altitude.
 Best region – Himalayan foothills of India  Most local primitive form of farming.
and Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and western  Tribesmen move to a new clearing when
java, China (for local only) their first field is exhausted.
 The clearing of field is by fire which
Lumbering destroys everything in its way.
 From tropical forest – teak is in great  After planting no attention to weeding or
demand and Burma is its leading producer manuring.
 Valuable because –  Crops are left at god’s mercy
o Great durability, strength,  Uses sticks and hoe
immunity to shrinkage, fungus  Crops – maize or corn, dry padi, yams,
attack and insects tapioca, sweet potatoes and some beans
o Grown in - hilly districts (up to are the most common crops.
3,000 feet altitude) with moderate  Farming is entirely for subsistence.
rainfall.  Different local names of shifting cultivation
o If a tree is cut a new teak is planted –
as its replacement o Ladang in Malaysia
o Only way to ensure the steady o Taungya in Burma,
supply. o Tamrai in Thailand

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o Cangin in Philippines,  Annual temperature range: 6 - 7°C (↑ if
o Humah in Java, move away from equator)
o Chena in Sri Lanka  Highest temperature coincides with onset
o Milpa in Africa and Central of rainy season
America.  Days – hot (35°C)
 Night – clear sky (20°C), no night frost
THE SAVANNA OR SUDAN CLIMATE
Distribution: Winds
 Transitional type of climate.  Prevailing winds – trade winds – rain to
 Found between - the equatorial forests coastal areas.
and the trade wind hot deserts.  But it becomes dry by the time it reaches
 Confined within – tropics to west coast or interior of continents and
 Best developed in - Sudan and so its name so grass and scattered short trees.
the Sudan Climate.  These dry winds in Africa are called as
 In South America - two distinct regions of Harmattan, meaning the doctor.
savanna north (Llanos) and south (Campos)  They are so dry that Relative Humidity (RH)
of the equator is <30%
 The Australian savanna is located south of  It is such a dry dusty wind that besides
the monsoon strip running from west to ruining the crops, it also stirs up a thick
east north of the Tropic of Capricorn. dusty haze and impedes inland river
navigation.

Natural Vegetation

Climate
Rainfall
 Alternate hot, rainy season and cool, dry
season.  Tall grass and short trees
 Northern hemisphere - hot, rainy season  Trees domination decreases when move
(May to September) from equator to polewards.
 Rest of year – cool and dry  Trees – deciduous (e.g. acacia)
 Length of rainy season and annual rainfall  Other trees – broad trunk (e.g. baobab and
decreases from equator to pole ward bottle trees)
towards desert fringes.  Trees are hard, gnarled and thorny and
 Annual precipitation is less than that of the exude gum like gum Arabic & have
Tropical Monsoon Climate umbrella shaped

Temperature
 Monthly temperature: 30o C – 32o C

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Grass Flesh eating carnivorous animals
 Lion, tiger, puma, jaguar, jackal, jackal etc.
 Have powerful jaws and teeth to attack
animals
 Reptiles and mammals - crocodiles,
alligators, monitors, giant rhinoceros and
hippopotamus.
Life in Savanah

The Masai Cattle Pastoralists

Elephant Grass
 Tall and coarse (6-12 feet)
 Elephant grass (15 feet)
 Grow in compact tufts and has long roots.
 Dry season – yellow, dry and die  The Masai are a nomadic tribe.
 Rainy season – greenish  Now confined to the 15,000 square miles
 Dormant through long, rainless period of Masai reserves in Kenya and Tanzania.
 Springs up again in next rainy season  When there is a drought the Masai move
 Rainfall ↓ - savanna merges with thorny Upwards to the higher and cooler plateau
scrub regions in which their herds can graze on
the better pastures.
Animal Life  Live in huts made of sticks, bushes and
 Africa - Home of wild animals mud.
 also known as “big game country” (game -  Zebu cattle with humps and long horns are
hunting) kept.
 1000s of animals are killed for their skins,  They are treated with great respect and
tusk, horns, bones, hair. affection and are never slaughtered for
 Wealth of animals is sometimes shown in food or for sale.
movies as well  Beef is only consumed when they die a
natural death from old age or disease.
Grass eating herbivorous animals  Never used as draught animals
 Alert and move swiftly in search of green  Only for supply of blood and milk.
pastures  Blood from both bulls and cows is drunk.
 Run very fast to escape from their hunter.  Cows and bull’s symbols of wealth.
 Grass eating – zebra, antelope, giraffe,  Goats and sheep has little significance.
deer, elephant

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 They get food from agriculture tribes such  Farming in the savanna land is not without
as the Kikuyu of Kenya, they obtain a small natural hazards. Droughts may be long
amount of millet, bananas, groundnuts and and trying often unreliable.
vegetables.  Distinct wet-and-dry periods are also
 They will not willingly sell their cattle. responsible for the rapid deterioration of
soil fertility.
The Hausa, settled cultivators  Heavy rain cause leaching of nutrients
 Tribe of settled cultivators who inhabit the which are dissolved and washed away
savanna lands of the Bauchi Plateau of  Dry season evaporates water faster and
northern Nigeria. land became saline.
 More advanced in their civilization  The savanna is said to be the natural cattle
 Live in towns or villages country.
 Not practice shifting cultivation Think
 Instead, they clear a piece of land and use
 Desertification
it for several years, growing a wide range
 Sahel region
of crops like maize, millet, Guinea corn,
groundnuts, bananas and beans
 Some Hausa also cultivate nonfood crops The Sahel (coast, shore), the vast semi-arid region
e.g. Cotton and tobacco. of Africa separating the Sahara Desert to the north
 When the fertility of the plot declines, they and tropical savannas to the south, is as much a
plant a new field and allow the old one to land of opportunities as it is of challenges.
lie fallow.
 Also make use of domesticated animals.
Herds of cattle and goats are kept for both
milk and meat, but they are only subsidiary
to crop cultivation.

Problems, Prospects and Development of the

Savanna
 Immense agricultural potential for
plantation agriculture of cotton, cane Although it has abundant human and natural
sugar, coffee, oil Palm, groundnuts and resources, offering tremendous potential for rapid
even tropical fruits. growth, there are deep-rooted challenges—
environmental, political and security— that may
 Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi have
affect the prosperity and peace of the Sahel.
already taken to large-scale production of
cotton and sisal hemp.
The Sahel is endowed with great potential for
 Both crops thrive well in savanna
renewable energy and sits atop some of the
conditions. In west Africa the commercial
largest aquifers on the continent. Potentially one
cultivation of groundnuts, oil pam and
of the richest regions in the world with abundant
cocoa have been gradually extended into
human, cultural and natural resources.
the savanna lands

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For this reason, the United Nations has come up
with a unique support plan targeting 10 countries
to scale up efforts to accelerate prosperity and
sustainable peace in the region.

Target countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad,

The Gambia, Guinea Mauritania, Mali, Niger,
Nigeria and Senegal.

THE HOT DESERT AND MID-LATITUDE

DESERT CLIMATES o Sahara Desert (Biggest desert)
Distribution o Australian desert
 Regions of scanty rainfall. o Arabian Desert
 2 types – hot and temperate o Iranian Desert
o Thar Desert
o Kalahari and Namib Deserts
o Californian desert (also known as
Mohave, Sonoran and Mexican
deserts)
o Atacama Desert
o Peruvian desert
 Mid latitude desert
o Gobi- rain shadow desert
o Turkestan
o Patagonian Deserts-South America
 Hot like the hot deserts of the Saharan (it is due to rain-shadow position on
type. the leeward side of the lofty Andes
o They are arid because of off shore than to continentality)
trade wind. Cold Desert are arid ecosystems which receive
o Also called as Trade Wind Deserts. rainfall less than 25cm in a year. They are located
 Temperate - the mid–latitude deserts like in the interior of the continent and at high latitude,
the Gobi. characterized by the temperate climatic condition
o Reason for aridity - because of their – hot summer and chilled winter.
interior location in the temperate
latitudes, well away from the rain Global Distribution:
bearing winds.  Cold deserts occur in temperate regions at
 Major hot desert location – western coast higher latitudes.
of continents between 15° and 30° N and S  These deserts are often situated on
latitudes. plateaux and are a part of continental
interiors.
Hot Deserts  They are present in almost every continent
but confined to temperate regions.

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Distribution of Cold Deserts. The worrying trend is the increase of
 Anarctica, Arctic Desert, Atacama Desert, desertification and expansion of both the types of
Colorado Plateau, Columbia Basin, Gobi deserts. Natural causes for desert formation have
Desert, Great Basin, Karakum Desert, been from times immemorial, it is the
Kyzylkum Desert, Namib Desert, anthropogenic causes which are cause of concern.
Patagonian Desert, and Taklamakan The plan of action to combat desertification needs
Desert. to be in line with the UN convention to combat
 desertification (UNCCD).
In India, we can see the presence of cold desert
like conditions in the region of Ladakh.
Climate

Difference between Hot and Cold Deserts:

Rainfall
 Both types of deserts have an annual
The main aspects that differentiate the Cold
precipitation - <10 inches
Desert from a Hot Desert are:
o William Creek in Australia - 5.4
 The hot deserts are mainly formed in
inches.
tropical and subtropical regions whereas
o Kotah in India - 4 inches
the cold deserts are found in temperate
o Yuma, Arizona, U.S.A. has 3.3
regions.
inches.
 Hot deserts are formed due to reasons like
o In Salah in the mid-Sahara and Arica
the offshore wind patterns, aridity due to
in the mid - Atacama have
cold current, sand property and heat
practically no rain at all.
whereas cold deserts are formed mainly
 The hot desert lies extending across the
due to continentality and rain-shadow
horse latitudes or the subtropical high-
effects.
pressure belts where the air is descending,
 The cold deserts have an extremely chilling
a condition least favorable for
winters which is totally absent in hot
precipitation of any kind to take place.
deserts.
 The rain bearing trade winds blow off-
shore and the westerlies that are on-shore
Similarities Between Hot and Cold Desert
blow outside the desert limits.
 Hot and cold deserts are the landscapes
 Winds blow from cooler to warmer
with very low precipitation.
regions, and their relative humidity is
 Both are dry, arid, and rocky.
lowered making condensation impossible
 Both have the least rainfall with respect to
and so deserts are regions of permanent
other types of deserts.
drought.
 The precipitation sometimes evaporates
 On the western coasts, the presence of
before it hits the ground.
cold currents gives rise to mists and fogs by
 Both deserts lack vegetation.
chilling the oncoming air. This air is later
 They have limited resources.
warmed by contact with the hot land, and
 They are unreproductive.
little rain falls.
 Burrowers and nocturnal creatures live in
both types of deserts.
Temperature
 High temperatures throughout the year.

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 No cold season
 Average summer temperature - 35°C and
temperature crosses 55°C.
 Days are unbearably hot. Reasons –
o Clear, cloudless sky
o Intense isolation
o Dry air
o Rapid rate of evaporation
 The diurnal range of temperature in the
deserts is very great.  They may not appear green all the time but
 Frosts may occur at night in winter they lie dormant
 Extremes temperature in desert  No moisture in environment and so
excessive heat is most unfavorable for
Coastal deserts growth of plants
 Lower temperatures  Predominant vegetation of both types are
 Reason – maritime influence and cooling – xerophytic or drought-resistant scrub.
effect of the cold-currents  It includes the bulbous cacti, thorny
 Annual temperature range - small bushes, long rooted wiry grasses and
scattered dwarf acacias.
Desert interiors  Trees are rare
 Higher summer temperatures  Along the western coastal deserts washed
 Winter months – cold by cold currents as in the Atacama Desert,
the mists and fogs, formed by the chilling
Climatic Conditions in the mid-latitude Deserts of warm air over cold currents, roll inland
 Many ways similar to those of hot deserts. and nourish a thin cover of vegetation.
 Sometimes unexpected convectional  Plants highly specialized adapting
storms may bless the parched lands with themselves to the arid environment
brief showers in summer  Absence of moisture retards the
 Snow falls in winter. decomposition process and desert soils are
 Summers are very hot and winters are very deficient in humus.
extremely cold with two months below  Plants have long roots in search of food,
freezing point. moisture.
 Annual range of temperature is greater  Leaves of plants are reduced to spine so
than hot deserts (reason - continentality) that less transpiration. The stem is thick
 Winters - freezing lakes and rivers, and waxy part and it stores food for drought.
strong cold winds blow all the time. When
the ice thaws in early summer floods occur Economy
in many places.  Despite its inhospitality, the desert has
always been peopled by different groups of
Desert Vegetation inhabitants.
 All deserts have some form of vegetation  Some, like the Egyptians have attained a
like grass, scrub, herbs, weeds, roots or high level of civilization, others like the
bulbs. Bedouin Arabs have fared quite well with
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their flocks of sheep, goats, camels and the world's total copper mine capacity.
horses. Chile and Peru, alone, account for about
 Of the primitive tribes, the Bushmen and half of the copper mines on this list.
the Bindibu are the best known. Both the Escondida copper mine in Chile is one of
tribes are nomadic hunters and food the World’s largest copper mines.
gatherers, growing no crops and  In the deserts of North America, silver is
domesticating no animals. The Bushmen mined in Mexico, uranium in Utah and
roam the Kalahari Desert. copper in Nevada.
 The Bindibu or Aborigines of Australia live  In recent years, the discovery of oil in many
in very much the same way as the parts of the Saharan and Arabian Deserts
Bushmen. has transformed this forgotten part of the
 They domesticate the dingo, a wild dog globe.
that assists them in tracking down
kangaroos, rabbits and birds. THE WARM TEMPERATE WESTERN
 They live in wurlies, simple shelters made MARGIN (MEDITERRANEAN) CLIMATE
of branches and tufts and grass. Distribution:
 The Bedouin of Arabia ride on horses and  Region – western portion of continental
live in tents; the Tuaregs of the Sahara and masses between 30° and 45° N and S of
camel riders and dwell in grass zeriba, equator.
while the Gobi Mongols ride on horses to  Reason or cause of this climate – shifting of
herd their yaks and live in portable yurts (a wind belts
kind of tent).  Mediterranean region found in world –
 The lure of mineral wealth has attracted Mediterranean Sea, Central Chile,
many immigrants into the desert. California, south west tip of Africa,
 It was gold that brought immigrants southern Australia and south west
scrambling into the Great Australian Australia.
Desert.
 Some of them like Kalgoorlie and
Coolgardie have become towns of
considerable size.
 In the Kalahari Desert, the discovery of
diamonds and copper has brought many
white men to the ‘thirst land’ as it is called.
 Even in the most arid Atacama, in northern
Chile, large mining camps have been
Climate
established for the mining of caliche
 The Mediterranean climate is
(cemented gravels) from which sodium
characterized by dry summers and mild,
nitrate, a valuable fertilizer, is extracted
moist winters.
and exported to all parts of the world.
 Mediterranean climate zones are
Besides nitrates, copper is also mined.
associated with the five large subtropical
 The world's 20 largest copper mines
high-pressure cells of the oceans: The
produce nearly 9 million metric tons of the
Azores High, South Atlantic High, North
precious metal a year, about 40 percent of

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Pacific High, South Pacific High, and Indian without having any significant
Ocean High. precipitation.
 These climatological high-pressure cells  Toward the equatorial latitudes, winter
shift towards the poles in the summer and precipitation decreases as a share of
towards the equator in the winter, playing annual precipitation as the climate grades
a major role in the formation of the world's equator ward into the steppe climate
subtropical and tropical deserts as well as normally too dry to support non-irrigated
the Mediterranean Basin's climate. agriculture.
 Azores High - it is associated with the  Toward the polar latitudes, total moisture
Mediterranean climate found in southern usually increases; in Europe there is more
Europe and North Africa and the Sahara summer rain further north while along the
Desert. American west coast the winters become
 South Atlantic High- it is similarly more intensely wet and the dry seasons
associated with the Namib Desert and the shorter as one moves north.
Mediterranean climate of the western part
of South Africa. Temperature
 North Pacific High – it is related to the  This climate has relatively mild winters
Sonoran Desert and California's climate. and very warm summers.
 South Pacific High – it is related to the  However, winter and summer
Atacama Desert and central Chile's climate temperatures can vary greatly between
 Indian Ocean High – it is related to the different regions with a Mediterranean
deserts of Western Australia (Great Sandy climate.
Desert, Great Victoria Desert, and Gibson  E.g., in the case of winters, Lisbon
Desert) and the Mediterranean climate of experiences very mild temperatures in the
southwest and south-central Australia. winter, with frost and snow practically
unknown, whereas Dushanbe has colder
Precipitation winters with annual frosts and snowfall.
 During summer, regions of Mediterranean  Summer - Athens experiences rather high
climate are dominated by subtropical high- temperatures in that season (48 °C (118 °F)
pressure cells, with dry sinking air capping has been measured in nearby Eleusis). In
a surface marine layer of varying humidity contrast, San Francisco has mild summers
and making rainfall impossible or unlikely due to the upwelling of cold subsurface
except for the occasional thunderstorm. waters along the coast producing regular
 While during winter the polar jet stream summer fog that does not reach far inland.
and associated periodic storms reach into  In low season the temperatures could be
the lower latitudes of the Mediterranean up to 20 °C (68 °F).
zones, bringing rain, with snow at higher
elevations.
Natural Vegetation
 As a result, areas with Mediterranean The native vegetation must be adapted to survive
climate receive almost all of their long, hot summer droughts and prolonged wet
precipitation during their winter, autumn periods in winter. Mediterranean vegetation
and spring seasons, and may go anywhere examples include the following -
from 4 to 6 months during the summer

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 Evergreen trees - pines, cypresses, and Crop Cultivation
oaks  Wheat – leading food crop
 Deciduous trees - sycamores, oaks, and o But the conditions are not ideal as
buckeyes a temperate land has.
 Fruit trees - olives, figs, citrus, walnuts and o The grown wheat is hard, winter
grapes wheat
 Shrubs - Bay laurel, ericas, banksias, and  Next popular cereal – Barley
chamise  Irrigation for crops – water from melting
 Sub-shrubs - such as sages, artemisias, and snow
sagebrush  Lowlands – intensive cultivation
 Grasses - grassland types, Themeda  Hill slopes are terraced for farming.
triandra, bunchgrasses, sedges, and rushes  Haciendas – large farm holdings in Spain.
 Herbs - fragrant rosemary, thyme, and
lavender. Wine Production
 Another specialty of the Mediterranean
Economic Development of the Mediterranean countries, because the best wine is
regions essentially made from grapes.
Even after semi-arid conditions the climate is  85% of grapes go into wine
favorable. Warm, bright summers and cool, moist  Med. Sea = 3/4th of world’s wine
winters enable wide ranges of crops to be production.
cultivated.  Spain, Portugal France, and ltaly, wine is
Orchard Farming the national drink
 Commercial viticulture is almost entirely
confined to the Mediterranean regions.
 The wine from southern Spain is called
Sherry.
o Portugal port – wine
o Chianti, asti and marsala come
from different parts of Italy.
o Champagne -Paris basin, Bordeaux
- Garonne basin, Burgundy -
Rhone-Saone valley. (France has
the greatest wine regions)
 Also known as world’s orchard lands
 Most of the inferior grapes are preserved
 Range of citrus fruits – oranges, lemon,
as dried grapes and exported. They are
limes, citron and grapefruit are grown
known by several names e.g. currants –
 Like we have Nagpur ka santara (Orange).
Levantine grapes, raisins from California
Similarly, they have lots of different shapes
and sultanas from Asia Minor.
and sizes oranges (Sunkist orange – best
known orange)
 70% of world’s fruits export – by this region
 Like we use coconut oil, they have palm oil,
which is for versatile purposes.

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THE TEMPERATE CONTINENTAL (STEPPE) northern and southern hemisphere, again

CLIMATE a factor of continentality.
DISTRIBUTION
In Southern Hemisphere, not severe
 Bordering the deserts
 Mild winter (temperature – 35°F to 55°F).
 In the interiors of continents
 Exceptional case – winter month even
 Lie in the westerly wind belt, they are so
below freezing point
remote from maritime influence that the
grasslands are practically treeless  Annual range of temperature is great
because of continentality.
 Northern hemisphere grasslands are
extensive and entirely continental.  Winters cold
 Snow melts in spring

Precipitation
 Annual precipitation – light
 Average rainfall – 20 inches (varies acc. To
location)
 Heaviest rain in middle of year
 Winter have about an inch precipitation
because of westerlies in form of snow.
 North America grasslands – Prairies  Most rainfall in summer
 Eurasia – “Steppes” (distribution – see  Chinook come in south west direction to
map) prairies. It is hot wind and raise the
 Due to the narrowness of the temperate temperature by 40°F within 20 minutes.
portions of the southern continents. the o It melts snow covered pastures and
grasslands are rather restricted and less so unlocking pastures for animals
continental.
 Argentina and Uruguay – Pampas Southern Hemisphere
 Africa – bush-Veld and high veld  Southern hemisphere has maritime
(sandwiched between Drakensberg and influence
the Kalahari Desert)  Annual precipitation – >20 inches because
 Australia – Downs of warm ocean current
 June, July and august without rain or
Climate drought period.
 Irrigation is essential.
Temperature
 Location of these regions is center of
continents and so little maritime influence
→ extreme temperature
 Warm summers
 Cold winters
 There is a tremendous difference between
the annual temperature range of the

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Natural Vegetation  Trees – scarce because of scanty rainfall,
long droughts and severe winters.
o The rolling plain is an endless
stretch of grass whether green or
brown, except along the water
courses where a few low willows,
poplars or alders break the
monotony.
Economy
 The temperate grasslands were once the
home of grazing animals; wild horses in the
Asiatic Steppes, swift-footed bison in the
Prairies and untamed buffaloes in the
 Steppe Vegetation – it includes scanty
Pampas.
vegetation of the sub-arid lands and also
include the temperate grassland all over  Even as recently, as the last century, these
the world grasslands were dominated by nomadic
and semi-nomadic peoples like the Krighiz
 The difference between steppes and the
of the Astiatic Steppes.
tropical savanna is that they are practically
treeless and the grasses are much shorter.  The grasslands have been ploughed up for
extensive, mechanized wheat cultivation
 Steppe areas are less suitable for arable
and are now the ‘granaries of the world’.
farming.
 Besides wheat, maize is increasingly
 Climatic requirements are different from
cultivated in the warmer and wetter areas.
trees as grasses require less precipitation +
The tufted grasses have been replaced by
they can remain dormant in drought
the more nutritious Lucerne or alfalfa
period.
grass.
 The appearance of the temperate
grasslands varies with seasons.
o Spring – grasses are green, fresh
and blooming with small, colorful
flowers. The light rainfall that
comes in late spring stimulates
their growth
o Summer – so much heat and
evaporation that grasses turn into
yellowish and soon brown
o Autumn – grasses withers and die
but roots remain alive and lie Figure alfaalfa grass
dormant throughout winter
o Winter - harsh and long, but the
snow is never of great depth.
Everything is quiet but with the
next spring cycle repeated and
steppe is alive again.
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THE WARM TEMPERATE EASTERN Climate

 It has warm moist summer and cool dry
MARGIN CLIMATE
winter.
Distribution
 Summer temperature - varies from 21°C to
 Found between - 30° and 40° N and S of
27°C
the equator.
 Winter temperature - 5°C to 12°C.
 Found in - N and S China, Southern Japan
 Rainfall - varies from 75 cm to 125 cm and
and Korea, South East USA, South Brazil
occasionally affected by the hurricane.
and North Argentina south-east coastal
region of Africa and New South Wales and
The China climate can be sub-divide into three
Queensland of Australia or eastern or
main types –
eastern margins of continents in warm
temperate latitudes, just outside the
a) The China type: Central and north China,
tropics.
including southern Japan (temperate
 It is, in fact, the climate of most parts of
monsoonal)
China—a modified form of monsoonal
 Most typical climate of warm
climate.
temperate eastern margin
 It is thus also called the Temperate
 In summer, Intense heating in heart of
Monsoon or China Type of climate. In
Asia creates low pressure and then
south-eastern U.S.A., bordering the Gulf of
monsoon winds etc. (we have read this
Mexico, continental heating in summer
please revise)
induces an inflow of air from the cooler
Atlantic Ocean.  In winter → tropic of Capricorn → high
pressure → retreat monsoon
 It is sometimes referred to as the Gulf type
of climate.  Occurrence of typhoons.

b) The Gulf type: South-eastern United States,

(slight-monsoonal)
 Climate similar to that of central China
except that the monsoonal
characteristics are less well
established. No complete seasonal
wind reversal.
 Warm Gulf Stream and the on-shore
Trade Winds help to bring about this
narrow range of temperature
 Summers are warm and pleasant.
 Annual rainfall is heavy.
 There is no distinct dry period as in
monsoon lands
 The amount of rain is increased by the
frequent thunderstorms in summer
and by hurricanes in September and
October.

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o Some very tall, over 250 feet and
c) The Natal type: The entire warm temperate they make hardy timber.
eastern margin (non-monsoonal areas) of the o The Australian Alps of Victoria and
southern hemisphere including Natal, eastern the Blue Mountains of New South
Australia and southern Brazil—Paraguay— Wales have great reserves of
Uruguay and northern Argentina. temperate eucalyptus forests that
make up part of the timber exports
Natural Vegetation of Australia.
 Areas with high summer temperature and
heavy rainfall favor luxuriant evergreen
vegetation.
 Deciduous type of forest is found in the
places with moderate rainfall and
temperature.
 Pines and cypress in highlands and
mountains.
 Well suited for grass, ferns, bamboos and
palms.
 Mulberry trees thrive best.  From the forests of south-eastern Brazil,
 The lowlands carry both ever-green eastern Paraguay, north-eastern Argentina
broad-leaved forests and deciduous trees come valuable warm temperate timbers
quite similar to those of the tropical such as the Parana pine, and the
monsoon forests. quebracho (axe-breaker, an extremely
 On the highlands, are various species of hard wood used for tanning) and wild
conifers such as pines and cypresses which yerba mate trees, from which the leaves
are important soft-woods are gathered for making Paraguay tea.
 The plant’s growth is not obstructed by
either a dry season as in the
Mediterranean, or a cold season as in the
cool temperate regions, conditions are
well suited to a rich variety of plant life
including grass, ferns, lianas, bamboos,
palms and forests.
 The well distributed rainfall all the year
round makes the regions look green at all
times.
 Warm temperate eastern margins are the
homes of a number of valuable timber
species.
 In eastern Australia the most important are
eucalyptus trees, with scanty foliage and
thick fern undergrowth.

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 Common animals are squirrels, bear,
beavers, foxes, deer, rats, snake and
wolves.

 The highlands yield extensive fore of

chestnuts, ironwood and black woods. An
unusual occupation is the commercial
cultivation of wattle trees in plantations for
tanning extracts and for use in Natal’s coal
mines as pit-props. Human Settlement
 The forests of China and southern Japan  Most productive parts, adequate rainfall,
also have considerable economic value and no prolonged droughts and warm cold
include oak, camphor, camellia and season.
magnolia.  Summer is the busiest time for farming.
 Deforestation has resulted in many barren  China and Southern Japan accounts one-
hill-slopes that are still feeling the impact third of the World's population.
of soil erosion. The Gulf States of U.S.A.  Agriculture is the main occupation.
have lowland deciduous forests. The trees  Paddy is the main crop, rice, tea and
grow close together with thick mulberries are also grown.
undergrowth and leafy branches.  Besides agriculture, mining, industries,
tourism, dairy farming, fishing, silk farming
are other main occupation.

 Walnut, oak, hickory and maple are some

of the more common species, while in the
sandier regions grow pines. Much of the
forest cover has given way to the
cultivation of sub-tropical crops like Economy
cotton, maize and fruits.  The warm temperate eastern margins are
the most productive parts of the middle
latitudes.
Wildlife
 Densely populated with different types of  Rice, tea and mulberries are extensively
animals. grown in monsoon China.
 Many types of birds and animals in  Elsewhere are found other products of
mountain and swamps with unique economic importance, e.g. canesugar in
adaptions suited for seasonal life. Natal, coffee and maize in South America
 The bald eagle, night angle, cardinals and and dairying in New South Wales and
hawks are some of the birds. Victoria.

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 The Chinese peasants raise ‘wet paddy’ or Tasmania and most parts of New Zealand,
‘swamp rice’ in flooded fields. particularly in South Island.
 Farming is usually on a subsistence basis. Climate
 Agriculture in the Gulf States of America  The mean annual temperatures are
differs from that of monsoon China. usually between 40°F and 60°F.
 The most important crops are corn, cotton  The warmest month is 63°F and the coldest
and tobacco. month is just around 40°F, thus giving an
 The chief food crop raised is. In fact, corn annual temperature range of only 24°F.
of maize.  Summers are, in fact, never very warm.
 Of the cash crops grown in the Gulf States,  The climate is deal for maximum comfort
none is comparable with cotton. and mental alertness.
 The Gulf type of climate is undoubtedly the  Winters are abnormally mild.
best for cotton growing.  The British type of climate has adequate
rainfall throughout the year with a
tendency towards a slight winter or
THE COOL TEMPERATE WESTERN autumn maximum from cyclonic sources.
MARGIN (BRITISH TYPE) CLIMATE  Since the rain-bearing winds come from
Distribution the west, the western margins have the
 The cool temperate western margins are heaviest rainfall.
under the permanent influence of the  The amount decreases eastwards with
Westerlies and cyclonic activity all-round increasing distance from the sea.
the year and so have British type climate.
 Regions in northern hemisphere- From Natural Vegetation
Britain, the climatic belt stretches far  The natural vegetation of this climate type
inland into the lowlands of North-West is deciduous forest.
Europe, including such regions as northern  Some of the more common species include
and western France, Belgium, the oak, elm, ash, birch, beech, poplar, and
Netherlands, Denmark, western Norway hornbeam.
and also north-western Iberia.  In the wetter areas grow willows, alder and
 There is so much oceanic influence on both aspen. Elsewhere are found other species,
the temperature and the precipitation that e.g., chestnut, sycamore, maple, and lime.
the climate is also referred to as the North-  The deciduous hardwoods are excellent for
West European Maritime Climate. both fuel and industrial purposes.
 In Tasmania, the temperate eucalyptus is
also extensively felled for the lumbering
industry.
 Unlike the equatorial forest, the deciduous
trees occur in pure stands and have greater
lumbering value from the commercial
point of view. The open nature of the
forests with sparse undergrowth is useful
in logging operations.
 Regions in southern hemisphere - this
climate is experienced in southern Chile,
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Economy  Throughout Britain and northwestern
 A very large part of the deciduous Europe, farmers practice both arable
woodlands has been cleared for fuel, farming and pastoral farming.
timber of agriculture.  Amongst the cereals, wheat is the most
 Fishing is particularly important in Britain, extensive grown.
Norway and British Columbia.  The next most important cereal raised in
 Though market gardening is practiced the mixed farm is barely.
throughout the world wherever there is  The most important animals kept in the
large urban population, nowhere else is it mixed farm are cattle. North-western
so highly specialized as in North-West Europe was originally the home of many
Europe. world-renowned cattle breeds.
 In north-western, Europe intensive market  Britain is the home of some of the best-
gardening is carried out in many known sheep breeds, e.g. Leicesters,
specialized areas e.g. the Vales of York and Lincolns and Southdown’s.
Evesham in the United Kingdom.  In the southern hemisphere, sheep rearing
 It is no wonder the Australians nicknamed is the chief occupation of New Zealand,
Tasmania the ‘garden state’. with its greatest concentration in the
Canterbury Plain.

CLIMATIC TYPE CHARACTERISTICS DISTRIBUTION CONTINENT) SELECTED STATION

(COUNTRY)

Western margin Under the Influence of westerlies lies Best developed in British Vancouver (Canada),
(British type) all the year round and also the regions Columbia (Western Canada), London (British Isles),
of much cynic activity. Warm Summers Northwest Europe, coastal Hobart (Tasmania).
and Mild winters with four distinct Southern Chile (South America,
seasons. Ideal for maximum comfort Tasmania (Australia) and South
and mental alertness. Island Of New Zealand.

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THE COOL TEMPERATE CONTINENTAL  Generally speaking, a total of 15 to 25

Distribution inches is typical of the annual precipitation
 The Cool Temperate Continental (Siberian) of this sub-Arctic type of climate.
Climate is experienced only in the northern  It is quite well distributed throughout the
hemisphere where the continents within year, with a summer maximum from
the high latitudes have a broad east-west convectional rain.
spread.  In winter the precipitation is in the form of
 On its pole ward side, it merges into the snow.
Arctic tundra of Canada and Eurasia at
around the Arctic Circle. Natural Vegetation
 South wards, the climate becomes less  No other trees are so well adapted as the
severe and fades into the temperate conifers to withstand such as inhospitable
Steppe climate. environment as the Siberian type of
climate.
 The coniferous forest belts of Eurasia and
North America are the richest sources of
softwood.
 The world’s greatest softwood producers
are USSR, USA, Canada and the
Fenoscandian countries.
 There are four major species in the
coniferous forests.

Climate
 The climate of the Siberian type is
characterized by a bitterly cold winter of
long duration, and a cool brief summer.
 Spring and autumn are merely brief
transitional periods.
 The isotherm of 50°F for the warmest
month forms the pole ward boundary of
the Siberian climate and the winter months
are always below freezing.
 An annual range of 54°F is common in the
Siberian type of climate. o Pine, e.g. white pine, red pine,
 The extremes of temperature are so great Scots pine, Jack pine, lodge pole
in Siberia that it is often referred to as the pine
‘cold pole of the earth’. o Fir, e.g. Douglas fir and balsam fir
 The interiors of the Eurasian continent are o Spruce
so remote from maritime influence that o Larch
annual precipitation cannot be high.

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Economy THE COOL TEMPERATE EASTERN MARGIN
 The coniferous forest regions of the
(LAURENTIAN)
northern hemisphere are comparatively
Distribution
little developed.
 The Cool Temperate Eastern Margin
 The various species of pine, fir larch and
(Laurentian) Climate is an intermediate
spruce are felled and transported to the
type of climate between the British and the
saw- mills for the extraction of temperate
Siberian type of climate.
soft-woods.
 It has features of both the maritime and
 There is little agriculture as few crops can
the continental climates.
survive in the sub-Arctic climate of these
 Laurentian type of climate is found only in
northerly lands.
two regions.
 Only in the more sheltered valleys and the
o One is north-eastern North
land bordering the steppes are some
America, including eastern Canada,
cereals (barley, oats, rye) and root crops
north-east USA. This may be
(potatoes) raised for local needs.
referred to as the North American
 Many of the Samoyeds and Yakuts of
region.
Siberia, and some Canadians are engaged
o The other region is the eastern
in hunting, trapping and fishing.
coastlands of Asia, including
eastern Siberia, North China,
CLIMATIC CHARACTERIST DISTRIBUTI SELECTED
TYPE ICS ON STATION Manchuria, Korea and northern
(CONTINEN (COUNTR Japan.
T) Y)  It may be referred to as the Asiatic region.
 In the southern hemisphere, this climatic
Central Characterized Best Churchill type is absent because only a small section
continent by a bitterly developed (Manitoba of the southern continents extends south
al type or cold winter and in the , Canada), of the latitude of 40°S.
Siberian cool brief interior of Moscow
 The only possible location is in eastern
type summer with North (Russia)
light rain. Only America and Patagonia, south of Bahia Blanca to Terra
in Northern Eurasia del Fuego.
Hemisphere. between
latitudes 35˚
N and 60˚N.

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Climate Economy
 The Laurentian type of climate has cold,  Lumbering and its associated timber, paper
dry winters and warm, wet summers. and pulp industries are the most important
 Winter temperatures may be well below economic undertaking.
freezing-point and snow falls to quite a  Lumbering has always been a major
depth. occupation of this sparsely populated part
 Summers are as warm, as the tropics (70° of eastern Asia and timber is a leading
- 80°F). export item.
 Though rain falls throughout the year,  Agriculture is less important in view of the
there is a distinct summer maximum from severity of the winter and its long duration.
the easterly winds from the oceans.  Potatoes thrive over large areas of the
 Of the annual precipitation of 30 to 60 podzolized soils, while hardy cereals like
inches, two-thirds come in the summer. oats and barley can be sown and
successfully harvested before the onset of
Natural Vegetation the cold winter.
 The predominant vegetation of the
Laurentian type of climate is cool
temperate forest.
 Generally, the forest tends to be
coniferous north of the 50°N parallel of
latitude.
 In the Asiatic region, the coniferous forests
are, in fact, a continuation of the great
coniferous belt of the taiga.
 South of latitude 50°N, the coniferous
forests give way to deciduous forests. Oak,
beech, maple and birch are the principal
trees.
 A number of other interesting crops are
produced in the Asiatic region such as soya
beans groundnuts, sesame, rape seeds,
tung oil and mulberry.

Figure rape seed

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 In the North American region, arable  The ground remains solidly frozen for all
farming is not carried out on a sizable scale, but four months, inaccessible to plants.
except in the more favored localities. Frost occurs at any time and blizzards,
 Farmers are engaged in dairy farming, hay reaching a velocity of 130 miles an hour is
cultivation and in mild maritime areas, fruit not infrequent.
growing.  Precipitation is mainly in the form of snow,
falling in winter. Annual total precipitation
THE ARCTIC OR POLAR CLIMATE is generally less than 25 centimeters (10
Distribution inches).
 The name tundra originally referred to the  Snowfall varies with locality.
low, ground hugging vegetation of high-  Convectional rainfall is generally absent-
latitude and high-altitude regions, but the because of the low rate of evaporation and
term has been adopted to refer to the the lack of moisture in the cold polar air.
climate of the high-latitude regions as well.  The extraordinary severity of Ice Cap
The generally accepted equatorward edge Climate temperatures is increased because
of the tundra climate is the 10°C (50°F) both Antarctica and Greenland are ice
isotherm for the average temperature of plateaus, so that relatively high altitude is
the warmest month. added to high latitude as a thermal factor.
 The polar type of climate and vegetation is All months have average temperatures
found mainly north of the Arctic Circle in below freezing, and in the most extreme
the northern hemisphere. locations the average temperature of even
 The ice-caps are confined to Greenland the warmest month is below −18°C (0°F).
and to the highlands of these high-latitude Winter temperatures average between
regions, where the ground is permanently −34 and −51°C (−30°F and −60°F) and
snow covered. extremes well below −73°C (−100°F) have
 The lowlands, with a few months ice-free, been recorded at interior Antarctic
have tundra vegetation. weather stations.
 The most severe of Earth’s climates, ice cap  Daily temperature ranges are small
climate, is restricted to Greenland (all but because the Sun is above the horizon for
the coastal fringe) and most of Antarctica, most of the time in summer and below the
the combined extent of these two regions horizon for most of the time in winter;
amounting to more than 9 percent of the thus, nocturnal cooling is limited in
world’s land area. summer, and daytime warming is almost
nonexistent in winter. Moisture availability
Climate is very restricted in tundra regions despite
 The polar climate is characterized by a very the proximity of an ocean—the air is simply
low mean annual temperature and its too cold to contain much water vapor, and
warmest month in June seldom rises to so the absolute humidity is almost always
more than 50°F. very low. Moreover, anticyclonic
 Winters are long and very severe; summers conditions are common, with little uplift to
are cool and brief. encourage condensation.
 At the North Pole, there are six months
without light in winter.

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Natural Vegetation
 In such an adverse environment as the Floating on the Arabian Sea, in the Lakshadweep
tundra, few plants survive. Island, the Bangram beach is one of the most
 The greatest inhibiting factor is the unusual beaches in India known for the
region’s deficiency in heat. phenomenon of bioluminescence. At night, the
 There are no trees in the tundra. beach waters get illuminated due the activity of
 Such an environment can support only the phytoplanktons which emit blue light, making the
lowest form of vegetation, mosses, lichens
and sedges.
Economy
 Human activities of the tundra are largely
confined to the coast.
 The few people who live in the tundra live
a semi-nomadic life.
 In Greenland, northern Canada and Alaska
live the Eskimos.
 They used to live as hunters, fishers and
food-gatherers. water look like a sea of stars.
 During winter they live in compact igloos Bioluminescence is caused by phytoplankton and
and in summer when they move out to algae that inhabit some beaches on Bangaram.
hunt, they pitch portable tents of skins by Aquatic animals such as the jellyfish get washed up
the side of stream. to the edges of the water during high tide and glow
 Their food is derived from fish, seals, like jewels during the nights. This bluish white
walruses and polar bears. glow makes for a spectacular view. It is also known
 In the Eurasian tundra are other nomadic as the milky sea phenomenon.
tribes such as the Lapps of northern
Finland and Scandinavia, the Samoyeds of Oceanography refers to the study of Oceans.
Siberia, Yakuts, Koryaks and Chuckchi of Oceanography is the branch of geography which is
northeastern Asia. slightly different from Oceanology. Oceanology
refers to the branch of science while
OCEANOGRAPHY oceanography is the description of ocean.
oceanography has been divided into four separate
but related branches: physical oceanography,
chemical oceanography, marine geology, and
marine ecology.
 Physical oceanography deals with the
properties of seawater (temperature,
density, pressure, and so on), its
movement (waves, currents, and tides),
and the interactions between the ocean
waters and the atmosphere.

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 Chemical oceanography has to do with the The Relief of the Ocean
composition of seawater and the Bathymetry
biogeochemical cycles that affect it.  Bathymetry is the measurement of the

 Marine geology focuses on the structure, depth of water in oceans, rivers, or lakes.
features, and evolution of the ocean Bathymetric maps look a lot like
basins. topographic map s, which use lines to show
 Marine ecology, also called biological the shape and elevation of land features.
oceanography, involves the study of the On topographic maps, the lines connect
plants and animals of the sea, including life points of equal elevation. On bathymetric
cycles and food production. maps, they connect points of equal depth.
 The oceans, unlike the continents, merge
OCEANS so naturally into one another that it is hard
to demarcate them. The geographers have
While there is only one global ocean, the vast body divided the oceanic part of the earth into
of water that covers 71 percent of the Earth is five oceans, namely the Pacific, the
geographically divided into distinct named Atlantic, the Indian, Southern and the
regions. The boundaries between these regions Arctic.
have evolved over time for a variety of historical,  The various seas, bays, gulfs and other
cultural, geographical, and scientific reasons. inlets are parts of these four large
oceans. A major portion of the ocean floor
Historically, there are four named oceans: the is found between 3-6 km below the sea
Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic. However, a level.
new ocean has now been recognized as the  The ‘land’ under the waters of the oceans,
Southern (Antarctic) as the fifth ocean. The that is, the ocean floor exhibits complex
Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian are known as the three and varied features as those observed over
major oceans. the land. The floors of the oceans
 They are source of food- fish, mammals, are rugged with the world’s largest
reptiles, salt and other marine foodstuffs. mountain ranges, deepest trenches and
 The tides can be harnessed to provide the largest plains. These features are
power. formed, like those of the continents, by the
 Earlier echo-sounding techniques were factors of tectonic, volcanic and
used, now radar soundings and electrical depositional processes.
echo devices are used to find the precise
depths of ocean floors and map the relief
of oceans.

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Divisions of the Ocean Floors o They can be part of continent
The ocean floors can be divided into four submerged due to rise in sea level.
major divisions: o Some smaller continental shelves
 the Continental Shelf could have been caused by wave
 the Continental Slope erosion.
 the Deep-Sea Plain or Abyssal Plain o They may have been formed by the
 the Oceanic Deeps deposition of lands derived or river
Besides, these divisions there are also major and borne materials on the off-shore
minor relief features in the ocean floors like terrace
ridges, hills, seamounts, guyots, trenches,
canyons, etc. Continental shelf geographical significance –
 Their shallowness enables sunlight to
The Continental Shelf penetrate through the water, which
 The continental shelf is the extended encourages the growth of plants and
margin of each continent occupied by organism → now rich in plankton → fishes
relatively shallow seas and gulfs. It is the thrive on them → so continental shelves
shallowest part of the ocean showing an are richest fishing grounds.
average gradient of 1° or even less.  E.g. – Grand banks off Newfoundland, the
 The shelf typically ends at a very steep North Sea and the Sunda shelf.
slope, called the shelf break.  Their limited depth and gentle slope keep
 The width of the continental shelves out cold under-currents and increase the
varies from one ocean to another. The height of tide. This sometimes hinders
average width of continental shelves is shipping and other marine activities since
about 80 km. ships can only enter and leave port on the
 The shelves are almost absent or very tide.
narrow along some of the margins like the  Ports like Southampton, London,
coasts of Chile, the west coast of Sumatra, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Hong Kong and
etc. On the contrary, the Siberian shelf in Singapore are located on continental
the Arctic Ocean, the largest in the world, shelves.
stretches to 1,500 km in width.
 The depth of the shelves also varies. It may Continental Slope
 The continental slope connects the
be as shallow as 30 m in some areas
continental shelf and the ocean basins. It
while in some areas it is as deep as 600 m.
begins where the bottom of the
 The continental shelves are covered
continental shelf sharply drops off into a
with variable thicknesses of sediments
steep slope.
brought down by rivers, glaciers, wind,
 The gradient of the slope region varies
from the land and distributed by waves
between 2-5°.
and currents. Massive sedimentary
 The depth of the slope region varies
deposits received over a long time by the
between 200 and 3,000 m. The slope
continent shelves, become the source of
boundary indicates the end of the
fossil fuels.
continents. Canyons and trenches are
 There are 3 views on continental shelf –
observed in this region.

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The Deep-Sea Plain o Mindanao deep (35000 feet)
 An abyssal plain is an underwater plain on o Tonga trench (31000 feet)
the deep ocean floor o Japanese trench (28000 feet) (all 3
 Found at depths - between 3,000 metres in Pacific Ocean)
and 6,000 metres.

 Lying generally between the foot of a Minor Relief Features

continental rise and a mid-ocean ridge, Apart from the above-mentioned major
abyssal plains cover more than 50% of the relief features of the ocean floor, some minor
Earth's surface. but significant features predominate in
 It has extensive submarine plateaus, different parts of the oceans.
ridges, trenches, beams, and oceanic
islands that rise above sea level in the Mid-Oceanic Ridges
midst of oceans.  A mid-oceanic ridge is composed of two
 E.g., the Azores, Ascension Island chains of mountains separated by a large
depression. The mountain ranges can have
The Ocean Deeps or Trenches peaks as high as 2,500 m and some even
 Ocean trenches are steep depressions in
the deepest parts of the ocean [where old
ocean crust from one tectonic plate is
pushed beneath another plate, raising
mountains, causing earthquakes, and
forming volcanoes on the seafloor and on
land]
 Most of trenches are located near
reach above the ocean’s surface. Iceland, a
continents.
part of the mid- Atlantic Ridge, is an
 Greatest ocean deep – Mariana Trench
example.
near Guam Island (36000 feet deep). This
shows that oceanic trenches are greater
than highest mountain land on earth.
 Other ocean deeps –
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Seamount  Slow sedimentation – in this process
 It is a mountain with pointed summits, eroded particles are filtered slowly and
rising from the seafloor that does not settled on one another in layers. Oceanic
reach the surface of the ocean. Seamounts deposits can be classified on different
are volcanic in origin. These can be 3,000- basis:
4,500 m tall. The Emperor seamount, an
extension of the Hawaiian Islands in the Classification on the basis of Origin
Pacific Ocean, is a good example.  Terrigenous deposits: These are the
deposits which originated on terrestrial
surface and were transported to oceans
through wind and water. They contain
both organic and inorganic matter. The
thickness of terrigenous deposits is highest
on continental shelf and slope.
 Hydrogenous deposits: They originate in
water. They include both organic and
inorganic particles. Most of the organic
Submarine Canyons
materials are derived from dead plant and
 These are deep valleys, some comparable
animals. Inorganic particles contain
to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River.
precipitated salts.
They are sometimes found cutting across
the continental shelves and slopes, often
extending from the mouths of large rivers.
The Hudson Canyon is the best-known
submarine canyon in the world.
Guyots
 It is a flat-topped seamount. They
show evidences of gradual subsidence
through stages to become flat topped
submerged mountains. It is estimated that
more than 10,000 seamounts and guyots
exist in the Pacific Ocean alone.
Atoll  Cosmic deposits: They are extra-
 These are low islands found in the terrestrial. They are less than 1% of total
tropical oceans consisting of coral reefs deposits and uniformly distributed on the
surrounding a central depression. It may abyssal plain. Some of them are thin glassy
be a part of the sea (lagoon), or sometimes particles called tektites.
form enclosing a body of fresh, brackish, or
highly saline water. Classification on the basis of chemical
composition
On the basis of chemical properties deposits can
The Oceanic Deposits of the Ocean Floor
 We have read that river erode and deposit be classified as organic and inorganic.
some materials in flood plains and drop
sediments like sand, silt in sea. Inorganic deposits – These are inorganic in nature
and can have terrestrial or hydrogenous origin.
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They contain sediments brought to ocean from The temperature of the ocean can be discussed as
wind and water. It also includes salts precipitated horizontal profile and vertical profile.
in the saline water.
Surface temperature or Horizontal distribution
Biogenous deposits – They include the organic of temperature
deposits received from the dead animals and
The main source of surface temperature is the
fishes. It also includes the shells and waste
heat received by the ocean from sun.
released by marine plants. In order to be
categorized as organic particles, they should retain
The major determinants of ocean temperature
at least 30% of their organic content.
are:
 Latitude: As the solar radiation falls
The oozes- The biological deposits of oceans are
directly at the equator and gradually
called Oozes.
becomes slant towards poles, the surface
 Made of - shelly and skeletal remains of
temperature of the oceans declines from
marine organism
the equator towards the poles.
 They have very fine, flour like texture and
 Prevailing Winds: Direction of the
occur as accumulated deposits or float
prevailing winds such as the Trade Winds,
about in suspension.
Westerlies etc., determines the surface
temperature of ocean waters at a point.
They can be of two types –
 Unequal distribution of Land and Water:
 Calcareous Oozes – They have high
The Northern Hemisphere has more land
quantity of calcium. They are found up to
area than that of the Southern
the depth of 2500m. Calcareous oozes may
Hemisphere. Consequently, the oceans of
be divided based on the type of organism
the Northern are warmer than that of the
present in the sedimentary deposition.
Southern Oceans.
They are called Globigerina and pteropod.
 Evaporation Rate: Warmer tropical ocean
 Silicious Oozes – They have high quantity
waters have higher evaporation rate than
of silicon and found beyond 2500 m.
the cooler temperate ocean waters.
Siliceous oozes comprise two forms,
 The density of water: In the areas of high
including diatom ooze and radiolarian
salinity, the ocean waters are of a relatively
ooze.
higher temperature and vice versa.
The Clays  Ocean Currents: Surface temperature of
They are one of the finest deposits found on the oceans are also controlled by cold and
ocean floor. warm currents.
 Occur as red clay in deep oceanic basin.  Local Factors: Submarine ridges, local
(Abundant in Pacific Ocean) weather conditions like storms, cyclones,
 These are believed as volcanic dust blown winds, fogs, cloudiness, the rate of
out from volcanoes during volcanic evaporation, lapse rate, condensation, and
eruptions. precipitation also affect the distribution of
temperature of the oceans.
The Temperature of Ocean Water

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Horizontal Distribution of Temperature a steep fall in temperature in this zone. The
density of water increases with increasing depth.

Vertical Distribution of Temperature

Both energy and sunlight decrease with depth in
the oceans. Only about 45 percent of light energy
striking the ocean surface reaches a depth of
about one meter, and only 16 percent reaches a
depth of 10 meters.
On the basis of the temperature, the ocean depths
may be divided into the following three zones:
Surface Zone or Mixed Zone: This is also known as
the Photic zone or Euphoric zone. It is the upper
layer of the ocean. In this layer, the temperature
and salinity are relatively constant. It contains
about 2 percent of the total volume of water in the
ocean. It is limited to a depth of about 100 meters.
Thermocline: It lies between 100 metres and 1000
metres (This range is not fixed and changes at
different latitudes.). It contains about 18 percent
of the total volume of water in the ocean. There is

Deep Zone: This zone lies below 1000 metres in

the mid-latitudes. This zone contains about 80
percent of the total volume of water in the ocean.
The temperature in this zone remains constant.
The ocean bottom always has a temperature
which is one or two degrees Celsius above the
freezing point.
Salinity of the Ocean
Salinity is defined as ‘the total amount of solid
material in grams contained in one kilogram of sea

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water and is expressed as part per thousand (%o)
e.g., 30%o (means 30 grams of salt in 1000 grams There are parts of the ocean where hardly any rain
of sea water). falls but warm dry winds cause lots of evaporation.
This evaporation removes water- when water
Sources of Salinity: vapor rises into the atmosphere, it leaves the salt
Salt in the ocean comes basically from two
behind, so the salinity of the seawater increases.
sources: runoff from the land and openings in the
This causes the seawater to become denser. The
seafloor.
north and south Atlantic have high salinity – these
 Salinity from runoff – Streams and rivers
are areas where there are strong winds and not
dissolve a lot of chemicals and salts during
much rain.
their course till they reach the ocean. The
water keeps evaporating from the ocean Distribution of Horizontal Salinity
leaving the salts behind. This keep  At the equator, the salinity is lower than
increasing the salinity of ocean. the average. It is around 33 – 34 parts per
 Salinity from sub marine Volcanoes – Due thousand. The reason behind this is high
to a lot of volcanic eruptions and open precipitation which adds a lot of fresh
vents under the ocean a lot of salts are water.
constantly being added.  In the tropics between 20 – 35o, due to high
temperature there is a lot of evaporation.
Some important Points – Because of this the salinity is very high 37 –
 Common Salt or NaCl – 77% of dissolved 38 parts per thousand.
minerals in ocean.  Near Sub polar low-pressure belts,
 Salinity – degree of saltiness of water. between 40o – 60o, there is net addition of
 Expressed as – in % or ppt (parts per
thousand)
 Isohalines are used on maps to show
salinity of different places.
 Isohalines – lines joining places having
equal degree of salinity.
 Average salinity of ocean – 35.2% or 35
parts of salt in 1000 parts of water.

Factors Affecting Salinity of Ocean

If you imagine a saline glass of water and if you
have to change the salinity there are two ways. In
order to increase the salinity either you can add fresh water and hence salinity is low
some more salt to it or you can evaporate some around 33 – 34 parts per thousand.
water. Similarly, if you wanted to decrease the  In polar region the salinity further reduces
salinity then you will have to add some fresh as polar ice is constantly melting and
water. adding fresh water. The salinity is between
In the same fashion, ocean salinity changes from 31 – 33 parts per thousand.
region to region based on net evaporation and  Salinity is low at the mouth of a river.
precipitation.

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 Salinity changes in inland seas like deficit in the arctic region (Beyond 40-
Mediterranean, Red Sea etc. at the point of degree N and S). All the weather
Gibraltar where Mediterranean is phenomenon and circulatory phenomenon
connected with Atlantic Ocean, the salinity is there to transfer heat from the tropics
is 35. As we move inwards towards Italy, towards the pole and maintain the heat
the salinity increases due to evaporation. balance. The ocean currents follow the
Near Italian coast it is 40 parts per same phenomenon.
thousand.  Ocean currents are categorized as warm
 Land locked seas show drastic fluctuation ocean current and cold ocean current. You
in salinity. Inland lakes where evaporation need to keep this in mind that warm and
is dominant can have extremely high. The cold are not because of their absolute
highest salinity is found Lake Van of Turkey temperature. It is because of their impact
(330 Parts per thousand.). In India, highest on the destination region. A current which
salinity is found in Lake Sambhar. There are moves towards the pole in both the
several landlocked seas which act as a sink hemispheres is a warm current because it
to many rivers and hence their salinity is is carrying warm water from lower
much lower e.g. Black Sea. latitudes to the upper latitudes. On
Sea Salinity (in contrary a current coming from upper
ppt) latitudes towards the tropics is a cold
Baltic Sea 7 current.
Red sea 39
Caspian Sea 180 In prelims a question can be asked on the
Dead Sea 250 character of the ocean currents. Ocean currents
Lake Van 330 will be numbered as 1,2,3 and 4 and it will be
asked whether they are cold or warm, or which of
Ocean Currents
them are cold/warm. Now you don’t need to know
Ocean current is a continuous general movement
the name of those currents, they can be
of Ocean Water in a specific direction. As an
hypothetical also, just by seeing the direction of
analogy you can perceive it as a river flowing over
the flow ocean currents; you will be able to answer
the ocean surface. About 10% of the water in the
that.
World’s Ocean is involved in the Surface Currents.
 Most surface currents
move water in the
horizontal and vertical
direction in the top layer
above the thermocline
(The layer where
temperature changes
steeply). Water beneath
the thermocline also
circulates but the
movement is very slow.
 The heat budget is different in the latitudes
with heat surplus in the tropics and heat

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In the above map if you see, current (1) and (6) are  These waters are the upper 400 meters of
in the same latitudes but because of their direction the ocean.
of motion, they are categorized as cold and warm.
Deep Water Currents--Thermohaline Circulation
Note: There are some exceptions of this general  These waters make up the other 90% of the
rule. Kindly check the important ocean currents ocean
from a World Map.  These waters move around the ocean
basins by density driven forces and gravity.
 The density difference is a function of

different temperatures and salinity

There are two types of Ocean Currents:  These deep waters sink into the deep
Surface Currents--Surface Circulation ocean basins at high latitudes where the
 These waters make up about 10% of all the temperatures are cold enough to cause the
water in the ocean. density to increase.

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Important Ocean Currents

It is important for you to remember cold and
warn ocean currents
NOTE- Major Fishing grounds of the World exist where warm and cold Ocean Current meets.

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Causes of Ocean Currents water and often deflect the moving water in a
circular pattern. This circular motion of water
Planetary Winds along the periphery of the ocean basin is called
Planetary winds play a vital role in the formation Gyre. The following Map will broadly show the
and sustenance of ocean currents. Since planetary formation of different gyres in Oceans.
winds blow with consistency, over the surface of
the ocean, they tend to push the water in one

direction because of friction. This is the main cause Effect of the Temperature:
of the flow of water. There are marked variations in the horizontal and
Because of the Coriolis Effect, in the Northern vertical distribution of the temperatures in the
Hemisphere currents flow to the right of the wind ocean. In general, the temperature decreases as
direction while in the Southern Hemisphere, winds we move towards the pole from the equator.
blow to the left. Intervening continents and basin
topography often block the continuous flow of the There is an inverse relation between tempera
ture and density of the water i.e. higher the
temperature, lower will be its density. As a result, Salinity:
the warm and low-density water from the The salinity of Ocean varies from place to place.
equatorial region moves towards the colder polar Water with high salinity is denser than the one
waters. Contrary to this there is a movement of with low salinity. Ocean currents on the water
ocean water below the water surface in the form surface are generated from the areas of low
of sub surface current from colder polar areas to salinity to the areas of high salinity. For example,
warmer equatorial area. The Gulf Stream and there are ocean currents moving from ocean to
Kuroshio Current (warm) are very good example of inland seas i.e. ocean current flows from Atlantic
this. to Mediterranean Sea. A similar ocean current is

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seen from Indian Ocean to Red Sea via Bab Al
Mandab. Peru Current also originates because of
difference in density.

Rotation of Earth:
The rotation of earth from west to east on its axis
is the cause of a deflective force called Coriolis
force.
Similar to winds, it deflects the ocean current in
the Northern Hemisphere towards its right and in
the Southern Hemisphere towards its left. Because Sargassum Seaweed
of this at the periphery of the ocean, ocean
currents form a clock wise circulation in the Configuration of the Coastline
Northern Hemisphere and Counter clockwise Coastline plays an important role in governing the
circulation in the southern Hemisphere. This giant direction of flow of the ocean current. For
loop is called Gyre. example, the equatorial current after being
obstructed by the Brazilian coast is bifurcated into
two branches. The northern Branch is called the
A gyre formed in Northern Atlantic is of special Caribbean current while Southern branch is called
importance as it traps the inner water of the ocean the Brazilian current.
and makes it stagnant. This stagnant body of water
is known as Sargasso Sea named after Sargassum NOTE: After hitting a coastline, apart from moving
weed found in it. Sargassum is unique vegetation towards North and South, some of the water also
endemic to it and is an internationally protected moves downward. This is called Downwelling. This
water penetrates deep in the ocean and moves
area. Sargasso Sea is the only sea totally inside an
parallel to the surface current as an undercurrent
ocean. and comes out on the other side of the ocean as
upwelling. Since this upwelling water comes out
from the depth, it is relatively cold and brings a lot
of nutrients on the surface. Regions where
upwelling is present are rich fishing grounds e.g.
Peru coast.

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several centimeters to more than a meter in
height rushes up the Petitcodiac River in New
Brunswick for many kilometers.

Tide changes proceed via the following stages:

 Sea level rises over several hours, covering
the intertidal zone; flood tide.
 The water rises to its highest level,
reaching high tide.
 Sea level falls over several hours, revealing
The ocean currents are also deflected by the intertidal zone; ebb tide.
underwater ridges. Usually in Northern  The water stops falling, reaching low tide.
Hemisphere if a current cross a ridge is deflected
towards its right while in Southern hemisphere Oscillating currents produced by tides are known
towards its left. Remember it as a fact. as tidal streams. The moment that the tidal
current ceases is called slack water or slack tide.
The tide then reverses direction and is said to be
Tides
turning. Slack water usually occurs near high water
The periodic short-term rise and fall in the sea and low water. But there are locations where the
level is known as Tide. It is produced due to moments of slack tide differ significantly from
gravitational interaction of earth, sun and moon. those of high and low water.
Since moon is closer to the earth, it has
pronounced influence on the tides. Rotation of Tides are commonly semi-diurnal (two high waters
earth also aids the tides. and two low waters each day), or diurnal (one tidal
cycle per day). The two high waters on a given day
When the highest part, or crest, of the wave are typically not the same height (the daily
reaches a particular location, high tide occurs; low inequality); these are the higher high water and
tide corresponds to the lowest part of the wave, or the lower high water in tide tables. Similarly, the
its trough. The difference in height between the two low waters each day are the higher low water
high tide and the low tide is called the tidal range. and the lower low water. The daily inequality is not
consistent and is generally small when the Moon
The highest tide in the World
occurs in Bay of Funday
(Canada). The highest tide in
India is recorded at Okha,
Gujarat. The greatest tidal range
in the world is found at the
upper end of the Bay of Fundy in
eastern Canada, where a 15-
meter (50-foot) water-level
fluctuation twice a day is not
uncommon, and a wall of
seawater—called a tidal bore—
is over the equator.
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Types of Tides
The semi-diurnal range (the difference in height
between high and low waters over about half a
day) varies in a two-week cycle. Approximately
twice a month, around new moon and full moon
when the Sun, Moon, and Earth form a line (a
configuration known as a syzygy), the tidal force
due to the sun reinforces that due to the Moon.
The tide's range is then at its maximum; this is
called the spring tide. It is not named after the of the river where its waters meet the Atlantic
season, but, like that word, derives from the Ocean.
meaning "jump, burst forth, rise", as in a natural
spring. Coral Reefs

When the Moon is at first quarter or third quarter,

the Sun and Moon are separated by 90° when
viewed from the Earth, and the solar tidal force
partially cancels the Moon's. At these points in the
lunar cycle, the tide's range is at its minimum; this
is called the neap tide, or neaps. Neap is an Anglo-
Saxon word meaning "without the power", as in
forđganges nip (forth-going without-the-power).
Reefs created by the Coral Polyp along the shallow
Spring tides result in high waters that are higher shores of some tropical areas are known as Coral
than average, low waters that are lower than reefs.
average, 'slack water' time that is shorter than
average, and stronger tidal currents than average. A coral reef is not solely built by corals. Numerous
Neaps result in less-extreme tidal conditions. other organisms contribute to the growth of a reef
There is about a seven-day interval between like calcareous algae, stromatoporoids,
springs and neaps. gastropods, green algae, worms, oysters and
mollusca. True corals may comprise only half of
Pororoca Waves the total bulk of the limestone reef.
The Pororoca is a tidal bore, with waves up to 4 m
(13 ft) high that travel as much as 800 km (500 mi) Reef Ecology
inland upstream on the Amazon River and Referred to as ‘The rainforests of the sea’, coral
adjacent rivers. Its name comes from the reefs harbor a rich biodiversity. In warm shallow
indigenous Tupi language, where it could translate seas reefs are built by coral polyps which produces
into "great roar". It could be also a Portuguese casing of limestone. Zooxanthellae algae covers
version of the term poroc-poroc, which in an the reef and provides it a vibrant colour.
indigenous' language was a way of expressing the Coral polyps and Zooxanthellae have a symbiotic
act of destroying everything. It could be also a relationship. Zooxanthellae provides food to the
portmanteau of the words poroc (to take out, to polyps hiding in the pores of the reef while polyps
tear away) and oca (house). It occurs at the mouth provide a surface to zooxanthellae. Polyps also

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secrete mucus which covers the algae. It protects Points to Ponder
algae from harmful radiation.  Can you think of multiple reasons why
coral reefs are not found at the mouth of a
The marine life that forms a reef can flourish only river?
under strict conditions of temperature, salinity  Following map can help you understand
and water depth. the location of corals across the world.

Ideal conditions for the formation of Reefs:

High Temperature:
Nearly all of the reef building corals are found
within the 21oC isotherm. Most reefs occur in
warm tropical waters between 30o N and S
latitudes. Poleward the water is too cold for corals
to survive. Temperature below 18oC causes their
death.
Note: In some cases, as exception different types Types of Reefs
of corals are also found in temperate areas. If a
question is asked for ‘Only’ tropical area, this Fringing Reef:
statement would be wrong. These reefs are attached to the land masses
ranging from 0.5 to 1 km width. The corals grow
Availability of Sunlight: seaward towards their food supply. Beyond its
Corals need sunlight to survive. They cannot live in seaward margin the ocean water deepens rapidly.
water deeper than 75m. Also, they can’t survive They are broken and discontinuous where a river
when turbidity or suspension is there in water. stream is entering the sea.
Turbidity affects the clarity of the water as well as
it blocks the pores on the surface making it difficult Fringing reefs are formed in the areas of low
for the polyps to get their food. rainfall runoff. The greatest concentration of living
material is usually at the seaward edge where
Coral reefs are remarkably flat on top. The upper plankton and water of normal salinity are
surface is positioned at the level of upper third of available. Permanent fringing reefs are common in
the tidal range. They are exposed during the low the Hawaiian Islands and in similar areas near the
tide but must be covered at high tide. tropics.

Salinity:
Corals need saline water to survive. They can
survive only if the salinity is between 27 – 40 parts
per thousand. Thus, a reef can be killed if a flood
of fresh water from land appreciably reduces the
salinity.

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Barrier Reef: Coral Bleaching
It is a reef parallel to the coast but separated from The vibrant colours to corals are provided by
it by a deep lagoon or a strait. The deep lagoon Zooxanthellae Algae. When corals are stressed by
does not permit the growth of the corals. The changes in conditions such as temperature, light,
outer edge of the barrier is raised because the or nutrients, they expel the symbiotic algae living
seaward part of the reef is supplied with more in their tissues, causing them to turn completely
food. The size of lagoon may vary from a few white.
meters to a kilometer wide and upto 100m deep.
Warmer water temperatures can result in coral
Great Barrier reef is the largest construction of bleaching. When water is too warm, corals will
corals in the world. It extends along the North East expel the algae (zooxanthellae) living in their
coast of Queensland. It is not a single reef but a tissues causing the coral to turn completely white.
conglomeration of thousands of interlinking This is called coral bleaching. When a coral
sediments. bleaches, it is not dead. Corals can survive a
bleaching event, but they are under more stress
and are subject to mortality.

When algae are lost, polyps start dying as lesser

food is available to them. As more polyps start
dying, the protective mucus released by them gets
depleted and exposes more algae, making them
vulnerable in sun. This triggers a chain reaction
which can lead to the death of entire reef.
Atoll:
It is a ring-shaped island reef that encircles
(sometimes completely surrounding) a central
lagoon in which detrital material collects. In some
oceanic Atolls calcareous Algae forms the bulk of
the reef.

Coral bleaching was discovered for the first time in

1983 in Eastern Pacific and later in Caribbean Sea
in 1987. It is ‘believed’ that global warming is
Note: The Lakshadweep and Maldives islands in responsible for Coral bleaching but nothing is
the Indian Ocean are composed of Atolls. conclusive. It is also believed that bleaching occurs
due to increase in acidity of ocean water and
increase in pollution.

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NOTE: Micro plastics have recently created havoc in the Coral Reef Ecosystem.
Microplastics are small plastic pieces less than five millimeters long which can be harmful to our ocean and
aquatic life.

Current Issues
Currently our Oceans are facing the following major problems:

Over Fishing

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 Overfishing is having some serious seafood in 2048. If we want to preserve the
impacts on our oceans. Not only does it ecosystems of the sea, change is needed.
work towards wiping out species, but also  Nearly 80% of the world's fisheries that are
the other species of marine animals that already fully exploited, over-exploited,
are dependent upon those for survival. depleted, or in a state of collapse.
 It's been shown that overfishing can cause Worldwide, 90% of the stocks of large
marine animals to starve, since we're predatory fish, such as sharks, tuna, marlin,
taking food from their mouths in too large and swordfish, are already gone.
of numbers for them to be able to get their
fill. It is also estimated that most seas NOTE: The United Nations General Assembly has
already need long term fishing bans if declared 2022 the International Year of Artisanal
certain species are to recover at all. E.g.- Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA 2022). FAO is
Whales and Sharks. the lead agency for celebrating the year in
 Apart from it, the processes that are being collaboration with other relevant organizations
used for fishing are causing more havoc. and bodies of the United Nations system.
We use some pretty destructive methods
in how we pull catches, including bottom Key Nutrients in Seafood
trawling which destroys sea floor habitat LONG CHAIN OMEGA-3 FATS
and scoops up many unwanted fish and  Mainly found in fish and seafood, these
animals that are tossed aside. We also pull fatty acids are essential for optimal brain
far too many fish to be sustainable, development.
pushing many species to the point of being
listed as threatened and endangered. IODINE
 The main reason for overfishing is sudden  Seafood is in practice the only natural
increase in the demand of sea food. We source of this crucial nutrient. Iodine
are trying to diversify our food sources and serves several purposes like aiding thyroid
recently more impetus is given to sea food function. It is also essential for
citing its health benefits. neurodevelopment.
 Human exposure to toxins on the rise due
to overfishing- Climate change and shift in VITAMIN D
dietary patterns due to overfishing by  Another nutrient crucial for mental
humans are pushing up the amount of development, this vitamin also regulates
toxic mercury in certain fish population in the immune system function and is
the world. The researchers showed that essential for bone health.
“As a result of a change in the diet due to
overfishing, there was an increase in IRON
methylmercury concentration in Atlantic  During pregnancy, iron intake is crucial so
cod fish while there was a decrease in the that the mother can produce additional
case of Spiny dogfish during the past three blood for herself and the baby.
decades”.
 The world’s oceans could be virtually
emptied for fish by 2048. A study shows
that if nothing changes, we will run out of

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CALCIUM, ZINC, OTHER MINERALS regulate the numbers of other species.
 Diet without dairy products often lack When a major predator is taken out of the
calcium and zinc deficiency slows a child’s loop, it's usually the case that species
development. lower on the food chain start to
overpopulate their habitat, creating a
Predation of Top Predators destructive downward spiral of the
ecosystem.
 Whaling is also a major problem pushing
the population of blue whale to the brink.

Ocean Acidification
 Ocean acidification is no small issue. The
basic science behind acidification is that
the ocean absorbs CO2 through natural
processes, but at the rate at which we're
pumping it into the atmosphere through
burning fossil fuels, the ocean's pH balance
 Sharks are killed in the tens of millions each is dropping to the point where life within
year, mainly for their fins. It is a common the ocean is having trouble coping.
practice to catch sharks, cut off their fins,
 "Ocean acidification is more rapid than
and toss them back into the ocean where
ever in the history of the earth and if you
they are left to die. The fins are sold as an
look at the pCO2 (partial pressure of
ingredient for soup. And the waste is
carbon dioxide) levels we have reached
extraordinary.
now, you have to go back 35 million years
 Sharks are top-of-the-food-chain in time to find the equivalents" said Jelle
predators, which means their reproduction Bijma, chair of the EuroCLIMATE
rate is slow. Their numbers don't bounce programme Scientific Committee and a
back easily from overfishing. On top of biogeochemist at the Alfred-Wegener-
that, their predator status also helps Institute Bremerhaven.

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 You need to understand that pH of ocean dead zones is growing at an alarming rate,
water is basic. It is around 8.1 on an with over 400 known to exist, and the
average. With ocean acidification the pH is number is expected to grow.
coming slightly less. This does not mean  Dead zone research underscores the
that is has come less than 7. If it gets less interconnectedness of our planet. It
than seven, then nothing would survive. appears that crop biodiversity on land
could help prevent dead zones in the ocean
Coral Bleaching by reducing or eliminating the use of
fertilizers and pesticides that run off into
the open ocean and are part of the cause
of dead zones.
 Hypoxic zones can occur naturally, but
scientists are concerned about the areas
created or enhanced by human activity.
There are many physical, chemical, and
biological factors that combine to create
dead zones, but nutrient pollution is the
primary cause of those zones created by
humans. Excess nutrients that run off land
 When corals are stressed by changes in or are piped as wastewater into rivers and
conditions such as temperature, light, or coasts can stimulate an overgrowth of
nutrients, they expel the symbiotic algae algae, which then sinks and decomposes in
living in their tissues, causing them to turn the water. The decomposition process
completely white. We have discussed consumes oxygen and depletes the supply
about coral bleaching earlier. available to healthy marine life.
Ocean Dead Zone  Dead zones occur in coastal areas around
the nation and in the Great Lakes, no part
of the country or the world is immune. The
second largest dead zone in the world is
located in the U.S., in the northern Gulf of
Mexico.
 The largest dead zone in the world lies in
the Arabian Sea, covering almost the
entire 63,700-square mile Gulf of Oman.

Heavy Metal Pollution

 "Dead zone" is a more common term for
 Mercury is the scariest pollutant that is
hypoxia, which refers to a reduced level of
being added to the ocean water. What
oxygen in the water.
makes it harmful is the fact that it is ending
 Dead zones are swaths of ocean that don't
up on the dinner table. According to
support life due to a lack of oxygen, and
estimates it is about to increase. Almost all
global warming is a prime suspect for
coastal countries are facing the problem of
what's behind the shifts in ocean behavior
mercury poisoning.
that cause dead zones. The number of
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 The long shelf life of mercury allows it to off in the 1950s. That’s more than a ton for
get bioaccumulated and magnified. The every person on the planet. An astonishing
main source of mercury in water is Coal amount ends up in the oceans. So much
based thermal power plants. that by 2050, there will be more plastic
 Under Minamata convention countries are than fish in the world’s oceans if trends
trying to reduce the use and production of continue.
mercury.
Ocean Warming
The oceans are rising and getting warmer faster
than predicted. 71% of our planet is covered by
oceans, yet we still neglect them, harming the
innumerable creatures that live in them, and
polluting one of our largest resources.

Plastic Pollution

In the fight for the environment, the health of our

oceans should be a top priority. Global warming is
creating a climate time bomb by storing enormous
amounts of heat in the waters of the north
Atlantic.

Marine researchers at Southampton and

Plymouth universities have found that the upper
 Large masses of plastic are swirling in the
1,500 metres of the ocean from western Europe to
ocean. A giant patch of plastic soup the size
the eastern US have warmed by 0.015o C in seven
of Texas sitting smack dab in the middle of
years. The capacity of the oceans to store heat
the Pacific Ocean.
means that a water temperature rise of that size is
 Many large fishes are chocking on to enough to warm the atmosphere above by almost
plastics. Plastic bags are ingested by the
9o C.
fishes and they get set in the digestive
tract. This does not leave any space for the
food and fishes die due to starvation.
 Most of the plastic is finding its way to the
ocean through drains and rivers.
 The world has produced more than 9
billion tons of plastic since production took
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Offshore Drilling  OMT is analyzed by measuring the ocean
thermal energy during the period from
January to March.
 Sea surface temperature gives information
only about the thin upper layer of the
ocean and does not reflect the thermal
energy available in the upper ocean. The
variations in the upper ocean thermal
energy conditions are mainly responsible
for summer monsoon activity.
 The heat content of the upper ocean
creates more impact on monsoon than sea
Offshore drilling continues to be a debate, but it’s
surface temperature, which is restricted to
clear that proceeding with oil production will only
the skin of the ocean.
exacerbate the dilemmas of our oceans. The use
 The SST is restricted to a few millimetres of
of fossil fuels is the reason our oceans have been
the top ocean layer and is largely
heating up and becoming more acidic, but
influenced by strong winds, evaporation,
offshore drilling takes the risks even further. When
or thick clouds. In contrast, OMT, which is
oil is extracted from the ocean floor, other
measured up to a depth of 26 degree C
chemicals like mercury, arsenic, and lead come up
isotherm, is more stable and consistent,
with it. Also, the seismic waves used to find oil
and the spatial spread is also less.
harm aquatic mammals and disorient whales. In
 The 26 degree C isotherm is seen at depths
2008, 100 whales had beached themselves as a
varying from 50–100 metres. During
result of ExxonMobil exploring for oil with these
January–March, the mean 26 degree C
techniques. Furthermore, the infrastructure
isotherm depth in the Southwestern Indian
projects to transport the oil often create worse
Ocean is 59 metres.
problems, eroding the coastline.

The reason why OMT performs better than SST is

Ocean Mean Temperature (OMT) and Sea
because OMT better represents the upper ocean
Surface Temperature (SST)
thermal energy conditions. And the variations in
 Sea Surface Temperature (SST) is routinely
the upper ocean thermal energy conditions are
used for predicting whether the total
mainly responsible for the summer monsoon.
amount of rainfall that India receives
When there is rapid heating or cooling, the
during the monsoon season will be less or
temperature of the top ocean layer will be
more than the long-term mean of 887.5
significantly different from the upper ocean
mm.
thermal energy, resulting in misleading monsoon
 But Ocean Mean Temperature (OMT) that
predictions.
has better ability to predict this than the
sea surface temperature.
In addition, SST also exhibits large temperature
 Compared with SST which has 60% success
fluctuations compared with OMT of the upper
rate of predicting the Indian summer
layer, leading to more noise that causes lower
monsoon, OMT has 80% success rate.
correlations with summer monsoon rainfall. “The
ocean mean temperature variations are more

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stable and consistent and have lower spatial and
temporal spread. So OMT has better summer
monsoon predictability than SST.
DO YOU KNOW?

Ocean Life Zones

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With an average depth of 3,700 meters, experts have also divided the world ocean into various zones based
on depth from the surface for ease of oceanographic studies. The ocean is divided into zones depending on
how far light reaches:
 Epipelagic Zone: Sunlight Zone
 Mesopelagic Zone: Twilight Zone
 Bathypelagic Zone: Deep Ocean which is often divided into 3 layers: Midnight zone, the
Abyss and the Trenches.

NOTE: Pelagic Zones are zones of oceanic waters. Benthic Zones are areas of the bottom, or topography of
the ocean.

The Epipelagic Zone, also known as the ‘Sunlight Zone’ is the region of the ocean that sits on the continental
shelf.
 It extends from the surface down to 200 m. The word epipelagic comes from the Greek
words’ epi meaning “at the surfaces,” and pelagikos meaning “of the sea”.
 This zone is known as the Sunlight Zone because it is in this zone where enough sun rays can
penetrate the waters for photosynthesis to occur.
 The maximum depth for this zone in clear, open ocean water is 200 metres.
 In coastal waters, this zone can be as shallow as 50 metres.
 This is because things like runoff from rivers and strong waves increase the amount of suspended
particulate matter (SPM)suspended particulate matter (SPM).
 These tiny particles reflect sunlight, which prevents it from reaching deeper into the water.
 In coastal areas, photosynthesis is done mainly by aquatic plants, like algae and kelp, that grow on
the bottom. But, photosynthesis by these plants is only a small part of all the photosynthesis done
by plants in the Epipelagic Zone.
 Most photosynthesis in this zone is done by microscopic floating algaealgae called phytoplankton.
 These organisms form the base of food pyramids for many diverse aquatic ecosystems such as coral
reefs, kelp forests and seagrass meadows. So, it should not be a surprise that about 90% of marine
life is found in the Epipelagic Zone.
 The Epipelagic Zone is also where water temperature can vary the most across the globe.
 At the surface, water can be as cold as -2 degrees Celsius near the poles. Fresh water does freeze at
this point, but salt water, like that found in oceans, has a lower freezing point.
 Pressure in the ocean rises by one atmosphere (1 atm) for every 10 metres of depth. This means that
a diver who is 50 metres below sea level has the equivalent of six Earth atmospheres pressing down
on them. Why six? There are five for the 50 meters of water plus one from the air.

Mesopelagic Zone
 As you go down further than 200 metres, the environmental conditions become much more extreme.
 Very little visible light makes it down this far, which is why this zone is also known as the ‘Twilight
zone’.
 The Mesopelagic Zone extends from 200 metres to 1 000 metres and has pressure of 20 to 100 atm.
 This zone is adjacent to the top of the continental slope.

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 The Twilight Zone is home to a few hardy fish and invertebrate species, but there are no
photosynthesizing organisms here.
 This means that animals living in the mesopelagic zone largely have two choices for food. Some live
on food particles that fall from the epipelagic zone. Others are active predators that can go up into
the epipelagic zone to feed.
 Near the top of the Mesopelagic Zone, the water can still mix and temperatures vary depending on
location. Around 500 to 800 m, though, the water temperature drops off quickly. This phenomenon
is called a thermocline.
 Below the thermocline, waters go down to about 2 degrees Celsius, but as we go deeper into the
ocean, there is little further temperature change. There are some exceptions as we will see as we go
deeper and closer to the Earth’s centre.

Bathypelagic Zone
 The Bathypelagic Zone is the part of the ocean that extends from 1 000 metres to 4 000 metres.
 The name bathypelagic comes from the Greek word bathýs which means “deep.”
 The temperature here is around 4 degrees Celsius. Sunlight does not reach this zone, which is why it
is also known as the Midnight Zone.
 Next to this zone, the land transitions from the continental slope to the continental rise. It is called a
“rise” because it is a pile of material that has fallen down from the continent above.
 The bigger pieces that end up in the rise often come from events like earthquakes and landslides.
 Finer sediments come from natural erosion by waves as well as from surface runoff.
 In some areas, considered “geologically young”, the rise is only a narrow strip. In other areas, it can
stretch for many kilometres.

Abyssopelagic Zone
 The Abyssopelagic or Abyssal Zone is the part of the ocean that extends from 4000 metres to 6 000
metres.
 The word abyss comes from a Greek word meaning “bottomless.”
 The temperature here is around 3 to 4 degrees Celsius. This zone covers 83% of the total area of the
ocean and 60% of Earth's surface.
 The water in this zone is extremely cold and has very little oxygen in it.
 It is also completely dark and under very high pressure. Some people call this zone the desert of the
Ocean. Even with all of this, some animals can still be found in this zone.

Next to this pelagic zone, is the Abyssal Plains also known as the ocean floor.
 This landform covers more than 50 percent of the Earth’s surface. Like plains on land, the Abyssal
Plains are very flat. In fact, this zone is one of the flattest landforms on Earth.
 The Abyssal Plains lie on top of the oceanic crust. Like the continental crust, the oceanic crust is part
of the lithosphere. However, it is much younger and thinner than the continental crust.
 The ocean floor is where tectonic plates meet. When plates slide over, under and against each other
it can lead to the formation of mountains, volcanoes, and vents.
 A group of well-known undersea mountains form the mid-oceanic ridge.
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 On the ocean floor we can also find mountain-like features formed from underwater volcanoes. If
a volcano is large enough it can even reach the surface of the ocean forming an island. The Hawaiian
Islands in the Pacific Ocean are an example of volcanic islands.

Hadalpelagic Zone
 The Abyssal Plains are also home to deep canyon-like features, called trenches.
 The trenches are home to the Hadalpelagic Zone, also known as the Hadal Zone. The word “Hadal”
comes from Hades, the ancient Greek god of the underworld.
 The Hadal Zone is not a continuous zone but rather, it includes 13 oceanic troughs and 33 trenches.
Both are types of depressions in the seafloor. Troughs tend to be shallower, shorter and narrower
than trenches. Trenches are typically 50 to 100 kilometres long and 3 to 4 km deep.
 There are five trenches known to be deeper than 10 kilometers. These are the Tonga, Kuril-
Kamchatka, Philippine, Kermadec and Mariana trenches. The deepest point in the ocean currently-
known is called the Challenger Deep. It is located in the Mariana Trench, in the Pacific Ocean. It is
10924 metres deep. In comparison, Mount Everest is 8 849 metres high.
 Imagine the pressure that a column of nearly 11 km of water has. At 1100 atmospheres (atm), the
pressure is more than 70 kilograms per square centimeter. This is the equivalent of having 50 jumbo
jets pressing down on you.
 The pressure is the main reason why very few people have been able to visit the ocean’s deepest
parts.
Q.) In which one of the following oceans is
Oceanic Trench Diamantina Trench situated? PRELIMS 2006
Ocean trenches are long, narrow depressions on a) Pacific Ocean
the seafloor. These chasms are the deepest parts b) Atlantic Ocean
of the ocean and some of the deepest natural c) Indian Ocean
spots on Earth. d) Arctic Ocean

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Climate Change and Ocean
Trenches Location The world’s oceans have a two-way relationship
Challenger Deep, Pacific Ocean with weather and climate.
Mariana Trench The oceans influence the weather on local to
Tonga Trench Pacific Ocean global scales, while changes in climate can
Galathea Depth, Pacific Ocean fundamentally alter many properties of the
Philippine Trench oceans.
Kuril-Kamchatka Pacific Ocean  As greenhouse gases trap more energy
Trench from the sun, the oceans are absorbing
Kermadec Trench Pacific Ocean more heat, resulting in an increase in sea
Izu-Ogasawara Pacific Ocean surface temperatures and rising sea level.
Trench  Changes in ocean temperatures and
Japan Trench Pacific Ocean currents brought about by climate change
Puerto Rico Trench Atlantic Ocean will lead to alterations in climate patterns
Yap Trench Pacific Ocean around the world.
South Sandwich Atlantic Ocean  For example, warmer waters may promote
Trench the development of stronger storms in the
Richards Deep, Pacific Ocean tropics, which can cause property damage
Peru–Chile Trench and loss of life.
Diamantina Deep, Indian Ocean  The impacts associated with sea level rise
Diamantina and stronger storm surges are especially
Fracture Zone relevant to coastal communities.
Romanche Trench Atlantic Ocean  Although the oceans help reduce climate
Cayman Trough Caribbean Sea change by storing large amounts of carbon
Aleutian Trench Pacific Ocean dioxide, increasing levels of dissolved
carbon are changing the chemistry of
Java Trench Indian Ocean
seawater and making it more acidic.
Middle America Pacific Ocean
 Increased ocean acidity makes it more
Trench
difficult for certain organisms, such as
Puysegur Trench Pacific Ocean
corals and shellfish, to build their
Vityaz Trench Pacific Ocean
skeletons and shells. These effects, in turn,
Litke Deep Arctic Ocean
could substantially alter the biodiversity
Manila Trench South China Sea
and productivity of ocean ecosystems.
Calypso Deep, Mediterranean Sea
 Changes in ocean systems generally occur
Hellenic Trench
over much longer time periods than in the
Ryukyu Trench Pacific Ocean
atmosphere, where storms can form and
Murray Canyon, Australia
dissipate in a single day.
Southern Ocean
 Interactions between the oceans and
atmosphere occur slowly over many
months to years, and so does the
movement of water within the oceans,
including the mixing of deep and shallow
waters.

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 Thus, trends can persist for decades, intensity of harmful algal blooms such as
centuries, or longer. “red tide.”
 For this reason, even if greenhouse gas  Over the long term, increases in sea
emissions were stabilized tomorrow, it surface temperature could also reduce the
would take many more years decades to circulation patterns that bring nutrients
centuries for the oceans to adjust to from the deep sea to surface waters.
changes in the atmosphere and the  Changes in reef habitat and nutrient supply
climate that have already occurred. could dramatically alter ocean ecosystems
and lead to declines in fish populations,
Ocean Heat which in turn could affect people who
 The total amount of heat stored by the depend on fishing for food or jobs.
oceans is called “ocean heat content,” and  Increases in sea surface temperature have
measurements of water temperature led to an increase in the amount of
reflect the amount of heat in the water at atmospheric water vapor over the oceans.
a particular time and location. This water vapor feeds weather systems
 Ocean temperature plays an important that produce precipitation, increasing the
role in the Earth’s climate system risk of heavy rain and snow.
particularly sea surface temperature  Changes in sea surface temperature can
because heat from ocean surface waters shift storm tracks, potentially contributing
provides energy for storms and thereby to droughts in some areas.
influences weather patterns.  Increases in sea surface temperature are
 Four independent analyses show that the also expected to lengthen the growth
amount of heat stored in the ocean has season for certain bacteria that can
increased substantially since the 1950s. contaminate seafood and cause foodborne
 Ocean heat content not only determines illnesses, thereby increasing the risk of
sea surface temperature, but also affects health effects
sea level and currents.  Ocean surface temperatures increased
around the world during the 20th century.
Sea Surface Temperature  Even with some year-to-year variation, the
 As the oceans absorb more heat, sea overall increase is clear, and sea surface
surface temperature increases, and the temperatures have been consistently
ocean circulation patterns that transport higher during the past three decades than
warm and cold water around the globe at any other time since reliable
change. observations began in the late 1800s.
 Changes in sea surface temperature can
alter marine ecosystems in several ways. Sea Level
 For example, variations in ocean  Currently, sea level is rising about one-
temperature can affect what species of eighth of an inch per year but is projected
plants, animals, and microbes are present to rise in the future.
in a location, alter migration and breeding  By 2100, sea levels may rise another one to
patterns, threaten sensitive ocean life such eight feet.
as corals, and change the frequency and  Sea level can rise by two different
mechanisms with respect to climate

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change. First, as the oceans warm due to  The East Coast suffers the most frequent
an increasing global temperature, coastal flooding and has generally
seawater expands taking up more space in experienced the largest increases in the
the ocean basin and causing a rise in water number of flood days.
level. The second mechanism is the melting  Major coastal high tide flooding, which is
of ice over land, which then adds water to often destructive, will likely increase from
the ocean. 0.04 events per year in 2020 to 0.2 events
 Sea level rise poses a serious threat to in 2050 — a 400% increase.
coastal life around the world.
Consequences include increased intensity Ocean Acidity
of storm surges, flooding, and damage to  The ocean has become more acidic over
coastal areas. the past few decades because of increased
 In many cases, this is where large levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide,
population centers are located, in addition which dissolves in the water.
to fragile wildlife habitats.  Higher acidity affects the balance of
 Even life at farther inland is threatened minerals in the water, which can make it
because rising seas can contaminate soil more difficult for certain marine animals to
and groundwater with salt. build their protective skeletons or shells.

Note- Indonesia is shifting its capital from

Jakarta to the island of Borneo called
Nusantara. It is a threatening example of effect
of rising sea level.

Land Loss Along the Atlantic Coast

 As sea level rises, dry land and wetlands
can turn into open water.
 Along many parts of the Atlantic coast, this
problem is made worse by low elevations
and land that is already sinking.
 Between 1996 and 2011, the coastline
from Florida to New York lost more land
than it gained.

Coastal Flooding
 Flooding is becoming more frequent along
the coastlines as sea level rises.
 Every site measured has experienced an
increase in coastal flooding since the
1950s.
 The rate is accelerating at most locations
along the East and Gulf coasts.

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Major Domains of the Earth The cool, brittle lithosphere is just one of five
great “spheres” that shape the environment of
Lithosphere Earth. The other spheres are
 the biosphere (Earth’s living things);
 the cryosphere (Earth’s frozen regions,
including both ice and frozen soil);
 the hydrosphere (Earth’s liquid water);
 the atmosphere (the air surrounding our
planet).
 These spheres interact to influence such
diverse elements as ocean salinity,
biodiversity, and landscape.

Note- The pedosphere is part of the lithosphere

made of soil and dirt. The pedosphere is created
The lithosphere is the rocky outer part of the
by the interaction of the lithosphere, atmosphere,
Earth. It is made up of the brittle crust and the top
cryosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere.
part of the upper mantle. The lithosphere is the
coolest and most rigid part of the Earth.
 The lithosphere also interacts with the
 The lithosphere is the solid, outer part of
atmosphere, hydrosphere, and cryosphere
the Earth. The lithosphere includes the
to influence temperature differences on
brittle upper portion of the mantle and the
Earth.
crust, the outermost layers of Earth’s
 Tall mountains, for example, often have
structure.
dramatically lower temperatures than
 It is bounded by the atmosphere above and
valleys or hills.
the asthenosphere (another part of the
 The mountain range of the lithosphere is
upper mantle) below.
interacting with the lower air pressure of
 There are two types of lithosphere:
the atmosphere and the snowy
oceanic lithosphere and continental
precipitation of the hydrosphere to create
lithosphere. Oceanic lithosphere is
a cool or even icy climate zone.
associated with oceanic crust, and is
 A region’s climate zone, in turn, influences
slightly denser than continental
adaptations necessary for organisms of the
lithosphere.
region’s biosphere.
 The most well-known feature associated
with Earth’s lithosphere is tectonic activity.
Biosphere
Tectonic activity describes the interaction
The biosphere is made up of the parts of Earth
of the huge slabs of lithosphere called
where life exists. The biosphere extends from the
tectonic plates.
deepest root systems of trees to the dark
 All terrestrial planets have lithospheres.
environment of ocean trenches, to lush rain
The lithospheres of Mercury, Venus, and
forests and high mountaintops.
Mars are much thicker and more rigid than
 The biosphere is the narrow zone of
Earth's. contact between the land, water and air.

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 The biosphere has existed for about 3.5 Antarctica and the Arctic. It also includes
billion years. The biosphere’s earliest life- frozen rivers and lakes, which mainly occur
forms, called prokaryotes, survived in polar areas.
without oxygen. Ancient prokaryotes  The components of the cryosphere play an
included single-celled organisms such as important role in the Earth’s climate.
bacteria and archaea.  Snow and ice reflect heat from the sun,
 The biosphere is sometimes thought of as helping to regulate our planet’s
one large ecosystem—a complex temperature. Because polar regions are
community of living and nonliving things some of the most sensitive to climate
functioning as a single unit. shifts, the cryosphere may be one of the
 The biosphere is described as having many first places where scientists are able to
ecosystems. identify global changes in climate.

Cryosphere Atmosphere

 There are places on Earth that are so cold

that water is frozen solid.
 These areas of snow or ice, which are
subject to temperatures below 0°C for at
least part of the year, compose the
cryosphere.  The earth is surrounded by a thin blanket
 The term “cryosphere” comes from the of (air) gas known as the atmosphere. The
Greek word, “krios,” which means cold. atmosphere extends up to a height of
 Ice and snow on land are one part of the about 1,600 kilometres.
cryosphere. This includes the largest parts  The atmosphere is divided into five layers
of the cryosphere, the continental ice based on composition, temperature and
sheets found in Greenland and Antarctica, other properties.
as well as ice caps, glaciers, and areas of  These layers starting from earth’s surface
snow and permafrost. When continental are called the troposphere, the
ice flows out from land and to the sea stratosphere, the mesosphere, the
surface, we get shelf ice. thermosphere and the exosphere.
 The other part of the cryosphere is ice that
is found in water. This includes frozen parts
of the ocean, such as waters surrounding
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 The atmosphere is composed mainly of mesosphere, which reaches as far as about
nitrogen and oxygen, which make up about 85 kilometers (53 miles) above Earth’s
99 per cent of clean, dry air. surface. Temperatures decrease in the
 Nitrogen 78 per cent, oxygen 21 per cent mesosphere with altitude. In fact, the
and other gases like carbon dioxide, argon coldest temperatures in the atmosphere
and others comprise 1 per cent. are near the top of the mesosphere—
 Carbon dioxide is important as it absorbs about -90°C (-130°F). The atmosphere is
heat radiated by the earth, and keeps the thin here, but still thick enough so that
planet warm. meteors will burn up as they pass through
 The density of the atmosphere varies with the mesosphere—creating what we see as
height. “shooting stars.” The upper boundary of
 It is maximum at the sea level and the mesosphere is called the mesopause.
decreases rapidly moving upwards.  The thermosphere is located above the
 The atmosphere exerts pressure on the mesopause and reaches out to around 600
earth. kilometers (372 miles). Not much is known
 Air moves from high pressure to low about the thermosphere except that,
pressure and this movement of air is temperatures increase with altitude. Solar
known as wind. radiation makes the upper regions of the
 The troposphere is thickest at the equator, thermosphere very hot, reaching
and much thinner at the North and South temperatures as high as 2,000°C (3,600°F).
Poles.  The uppermost layer, that blends with
 The majority of the mass of the entire what is considered to be outer space, is the
atmosphere is contained in the exosphere. The pull of Earth’s gravity is so
troposphere—between approximately 75 small here that molecules of gas escape
and 80 percent. into outer space.
 Most of the water vapor in the
atmosphere, along with dust and ash Hydrosphere
particles, are found in the troposphere—  A hydrosphere is the total amount of water
explaining why most of Earth’s clouds are on a planet. The hydrosphere includes
located in this layer. Temperatures in the water that is on the surface of the planet,
troposphere decrease with altitude. underground, and in the air.
 Temperatures in the stratosphere increase  A planet's hydrosphere can be liquid,
with altitude. A high concentration of vapor, or ice.
ozone, a molecule composed of three  On Earth, liquid water exists on the surface
atoms of oxygen, makes up the ozone layer in the form of oceans, lakes and rivers. It
of the stratosphere. This ozone absorbs also exists below ground—as groundwater,
some of the incoming solar radiation, in wells and aquifers. Water vapor is most
shielding life on Earth from potentially visible as clouds and fog.
harmful ultraviolet (UV) light, and is  The frozen part of Earth's hydrosphere is
responsible for the temperature increase made of ice: glaciers, ice caps and icebergs.
in altitude. The frozen part of the hydrosphere has its
 The top of the stratosphere is called the own name, the cryosphere.
stratopause. Above that is the

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 Water moves through the hydrosphere in a Layers of Atmosphere
cycle. Water collects in clouds, then falls to The atmosphere can be divided into different
Earth in the form of rain or snow. This layers according to composition, density, pressure
water collects in rivers, lakes and oceans. and temperature variations.
Then it evaporates into the atmosphere to
start the cycle all over again. This is called Classification based on Composition:
the water cycle. According to its composition, broadly it is divided
into two layers – Homosphere and Heterosphere.
ATMOSPHERE
Homosphere: It extends from the earth’s surface
The envelope of gases surrounding the earth is up to the altitude of 80km. even though the
called the atmosphere. It forms a protective atmosphere rapidly decreases in density with
boundary between the outer space and the increasing altitude, the composition of the gases
biosphere. Air is a mixture of gases that is odorless, remains uniform in the homosphere. The
colorless and tasteless and blended so thoroughly exceptions in the homosphere are the
that it acts like a single gas. concentration of Ozone (O3) in stratosphere from
 The gases of the present atmosphere are almost 19-50 km and variation of water vapour
not the direct residue of the early stage of and dust particles in the lower atmosphere. This
earth’s formation. They
are a product of
progress through
volcanic eruptions, hot
springs, chemical
breakdowns of solid
matter and
redistribution from
biosphere.
 Atmosphere contains
living gases like oxygen
for man and animal, and
uniform composition was attained approximately
carbon dioxide for plants (important for
600 million years ago.
survival). It protects the earth from the
harmful radiation from the sun. It acts as
Present Composition of Homosphere:
green house by allowing short-wave
The proportion of the main gases in the
radiation (from Sun) and trapping long-
atmosphere is shown in the figure above. A unit of
wave terrestrial radiation (from Earth’s
dry air consists of 78.084% Nitrogen, 20.946%
surface).
Oxygen, 0.934% Argon, 0.036% Carbon dioxide
 The gases present in atmosphere are not
and the remaining other trace gases.
the direct residue of the early stage of
earth’s formation. They are a product of
In the Homosphere, there are three regions: The
progress through volcanic eruptions, hot
Troposphere, the Stratosphere, and the
springs, chemical breakdowns of solid
Mesosphere.
matter and redistribution from biosphere.

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Although the composition of
air is the same throughout
these three regions, the
concentration of air decreases
significantly with increasing
altitude.
 The Troposphere is the
earth's weather layer.
It contains nearly all-
weather conditions. As
you go up in altitude
the temperature goes
down. It is the bottom
most layer of the
Homosphere.
 The Stratosphere is the
middle region of the
Homosphere.
 The Mesosphere is the
top layer of the
Homosphere.

Heterosphere: The gases in this

layer are not evenly mixed. It begins over 80 km
and extends upto 10,000 km. however, for all On the basis of change in temperature the
scientific purposes the upper limit of atmosphere atmosphere is broadly divided into these layers:
is taken as 480km as earth’s gravitational pull
becomes negligible after it. The atmosphere above Troposphere
it is called exosphere and it contains individual
atoms of light gases like hydrogen, helium etc.

In the Heterosphere, there are two regions: The

Thermosphere and the Exosphere.
 The gases in this layer are not evenly
mixed. The Ionosphere overlaps the
Mesosphere and the Thermosphere.
 Thermosphere is the bottom region of the
Heterosphere.
 Exosphere is the top region of the
Heterosphere.
 It is the lower most layer of atmosphere. It
extends up to 18km at equator, 13 km at
Based on Change in Temperature:
mid latitude and about 8km at poles.

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 It contains approximately 90% of the total absorption the temperature of the layer
mass of the atmosphere. increases.
 The entire weather phenomenon takes  The energy absorbed is used in chemical
place in this layer. It contains all the water reactions causing the formation of ozone
vapour, dust particles, clouds etc. gas.
 In troposphere the temperature decreases  Ultra violet rays are highly harmful for
with increase in height. living organism including plants, animals as
 The average rate of decrease of well as humans. Absorbing these radiations
temperature with height is called normal ozone layers makes a protective layer
lapse rate and it is equal to 6.4 degree around us.
C/km. the rate of decrease of temperature
is not constant everywhere. Mesosphere
 The local rate of decrease is called local
 The mesosphere extends from 50 – 80 km.
lapse rate. The minimum temperature
attained in this layer is -57-degree C.  The temperature again decreases in this
layer and reaches its minimum mark
 Tropopause: It is the top most layer of
averaging -90 oC. Although this
troposphere. It acts as a boundary
temperature can vary.
between troposphere and stratosphere.
This layer is marked by constant  The homogenous layer extends up to the
temperatures. mesosphere. At the upper boundary of
mesosphere there exists a layer of ions
Stratosphere extending in the other layer. This layer of
ions or charged particles is helpful in
reflecting the radio waves and helps in
telecommunication.

 It lies above the troposphere and extends

uniformly across the globe up to 50km.
 In this layer the temperature increases
with increase in height. The temperature
varies from -57 to 0 oC. Thermosphere
 This layer is characterized with the  This is a region extending from 80km to
presence of Ozonosphere. Ozone is highly 480km.
reactive oxygen molecule made up of three  It contains the functional ionosphere. The
atoms. temperature rises very sharply in this layer
 Ozone absorbs the high frequency ultra as the gas molecules absorbs the short-
violet radiations. Because of this wave radiations coming from the sun.
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 The temperature can reach as high as It is also known for its auroral displays, such as the
1200o C, but despite such high “northern lights” that develop when charged
temperature the thermosphere is not as atomic particles from the Sun are trapped by the
‘hot’ as we expect it to be. magnetic field of Earth near the poles. In the
 As the density of air is so low in this layer, ionosphere, these particles “excite” the nitrogen
the energy is not easily transferred; hence molecules and oxygen atoms, causing them to
the hotness is not felt. emit light, not unlike a neon light bulb.

Ionosphere
 This is the zone containing charged
particles called ions. It lies from upper
mesosphere to thermosphere.
 The charged particles are ionized by
absorption of cosmic rays, gamma rays, X-
rays and shorter wavelengths of ultraviolet
rays.
 It is in this layer that incoming space
vehicles and meteorites begin to heat due
to friction. Climate and Weather
 Above this layer i.e. above 480km, atomic Weather: The vast and invisible atmospheric
oxygen is prevalent and beyond that first envelope is energized by solar radiation,
helium is more common and then stimulated by earthly motions, and affected by
hydrogen atoms predominate. contact with Earth’s
surface. The atmosphere
reacts by producing an
infinite variety of
conditions and phenomena
known collectively as
weather—the study of
weather is known as
meteorology.
 The term weather
refers to short-run
atmospheric conditions
The ionosphere is a deep layer of electrically that exist for a given time
charged molecules and atoms (which are called in a specific area.
ions) in the middle and upper mesosphere and the  It is the sum of temperature, humidity,
lower thermosphere, between about 60 and 400 cloudiness, precipitation, pressure, winds,
kilometers (40 and 250 miles). The ionosphere is storms, and other atmospheric variables
significant because it aids long-distance for a short period of time.
communication by reflecting radio waves back to  Thus, we speak of the weather of the
Earth. moment, the week, the season, or perhaps
even of the year or the decade.
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In the morning, twilight begins with dawn, while in
Climate: Weather is in an almost constant state of the evening it ends with dusk. A number of
change, sometimes in seemingly erratic fashion, atmospheric phenomena and colors can be seen
yet in the long view, it is possible to generalize the during twilight. Astronomers define the three
variations into a composite pattern that is termed stages of twilight – civil, nautical, and astronomical
climate. – on the basis of the Sun's elevation which is the
 Climate is the aggregate of day-to-day angle that the geometric center of the Sun makes
weather conditions over a long period of with the horizon.
time.
 It encompasses not only the average Civil Twilight
characteristics, but also the variations and  Civil twilight occurs when the Sun is less
extremes of weather. than 6 degrees below the horizon. In the
 To describe the climate of an area requires morning, civil twilight begins when the Sun
weather information over an extended is 6 degrees below the horizon and ends at
period, normally at least three decades. sunrise. In the evening, it begins at sunset
and ends when the Sun reaches 6 degrees
Weather and climate are related but not below the horizon.
synonymous terms. The distinction between them  Civil dawn is the moment when the
is the difference between immediate specifics and geometric center of the Sun is 6 degrees
protracted generalities. below the horizon in the morning.
 Civil dusk is the moment when the
“Climate is what you expect; weather is what you geometrical center of the Sun is 6 degrees
get.” Stated more sarcastically, “It is the climate below the horizon in the evening.
that attracts people to a location, and the  Civil twilight is the brightest form of
weather that makes them leave.” twilight. There is enough natural sunlight
during this period that artificial light may
not be required to carry out outdoor
CONCEPT OF TWILIGHT activities. Only the brightest celestial
objects can be observed by the naked eye
Twilight is the time between day and night when during this time.
there is light outside, but the Sun is below the  Several countries use this definition of civil
horizon. twilight to make laws related to aviation,
hunting, and the usage of headlights and
The diffused light that occurs before the sun rise street lamps.
and sun set gives valuable working hours for
humans. Light that is scattered by the gas Nautical Twilight, Dawn, and Dusk
molecules and reflected by water vapour and dust  Nautical twilight occurs when the
particles cause illumination of atmosphere. Such geometrical center of the Sun is between 6
effects can be enhanced due to the presence of degrees and 12 degrees below the horizon.
pollution and other suspended particles as those This twilight period is less bright than civil
in volcanic eruptions and forest fires etc. twilight and artificial light is generally
required for outdoor activities.

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 Nautical dawn occurs when the Sun is 12 twilight periods. At the equator, the light is
degrees below the horizon during the almost perpendicular hence the dawn and
morning. twilight are 30-45 min long while at poles
 Nautical dusk occurs when the Sun goes 12 there is about 7 weeks of dawn and 7
degrees below the horizon in the evening. weeks of twilight leaving only 2.5 months
of near darkness.
The term, nautical twilight, dates back to the time
when sailors used the stars to navigate the seas. INSOLATION
During this time, most stars can be easily seen with INSOLATION refers to Incoming Solar Radiation.
naked eyes. Addition to being important to The entrance of insolation into the upper
navigation on the seas, nautical twilight also has atmosphere is just the beginning of a complex
military implications. For example, the United series of events in the atmosphere and at Earth’s
States' military uses nautical twilight, called begin surface. Some of the insolation is reflected off the
morning nautical twilight (BMNT) and end of atmosphere back out into space, where it is lost.
evening nautical twilight (EENT), to plan tactical The remaining insolation may pass through the
operations. atmosphere, where it can be transformed either
before or after reaching Earth’s surface. This
reception of solar energy— and the resulting
energy cascade that ultimately warms Earth’s
surface and atmosphere—is discussed after we
define a set of important concepts.

The average value of incoming solar radiation

(INSOLATION) received at the thermopause i.e.,
480km above the earth’s surface, when the earth
is at average distance from the sun is called solar
Astronomical Twilight, Dawn, and Dusk constant. The average value of solar constant is
 Astronomical twilight occurs when the estimated to be 1.968 calories per cm2 per minute.
Sun is between 12 degrees and 18 degrees The energy emitted by the sun is received by the
below the horizon. earth in the form of electromagnetic radiations.
 Astronomical dawn is the time when the The quantity of radiations is about 1.968
geometric center of the Sun is at 18 calories/cm2/ minute. A calorie is that amount of
degrees below the horizon. Before this energy which is required to raise the temperature
time, the sky is absolutely dark. of one gram of water by one degree Celsius.
 Astronomical dusk is the instant when the
geographical center of the Sun is at 18 The Sun gives off energy in the form of
degrees below the horizon. After this electromagnetic radiation— sometimes referred
point, the sky is no longer illuminated. to as radiant energy. (The Sun also gives off energy
 The duration of dawn and twilight is a as streams of ionized particles called the solar
function of latitude because the angle of wind, but we can ignore that kind of energy in our
sun above horizon determines the distance discussion here because its effect on weather is
travelled by the light in the atmosphere. minimal.) We experience different kinds of
Lower angle produces longer dawn and electromagnetic radiation every day: visible light,

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microwaves, X-rays, and radio waves are all forms wavelengths of that radiation. Hot bodies radiate
of electromagnetic radiation. mostly short wavelengths of radiation, whereas
Electromagnetic radiation varies enormously in cooler bodies radiate mostly long wavelengths.
wavelength—ranging from the exceedingly short
wavelengths of gamma rays and X-rays (with some Reflection: The radiations are reflected back in the
wavelengths less than one-billionth of a meter), to space by the surface and atmosphere of earth. The
the exceedingly long wavelengths of television and total reflection of the incoming solar radiation is
radio waves (with some wavelengths measured in called albedo and is expressed in terms of
kilometers. percentage of insolation. Clouds are the most
important reflectors by
far. Their reflectivity
ranges from 40 to 90%
depending upon the
thickness and type of
cloud.

The term albedo refers

to the overall
reflectivity of an
object or surface,
usually described as a
percentage the higher
the albedo, the greater
the amount of radiation reflected. Snow, for
example, has a very high albedo (as much as 95
Several processes deplete the solar radiation as it percent), whereas a dark surface, such as dense
passes through the earth’s atmosphere like forest cover, can have an albedo as low as 14
reflection, absorption, scattering etc. Some of percent.
the processes are explained below:
Absorption: Electromagnetic waves striking an
Radiation or emission is the process by which object may be assimilated by that object—this
electromagnetic energy is emitted from an object. process is called absorption. Different materials
So, the term “radiation” refers to both the have different absorptive capabilities, with the
emission and the flow of electromagnetic energy. variations depending in part on the wavelength of
All objects emit electromagnetic energy, but radiation involved.
hotter objects are more intense radiators than
cooler objects. In general, the hotter the object, Scattering: It is the process by which small
the more intense its radiation. particles, with size comparable to the wavelength
(Radiation intensity is commonly described in of the radiations deflects the radiations in
W/m2—the amount of energy emitted or different direction. The direction of radiation
received in a given period of time in a given area.) changes as it keeps on scattered by the particles.
Because the Sun is much hotter than Earth, it emits The amount of scattering that takes place depends
about two billion times more energy than Earth. In on the wavelength of the light as well as on the
addition, the hotter the object, the shorter the
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size, shape, and composition of the molecule or (adiabatic means without the gain or loss of
particulate. energy). In the atmosphere, any time air rises, it
In general, shorter wavelengths are more readily cools adiabatically.
scattered than longer wavelengths by the gases in
the atmosphere. Compression—Adiabatic Warming: Conversely,
when air descends, it becomes warmer. The
Transmission: Some radiation passes through the descent causes compression as the air comes
atmosphere without reflection, refraction, under increasing pressure—the work done on the
absorption, or scattering. This is called molecules by compression increases their average
transmission. kinetic energy and so the temperature increases
even though no energy was added from external
Conduction: The transfer of heat from one sources. This is called adiabatic warming—
molecule to another without changes in their warming by compression. In the atmosphere, any
relative positions is called conduction. This process time air descends, it warms adiabatically.
enables energy to be transferred from one part of Adiabatic cooling of rising air is one of the most
a stationary body to another or from one object to important processes involved in cloud
a second object when the two are in contact. development and precipitation, whereas the
adiabatic warming of descending air has just the
Convection: In the process of convection, energy opposite effect.
is transferred from one point to another by the
predominately vertical circulation of a fluid, such Latent Heat
as air or water. Convection involves movement of The physical state of water in the atmosphere
the warmed molecules from one place to another. frequently changes—ice changes to liquid water,
liquid water changes to water vapor, and so forth.
Advection: When the dominant direction of Any phase change involves an exchange of energy
energy transfer in a moving fluid is horizontal known as latent heat (latent is from the Latin,
(sideways), the term advection is applied. In the “lying hidden”).
atmosphere, wind may transfer warm or cool air The two most common phase changes are
horizontally from one place to another through evaporation, in which liquid water is converted to
the process of advection. Some wind systems gaseous water vapor, and condensation, in which
develop as part of large atmospheric convection water vapor is converted to liquid water.
cells: the horizontal component of air movement
within such a convection cell is properly called During the process of evaporation, latent heat
advection. energy is “stored” and so evaporation is, in effect,
a cooling process. On the other hand, during
Expansion—Adiabatic Cooling: The expansion condensation, latent heat energy is released and
that occurs in rising air is a cooling process even so condensation is, in effect, a warming process.
though no energy is lost. As air rises and expands,
the molecules spread through a greater volume of
space—the “work” done by the molecules during
expansion reduces their average kinetic energy
and so the temperature decreases. This is called
adiabatic cooling—cooling by expansion

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EARTH’S SOLAR RADIATION BUDGET

Insolation: The energy trapped
by the earth is called insolation.
It is estimated at 480km above
the earth’s surface to be 1.968
cal/cm2/min. this is called solar
constant. The amount of solar
radiation reaching any place
during one day depends upon:
1) The area and nature of the
surface
2) The inclination of the rays of
the sun
3) The transparency of the
atmosphere.
4) The position of earth in its
orbit.

The amount of insolation

received at a place varies with the sun moving in
The annual balance between incoming and the horizon from morning to evening. It also
outgoing radiation is the global energy budget, changes yearly as the tilt of the earth changes.
which can be illustrated by using 100 “units” of Insolation is the single energy input driving the
energy to represent total insolation (100 percent earth’s atmospheric system.
of insolation) received at the outer edge of the
atmosphere and tracing its dispersal (as shown in Albedo: The fraction of radiation reflected back in
fig). Keep in mind that the value shown here are the space from the earth’s atmosphere and
approximate annual averages for the entire globe surface without causing any heating is called
and do not apply to any specific location. Albedo. The average albedo of earth is 0.31 i.e.
31%. The value of albedo depends upon the
The global heat budget is the balance between the surface on which the radiation is falling. For
heat received by solar radiations and outgoing example, the albedo of snow can be as high as 0.9
heat. The net difference between the incoming while it is much lower for a darker surface, as it
solar radiations and outgoing heat is zero. absorbs more heat.

The average temperature of earth is around 15oC In general, darker colours have lower albedo and
which is conducive for the growth of life on earth. lighter colours have more albedo. On water
Had there been a surplus of heat i.e. the heat surface, the angle of the solar rays also affects
trapped by the earth is more than the heat albedo values; lower angles produce reflection
released, than the temperature would have been than do higher angles. Also, smooth surfaces
ever increasing making earth inhabitable. Also, if increase albedo while rougher surfaces reduce it.
the heat released was more than the heat
received, the temperature would have gradually
reduced again making the earth lifeless.
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Heat Budget Besides the long wave radiations from the earth’s
surface, there is also radiation from cloud layers,
The global radiation budget has three major
gases (especially water vapour and carbon
components:
dioxide) and dust to space. The total amount of
1) Solar radiation in coming at the outer limits
energy reaching the earth over a considerable
of the atmosphere(Q)
period of time is equaled to total outward losses.
2) The planetary albedo(a)
3) Outgoing long wave radiation from the
However, at a particular place the radiation
earth to space. (L)
balance is rarely balanced. At lower latitudes there
is an annual surplus of energy receive while at
Thus, the basic form of equation for the earth and
higher latitudes there is an annual deficit. At
its atmosphere is R = Q (1-a) – L
higher latitudes the energy received is much lower
Here, R is radiation balance (surplus or deficit) and
than the tropics as the radiations received are
(1-a) is the percentage of total insolation which is
slant. Energy received is lower than the energy
absorbed by the earth and atmosphere. Of the
radiated. While at tropics the case is opposite. The
total incoming radiation about 26% is reflected by
complete weather phenomenon takes place in
the clouds and gas molecules without heating the
order to distribute this heat on earth. This can be
air, 4% is reflected to space from the earth’s
shown by the following graph.
surface. Hence the mean albedo of earth is taken
as 30%.

Almost 20% of insolation is absorbed in the

atmosphere by gases, clouds and suspended
particles. The earth’s surface absorbs 50% of the
insolation either directly or after scattering by the
clouds and atmosphere. Thus, approximately 70%
of total insolation is effective in heating the earth
and its atmosphere.

Everybody in the universe radiates at certain

wavelength. Higher the temperature of the body,
shorter is the wavelength hence higher energy.
The earth is also a radiating body. In contrast to
sun which radiates at 6000oC, earth has an average
temperature of 15oC. It emits terrestrial radiation
at much larger wavelength. The atmosphere has
the ability to absorb a large part of this long wave
radiation. This ability of atmosphere to allow the
short infrared radiations coming from sun to
penetrate while absorbing the long wave
radiations and not allowing them to escape easily
is called Greenhouse effect or in more
appropriate terms Atmospheric effect.
Graph showing Diurnal Heat Budget
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GLOBAL ENERGY TRANSFER (Note: Kindly note the difference between winds
Two important mechanisms of energy transfer— and drafts. Generally, people think that any
circulation patterns in the atmosphere and in the movement of air is called wind.)
oceans— shift some of the warmth of the low
latitudes toward the high latitudes, and so Oceanic Circulation
moderate both the warmth of low latitudes and Winds disturb the surface of the ocean with swells
the cold of the high latitudes. Both the and waves. Wind can also propel the surface of the
atmosphere and oceans act as enormous thermal water to move forward in the form of a current.
engines, with their latitudinal imbalance of energy Surface ocean currents can flow at about 1 to 2
driving the currents of air and water, which in turn percent of wind speed, meaning that water in a
transfer energy and somewhat modify the surface current might travel some tens or even
imbalance. hundreds of kilometers in a day. A close
relationship exists between the general circulation
Atmospheric Circulation patterns of the atmosphere and oceans. It is wind
Of the two mechanisms of global energy transfer, blowing over the surface of the water that is the
by far the more important is the general principal force driving the major surface ocean
circulation of the atmosphere. Air moves in an currents. However, the influence works both
almost infinite number of ways, but there is a ways: energy stored in the oceans has important
broad planetary circulation pattern that serves as effects on patterns of atmospheric circulation.
a general framework for moving warm air pole
ward and cool air equator ward. Some 75 to 80 Temperature Profile
percent of all horizontal energy transfer is The average temperature of the Earth is about 15
accomplished by atmospheric circulation. degree C, but its distribution is not uniform. The
spatial distribution of the temperature is
The movement of air in the atmosphere is called determined by the following factors:
atmospheric circulation. Earth’s atmospheric  Latitude: The insolation largely depends on
circulation is an important transfer mechanism for the latitude. The intensity of insolation
both energy and mass. The process occurs to decreases from equator to poles. In
balance the energy surplus of tropics and energy addition to this the day length and seasons
deficit of poles. The atmospheric circulation takes also depends upon the latitude. Hence
place by the movement of air in atmosphere. It can lower latitude records high temperature as
be horizontal and vertical. compared to higher latitudes.
 Altitude: As we know that temperature
The horizontal movement of air is called a Wind. decreases with altitude in troposphere.
Winds are generally named after the direction Thus, worldwide mountainous areas
from which they are coming. For example, a wind experience lower temperatures than the
blowing from sea towards land is called sea areas near sea level lying on the same
breeze, a wind blowing from East to West is called latitude.
an Easterly etc.  Cloud cover: According to the
The vertical movement of air is called an updraft, meteorologists, everyday almost 50% of
if the air parcel is moving up and a downdraft, if sky across globe is covered with clouds.
the air parcel is moving down. Cloudy days are relatively colder than
sunny days while cloudy nights are warmer

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than clear nights. The maximum cloud lower latitudes. At the same latitude, a
cover is recorded in equatorial areas hence coast encountering a cold current will have
highest temperature is not recorded at lesser temperature than the one
equator while it is recorded in tropical encountering the warm current. For
deserts having clear skies. example, the Gulf Stream raises the
 Distance from the Sea: Places near the sea temperature of the Norway coast by 5
gets sea breeze during day and land breeze degree C, while the Labrador Current
during night. Hence the temperatures are reduces the temperature of Canada coast
moderate in these regions while both by 8 oC.
diurnal range of temperature and yearly Mapping Patterns of Air Temperature
range of temperature increases as we go
away from the ocean. The temperatures in Isotherms, lines connecting points of equal air
interior of the continent are more temperature are used to map the geographic
extreme. pattern of temperature across the earth's surface.
 Winds: The role of prevailing winds is quite The spacing of isotherms depicts the temperature
significant in the distribution of gradient across a portion of the Earth's surface.
temperature. The cold winds blowing from Widely spaced isotherms indicate a small change
higher latitude towards the lower latitude in temperature over distance and closely spaced
causes a drop of isotherms indicate large changes in temperature.
temperature while
local winds of Africa
blowing towards
Mediterranean like
Khamsin, Sirocco,
Gibli increase the
temperature.
 Topography: The
temperature
distribution also
depends upon the
topographic features
of the earth. For
example, the side of
mountain facing the
sun receives more
heat than the one
opposite to it.
Fig: Average January isotherm.
 Ocean Currents: Ocean currents also affect
We can certainly see the effect of differential
the distribution of temperature on land
heating of oceans and continents in the average
and oceans. The warm ocean currents
January and July temperature maps depicted in
carry warm water from the tropics towards
the figures. The isotherms are more linear
the higher latitudes while cold currents
(straight across) in the Southern hemisphere.
bring cold water from higher latitudes to
Isotherms bend much more between seasons in
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the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Remember that annual range of temperature at a
Hemisphere. The Southern hemisphere is more place is dependent on how far the place is from
uniformly water than the Northern hemisphere. the ocean and latitude. Lesser the maritime
Large landmasses in the Northern hemisphere effect, higher is the annual range i.e. difference
cause isotherms to bend toward the equator in between the mean highest and mean lowest
winter and poles in summer as they change their temperature.
temperature much more than the water. Air
temperatures over land fluctuate more because Diurnal Range of Temperature
land changes its temperature much more rapidly The difference of the highest and the lowest
than ocean water does. Thus, they shift north and temperature in a day at a place is called the
south much more over land through the year than diurnal range of temperature. Desert areas record
they do over water. the highest diurnal range of temperature as during
(Kindly note how the isotherms are shifting on the day the temperature gets very high while
the land. You might get a question on the shift in during night the temperature sharply falls giving a
prelims.) high temperature range.
The diurnal range is markedly different across the
Annual Range of Temperature latitudes. At equator the diurnal range is higher
The difference of the mean monthly temperature than the annual range of temperature while at the
of January and July at a place is known as annual poles the diurnal range almost becomes zero as
range of temperature. The highest range of there is day for 6 months and night for 6 months.
temperature is recorded in sub polar region in Also, the daily range of temperature on the land is
Siberia where average range of temperature is up higher than it is on the oceans. There are several
to 64oC. The southern hemisphere on the other reasons for the low range over the oceans. First
hand produces relatively little annual range in the heat capacity of water is very high i.e. the
mean temperature. This because of the fact that water takes higher time to heat up and also once
northern hemisphere has larger land area while it heated it cools down slowly. Secondly, there is a
is comparatively very less in southern hemisphere mixing of surface water with the water below that
hence temperature range is moderate. modifies heating and cooling.

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Also, the solar radiations penetrate water to surface receiving the same amount of insolation.
greater depth than it does on land. In essence, a thin layer of land is warmed to
relatively high temperatures, whereas a thick layer
LAND AND WATER TEMPERATURE of water is warmed more slowly to moderate
The atmosphere is warmed mainly by energy temperatures. There are several significant
reradiated and transferred from Earth’s surface reasons for this difference.
rather than by energy received directly from the

Sun. So, the warming of Earth’s surface is a Specific Heat: Water has a higher specific heat
primary control of the warming of the air above it. than land. Specific heat (or specific heat capacity)
To understand variations in air temperatures, it is is the amount of energy required to increase the
useful to understand how different kinds of temperature of 1 gram of a substance by 1°C. The
surfaces react to solar energy. specific heat of water is about five times as great
as that of land, which means that water must
There is considerable variation in the absorbing absorb five times the amount of energy to show
and reflecting capabilities of the almost limitless the same temperature increase as land.
kinds of surfaces found on Earth—soil, water,
grass, trees, cement, rooftops, and so forth. Their Transmission: Sun rays penetrate water more
varying receptivity to insolation in turn causes deeply than they do land; that is, water is a better
differences in the temperature of the overlying air. transmitter of radiation than land. Thus, in water
Although Earth has many kinds of surfaces, by far solar energy is absorbed through a much greater
the most significant contrasts are those between volume of matter, and maximum temperatures
land and water. As a generalization: land warms remain considerably lower than they do on land,
and cools faster and to a greater extent than where the warming is concentrated at the surface
water. and maximum temperatures can be much higher.

A land surface warms up more rapidly and reaches Mobility: Water is highly mobile and so turbulent
a higher temperature than a comparable water mixing and ocean currents disperse the energy
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both broadly and deeply through convection— Atmospheric Circulation
warm water mixes with cooler water, reducing the The movement of air in the atmosphere is called
local temperature increase. Land, of course, is atmospheric circulation. Earth’s atmospheric
essentially immobile, and so energy is dispersed circulation is an important transfer mechanism for
only by conduction (and land is a relatively poor both energy and mass. The process occurs to
conductor of energy). balance the energy surplus of tropics and energy
deficit of poles. The atmospheric circulation takes
Evaporative Cooling: The unlimited availability of place by the movement of air in atmosphere. It can
moisture on a water surface means that be horizontal and vertical.
evaporation is much more prevalent than on a The horizontal movement of air is called a Wind.
land surface. The latent heat needed for this Winds are generally named after the direction
evaporation is drawn from the water and its from which they are coming. For example, a wind
immediate surroundings, causing a decrease in blowing from sea towards land is called sea
temperature. Thus, evaporative cooling breeze, a wind blowing from East to West is called
counteracts some of the warming of a water an Easterly etc.
surface.
The vertical movement of air is called an updraft,
Land cools more rapidly and to a lower if the air parcel is moving up and a downdraft, if
temperature than a water surface for many of the the air parcel is moving down.
same reasons it warms more rapidly. (Note: Kindly note the difference between winds
and drafts. Generally, people think that any
For example, during winter, the shallow, warmed movement of air is called wind.)
layer of land radiates its energy away quickly.
Water loses its warmth more gradually because of In atmospheric circulation the speed and direction
its high specific heat and because the energy has of winds is controlled by several factors. They are-
been stored deeply and is brought only slowly to 1) Gravitational force of earth: the
the surface for radiation. As the surface water gravitational pull of earth is practically
cools, it sinks and is replaced by warmer water uniform, equally compressing the
from below. The entire water body must be cooled atmosphere uniformly. The air pressure
before the surface temperatures decrease and density of air decreases with increase
significantly. in altitude.
2) Pressure gradient: the rate of change of
pressure of air is called pressure gradient.
The air moves from high pressure area to
low pressure area.
3) Coriolis force: it is a deflecting force
experienced due to rotation of earth.
Because of coriolis the air appears to turn
towards its right in the northern
hemisphere and towards its left in the
southern hemisphere. The coriolis always
acts in the perpendicular direction of the

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motion of air. It is zero at the equator and

increases towards the poles. Meridional Circulation
Fig: To understand Coriolis Effect The concept of meridional circulation was first put
forward by Sir George Hadley in 1735. He
4) Friction force: It is a drag force which postulated that the air circulates in giant cells in
causes resistance to the motion of air as it both the hemispheres where cold air falls at the
flows on the surface. It decreases with pole and moves along the surface towards the
height above the surface. The effect of equator. Where the air coming from the poles
surface friction is felt up to the height collides and rises up and travels towards the pole
500m above the surface. It varies with in upper atmosphere completing the convectional
surface texture, wind speed, time of day loop.
and year and atmospheric conditions.

Fig showing how forces act on an air parcel.

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Headly’s model of cellular circulation air does not easily intermix but ascends and
But later it was found that instead of one giant moves towards the poles completing the third
loop there are three different loops forming in loop. The surface winds coming from poles
the atmosphere which causes global pressure towards the subpolar low-pressure belt are
belts and global winds. swift and because of high Coriolis effect near
This tri cellular model was given by Palmer in the poles, turns towards their right in northern
1951. The three different loops are called hemisphere and left in Southern Hemisphere.
Hadley cell, Ferrel cell and polar cell. Since they appear to come from east, they are
called polar easterlies.
Tropical or Hadley Cell:
There are two Hadley cells found in both
hemispheres between 30oN and S latitudes.
The heated air rises near the equator in Inter
Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), flowing pole
ward aloft, it descends at the latitude 30o - 40o.
This descend causes a high-pressure belt
known as Sub - Tropical High-Pressure belt.
This descending then flows either toward the
pole or towards the equator. The winds
flowing towards the equator turns towards
their right in northern hemisphere and
towards their left in southern hemisphere due
to Coriolis. These are called trade winds or
tropical easterlies.
Similarly, the winds flowing from tropical high-
pressure belt towards the poles appears to Fig: showing global pressure belts and
move west to east. They are called Westerlies. planetary winds.

Ferrel Cell Planetary or Permanent Winds

The mid latitude circulation cells are known as The trade winds or easterlies, the anti-trade winds
Ferrel cells. The winds blowing from the or westerlies and polar easterlies are called
Tropical High-Pressure belt towards the poles planetary winds. These winds follow a defined
encounters high density cold air coming from track throughout the year.
the poles and rises near 60O N and S latitude
and move towards tropics in upper air Trade Winds: These are the winds with an easterly
circulation and descends at tropical high- component which blow from Sub Tropical High-
pressure belt. Pressure belt to equator. They derive their name
from the Latin word “trado” which means
Polar Cell constant direction. The trade winds blow with
The air that has grown cold over the polar great regularity over the oceans throughout the
surface starts flowing towards the equator. It year.
encounters the warm air coming from the
tropics. As there is high density difference the

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The main function of the trade winds is to remove of temperate cyclones and anti-cyclones moving
surplus heat from the sub-tropical high-pressure east wards.
belts by evaporating great quantity of water
vapour from the tropical oceans. This process Polar Easterlies: The polar easterlies blow
helps in maintaining the global heat balance. between 60o and 90o in the polar regions. They
Although quiet, the tropical cyclones are are generally sporadic and of low velocity. From
experienced in this belt. In general, the speed of the polar areas cold air tends to move towards the
the trade winds varies from 15-30 km/h. equator. The polar easterlies are quite
pronounced in the southern hemisphere. Being
Doldrum: the quite zone at Inter-Tropical cold and dry polar winds give very little
Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is called the doldrums. precipitation.
The air appears to be stagnant in this belt. Earlier
ships used to get stuck in this region because of Planetary Winds in Short:
the absence of the wind. Trade Winds – North East – South West (Northern
hemisphere)
Horse latitudes: The Sub-Tropical High-Pressure South East – North
belt of the oceans of north pacific and north West (Southern
Atlantic oceans is known as horse latitudes. This is hemisphere)
a belt of weak variable winds and frequent calms. Westerlies – South West – North East (Northern
Hemisphere)
North West – South East
(Southern Hemisphere)
Polar Easterlies – North East – South West
(Northern Hemisphere)
South East – North West
(Southern Hemisphere)

Westerlies: These are the permanent winds

blowing from sub-tropical high-pressure belts
towards sub polar low-pressure belts in both the
hemispheres. They blow with great frequency and
regularity. The general direction of the Westerlies
is from south west to north east in northern
hemisphere and from North West to south east in
southern hemisphere. The weather in these areas
is marked by constant possession of depressions

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Local Winds
There are several winds which develop in response These winds are periodic winds and regulate the
of the local terrain. They are known as the local temperature in coastal areas. The sea breeze has a
winds. They have a significant impact in the soothing effect on the weather and increases the
weather conditions of a place and psychology of efficiency of the people. These winds are more
the society. Local winds can be broadly classified pronounced in tropical and sub-tropical latitudes
as periodic and non – Periodic winds. as differential heating is more here.

Periodic Winds: These local winds blow with a Mountain and valley breeze: The mountain and
constant time period. Because of this they are very valley breeze also have direction reversal in every
useful and predictable. Some examples of Periodic 12 hours like land and sea breeze. Mountain air
winds are – Land/sea breeze, Mountain / Valley cools rapidly at night and valley air heats up rapidly
wind and Monsoon. during day. Thus, warm air raises upslope during
the day and at night, the cooler air subsides down
Non – Periodic Winds: Non periodic local winds slope into the valley.
are found in a particular region,
but their time period is not
fixed. Hence, they are not
exactly predictable. Ex. – Loo,
Chinook, Gibli, Berg etc.
Some of the prominent local
winds are:

Land and sea breeze: These

winds develop as a consequence of the differential Katabatic winds or stroph (Gravity drainage
heating of the land and sea surfaces. During the winds): They are significant on a large scale than
day, the land heats up faster and become warmer mountain and valley winds under certain
than the water off shore. Because of this a low- conditions. These winds are usually stronger than
pressure area is created over the land surface and mountain or valley winds. For these winds to blow,
relatively high-pressure area on sea surface. This an elevated plateau or highland is essential, where
causes wind to blow from sea towards the land. layers at the surface cool, become denser and flow
This is called sea breeze. On contrary during night, down slope. The ferocious winds that can blow off
the land loses its heat relatively faster than the the ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland are
sea, hence a breeze starts flowing from land Katabatic in nature.
towards the sea surface. This is called land breeze.
Some of the local winds, their
region of occurrence and
characteristics are given blow:
1) Blizzard: It is intensely cold
fast blowing wind accompanied
by snow. It blows in north
America.

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2) Bora (Adriatic Sea): It descends from for deposition of loess in Huwang Ho
mountains during the winter season. It valley.
blows with a speed of 120-150km/h. its 9) Khamsin: hot wind blows in Egypt for
duration may be from three to five days. about 50 days.
3) Brickfielder: It blows from the desert of 10) Loo: It blows in summer season in India in
Australia during the summer season northern plains. It is a hot dry wind and
(December to February) raises the temperature. Loo follows a
4) Buran: It blows in central Asia and Siberia. three-day cycle. It starts blowing at 9am in
It is a strong cold north easterly wind which the morning till 5 in evening. On its third
reduces the temperature up to -30oC. day, it is accompanied by a storm in the
5) Chili: It is a hot dry wind which blows from evening called Aandhi and causes little
the Sahara Desert towards the shower taking the temperature down.
Mediterranean Sea through Tunisia. 11) Mistra: It blows in Rhone valley of France.
6) Gibli: It blows from the Sahara Desert It a cold wind blowing during winters. It has
towards Mediterranean Sea through Libya. adverse effects on orchards.
It is an extremely hot local wind.it blows 12) Pampero: Cold and dry wind blowing
during the summer season. It may last for during winter season in Pampas
3-5 days. This wind has extreme effects. (Argentina).
Due to heat the government declares the 13) Samoon: Hot wind blowing during
holiday. Because of this the shade summers in Iran.
temperature reaches up to 60oC. 14) Simoon: Hot wind blowing during
sometimes the tyres of the car melt and summers in Saudi Arabia.
stick to the road. Even the dry grass 15) Sirroco: hot and humid wind blowing from
catches fire. People shelter themselves in Sahara to Sicily during April to July.
the basements. 16) Berg: It descends from the Alps in
7) Haboob: It is a similar hot wind blowing Germany. it helps in melting of snow
towards the Mediterranean through during winter season.
Sudan. 17) Chinook (snow or ice eater): It blows in
8) Karaburn: It blows from March to May and USA and Canada between December and
leads to hazy weather. It is also responsible march. It descends on the leeward side of

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the mountain. It is warm and dry and Air Pressure
causes the snow to melt. It has a soothing  Air pressure is defined as the pressure
effect on weather and society. exerted by the weight of air on the earth’s
surface.
THINK  Moving up the layers of atmosphere, the
Dust Particles pressure falls rapidly.
 Atmosphere has a sufficient capacity to  The air pressure is highest at sea level and
keep small solid particles, which may decreases with height.
originate from different sources and  Horizontally the distribution of air pressure
include sea salts, fine soil, smoke-soot, ash, is influenced by temperature of air at a
pollen, dust and disintegrated particles of given place. In areas where temperature is
meteors. high the air gets heated and rises.
 Dust particles are generally concentrated  This creates a low-pressure area. Low
in the lower layers of the atmosphere; yet, pressure is associated with cloudy skies
convectional air currents may transport and wet weather.
them to great heights.  In areas having lower temperature, the air
 The higher concentration of dust particles is cold.
is found in subtropical and temperate  It is therefore heavy. Heavy air sinks and
regions due to dry winds in comparison to creates a high-pressure area.
equatorial and polar regions.  High pressure is associated with clear and
 Dust and salt particles act as hygroscopic sunny skies.
nuclei around which water vapour  The air always moves from high pressure
condenses to produce clouds. areas to low pressure areas.

Water Vapour Solar Radiation

 Water vapour is also a variable gas in the  The earth’s surface receives maximum
atmosphere, which decreases with energy in short wavelengths.
altitude.  The energy received by the earth is known
 In the warm and wet tropics, it accounts for as incoming solar radiation which in short
four per cent of the air by volume. is termed as insolation.
 In the dry and cold areas of desert and  As the earth is a geoid resembling a sphere,
polar regions, it may be less than one per the sun’s rays fall obliquely at the top of
cent of the air. the atmosphere and the earth intercepts a
 Water vapour also decreases from the very small portion of the sun’s energy.
equator towards the poles.  The solar output received at the top of the
 It also absorbs parts of the insolation from atmosphere varies slightly in a year due to
the sun and preserves the earth’s radiated the variations in the distance between the
heat. earth and the sun.
 It acts like a blanket allowing the earth  During its revolution around the sun, the
neither to become too cold nor too hot. earth is farthest from the sun (152 million
 Water vapour also contributes to the km) on 4th July. This position of the earth
stability and instability in the air. is called the aphelion.

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 On 3rd January, the earth is the nearest to  Generally, at the same latitude the
the sun (147 million km). This position is insolation is more over the continent than
called the perihelion. over the oceans. In winter, the middle and
higher latitudes receive less radiation than
 The annual insolation received by the earth
in summer.
on 3rd January is slightly more than the
amount received on 4th July. Terrestrial Radiation
 The insolation received by the earth is in
Variability of Isolation on Earth short waves forms and heats up the
 The amount and the intensity of insolation surface.
vary during a day, in a season and in a year.  The earth after being heated itself
 The factors that cause these variations in becomes a radiating body and it radiates
insolation are: energy to the atmosphere in long wave
o The rotation of earth on its axis; form.
o The angle of inclination of the sun’s  This energy heats up the atmosphere from
rays; below.
o The length of the day;  This process is known as terrestrial
o The transparency of the radiation.
atmosphere;  The long wave radiation is absorbed by the
o The configuration of land in terms atmospheric gases particularly by carbon
of its aspect. dioxide and the other greenhouse gases.
 The earth’s axis makes an angle of 66½  The atmosphere in turn radiates and
with the plane of its orbit round the sun transmits heat to the space.
has a greater influence on the amount of  Finally, the amount of heat received from
insolation received at different latitudes. the sun is returned to space.
 The second factor that determines the  While maintaining constant temperature
amount of insolation received is the angle at the earth’s surface and in the
of inclination of the rays. This depends on atmosphere.
the latitude of a place.
 The higher the latitude the less is the angle Atmospheric Stability and Cloud Formation
they make with the surface of the earth
resulting in slant sun rays. Note: This is the most technical part of
 The area covered by vertical rays is always Climatology. We have tried to explain it in as lucid
less than the slant rays.
language as possible. Kindly read it carefully to
 If more area is covered, the energy gets
properly understand the phenomenon.
distributed and the net energy received
per unit area decreases.
 Moreover, the slant rays are required to Meteorologists use the term ‘parcel’ to define a
pass through greater depth of the small body of air. Temperature and humidity
atmosphere resulting in more absorption, conditions define a parcel’s ability to take off from
scattering and diffusion. the ground. Stability refers to the tendency of a
parcel of air with its water vapour to either to
Spatial Distribution of Insolation remain stationary or to ascend or descend. A
 Maximum insolation is received over the stationary parcel is called Stable while an
subtropical deserts, where the cloudiness
Ascending or descending parcel is called unstable.
is the least.
 Equator receives comparatively less
insolation than the tropics.

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An air parcel is considered unstable when it
continues to rise until it reaches an altitude where Now, when this parcel is rising, because of
the surrounding air has density similar to its own. Adiabatic cooling, its temperature will come
As a parcel ascends its pressure decreases with down. On the other hand, as the altitude is
height. Due to decrease of pressure, there is a increasing the temperature of the surrounding air
drop in temperature of the air parcel. As there is will also decrease because of Local Lapse rate.
no external heat exchange, the process is called Now if the local lapse rate is higher than the dry
Adiabatic process. As the temperature is reduced, adiabatic lapse rate (which is 10°C/Km) than the
it is called adiabatic cooling. The point to be surrounding air will always remain cooler than the
remembered is that,
it is different from
environmental lapse
rate. In case of
environmental lapse
rate, the
temperature
decreases with
increase in altitude
but the air is not
moving from its
place. In case of
Adiabatic cooling, the
air parcel itself is
moving and there is a
drop of temperature
in air parcel. The rate
of change of
temperature is called
Adiabatic rate of cooling. air parcel. Hence the parcel will keep on rising.

Similarly, as the parcel descends, the pressure in Cloud Formation

parcel increases hence there is an increase in
temperature. This is called Adiabatic heating. Cloud formation occurs when there is unstable air
Condition for instability: When the Adiabatic lapse condition. As the air rises it starts cooling
rate of cooling is lower than the local lapse rate, adiabatically. As the humidity present in it is in
there is a condition for unstable air. vapour form, it is called dry adiabatic rate. As the
temperature reaches the dew point, the vapour
Imagine the process and then only you’ll be able starts condensing into small droplets forming
to understand the graph. Why would an air parcel clouds. The height which the condensation starts
rise? Obviously, if its temperature is higher than is called condensation limit. If the parcel is still
the surrounding air it will rise. Also, it will rise up unstable it will rise more, now because liquid
to a height where the temperature of the parcel water is present, it is wet adiabatic cooling. The
will be equal to the surrounding air. wet adiabatic rate is higher than dry adiabatic rate.

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Hence, we can say the basic conditions for the  Cumulus clouds on the other hand appear
formation of clouds are- bright and puffy like heap of grinned
 There should be moisture content in air. cotton. They float in varied forms.
 There should be unstable condition of air Vertically developed cumulus cloud can
so that air ascends. reach up to great heights beyond low
 There should be dust particles present in middle and high altitudes. When they
air to act as condensation nuclei so that cause rain, they are called cumulonimbus
condensation occurs. clouds. These look like anvil shaped and
they cause thunder and lightning and
Types of Clouds torrential rainfall.
Cloud is an aggregate of moisture droplets and ice  Middle: stratus and cumulus clouds in the
crystals that are suspended in air and have great range of 2000m to 6000m comes under
density and extent to be visible. Clouds can be this category. They are denoted by a prefix
classified on the basis of shape and altitude. alto. They contain both water droplets as
well as ice crystals.
 High: They lie beyond 6000m. They contain
only ice crystals. These are whispy
filaments, usually white except when
coloured during sun rise and sunset, are
termed as cirrus.

Forms of Precipitation
 Rain: Rain is in the form of liquid droplets.
Whenever the rain drops fall from high
altitude clouds some of them evaporate
while passing through the layer of dry air.
On the basis of shape, they can be classified as – On occasions, falling raindrops completely
 Stratiform: These clouds are developed evaporate before reaching the ground.
horizontally and have layered structure. Such rainfall is called virgae. On contrary,
 Cumuliform: These clouds are developed when there is thick cloud cover and lower
vertically and are puffy and globular. air is moist, there is heavy downpour. In
 Cirroform: These are high altitude clouds this type of rainfall, the raindrops are large
consisting of ice crystals and are whispy in and more numerous. Generally, the
appearance. second type of rainfall is more frequent.
 Drizzle: When the drops of rain are very
These three basic forms can occur in three small and are of uniform size and seem to
altitudinal classes: float in the air, it is called drizzle. The radius
 Low: ranging from the surface to 2000m. of drops is less than 500 microns. The
These can be stratus or cumulus. Stratus relative humidity in the inter-layers of air
clouds appear dull, grey, and featureless. between the cloud base and the ground is
When they yield precipitation, they are often nearly 100%.
called nimbostratus.

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 Snow: It is a precipitation of white and and equatorial region generally records this type
opaque crystals of snow. This occurs when of rainfall. This type of rainfall is not much
the cloud formation occurs below 0oC. effective for crops as most of the water is drained
 Sleet: It is a type of precipitation in the off in the form of surface drainage.
form of mixture of rain and snow. It is a
frozen rain which forms when rain while
falling to the earth passes through a layer
of very cold air mass. Sometimes sleet may
grow into hailstorms when violent vertical
currents are produced in the atmosphere.
 Hail: It falls in the form of small ice pellets.
Hail is the most destructive form of
precipitation produced in violent
thunderstorms or cumulonimbus clouds.
The hail consists of concentric layers of ice
alternating with layers of snow. Its
structure resembles to that of onion.

Orographic rainfall: This type of rainfall occurs

from vertical uplift of an air stream by the
topographic barriers. This type of rainfall occurs on
the windward side of the mountain ranges. On
windward side also the amount of rainfall starts
decreasing after certain height.

Cyclonic or frontal rainfall: cyclonic rainfall occurs

Fig explaining Hail formation when deep and extensive air masses converge and
move upward which lead to their adiabatic
Types of Rainfall: cooling. We will discuss about cyclones in further
On the basis of mode of occurrence, the rainfall details.
can be classified into three categories:
Convectional rainfall: it occurs in the areas of
intense heat and abundant moisture. Solar
radiation is the main source of heat to produce
convectional currents in air. The belt of doldrums
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Cyclones To identify the different types of air masses, letter

Frontogeneses and Temperate Cyclones: symbols are placed first in the designation.
Air Mass: An air mass is a distinctive, homogenous, Following that the source region is indicated:
body of air in terms of temperature, humidity and Tropical (T), Polar(P), Equatorial(E), Arctic(A) and
lapse rate, that takes on the moisture and Antarctic (AA).
temperature characteristic of its source region. ‘k’ (for the German kalt) for the air colder than the
For example, if an air mass is formed over Canada, underlying surface or ‘w’ for air warmer than the
it will be very cold and dry. • Areas with high surface.
pressure but little pressure difference or pressure On the basis of origin, it can be maritime and
gradient are ideal source regions for development continental.
of Air masses.
Air mass symb Source properties
ol region
Classification of Air Masses:
Maritime mE Warm Unstable,
Air masses are classified on the basis of source
equatoria ocean in warm, very
region, latitudinal position, temperature and
l the moist
moisture properties. The two main categories of
equatoria
air masses are:
l zone
 Tropical or sub-tropical
Maritime mT Warm Warm,
 Polar or sub- polar
tropical ocean in moist
the
The sub division of these groups is made according
tropical
to whether the source region is oceanic or
zone
continental. They are also sub-divided according
Continent cT Subtropic Warm, dry
to what modifications the air masses experience
al tropical al deserts
as they move from their source regions.
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Maritime mP Midlatitu Cool,  Tropical cyclones
polar de moist(wint
oceans er) Temperate Cyclones
Continent cP Northern Cold, The temperate cyclones occur in the mid latitude
al Polar continent dry(winter) of both the hemisphere. These cyclones are born
al along the polar front, particularly in the region of
interiors Icelandic and Aleutian sub –polar low-pressure
Continent cAA Regions Very cold, areas in the northern hemisphere.
al arctic near very dry,
and north and very stable Cyclogenesis: Development and strengthening of
continent south mid latitude wave cyclone is known as
al poles cyclogenesis. This is called the polar front theory,
antarctic given by Bjerkness in 1918. On an average, a
temperate cyclone takes 3-10 days to progress
The border between the two air masses with through the stages of development.
contrasting physical properties is known as fronts.
A warm front mark the leading edge of a sector of The period of cyclone from its inception to its
warm air. Cold front denotes the influx of cold air. termination is called the ‘life cycle of cyclone’
which is completed through six successive stages.
The development of fronts and frontal wave forms
are known as Frontogenesis. Frontogenesis occurs Fig: showing different stages of development of
in well-defined areas. temperate cyclone.

Influence of Air Mass and World Weather:

 The air masses carry atmospheric moisture Stage A: The first stage involves the convergence
from oceans to continents and cause of two air masses of contrasting physical
precipitation over landmasses properties and direction.
 They transport latent heat, thus removing
the latitudinal heat balance. Stage B: It is called ‘incipient stage’ during which
 Most of the migratory atmospheric the warm and cold air masses penetrate into the
disturbances such as cyclones and storms territories of each other.
originate at the contact zone between
different air masses and the weather Stage C: It is mature when the cyclone is fully
associated with these disturbances is developed and isobars become almost circular.
determined by characteristics of the air
masses involved. Stage D: Warm sector is narrowed in extent due to
Cyclones: advancement of cold front at a faster rate than a
Any rotating low-pressure system is known as a warm front, and cold front comes nearer to warm
cyclone. In other words, a thermally or front.
dynamically caused low pressure area of
converging and ascending air flows is known as a Stage E: This stage starts with the occlusion of
cyclone. Cyclones may be classified as cyclone when the advancing cold front finally
 Temperate cyclones

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Tropical Cyclones
It is a weather system of low pressure, originating
in the tropics within a single air mass, but may
move into temperate waters if water temperature
is high enough to sustain it.

Tropical cyclone gets its energy from latent heat of

condensation. The energy in an average hurricane
may be equivalent to more than 10,000 atomic
bombs the size of Nagasaki bomb. These storms
range in size from a few kilometers to several
hundred kilometers in diameter. In the middle is
overtakes the warm front and occluded front is an eye that can be as large as 65km across. The
formed. total area involved may be as much as 52000 sq
km. the tropical cyclones originate between 10o
Stage F: In the final stage, warm sector completely and 25o latitudes in both the hemispheres.
disappears, occluded front is eliminated and
ultimately cyclone dies out. Conditions conducive for Tropical Cyclone:
 There should be continuous supply of
To understand and visualize the formation of Extra abundant warm and moist air.
– tropical Cyclones, watch the following Video:  The sea temperature in lower latitude
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vwo9cuDxm should be around 26-27oC.
Vk  Existence of weak tropical depression.
 There should be presence of Coriolis force.
Characteristics of Temperate Cyclone: Characteristics of Tropical Cyclones:
 The temperate cyclone moves counter  The isobars are generally circular, and
clockwise in northern hemisphere and close to each other resulting into steep
clockwise in southern hemisphere. pressure gradient.
 It may be 1600km wide, thus a single  They may be a thousand kilometers in
cyclone may cover the whole Europe. diameter and about 15km in height.
 The isobars are elliptical in shape.  The central area is designated as an ‘eye’ of
 The cold air mass moves faster than the cyclone. The eye of cyclone is surrounded
warm air mass. by clouds so high and dense that the day
 These cyclones move at a gentle pace of 5- time sky above looks dark. The central part
25km per hour. of the tropical cyclone has clear sky in
 They give light showers which are highly which the air descends from the above.
beneficial for the crops and human health  They do not have fronts.
and efficiency.  They derive their energy from the latent
 In the ending part of cyclone there is heat.
thunder and lightning.  The cloud in the cyclone is cumulonimbus
 Each cyclone is followed by a clear having vertical extension up to about 12-
weather. 15km.
 They give torrential rainfall.

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 Majority of tropical cyclones decay when
they come over the land or when they TROPICAL CYCLONE TEMPARATE
recurve northward over oceans. CYCLONE

Origin of Tropical Cyclone:

 The origin of the tropical cyclones is not
well understood. A tropical cyclone
generally develops from a small tropical
depression. Tropical depressions form
easterly waves, areas of lower pressure
within the easterly trade winds.
 When air containing the disturbance is
heated by the proximity of tropical waters
with a temperature of about 26oC or more, Confined to 10° – Confined to 35° –
circular winds begin to blow in the vicinity 30° N and S of 65° N and S of
of the wave, and some of the warm humid equator. equator. More
air is forced upward. pronounced in
 Condensation begins, and the storm takes Northern hemisphere
shape. Under ideal conditions, the embryo due to greater
storm reaches hurricane status (i.e., with temperature
wind speed in excess of 118 km per hr.) in contrast.
two to three days. Front system is The very cyclone
absent. formation is due to
Understand Tropical Cyclone: frontogenesis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSx_gisp24 They form only on Can form both on
w seas with land as well as seas
temperature more
Places of Occurrence: than 26-27° C. They
 The Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. dissipate on reaching
 The northwest pacific from the Philippines the land.
to the china sea.
Seasonal: Late Irregular. But few in
 The Pacific Ocean west of Mexico.
summers (Aug – Oct) summers and more in
 The South Indian Ocean east of
Madagascar. winters.
 The North Indian Ocean in the Bay of Limited to small They cover a larger
Bengal. area. area.
 The Arabian Sea.
Typical size: 100 – Typical size: 300 –
Nomenclature: 500 kms in diameter. 2000 kms in
Large tropical cyclones are called Hurricanes in the diameter. Varies
North Atlantic and Eastern Pacific, Typhoons in Varies with the from region to
China, Taiphoo in Japan, Cyclone or chakravaat in strength of the region.
Bay of Bengal, Baguio in Philippines and Willi cyclone.
Willies in Australia.

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Heavy but does not In a temperate It was felt that number of deaths were more in the
last beyond a few cyclone, rainfall is affected areas during the Super Cyclone due to
hours. If the cyclone slow and continues non-availability of safe shelter buildings in the
stays at a place, the for many days, coastal villages, which could have withstood the
rainfall may continue sometimes even intensity of the cyclone and the storm surge. In the
for many days. weeks. aftermath of the Super cyclone 1999, Government
The center of a In a temperate of Orissa decided to construct multipurpose
tropical cyclone is cyclone, there is not cyclone shelters along the Orissa coast to provide
known as the eye. a single place where safe shelters to the vulnerable people during
The wind is calm at winds and rains are floods and cyclones.
the center with no inactive. The locations were identified through a scientific
rainfall. survey conducted by Indian Institute of
In India both coasts Bring rains to North – Technology (IIT), Kharagpur with two major
effected. But east West India. The postulates i.e.
coast is the hot spot. associated instability  No person will have to travel more than
is called ‘Western 2.25 km to get a safe shelter and without
Disturbances’. crossing a natural Barrier.
 The building is designed to withstand wind
Tropical Cyclones and Society speed up to 300 kmph and moderate
In general, the tropical cyclones are destructive. earthquakes.
The tropical cyclones can cause loss of the life and  Its plinth is above High Flood line (HFL) and
property damage. The destructive force of winds standing on a stilted floor, it can remain
to over 300km/hr is self-evident. Torrential
rains can cause serious flooding when the
storm move onto land. But the most danger
lies in the storm surge, a mass of water
driven by the storm known as transgression
of sea. Occasionally, there may be sea waves
up to 12m in height.

The destructive nature of tropical cyclones

may be seen from the fact that in unaffected in storm surge up to the 1st
Bangladesh, on 13th November, 1970 a tropical floor level.
cyclone with wind speed of more than 200km per
hour roared up to the mouth of Padma River, Community members have been trained in Search
carrying with it masses of water up to 12m height. & Rescue and First aid techniques and all types of
Water and wind clawed at the aggregation of small equipment have been supplied to the shelters.
islands. In only about 20 mins at least 300000 lives Basic Training on Shelter Management has been
were lost and estimates ranged 1 million dead given to the CSMMC members of all cyclone
along with huge property damage. shelters and 50 volunteers of shelter-based
Disaster Management Teams, per shelter have
Cyclone Shelters in India: been given training on First Aid and Search &
Rescue techniques (25 volunteers in each category

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per shelter) in collaboration with St John inversion occurs generally in tropical and sub-
Ambulance and Civil Defense Organization tropical regions during the period of long winter
respectively. nights.
This inversion however, disappears with sunrise.
Each cyclone shelter has been provided with 32 The duration and height of surface inversion
types of sophisticated equipment required for increases pole wards. Following conditions are
disaster management including power saw, siren, required for ground surface inversion:
free kitchen utensils, flexi water tank, solar light,  Long winter nights
stretcher, life buoy and life jacket, inflatable tower  Cloudless calm skies
light, generator, and, etc., To review preparedness  Dry air and low relative humidity
and to practice the skills learnt, mock drills are  Calm atmosphere or slow movement of air
being organized in collaboration with National  Snow covered surface
Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in all
cyclone shelters on 19th June every year. Upper air inversion: It occurs when the warm air
is transported upwards into the cold air due to
eddies. It may be caused due to compression of
the descending air as it happens in the case of
subtropical high-pressure belts.

Frontal inversion: It is caused by horizontal and

vertical movement of air. The temperate cyclones
are formed by convergence of warm westerlies
and cold polar air, and thus the warm air overlies
the cold air. The presence of warm air above and
cold air below reverses the normal lapse rate and
inversion of temperature occurs.
Fig: Cyclone Shelter Social relevance of temperature inversion:
The inversion of temperature and its duration
Temperature Inversion affects adversely the society and economy of the
Usually as we move up in troposphere from the region of its occurrence. Some of the important
surface, the temperature decreases with increase consequences of temperature inversion are-
in altitude. But sometimes due to local conditions,  Occurrence of fog: there develops clouds
the temperature, instead of decreasing, increases in contact with the ground(fog) with
with height. This phenomenon is called visibility usually restricted less than 1km. in
temperature inversion. This is also known as the urban areas, the fog mixed with smoke
negative lapse rate. The different types of takes the shape of smog. While fog is
inversions may be classified as – injurious to crops, the smog is considered
as a health hazard. In 1952, about 4000
Fig: graphs comparing normal condition and people died of smog in London. Breathing
condition of temperature inversion. problems, asthma and bronchitis etc. are
Radiative Inversion: This is the condition where common problem in Delhi and big cities of
temperature near the ground increases, rather the northern India during the winter
than decreasing with elevation. This type of season.

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 Road accidents: The frequency of road, ground passes through the lowest layer of
railways and air accidents increases during air and into higher areas. The air closest to
foggy conditions due to low visibility. The the ground cools as heat flows
trains and flights are often delayed. conductively from it to the relatively cool
 Damage of crops: The winter crops like ground, and fog condenses in the cooled
wheat, barley, mustard, vegetables, chilies, air at the dew point, often collecting in low
potato etc. are seriously damaged. The areas.
sugarcane crop in the northern plains of  An advection fog develops when warm,
India. Especially in UP, Punjab and Haryana moist air moves horizontally over a cold
develop the disease of red rot which surface, such as snow-covered ground or a
reduces the sugar content. cold ocean current. Air moving from sea to
 Vegetation: Orchards are closely land is the most common source of
influenced by the inversion of advection fogs.
temperature. The lower valleys of alps  An upslope fog, or orographic fog (from the
mountains are almost without Greek oro, “mountain”), is created by
settlements, while the upper slopes are adiabatic cooling when humid air climbs a
inhabited. topographic slope.
 An evaporation fog results when water
FOG vapor is added to cold air that is already
 Fog is simply a cloud on the ground. There near saturation.
is no physical difference between a cloud Dew
and fog, but there are important  Dew usually originates from terrestrial
differences in how each form. radiation. Nighttime radiation cools
 Most clouds develop as a result of objects (grass, pavement, automobiles, or
adiabatic cooling in rising air, but only whatever) at Earth’s surface, and the
rarely is uplift involved in fog formation. adjacent air is in turn cooled by
Instead, mos fogs are formed either when conduction. If the air is cooled enough to
air at Earth’s surface cools to below its dew reach saturation, tiny beads of water
point temperature or when enough water collect on the cold surface of the object. If
vapor is added to the air to saturate it. the temperature is below freezing, ice
crystals (white frost) rather than water
Four types of fog are generally recognized: droplets are formed.
 A radiation fog results when the ground
loses heat through radiation, usually at
night. The heat radiated away from the
DEW FROST FOG & MIST
When the moisture is Frost forms on cold surfaces When the temperature of an air
deposited in the form of when mass containing a large quantity
water droplets on cooler of water vapor falls all of a
surfaces of solid objects such condensation takes place below sudden, condensation takes
as stones, grass blades and freezing point (0 Degree C), i.e., place within itself on fine dust
plant leaves, it is called the the dew point is at or below the particles.
dew. freezing point.

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The ideal conditions The excess moisture is deposited So, the fog is a cloud
in the form of minute ice crystals
for the formation of dew are instead of water droplets. with its base at or very near to
clear sky, calm air, high the ground.
relative humidity, and cold
and long nights.
For the formation of dew, it is The ideal conditions for the In urban and industrial
necessary that the dew point formation of white frost are the
is above the freezing point. same as those for the formation centers smoke provides plenty of
of dew, except that the air nuclei which
temperature must be at or below
the freezing help the formation of fog and
mist.
point.
Fog + Smoke = Smog
Mists are frequent over
mountains as the rising warm air
up the slopes meet a cold
surface.

Fogs are drier than mist and they

are prevalent where warm
currents of air come in contact
with cold currents.

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Upper Atmospheric Circulation

Jet Streams
 Jet streams are high speed winds that
occur in narrow bands of upper air
westerlies. The width of this air band can
be 160 – 480 km wide and 900 – 2150 m
thick, with core speed exceeding 300
km/hr. such is their strength that aircraft
routes which run counter to jet
movements are generally avoided. Jets are
coincident with major breaks in the
tropopause.

Jet Streams can be classified as follows:

 Polar front jet stream: This is a thermally
induced jet stream and it flows parallel to
surface fronts. They flow west to east in a Types of Jet Streams
sinusoidal fashion. It is strongest at 200-
300mb level and swings between 40o-60o Permanent Jet Streams
latitude. It is found in both the JET FEATURES
hemispheres. Its band is non continuous STREAM
but flows all-round the year. It can reach Polar  It is also called polar
up to 160-200 km/hr. (front) Jet front jet or mid-latitude
 Tropical westerly jet streams: They also Stream jet stream, a belt of
flow all-round the year. They flow to powerful upper-level
conserve the angular momentum in upper winds that sits atop the
atmosphere. They are found at the polar front.
poleward limit of Hadley cell around 30oN  The winds are strongest
and S latitude. It follows a more fixed in the tropopause and
pattern than polar jet stream. It is move in a generally
strongest on Indian sub-continent. The westerly direction in
maximum speed can reach upto 300km/hr. mid-latitudes
the subtropical westerly jet does not seem  The polar front jet can
to affect surface weather as much as the be unstable and breaks
polar front’s jets do. up into Rossby waves.
 Tropical easterly jet: They are seasonal jet  It greatly influences the
streams flowing east to west. These are climates of regions lying
only found in northern hemisphere and close to 60-degree
generates only in summer season. These latitude.
are also thermally induced.

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 It determines the path Polar  It is also known as the
and speed and intensity night jet stratospheric subpolar jet
of temperate cyclones. stream stream, develops in
winter due to the steep
temperature gradient in
the stratosphere around
the poles at the height of
Subtropical  The sub-tropical jet 30km.
jet stream stream is produced by  These jet streams
(STJ) the earth’s rotation become very strong
(Coriolis force) and westerly circulation with
temperature contrast high wind velocity during
between tropical and winters but their velocity
subtropical regions. decreases during
 At the equator, the summers and the
rotation produces the direction becomes
greatest velocity in the easterly.
atmosphere.  The polar vortex is circled
 As a result, the rising air by the polar night jet.
which spreads out  The warmer air can only
northwards and move along the edge of
southwards moves the polar vortex, but not
faster than the latitudes enter it.
over which it is blowing.
 It is deflected to the Polar  A polar vortex is an
right in the northern Vortex upper-level low-pressure
hemisphere and to the area lying near the
left in the southern Earth’s pole.
hemisphere, and at  There are two polar
about 30° latitude, it vortices in the Earth’s
becomes concentrated atmosphere, which
as the subtropical jet overlie the North, and
streams. South Poles.
 STJ is closely connected  Each polar vortex is a
to the Indian and persistent, large-scale,
African summer low-pressure zone that
monsoons rotates counter-
clockwise at the North
Pole (called a cyclone),
Temporary Jet Streams and clockwise at the
JET FEATURES South Pole.
STREAM  The bases of the two
polar vortices are located

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in the middle and upper Geostropic winds are those which flows parallel to
troposphere and extend isobars. These are found in upper atmosphere.
into the stratosphere.
 Beneath that lies a large
mass of cold, dense arctic
air.
 The vortices weaken and
strengthen from year to
year.
 When the vortex of the
Arctic is strong it is well
defined, there is a single
vortex and the arctic air  In upper atmosphere, only two forces are
is well contained; present which influences the direction of
 When weaker, which it wind. They are pressure gradient and
generally is, it will break Coriolis force. At this height friction is not
into two or more present. As the pressure gradient acts on a
vortices; parcel of air, it starts moving from high
 When very weak, the pressure to low pressure.
flow of arctic air becomes  As it moves, the Coriolis acts on it
more disorganized and perpendicular to its direction changing its
masses of cold arctic air direction. As the velocity of wind increases
can push equator ward, the Coriolis also increases making it more
bringing with it a rapid and more parallel to isobars. A time comes
and sharp temperature when the pressure gradient force becomes
drop. equal to Coriolis force, nullifying each
 A polar vortex other. At this time the wind flows at
strengthens in the winter uniform velocity as net force is zero and it
and weakens in the will flow parallel to isobars.
summer due to its
dependence on the
Fun with Climate :D
temperature difference
Some interesting conversations (with High Order
between the equator and
Thinking) these days:
the poles.
Boy Friend (BF, a UPSC aspirant at
 Ozone depletion occurs
Rajendernagar): Hey Jaanu.. How was your
within the polar vortices
– particularly over the day?
Southern Hemisphere –
Jaanu (The girl friend, a normal human
reaching a maximum
being): Hey, it was good. It was such a cold
depletion in the spring.
romantic day. I had a nice hot coffee and
thought about you.

Geostropic Winds

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BF: Ohh.. Indeed.. cold it was.. You know with thunder and lightning and violent winds.
there must have been a condition Everyone takes cognizance when you come.
temperature inversion. There was such a So unpredictable. You can arrive at your will. I
dense fog that I could not see my coaching must say.. you have an ‘EYE’ which I don’t
center across the road. You know what have.
temperature inversion is? When with increase
in height, the temperature instead of
decreasing, increases.. Funny phenomenon
right.. Tropical: What are you saying dude!! I envy
your life. People always welcome you. You
GF: @#$$%$^$^%$%^…. *BLOCKED* bring winter rainfall in temperate region. You
are so gentle and good for the health of
people and of course beneficial for the crops.
Look at me… People dread my arrival. They
BF (A normal human being): It’s good to see are scared of me. I wish I was as gentle as you.
you after a long time. You should take a break
from studies and come out more often. See Temperate: It is all about perception. We
it’s such a beautiful day. Cool breeze, Dark both are required. Your violence has taught
clouds, such a romantic weather. humans a good lesson. Now they are always
prepared for emergency. Also, they have
GF (A true UPSC aspirant): Jaanu, you know stopped destroying their mangrove forest
nothing. Those dark clouds are very notorious. which provides a natural barrier to decrease
They are called Cumulonimbus. They cause the intensity of sea surges. It’s like we are
torrential rainfall with lightning and thunder. giving them ‘Carrot and Stick’ lesson.
And they are so high, almost towering. That’s
why they are black. They absorb a lot of light Tropical: See you are always positive. 
and its difficult for the light to penetrate Probably that’s why you are called the ‘Extra –
them. And they are formed by strong Tropical Cyclone.’
updrafts… BABA told us that first dry adiabatic
cooling takes place and then wet, and then
these clouds are formed. And on the top of it,
Note: Try to make these funny Conversations
there must be an anvil shape too… Can you
yourself. This will help you to remember the
see that Jaanu..?? Jaanu?? ????
complex phenomenon.
Jaanu left… Jaan bacha ke bhag gaya.. :P :P

Tropical Cyclone: Hey Temperate. how is life?

Temperate Cyclone: Life’s smooth man..

Following the same pattern as every year. Life
has become so monotonous and boring. I like
your life. So full of energy. You always arrive

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Some Important Facts (Not related to topics There are 13 countries, 3 continents and 3
but important) water bodies’ lie on Equator passes.

 South America – Equador, Columbia,

Brazil
The Tropic of Capricorn line passes through
 Africa – Gabon, Congo, Democratic
Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Namibia,
Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Sao
Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique,
Tome and Principe, Somalia
Madagascar, Australia and French Polynesia,
 Asia – Maldives, Indonesia and Kiribati
clipping New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga and the
(Oceania)
Cook Islands before landfall at Pitcairn.
 Water Bodies – Atlantic, Pacific, Indian
Ocean

There are 10 countries, 3 continents and 3

water bodies’ lies on Tropic of Capricorn
There are 8 countries, 3 continents and 6
passes.
water bodies’ lie on Prime Meridian passes.
 South America – Argentina, Brazil, Chile
 Europe – United Kingdom, Spain,
Paraguay
France
 Africa – Namibia, Botswana, South
 Africa – Ghana, Algeria, Mali, Togo,
Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar
Burkina Faso
 Australia – Australia
 Antarctica – Antarctica
 Water Bodies – Indian Ocean, Atlantic
 Water Bodies – Arctic Ocean,
Ocean, Pacific Ocean
Norwegian Sea, Greenland Sea,
Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean,
Southern Ocean
There are 16 countries, 3 continents and 6
water bodies lie on Tropic of Cancer passes.

 North America – Mexico, Bahamas

(Archipelago) THINK ON THSE BASIC CONCEPTS
 Africa – Niger, Algeria, Mauritania,
Egypt, Libya, Mali, Western Sahara Atmospheric Pressure
 Asia – Myanmar, Omen, Bangladesh,  The weight of a column of air contained in
India, Saudi Arabia, China, United Arab a unit area from the mean sea level to the
Emirates, Taiwan top of the atmosphere is called the
 Water Bodies – Indian Ocean, Atlantic atmospheric pressure.
Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Taiwan Strait,  The atmospheric pressure is expressed in
Red Sea, Gulf of Mexico units of millibar.
 At sea level the average atmospheric
pressure is 1,013.2 millibar.

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 Due to gravity the air at the surface is World Distribution of Sea Level Pressure
denser and hence has higher pressure.  Near the equator the sea level pressure is
 The pressure decreases with height. low and the area is known as equatorial
 At any elevation it varies from place to low.
place and its variation is the primary cause  Along 30° N and 30° S are found the high-
of air motion, i.e., wind which moves from pressure areas known as the subtropical
high pressure areas to low pressure areas. highs.
 Further pole wards along 60° N and 60° S,
Vertical Variation of Pressure the low-pressure belts are termed as the
 In the lower atmosphere the pressure sub polar lows.
decreases rapidly with height.  Near the poles the pressure is high and it is
 The decrease amounts to about 1 mb for known as the polar high.
each 10 m increase in elevation. It does not  These pressure belts are not permanent in
always decrease at the same rate. nature.
 The vertical pressure gradient force is  They oscillate with the apparent
much larger than that of the horizontal movement of the sun.
pressure gradient.  In the northern hemisphere in winter, they
 Hence, we do not experience strong move southwards and in the summer
upward winds. northwards.

Horizontal Distribution of Pressure Evaporation and Condensation

 Small differences in pressure are highly  Evaporation is a process through which
significant in terms of the wind direction water is transformed from liquid to
and velocity. gaseous form. Heat is the main cause for
 Horizontal distribution of pressure is evaporation.
studied by drawing isobars at constant  Latent heat of vaporisation is the
levels. temperature at which the water starts
 Isobars are lines connecting places having evaporating.
equal pressure.  Increase in temperature increases water
 In order to eliminate the effect of altitude absorption and retention capacity of air.
on pressure, it is measured at any station  Movement of air replaces the saturated
after being reduced to sea level for layer with the unsaturated layer. Thereby,
purposes of comparison. the greater the movement of air, the
 The sea level pressure distribution is greater is the evaporation.
shown on weather maps.  The transformation of water vapour into
 Low pressure system is enclosed by one or water is called condensation. The loss of
more isobars with the lowest pressure in heat causes condensation.
the centre.  When moist air is cooled, it may reach a
 High-pressure system is also enclosed by level when its capacity to hold water
one or more isobars with the highest vapour ceases.
pressure in the centre.  Excess water vapour condenses into liquid
state.

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 If it condenses into solid form, it is known  The absolute humidity differs from place to
as sublimation. place on the surface of the earth.
 Condensation also takes place when the  The percentage of moisture present in the
moist air comes in contact with some atmosphere as compared to its full
colder object and it may also take place capacity at a given temperature is known
when the temperature is close to the dew as the relative humidity.
point.  With the change of air temperature, the
 Condensation, hence depends upon the capacity to retain moisture increases or
amount of cooling and the relative decreases, affecting the relative humidity.
humidity of the air.  It is greater over the oceans and least over
 Condensation takes place: the continents.
o When the temperature of the air is  The temperature at which saturation
reduced to dew point with its occurs in a given sample of air is known as
volume remaining constant; dew point.
o When both the volume and the
temperature are reduced; PRESSURE BELTS
o When moisture is added to the air
through evaporation.
 Most favourable condition for
condensation is the decrease in air
temperature.
 After condensation the water vapour or
the moisture in the atmosphere takes one
of the following forms — dew, frost, fog
and clouds.
 Therefore, condensation takes place when
the dew point is lower or higher than the
freezing point.

Water and Vapour

 Water is present in the atmosphere in
three forms namely – gaseous, liquid and
solid.
BELTS FEATURES
 The moisture in the atmosphere is derived
Equatorial  It exists between 5°N to 5°S
from water bodies through evaporation
Low- latitude.
and from plants through transpiration.
Pressure  It is a thermally induced belt
 Water vapour present in the air is known
Belt caused by high insolation
as humidity.
and the convective rise of air
 The actual amount of the water vapour
(updraft).
present in the atmosphere is known as the
 This region observes vertical
absolute humidity.
cloud like cumulonimbus
 The ability of the air to hold water vapour
with thunder & lightning
depends on temperature.

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and afternoon shower Sub Polar  It exists along 60° to 65°
between 2 to 4 pm followed Low- latitude in both the
by atmospheric stability Pressure hemisphere.
with absolute calm. Belt  It is dynamically induced
 This region is also referred pressure belt but thermal
to as doldrums due to factors cannot be ignored.
absence of air movement  It is a zone of convergence of
and generation of intense warm and cold air masses
low pressure. and also known as
 This belt represents the temperate convergence
zone of convergence of N-E zone.
and S-E Trade winds.  Development of fronts as
well as temperate cyclone
Sub-  It exists between 25° to 35° and frequent change in
Tropical latitudes in both the weather conditions are the
High- hemisphere. common phenomena
Pressure  It is dynamically induced observed here.
Belt high-pressure zone. This is
caused by the subsidence of Polar High-  It exists near the poles
cold and dry air (downdraft) Pressure between 75° to 90° latitude
due to the mechanical force Belt in both the hemispheres.
produced by air  It is thermally induced
accumulated aloft. pressure belt but the role of
 The air accumulation is dynamic factors cannot be
caused by air coming from denied.
the equatorial region which  The region observes the
descends after becoming subsidence of cold and dry
heavy. air which causes the high
 Coriolis force and pressure.
geostrophic effect are  The subsiding air is
contributing factors for converted into anti cyclone
accumulation of air. due to the coriolis’ effect
 Hot tropical deserts are and leads to the outflow of
developed in the western air in the form of gale.
side of continents in this  These gales are known as
zone as subsiding air is warm Blizzard in North America
and dry that discourage and Buran in Siberia.
rainfall.
 This zone of high pressure is
called ‘Horse Latitude’. Thunderstorms and Tornadoes

Thunderstorm

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A Thunderstorm is a rain shower during which you wet/dry air bump together can cause rising
hear thunder. Since thunder comes from lightning, motion—it will continue to rise as long as it
all thunderstorms have lightning. weighs less and stays warmer than the air
around it.
 As the air rises, it transfers heat from the
surface of the earth to the upper levels of
the atmosphere (the process of
convection). The water vapor it contains
begins to cool, releases the heat,
condenses and forms a cloud. The cloud
eventually grows upward into areas where
the temperature is below freezing.
Pic-USA Today  As a storm rises into freezing air, different
 Usually created by surface heating, types of ice particles can be created from
convection is upward atmospheric motion freezing liquid drops. The ice particles can
that transports whatever is in the air along grow by condensing vapor (like frost) and
with it—especially any moisture available by collecting smaller liquid drops that
in the air. haven't frozen yet (a state called
 A thunderstorm is the result of convection. "supercooled").
 A thunderstorm is classified as “severe”  When two ice particles collide, they usually
when it contains one or more of the bounce off each other, but one particle can
following: hail one inch or greater, winds rip off a little bit of ice from the other one
gusting in excess of 50 knots (57.5 mph), or and grab some electric charge.
a tornado.  Lots of these collisions build up big regions
 Thunderstorms are most likely in the spring of electric charges to cause a bolt of
and summer months and during the lightning, which creates the sound waves
afternoon and evening hours, but they can we hear as thunder.
occur year-round and at all hours.
 Along the Gulf Coast and across the
southeastern and western states, most
thunderstorms occur during the
afternoon. Thunderstorms frequently
occur in the late afternoon and at night
in the Plains states.

Three basic ingredients are required for a

thunderstorm to form: moisture, rising unstable
air (air that keeps rising when given a nudge),
and a lifting mechanism to provide the “nudge.” Worldwide, there are an estimated 16 million
 The sun heats the surface of the earth, thunderstorms each year, and at any given
which warms the air above it. If this warm moment, there are roughly 2,000 thunderstorms
surface air is forced to rise—hills or in progress. There are about 100,000
mountains, or areas where warm/cold or thunderstorms each year in the U.S. alone. About
10% of these reach severe levels.
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Tornadoes Tornado Formation
A tornado is a narrow, violently rotating column of  Thunderstorms form when warm, wet air
air that extends from a thunderstorm to the rises and mixes with cool, dry air above.
ground. Because wind is invisible, it is hard to see  Some storms get stronger because of wind
a tornado unless it forms a condensation funnel shear, when winds at higher altitudes
made up of water droplets, dust and debris. move faster and in a different direction
Tornadoes can be among the most violent than winds at lower altitudes. Wind shear
phenomena of all atmospheric storms we makes the storm tilt and rotate.
experience.  If a storm is strong enough, more warm air
 Tornadoes occur in many parts of the gets swept up into the storm cloud. At the
world, including Australia, Europe, Africa, same time, falling cool air produces a small
Asia, and South America. Even New cloud called a wall cloud.
Zealand reports about 20 tornadoes each  Inside the wall cloud, a funnel cloud forms
year. Two of the highest concentrations of and extends towards the ground. It causes
tornadoes outside the U.S. are Argentina air on the ground to rotate, and begin to rip
and Bangladesh. up the earth.
 The most destructive tornadoes occur  When the funnel cloud meets the churning
from supercells, which are rotating air near the ground, it becomes a tornado.
thunderstorms with a well-defined radar When the updrafts lose energy, the
circulation called a mesocyclone. tornado does too, and it slowly disappears.
 Supercells can also produce damaging hail,
severe non-tornadic winds, frequent P.S – Try to learn about Hurricanes and its
lightning, and flash floods. similarities and differences w.r.t Thunderstorm
 Tornado formation is believed to be and Tornadoes.
dictated mainly by things which happen on
the storm scale, in and around the CLIMATE CHANGE
mesocyclone. A change in climate is a natural process. Earth
follows a cycle of alternate ice ages and warm
Note: All tornadoes start from thunderstorms. But periods. Earth is currently in the warm phase.
not all thunderstorms produce tornadoes. It takes Because of anthropogenic interference abrupt
just the right conditions for a tornado to form. changes have been observed in the climate with
sudden increase in rate of increase of
 More than 75% of all tornadoes in the temperature. This might cause sea levels to rise
world take place in “Tornado Alley,” an and could have potentially disastrous impact.
area that spans eight states in the Central
U.S. This region has just the right The greenhouse effect: The atmosphere of the
conditions for thunderstorms to form: earth allows the short-wave radiations to get in
cool, dry air from the Arctic mixing with but does not allow the long wave radiations to
warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico, pass. This causes the heat to be trapped in earth’s
combined with warm, dry air from the atmosphere. This helps in maintaining a moderate
southwest. temperature on earth (15oC), otherwise the earth
would have been too cold for the sustenance of
life.

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 Seven of the ten warmest years of record
The gases which help in trapping the heat in occurred since 1990.
atmosphere are called the greenhouse gases. The  The population of the Adeline penguin on
most important greenhouse gases are carbon Antarctica dropped 40% in the last century.
dioxide (CO2), water vapour (H2O), methane (CH4)  The corals are dying at an unprecedented
etc. rate.
 Tibetan plateau glaciers are melting
After industrial revolution the use of fossil fuels rapidly. About 80% glaciers in the head
increased in industries, vehicles etc. this waters of yellow river and Yangtze kiang
generated a large amount of CO2. Due to this the river were shrinking.
average temperature of the earth is increasing
leading to global warming. It is estimated that if
Effects of Global Warming:
the concentration of the natural CO2 is doubled, it
will enhance the planets greenhouse effect to such  It will lead to rise in sea level causing
an extent that it will lead to catastrophic global submergence of coastal areas and islands.
warming, which would melt polar ice caps, flood  It will cause ecological disturbances sue to
coastal lowlands, produce simultaneous floods change in temperature. Migratory patterns
and droughts, and lead to all manner of social, of birds and animals will change.
economic and political instability. Because of  It will cause increase in the height of tree
these dire consequences, CO2 is often portrayed as line in mountains and higher latitudes.
a pollutant.  Flooding of rivers due to melting of glaciers
and later extinction of river once the
Evidence of global warming: glaciers melt completely.
 Antarctica’s ice sheets are breaking up.  Global warming will lead to a phenomenon
 Earth’s mountain glaciers are melting. called global cooling. As the sea level will
Glaciers of the alps mountains shrank by rise the quantity of ocean water will
about 50% in 20th century. increase. The ocean water acts as a carbon
 Sea level is rising. sink. As excess greenhouse gases are
 The temperature of the global ocean is absorbed this will reduce greenhouse
rising. effect. The temperature will fall sharply
and another ice age will start.
 Northern hemisphere’s permafrost is
melting.  The breeding patterns of birds and animals
are changing.
 Tree line in mountain ranges is moving
upwards.  Unpredictable weather conditions.
 Many tropical diseases are spreading
towards the poles. NOTE- All these changes have already been a
 Snowfall was recorded in deserts of Dubai reality. Prepare a note on such cases from around
and Abu Dhabi in 2005. the world.
 Vegetation appearing on the free slopes of
Antarctica.
 The frequency of El Nino years is
increasing.

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Applied Climatology Urban Climate
The applications of laws and principals of
climatology for the solution of the problems of
society and environment are known as applied
climatology.

Climate and Agriculture:

 Each crop has a minimum, maximum and
optimal temperature. ex. wheat does not
perform satisfactorily above 25°C, while
rice needs more than 20°C.
 Heavy rainfall at the time of flowering and
pollination may decrease the yield. Urban environment is largely man made in which
Problems of lodging and harvesting. the micro-climate has been altered. The urban
 Excess and scanty rainfall also affects the structures create a totally different environment
crops. in cities. Some of the characteristics of the urban
environment, which affect the urban climate and
Climate and Animal Husbandry: make it different from the surrounding areas as
 Dairy cows give more milk at 10oC. under:
 Frost and snowing reduce milk production  Concrete, asphalt and glass replace natural
of buffalos. vegetation.
 Good production of aquaculture needs  Vertical buildings replace the horizontal
water movement and control of light. structures.
 Large amount of energy is imported and
Manufacturing: combusted.
 Each industry needs optimal temperature.  Combustion of fossil fuels creates
Ex. Cotton industry 21oC and relative pollution.
humidity 60%, paper industry 20oC and  Low rate of albedo.
R.H. 50% etc.  In comparison to surrounding areas, high
 The efficiency of factory workers also temperature.
depends upon the weather conditions.  Low rate of radiation because of tall
buildings.
Transport System:
 Even the morning and evening absorbing
 Jet streams areas are avoided in air routes. more energy than that of the surrounding
 Ocean currents and planetary winds are areas.
used for navigation routes.  No inversion of temperature.
 Fog and mist etc. can disrupt the road and  Frequent smog.
railway transport.
 Temperature is 8oC more in the heat island.
 Wind speed decrease by 5-30%, but severe
Urban Planning:
gusting and turbulence around the tall
 ‘Heat island’. Urban temperature is higher buildings.
to that of open and rural areas.
 Precipitation is more intense, higher
incidence of thunder.

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 Quick runoff, less absorption of rain water  The primary GHGs of concern today are
in the soil. carbon dioxide (CO2), Chlorofluorocarbons
 Decrease in humidity in inner city. (CFCs), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2
 Evaporation is 50% less. O) and ozone (O3).
 Low visibility.  Some other gases such as nitric oxide (NO)
 Urban climate is the result of altered and carbon monoxide (CO) easily react
energy flows and imported energy. All with GHGs and affect their concentration
climate variables are modified. The city in the atmosphere.
being an island of warmth surrounded by  Ozone layer absorbs ultra violet radiation
cooler non-urban region. in the stratosphere is very effective in
absorbing terrestrial radiation when it is
Urban climates are distinguished from those of
present in the lower troposphere.
less built-up areas by differences of air
 The largest concentration of GHGs in the
temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction,
atmosphere is carbon dioxide.
and amount of precipitation. These differences are
 The emission of CO2 comes mainly from
attributable in large part to the altering of the
fossil fuel combustion (oil, gas and coal).
natural terrain through the construction of
 Forests and oceans are the sinks for the
artificial structures and surfaces. For example, tall
carbon dioxide. Forests use CO2 in their
buildings, paved streets, and parking lots affect
growth. So, deforestation due to changes
wind flow, precipitation runoff, and the energy
in land use, also increases the
balance of a locale.
concentration of CO2.
 The time taken for atmospheric CO2 to
THINK ON THESE BASICS
adjust to changes in sources to sinks is 20-
Greenhouse Effect
50 years.
 The term greenhouse is derived from the
 It is rising at about 0.5 per cent annually.
analogy to a greenhouse used in cold areas
 Doubling of concentration of CO2 over pre-
for preserving heat.
industrial level is used as an index for
 A greenhouse is made up of glass.
estimating the changes in climate in
 The glass which is transparent to incoming
climatic models.
short wave solar radiation is opaque to
 Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are products
outgoing long wave radiation.
of human activity.
 The glass, therefore, allows in more
 Ozone occurs in the stratosphere where
radiation and prevents the long wave
ultra-violet rays convert oxygen into
radiation going outside the glass house,
ozone.
causing the temperature inside the
 The CFCs which drift into the stratosphere
glasshouse structure warmer than outside.
destroy the ozone.
 E.g. - During winter the vehicles with closed
 Large depletion of ozone occurs over
doors and windows remain warmer than
Antarctica.
the temperature outside, proving the
greenhouse effect.  The depletion of ozone concentration in
the stratosphere is called the ozone hole.
Greenhouse Gases (GHGs)  This allows the ultra violet rays to pass
through the troposphere.

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 Rise in the sea level due to melting of Cirrostratus-High  Cirrostratu
glaciers and ice-caps and thermal s clouds
expansion of the sea may inundate large are thin,
parts of the coastal area and islands, white
leading to social problems. clouds that
 Efforts have already been initiated to cover the
control the emission of GHGs and to arrest whole sky
the trend towards global warming. like a veil.
 These
TYPES OF CLOUDS clouds are
most
CLOUD FEATURES commonly
Cirrus-High  Cirrus seen in the
clouds are winter, and
formed at can cause
high the
altitudes appearanc
of 8,000 – e of a halo
12,000m. around the
 Cirrus sun or the
clouds are moon.
delicate,
feathery Cirrocumulus-High  Cirrocumul
clouds that us clouds
are made are thin,
mostly of sometimes
ice crystals patchy,
 They are sheet-like
always clouds.
white in  They
colour. sometimes
 Their wispy look like
shape they’re full
comes of ripples
from wind or are
currents made of
which twist small
and spread grains.
the ice
crystals Altocumulus- Mid-level  Altocumul
into us clouds
strands. have
several

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patchy gray clouds
white or that seem
gray layers, to fade
and seem into falling
to be made rain or
up of many snow.
small rows  They are so
of fluffy thick that
ripples. they often
 They are blot out
lower than the
cirrus sunlight.
clouds, but
still quite Cumulus- Low Clouds  Cumulus
high. clouds are
 They are generally
made of formed at
liquid a height of
water, but 4,000 –
they don’t 7,000 m.
often  They look
produce like cotton
rain. wool.
 They exist
Altostratus- Mid-level  Altostratus in patches
clouds are and can be
gray or seen
blue-gray dispersed
mid-level here and
clouds there.
composed  They have
of ice a flat base.
crystals
and water Stratus- Low Clouds  Stratus
droplets. clouds are
 The clouds layered
usually clouds
cover the covering
entire sky. big
portions of
Nimbostratus- Mid-  Nimbostrat the sky.
level us clouds  These
are dark, clouds are

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usually air rises
formed very high
due to the into the
mixing of sky.
air masses  From far
with away, they
various look like
temperatu huge
res or due mountains
to loss of or towers.
heat.
 Stratus
cloud often  High Clouds (16,500-45,000 feet)
look like  Mid-level Clouds (6,500-23,000 feet)
thin, white  Low Clouds (less than 6,500 feet)
sheets
covering Cirrus vs Cirrostratus
the whole  Both these cloud types have similar wispy
sky. shapes, but cirrostratus clouds cover much
 Since they more of the sky compared to cirrus clouds.
are so thin,  Cirrus clouds will have lots of blue sky
they accompanying them, while for cirrostratus
seldom clouds, little or no sky will be visible, and
produce the sun will likely be behind the clouds
much rain (typically with a “halo” around it).
or snow.
 Cumulus vs Stratocumulus
Sometimes  Both of these clouds have a puffy shape,
, in the but stratocumulus clouds have a more
mountains flattened, thicker, and darker
or hills, appearance compared to cumulus clouds,
these which look more like puffs of cotton.
clouds
appear to Altocumulus vs Stratocumulus
be fog.  These two kinds of clouds look similar, but
they are different sizes.
Cumulonimbus- Low  Cumuloni  If you hold your hand up to the sky, a
Clouds mbus stratocumulus cloud will be about the size
clouds of your first, while an altocumulus cloud
grow on will be closer in size to your thumb.
hot days
when
warm, wet

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Stratus vs Nimbostratus vs Altostratus to 375 miles wide and can be more than
These three cloud types can be difficult to tell 1,000 miles long.
apart since they all have a similar shape. Below is  Rivers on land generally flow downhill;
a unique identifier for each one. atmospheric rivers flow in the direction of
 Stratus: Cloud type lowest to the ground; moving air created by weather systems.
just slightly higher than fog. Can cause light  In general, they pick up water vapor from
precipitation. the warm, moist air of tropical regions and
 Nimbostratus: The cliché “rain” cloud; dark they drop the water over land in cooler
in color and accompanied by steady regions as rain or snow.
precipitation.
 Altostratus: Less thick and doesn’t produce
precipitation.

Do You Know?
Why Does the Atmosphere Not Drift off Into
Space?
 Atmospheric rivers usually begin over
 Earth's gravity is strong enough to hold
tropical regions. Warm temperatures there
onto its atmosphere and keep it from
cause ocean water to evaporate and rise
drifting into space.
into the atmosphere. Strong winds help to
carry the water vapor through the
What is a rainbow cloud?
atmosphere. As atmospheric rivers move
 A rainbow cloud can occur because of
over land, the water vapor rises up farther
something called cloud iridescence. It
into the atmosphere. It then cools into
usually happens in altocumulus,
water droplets, which fall as precipitation.
cirrocumulus, lenticular and cirrus clouds.
 One well-known atmospheric river called
Iridescent clouds happen because of
the “Pineapple Express” picks up warm,
diffraction – a phenomenon that occurs
moist air near Hawaii. When the Pineapple
when small water droplets or small ice
Express hits land in the Western United
crystals scatter the sun's light.
States and Canada, it can cause heavy rain
and snow. In California, it can cause up to
Why do the trade winds blow from east to west?
5 inches of rain in a day.
 The trade winds blow toward the west
 Atmospheric rivers are fairly common in
partly because of how Earth rotates on its
winter in the Western United States. In
axis. The trade winds begin as warm, moist
fact, just a few atmospheric river events
air from the equator rises in the
each year cause up to half of the annual
atmosphere and cooler air closer to the
precipitation on the West Coast.
poles sinks.

Atmospheric Rivers Recent Cyclone

Cyclone Asani is the first cyclonic storm over North
 Atmospheric Rivers are long, flowing
Indian Ocean during this calendar year.
regions of the atmosphere that carry water
Cyclone Asani-– North Indian Ocean
vapor through the sky. They are about 250

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 Affected – India (Andhra Pradesh, Tamil and triggered flash floods in Kerala.
Nadu, Karnataka,
Odisha, Andaman, and
the Nicobar Islands)
 Asani name Given by –
Sri Lanka

Do You Know?- Naming of The

Tropical Cyclones over the
North Indian Ocean Region
started in the year 2004.
Upcoming Cyclone in 2022

Asani Sri Lanka Cyclone Tauktae uprooted over 3.5mn

Sitrang Thailand trees in Gir National Park.
Tej India  Cyclone Yaas: Parts of West Bengal and
Mandous United Arab Emirates Northern Odisha were hit by Cyclone Yaas.
Mocha Yemen  Cyclones Gulaab & Shaheen: North Andhra
Biparjoy Bangladesh Pradesh and Odisha.
Hamoon Iran  Cyclone Jawad: last cyclone of 2021-
Midhili Maldives December. Affected Andhra Pradesh and
Odisha.
Around 4.9 million Indians became homeless due
to natural disasters in 2021. Super Typhoon ‘Hinnamnor’
 Cyclone Yaas, Tauktae, and Gulab —  The strongest tropical storm of 2022,
displaced 2.5 million alone in 2021, as per dubbed Super Typhoon ‘Hinnamnor’, has
the IDMC report. been barrelling across the western Pacific
 The year 2021 recorded around 80 disaster Ocean and is presently hurtling back
events that displaced around 4.9 million towards the islands of Japan and South
people, as per a new report by Internal Korea, packing wind speeds of upto 241
Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) kilometres per hour.
 Floods and cyclones, which are influenced  Category 5 typhoon — the highest
by the south-west and north-east classification on the scale was about 230
monsoon seasons, were the main reasons km away from Japan’s Okinawa prefecture.
for disaster displacement.  The storm is expected to move towards
 Cyclone Tauktae: The cyclone wreaked parts of Southwestern Japan, Eastern
havoc in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka China and South Korea.

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 Horse latitudes are also called subtropical
Difference Between Doldrums and Horse latitudes. They are under a high-pressure
Latitudes ridge area called a subtropical ridge.
 Unlike doldrums, horse latitudes create dry
Doldrums are ocean belts near the equator. The environments and mostly deserts like the
region is characterized as having little to no wind. Sahara Desert, Atacama Desert, Kalahari
This lack of wind has been a problem in sea Desert, and the Australian Desert.
exploration in the last centuries since ships cannot  Other areas that horse latitudes created
move if there is no wind. are the southern areas of the United
 Doldrums can be found in both the Atlantic States, northern Mexico, and the Middle
and Pacific Oceans. East.
 Doldrums are located five degrees to the  According to legend, the term comes from
north and five degrees to the south near ships sailing to the New World that would
the equator. often become stalled for days or even
 The lack of wind in the doldrums can last weeks when they encountered areas of
for a long period of time. high pressure and calm winds. Many of
 This happens because the sun’s intense these ships carried horses to the Americas
heat contributes to the warming of the air, as part of their cargo. Unable to sail and
and it climbs into the atmosphere. resupply due to lack of wind, crews often
 Because the air circulates in an upward ran out of drinking water. To conserve
direction, there is often little surface wind scarce water, sailors on these ships would
in the ITCZ. That is why sailors well know sometimes throw the horses they were
that the area can be calm sailing ships for transporting overboard. Thus, the phrase
weeks. And that’s why they call it the 'horse latitudes' was born.
doldrums.
 Due to the rising moist air, doldrums can The Earth contains five major wind zones: polar
also develop into extreme weather like easterlies, westerlies, horse latitudes, trade
massive storms, squalls, thunderstorms, or winds, and the doldrums.
hurricanes. This resulting weather also
disrupts a ship’s movement and journey. Polar Easterlies
Both the lack of wind and extreme weather  Polar easterlies are dry,
cause casualties at sea by prompting low cold prevailing winds that blow from the
supplies, starvation, sickness, and east. They emanate from the polar highs,
eventually death. areas of high pressure around the North
and South Poles. Polar easterlies flow to
Horse latitudes are also two ocean belts located low-pressure areas in sub-polar regions.
near the equator.
 They are placed at exactly 30 degrees north Westerlies
and south latitude. Like doldrums, the Westerlies are prevailing winds that blow from
areas of horse latitudes have clear skies the west at midlatitudes.
with little or low airflow.  They are fed by polar
easterlies and winds from the high-

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pressure horse latitudes, which sandwich  The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is
them on either side. the most important current in the
 Westerlies are strongest in the winter, Southern Ocean, and the only current that
when pressure over the pole is low, and flows completely around the globe.
weakest in summer, when the polar  The ACC, as it encircles the Antarctic
high creates stronger polar easterlies. continent, flows eastward through the
 The strongest westerlies blow through the southern portions of the Atlantic, Indian,
“Roaring Forties,” a wind zone between 40 and Pacific Oceans.
and 50 degrees latitude in the Southern
Hemisphere. Trade Winds
 The Roaring Forties are extremely  Trade winds are the
powerful westerly winds that blow in the powerful prevailing winds that blow from
Southern Hemisphere between latitudes the east across the tropics.
40° and 50°.  Trade winds are generally
 Throughout the Roaring Forties, there are very predictable. They have been
few landmasses to slow winds. The tip of instrumental in the history of exploration,
South America and Australia, as well as the communication, and trade.
islands of New Zealand, are the only large  Ships relied on trade winds to establish
landmasses to penetrate the Roaring quick, reliable routes across the vast
Forties. Atlantic and, later, Pacific Oceans. Even
 The westerlies of the Roaring Forties were today, shipping depends
very important to sailors during the Age of on trade winds and the
Exploration, when explorers and traders ocean currents they drive.
from Europe and western Asia used the  Trade winds that form over land (called
strong winds to reach the spice markets of continental trade winds) are warmer and
Southeast Asia and Australia. drier than those that form over the ocean
 Westerlies have an enormous impact on (maritime trade winds).
ocean currents, especially in the Southern  Most tropical storms,
Hemisphere. including hurricanes, cyclones,
 Driven by westerlies, the and typhoons, develop as trade winds.
powerful Antarctic Circumpolar Current Differences in air pressure over the ocean
(ACC) rushes around the continent (from cause these storms to develop. As the
west to east) at about 4 kilometers per dense, moist winds of the storm encounter
hour (2.5 miles per hour). the drier winds of the coast, the storm can
 In fact, another name for the Antarctic increase in intensity.
Circumpolar Current is the  Strong trade winds are associated with a
West Wind Drift. lack of precipitation, while
 The ACC is the largest ocean current in the weak trade winds carry rainfall far inland.
world, and is responsible for transporting The most famous rain pattern in the world,
enormous volumes of cold, nutrient-rich the Southeast Asian monsoon, is a
water to the ocean, creating healthy seasonal, moisture-laden trade wind.
marine ecosystems and food webs.  Besides ships and rainfall, trade winds can
also carry particles of dust and sand for

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thousands of kilometers. Particles from to heavy rain in low-lying area & heavy
Saharan sand and dust storms can blow snow to mountain.
across islands in the Caribbean Sea and the  Temperate cyclones are cold cored, and
U.S. state of Florida, more than 8,047 winds increase with height. They tend to
kilometers (5,000 miles) away. have more moderate rainfall, although in
 Dust storms in the tropics can be extreme cases still enough to cause
devastating for the local community. destructive flooding.
Valuable topsoil is blown away and  Temperate cyclones have their strongest
visibility can drop to almost zero. Across winds at the top of the troposphere in the
the ocean, dust makes the sky hazy. core of cyclones have their strongest winds
These dust storms are often associated at the top of the troposphere in the core of
with dry, low-pressure areas and a lack the jet stream.
of tropical storms.  A light drizzle follows temperate cyclone
Temperate Cyclones and Their Effect on the Local which turns into a heavy downpour. These
Weather Conditions conditions change with the arrival of the
Temperate cyclones, also called as extra tropical warm front which halts the fall in mercury
cyclones or wave cyclones or simply depressions level and the rising temperature.
are atmospheric disturbances having low pressure  Rainfall stops and clear weather prevails
in the centre and increasing pressure outward. until the cold front of an anticyclonic
 The convergence of the cold front and the character arrives which causes a fall in
warm front in the temperate latitude temperature, brings cloudiness and rainfall
cyclones conducive for the development of with thunder. After this, once again clear
mid-latitude cyclone. weather is established.
 The development and strengthening of  The temperate cyclones experience more
mid-latitude ware cyclone id known as rainfall when there is slower movement
cyclogenesis. and a marked difference in rainfall and
 They move counter clockwise in the temperature between the front and rear of
Northern hemisphere and clockwise in the the cyclone. These cyclones are generally
southern hemisphere. accompanied by anticyclones.
 The temperate cyclonic motion is
generated by the pressure gradient force, Origin, Naming and Propagation of Tropical
the Coriolis force, and the surface friction Cyclones
force.
Tropical cyclones (TCs) plague coastal
The Temperate Cyclones affect the local weather communities around the world, threatening
conditions in the following ways: millions of people and causing many billions of
 Temperate cyclone is associated with the dollars in damage to infrastructure—impacts that
instability phenomenon called as western are only increasing as coastal development
disturbance. In Himalayan region of India, continues worldwide.
the monsoon current progress east to west
but western disturbance, move across These impacts result in severe consequences in all
north from west to east bringing moderate ocean basins frequented by TCs, for example
recent Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria (2017)

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and Florence and Michael (2018) in the Atlantic  It is thought that the most important factor
basin, Typhoons Hato and Damrey (2017), Tropical is the presence of a large-scale cyclonic
Storm Son-Tinh (2018) and Typhoons Mangkhut, circulation in the lower troposphere. The
Jebi, Soulik, and Yutu (2018) in the western North above conditions occur for a period of 5 to
Pacific, Cyclone Debbie (2017) in the East 15 days and are followed by less-
Australian region, and Cyclone Mekunu (2018) in favourable conditions for duration of 10 to
the northern Indian Ocean. 20 days.
 Once a tropical cyclone has formed, it
Origin and Propagation usually follows certain distinct stages
 More than two-thirds of observed tropical during its lifetime.
cyclones originate in the Northern  In its formative stage the winds are below
Hemisphere. hurricane force, and the central pressure is
 The North Pacific has more than one-third about 1,000 millibars, or 750 mm (29.53
of all such storms, while the southeast inches) of mercury.
Pacific and South Atlantic are normally  The formative period is extremely variable
devoid of them. in length, ranging from 12 hours to a few
 Most Northern Hemispheric tropical days. This stage is followed by a period of
cyclones occur between May and intensification, when the central pressure
November, with peak periods in August drops rapidly below 1,000 millibars.
and September. The majority of Southern  The winds increase rapidly, and they may
Hemispheric cyclones occur between achieve hurricane force within a radius of
December and April, with peaks in January 30 to 50 km (19 to 31 miles) of the storm
and February. centre. At this stage the cloud and rainfall
 The formation of tropical cyclones is patterns become well organized into
strongly influenced by the temperature of narrow bands that spiral inward toward
the underlying ocean or, more specifically, the centre. In the mature phase the central
by the thermal energy available in the pressure stops falling and, as a
upper 60 metres (about 200 feet) of ocean consequence, the winds no longer
waters. increase. The region of hurricane-force
 Typically, the underlying ocean should winds, however, expands to occupy a
have a temperature in excess of 26 °C radius of 300 km (186 miles) or more.
(about 79 °F) in this layer.  A tropical cyclone may regenerate in
 This temperature requirement, however, is higher latitudes as an extratropical
only one of five factors that need to be met depression, but it loses its identity as a
for a tropical cyclone to form and develop. tropical storm in the process. The typical
 The other preconditions relate to the state lifetime of a tropical cyclone from its birth
of the tropical atmosphere between the to death is about six days.
sea surface and a height of 16 km (about 10
miles), the boundary of the tropical Naming of Tropical Cyclones
troposphere.  The tropical cyclones forming over
 All these conditions may be met but still different Ocean basins are named by
not lead to cyclone formation. the concerned Regional Specialised

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Meteorological Centres (RSMCs) & Tropical  It should be short, easy to pronounce, and
Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs). should not offensive to any member.
 At present Worldwide, there are six RSMCs  The maximum length of the name will be
including the India Meteorological eight letters.
Department RSMC and six  The proposed name should be provided
TCWCs mandated for issuing advisories along with its pronunciation and voice-
and naming of tropical cyclones. over.
 The Indian Meteorological Department  The Panel reserves the right to reject any
located in New Delhi is responsible to name, if any, of the criteria above is not
mandate the name of a tropical cyclone satisfied.
and storm developing over the North  The names of tropical cyclones over the
Indian Ocean region including the Bay of north Indian Ocean will not be repeated.
Bengal and the Arabian Sea. Once used, it will cease to be used again.
Thus, the name should be new. It should
The name of each tropical cyclone proposed by the not be there in the already existing list of
13 member countries of the WMO/ESCAP Panel any of the RSMCs worldwide including
alphabetically. RSMC, New Delhi.
 Bangladesh  The 13 names in the recent list that have
 India been suggested by India include: Gati, Tej,
 Iran Murasu, Aag, Vyom, Jhar (pronounced
 Maldives Jhor), Probaho, Neer, Prabhanjan, Ghurni,
 Myanmar Ambud, Jaladhi and Vega.
 Oman  Next, India’s choice, Gati, will be chosen,
 Pakistan and so on. Subsequent cyclones are being
 Qatar named sequentially, column-wise, with
 Saudi Arabia each cyclone given the name immediately
 Sri Lanka below that of the previous cyclone.
 Thailand
 United Arab Emirates
Previous Year Questions:
 Yemen

Q.) When you travel in Himalayas, you will see the

While sending the naming suggestions of each
following:
cyclone, those countries have to follow some rules
1. Deep gorges
such as:
2. U-turn river courses
 The proposed name should be neutral to
3. Parallel mountain ranges
Politics and political figures, religious
4. Steep gradients causing land-sliding
beliefs, Cultures, and Gender.
Which of the above can be said to be the evidences
 The Name should be chosen in such a way
for Himalayas being young fold mountains?
that it does not hurt the sentiments of any
a) 1 and 2 only
group of the population over the world.
b) 1, 2 and 4 only
 It should not be very rude and cruel in
c) 3 and 4 only
nature.
d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

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 India lies entirely in the Northern
Q.) The Himalayan Range is Very rich in species hemisphere.
diversity. Which one among the following is the  The Tropic of Cancer (23° 30'N) divides the
most appropriate reason for this phenomenon? country into almost two equal parts.
a) It has a high rainfall that supports luxuriant  To the southeast and southwest of the
vegetative growth mainland, lie the Andaman and Nicobar
b) It is a confluence of different bio- Islands and the Lakshadweep islands in Bay
geographical zones of Bengal and Arabian Sea respectively.
c) Exotic and invasive species have not been
introduced in this region Note: The Tropic of Cancer passes through eight
d) It has less human interference states in India.
 Gujarat (Jasdan),
 Rajasthan (Kalinjarh),
India-Political  Madhya Pradesh (Shajapur),
Location of India  Chhattisgarh (Sonhat),
 The Indian mainland extends between 8°4′  Jharkhand (Lohardaga),
North and 37°6′ North latitudes and from  West Bengal (Krishnanagar),
 Tripura (Udaipur) and
 Mizoram (Champhai)

Size
 The land mass of India has an area of 3.28
million square km.
 India’s total area accounts for about 2.4
per cent of the total geographical area of
the world
 India has a land boundary of about 15,200
km and the total length of the coastline of
the mainland, including Andaman and
Nicobar and Lakshadweep, is 7,516.6 km.
 India is bounded by the young fold
mountains (Himalayas)
 South of about 22° north latitude, it begins
to taper, and extends towards the Indian
Ocean, dividing it into two seas, the
Arabian Sea on the west and the Bay of
68°7′ East and 97°25′ East longitudes. Bengal on its east.
 The latitudinal and the North-South extent  The latitudinal and longitudinal extent of
is 3214 km and East-West extent is 2933 the mainland is about 30°.
km.  Despite this fact, the East-West extent
 India accounts 2.42% of the total world appears to be smaller than North-South.
land area.  From Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh, there
is a time lag of two hours.
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 Hence, time along the Standard Meridian  The 82°30′ E longitude passes through
of India (82°30'E) passing through Mirzapur (in Uttar Pradesh).
Mirzapur (in Uttar Pradesh) is taken as the  The 82°30′ East has been selected as
standard time for the whole country. standard Meridian because there is a time
 The latitudinal extent influences the lag of almost two hours between Gujarat
duration of day and night, as one moves and Arunanchal Pradesh. Therefore, a
from south to north. Central Meridian is selected to determine
A recap of basics: the time for the whole country.
 Latitude: Latitude is the angular distance, Relative Location of India
north or south from the equator, of a point South Asia is also known as the Indian Sub-
on the earth’s surface. Continent because of the unique culture and
 Longitude: Longitude is an angular characteristic physiography of the region. Relative
distance on the earth’s surface, measured location of a place is given in terms of relationship
east or west from the prime meridian at with respect to other places.
Greenwich.  India is part of Asian continent.
 Angular distance: The angular distance  India is surrounded by water from three
between the points from the centre is sides. Arabian Sea in west, Bay of Bengal in
called angular distance. the east and Indian Ocean in the south.
 Towards its north west is Pakistan and
Afghanistan.
 China, Bhutan, Tibet and Nepal lie to its
north.
 Bangladesh and Myanmar lie to its east.
 Sri Lanka and Maldives are located in the
Indian Ocean towards its south.
 The southernmost point of the country is
Indira Point (Nicobar Islands) which lies on
6°4′ N latitudes and Kanyakumari is
southernmost point of Indian mainland
which lies on 8°4′ N latitudes.

 India lies entirely in the northern Physiography of India

hemisphere, and eastern hemisphere. Before we discuss the Physiography of India, you
 The Tropic of Cancer (23°30′ North) passes need to understand some basic terms:
through the center of the country.
 It divides the country into almost two Physiography: It is the study of "Features and
equal parts Northward of this latitude is attributes of earth's land surface".
North India and South of it is known as
south India. Geomorphology: It is defined separately as
 Similarly, 82°30′ East longitude passes "Branch of geology dealing with surface land
almost from the middle of the country. It is features and the processes that create and change
known as Standard Meridian of India. them".

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India has a large physiological diversity. There can snow and rugged topography discourage the
be two reasons for this diversity: neighbors to enter India through Himalayas. They
 Endogenic: New landforms are created run from west-east direction from Indus to
because of different tectonic activities like Brahmaputra along the northern boundary of
folding and faulting. This creates India.
differences in the rock formations. These  The Himalayas, form a mountain range in
landmasses have been formed in different Asia separating the plains of the Indian
geological periods. subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau.
 Exogenic: Exogenic forces are external  Some of the world's major rivers, the
forces which carve the old landform and Indus, the Ganges, and the Tsangpo –
create new features like deserts, V shaped Brahmaputra, rise in the Himalayas, and
valleys, canyons etc. These are carved by their combined drainage basin is home to
the process of Weathering and erosion. roughly 600 million people.
 The Himalayas have profoundly shaped the
cultures of the Indian subcontinent; many
Himalayan peaks are sacred in Hinduism
and Buddhism.
 The range has some of the planet's highest
peaks, including the highest, Mount
Everest.
 The Himalayas cut cross countries: Bhutan,
India, Nepal, China, and Pakistan.
 The Himalayan range is bordered on the
northwest by the Karakoram and Hindu
Kush ranges, on the north by the Tibetan
Plateau, and on the south by the Indo-
Gangetic Plain.
 the Himalayan Mountain range runs west-
northwest to east-southeast in an arc
2,400 km (1,500 mi) long as shown below.
On the basis of physical features, India can be
divided into following six divisions:
 The Great Himalayas
 The Northern Plains
 The Peninsular Plateau
 The Great Indian Desert
 The Coastal plains
 The islands

The Himalayas
Himalayas are the young fold mountains. This is
the highest mountain range of the world.
Himalayas act as natural barrier. The extreme cold,
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the region today. However, the forces of
weathering and erosion are lowering the
Himalayas at about the same rate. The
Himalayas and Tibetan plateau trend east-
west and extend for 2,900 km, reaching the
maximum elevation of
8,848 meters (Mount
Everest – the highest
point on Earth).
Physiographic
Division of Himalayas
For a systematic study
of relief, the
Himalayas are divided
into following four
divisions from North
to South:
 The Trans Himalayas
 The Greater
Himalayas
 The Lesser
Himalayas
 The Siwaliks or
Outer Himalayas
Formation of Himalayas
The Trans Himalayas
 225 million years ago (Ma) India was a  Formed around 65 million years ago by first
large island situated off the Australian upheaval of Himalayas.
coast and separated from Asia by the  Around 40km wide, they contain the
Tethys Ocean. Tethys sediments.
 Around 70 million years ago, the upward  The rocks of this region contain marine
moving, Indo – Australian plate collided sediments which are underlined by
with Eurasian plate and the sediments ‘Tertiary Granite’.
between the two massive bodies crumpled
up and got folded. These folds are known
as the Himalayan Mountains. The folding
did not stop and different parallel
mountain chains were formed. (The above
diagram explains the formation of
mountains.)
 The Himalayas are still rising by more than
1 cm per year as India continues to move
northwards into Asia, which explains the
occurrence of shallow focus earthquakes in
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 Important peaks include K2 (Mt. Austin  High Mountain passes also exist in this

Goodwin) and Nanga Parbat. K2 is the range, namely, Bara Lacha-La, Shipki-La,
highest peak of India. Nathu-La, Zoji La, Bomidi-La etc.
 One of the most important passes in this  The Ganga and Yamuna rivers originate
range is Karakoram. Other important from these Himalayas.
passes are Aghil Pass, Khardung la and
Burzil. Lesser Himalayas
 The Zaskar Range, The Ladakh Range, The  Width of Lesser Himalayas is around 80km
Kailash Range and The Karakoram Range and average height varies from 1300 –
from the region of trans-Himalayas. 4500m along the length.
 The Prominent ranges in this are Pir Panjal,
Dhaula Dhar and Mahabharata ranges.
Greater Himalayas  It comprises of many famous hill stations
 Greater Himalayas rise abruptly like a wall
like Shimla, Dalhousie Darjeeling,
north of Lesser Himalayas.
Chakrata, Mussoorie, Nanital etc.
 They are about 25km wide and average
 It also comprises of famous valleys like
height is 6100m.
Kashmir, Kullu, Kangra etc.
 It is the most continuous range and
 The lesser Himalayas are separated from
separated by Lesser Himalayas by Main
Siwaliks by Main Boundary thrust.
Central Thrust (MCT).
 It is snow bound and many glaciers
Siwaliks or Outer Himalayas
descend from this range.
 These are the youngest of the mountain
 It has high peaks like Mt. Everest,
ranges and formed around 10 million years
Kanchenjunga, Makalu, Dhaulagiri, Nanga
back.
Parbat etc. having a height of more than
 The average width varies from 8km in the
8000 metres, Mt. Everest (8848 m) is the
east to 45km in the west.
highest peak of the world.
 The average height of mountains is around
900 – 1500m above the sea level.

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 They have low hills like Jammu Hills, etc. battle field of the world). (Try to mark
The valleys lying between Siwalik and some important glaciers of this region.)
Lesser Himalayas (Himachal) are called
Himachal and Uttaranchal Himalayas
‘Duns’ like Dehra Dun, Kotli Dun and Patli
 This part lies approximately between the
Dun.
Ravi in the west and the Kali (a tributary of
 The Siwaliks are separated from the plains
Ghaghara) in the east. It is drained by two
by Himalayan Front Fault.
major river systems of India, i.e. the Indus
Apart from geological division, Himalayas are also
and the Ganga.
divided longitudinally. The longitudinal divisions
 All the three ranges i.e. Greater, lesser and
of Himalayas are:
outer Himalayas are well represented.
 The Kashmir Himalayas
 Upper reaches are thickly forested and
 The Himachal Himalayas
have snow covered plains.
 The Kumaun Himalayas
 Distinguishing Features: The ‘Shiwalik’ and
 The Central Himalayas
‘Dun formations’
 The Eastern Himalayas
 Rohtang, Bara Lacha, and Shipki la are
The Kashmir Himalayas important passes connecting Himachal
 Sprawling over the area of 3,50,000 sqkm with Tibet.
in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.  Beautiful and highly productive valleys like
 It contains Trans Himalayas and part of Kullu, Manali, Kangra, Lahul and Spiti lie in
Greater Himalayas and Lesser Himalayas in this region.
South.  It is famous for hill stations like Shimla,
 Ranges such as the Karakoram, Ladakh, Dalhousie, Chamba, Dharmshala etc.
Zaskar and Pir Panjal.  The famous ‘Valley of flowers’ is also
 The northeastern part of the Kashmir situated in this region. Valley of Flowers
Himalayas is a cold desert, which lies National Park is an Indian national park
between the Greater Himalayas and the which was established in 1982. It is located
Karakoram ranges. in Chamoli in the state of Uttarakhand
 Special feature of these Himalayas is the  Chandigarh-Kalka dun, Nalagarh dun,
Karewa soil found in Kashmir Valley and Dehra Dun, Harike dun and the Kota dun,
Bhadarwa Valley of Jammu. (Note: Karewa etc. Dehra Dun is the largest of all the duns.
is found only in these two places and
Kumaun Himalayas
nowhere else in India.)
 They lie between Satluj and Kali River and
 Karewas are lacustrine (lake) deposits are cover a distance of 320 km and occupy an
fit for cultivation of saffron (kesar/Zafran) area of 38000 sq km.
and orchards of apple, peach, almonds,
 The highest peak is Nanda Devi. Many
walnuts and apricot.
peaks of religious importance like
 Some of the important passes of the region Badrinath, Kedarnath and Dunagiri lie in
are Zoji La on the Great Himalayas, Banihal this range.
on the Pir Panjal, Photu La on the Zaskar
 The region is connected with Tibet through
and Khardung La on the Ladakh range.
passes like – Thang la, Mana Pass, Lipu
 Kashmir Himalayas has highest number of lekh, Niti pass etc. (Note: Try to locate
glaciers including Siachin (the highest
these passes on the physical map of India.)

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Central Himalayas  In the north, they are known as Patkai
 The range stretches from river Kali to Tista Bum, Naga hills, the Manipur hills and in
the south as Mizo or Lushai hills.
 They face heavy rainfall and fluvial erosion
is quite significant.

Importance of Himalayas to India

A physical barrier:
 The Himalayas form a natural boundary of
the Indian sub continent. Since long they
have formed a formidable barrier to the
free movement of man. The Passes of the
Himalayas are very high and in winter
remain covered with snow. As such, in the
past, no large army could cross these
mountains.

Moderates Indian Climate:

 Protects India from cold blizzards coming
from the north and help in maintaining
for about 800 km.
moderate temperature.
 Major part of it lies in Nepal. Some part lies
 Helps in orographic monsoon rainfall by
in Sikkim and Darjeeling dist. Of West
intercepting the moist air. If Himalayas
Bengal.
were not present, India would have been a
 The highest peaks of the World like Mt.
dry desert like Gobi.
Everest, Annapurna, Kanchenjunga,
Makalu and Dhaulagiri are situated here. Source of Perennial Rivers of India:
 It is continuous and has very few passes.  Himalayan glaciers feed the perennial
Nathu la and Jelep la connects Sikkim to rivers of India.
Tibet.  They are a source of many mighty rivers
like Ganga, Yamuna, Brahmaputra, Tista
Eastern Himalayas
etc.
 These lie between Tista and Brahmaputra
 These rivers provide water for irrigation of
River and covers a distance of 720 km.
crops, navigation and sustenance of life
 It contains largely of Siwalik hills rising
forms.
abruptly from Assam plains.
 Mountains take a syntexial bend or a hair Source of sediments:
pin bend in the east and turn South  Through hundreds of river channels, they
towards Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur. are a source of mineral rich sediments and
 The North – South part is called fill the fertile plains of North India.
Purvanchal. It contains main small hills like  The fertile plains of the Punjab, Haryana,
Naga hills, Mizo hills, Barail etc. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and

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Assam have all been the product of this Northern Fertile Plains
eroded material, producing a wide variety  Plain formed by the alluvial deposits
of agricultural crops. brought down by Indus, Ganga and
Brahmaputra rivers and their tributaries.
Biodiversity:
 The Himalayan region is very rich in animal
and forest resources. In the front of the
outer Himalayas lies the Terai jungle - the
abode of many wild beasts like yak,
leopard, bear and samba on the west,
panthers and tigers in the central part and
elephants, tigers, mistunes on the east.
Besides, owing to a variety of climatic
conditions the Himalayas are rich in forest
resources.  It is a flat regular transition zone between
the Siwaliks in the North and Peninsular
Source of various forest produce: plateau in the South. It is separated from
 They provide wood for paper pulp and Siwaliks by Himalayan Front Fault (HFF).
timber, resin, medicine etc.  The plain stretches for about 2400 km from
West to East and it has varying width from
Mineral resources: about 500 km in Punjab to 90 km in Assam.
 The Himalayan region contains  The depth of these sediments is not fully
commercially valuable minerals. Copper, known but they are deepest near Ambala
lead, zinc, bismuth, antimony, nickel, in Punjab. There the depth of these
cobalt and tungsten are known to occur in sediments is around 8000 m.
both the eastern and western Himalayas.  The plains are remarkably homogenous
with little variation in relief features for
In India anthracite coal is only found in Kalakot hundreds of kilometers. Because of this
mines of Jammu and Kashmir. there is frequent flooding in the plains by
Tourism: the rivers.
 They are big tourist attraction and receive
both national and international tourists. Based on the texture or coarseness of deposits,
the northern plains are segregated into different
 Many beautiful hill stations have been
regions from North to South. Plains are divided
developed.
into following sub – divisions:
Note: You can add more points to this list.  The Bhabar Plain
 The Tarai Plain
Think!!  The Bhangar plains
 Why are separate chains of mountains
formed?
 How is the biodiversity changing from east
to west in the Himalayan Mountains?

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 The Khadar Plains  It is 15-30 km wide with its width increasing
from west to east. (Note: this is opposite

The Bhabar Plains

from the Bhabar plains).

 This is a zone of excessive dampness, thick
forests, rich wild life and malarial climate.
 This zone is formed as the rivers which got
 This is the northern most layers of the
submerged in Bhabar plains reemerge in
plains. It lies South of the Siwaliks from
this region.
west to east.
 In most of the northern states, from
 The width of this region is not uniform and
Haryana to Bihar, the Tarai forests have
it is wider in west than in East. The
been cleared and plains are used for
complete stretch is 8-15km wide.
agriculture now.
 As the rivers enter suddenly into the plains
 The Tarai belt is known for the cultivation
from Himalayas, the deposition starts and
of Sugarcane, rice, wheat, maize, oil seeds,
heavier particles are deposited. Hence the
pulses and fodder.
sediments consist of gravel and unassorted
particles. The porosity of this region is so The Bhangar Plains
high that most of the small streams (Chos)  Bhangar is the upland alluvial tracts
disappear in the bhabar tract. formed by the old alluvium.
 It is not suitable for cultivation. Only big  They lie above the flood limits of the river
tress can thrive in the region. and hence are not renewed yearly.
 The soil is dark in colour, rich in humus and
The Tarai Tract
very productive.
 It contains concretions and nodules of
impure Calcium carbonates called
‘Kankars’.
 In relatively drier areas, Bhangar also
exhibits small tracts of saline and alkaline
efflorescenses known as ‘Reh’, ‘kallar’ or
‘Thur’.

 Tarai lies South of Bhabar.

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The Khadar Plain Rajasthan Plains
 This plain is formed by the river system of
the Indus. It lies to the west of Aravallis.
 It includes the Marusthali (Desert) and
Bagar of Rajasthan.
 This plain has a general slope from North –
East to South – West.
 In Rajasthan Luni is the most important
river, draining the land.
 The details will be discussed in ‘The
deserts’ separately.

Punjab Haryana Plains

 The new alluvium tracts along the course  The general slope of these plains is from
of river are known as ‘Khadar’ or ‘Bet’. North East to South West.
 Khadar tracts are enriched every year by  It is drained by the Tributaries of Indus –
flooding of the river. Satluj, Beas and Ravi.
 This is found in the mature and old stage of  Because of the presence of so many rivers,
the river. it is full with Khadar soil which is highly
 This is highly fertile and most of this land is productive and well irrigated.
also reclaimed for agriculture.  It is separated from the Ganga plains by
 Khadar plains are ecologically sensitive Delhi Ridge.
areas and support rich wildlife. The Ganga Plains
 Deltaic Plains of India are extension of  The Ganga plain lies between Yamuna
Khadar Plains. It consists mainly of old catchment in the west to Bangladesh
mud, new mud and marsh. In this region, border in the East.
the uplands are called ‘Chars’ while marshy  It is about 1400 km from West to East and
areas are called ‘Bils’. has an average width of 300km from North
 Bhangar and Khadar plains have to South.
characteristic features of mature stage of
fluvial erosional and depositional The Ganga plain is subdivided into following sub
landforms such as sand bars, meanders, regions:
oxbow lakes and braided channels.
The upper Ganga Plain –
 It includes the Ganga – Yamuna doab,
Meso – Regions of Northern Plains
Rohilkand division and parts of the Agra
On the basis of geo-climatic and topographical Division.
characteristics, the Indian plains are divided into  The general slope is from North to South.
following Meso Regions:  It is one of the most productive parts of
1. The Plains of Rajasthan India in which green revolution was a big
2. The Punjab Haryana Plains success.
3. The Ganga Plains
4. The Brahmaputra Plains

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The Middle Ganga Plain –  Development of infrastructure is easy in
 It includes central and eastern UP and plain plains.
of Bihar up to Muzaffarpur.  The sedimentary rocks of plains have
 It has thick alluvial deposits with less petroleum and natural gas deposits.
Kankar formations.  The plains are densely populated. They are
 Being a low gradient plain, rivers often less than one third in area but supports
change their course. over 40% of the India’s population.

The Lower Ganga Plain – Think!!

 It extends from Patna to the Bay of Bengal.  Agriculture not only depends on the
 Moving Eastward, the river suddenly fertility of soil but on water availability.
changes its course towards South and  Try to find out the changing pattern of
drains in Bay of Bengal. crops according to the change in rainfall in
 It is prone to flooding and is full with new the Northern Fertile plain.
sediments.
 The region is under intensive rice farming
Do You Know?
and aquaculture.
 Mizoram is also known as the ‘Molassis
The Brahmaputra Plain basin’.
 It is the easternmost part of the Great  Loktak Lake is in Manipur. It hosts only
plains of India. floating National Park in the World – Kebul
 It is about 720 km long and 80 km wide. Lamjao. Sangai, an antlered dear is
 It receives its deposits from large endemic to it.
Brahmaputra River.  Lepcha is a tribe of Himalayan range live at
 Due to very low gradient, Brahmaputra is the North-East corner of India. They
highly braided and has many riverine largely reside at Meghalaya, Arunachal
islands. Majauli is the largest riverine island Pradesh, Bhutan, Sikkim and Darjeeling.
of the world. Lepchas are Mongoloid tribe.
 Rice and jute are the main crops of this  The Distance between two longitudes
region. decreases towards the poles whereas the
distance between two latitudes remains
Significance of the Great plains of India
the same everywhere.
 The plains are often termed as the
 The Dooars or Duars are the alluvial
‘Granary of India’. The soils of the plains
floodplains in north-eastern India that lie
are one of the most fertile soils of India.
south of the outer foothills of the
They are being devoted to cereal and non
Himalayas and north of the Brahmaputra
– cereal crops.
River basin.
 They have rich underground water table.
 Rohi are the fertile tracts of land in the
The underground water is utilized with the
Rajasthan plains composed of Rajasthan
help of wells and tube wells for irrigation,
Bagar, which is semi-arid plain in the
industrial and domestic needs.
eastern side of the desert.
 The rivers of the plains have very gentle
 Aravalli Ranges are the oldest mountain
gradient which makes them navigable for
ranges of India. Their base is made of
long distances.
Archean rock formation. They are too
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degraded by erosion. Himalayas are the defining the present-day tectonic
youngest mountain ranges and are still boundary between the Indian plate and
rising. the Himalayan orogenic prism.
 The Purvachal comprises the Patkai hills,  The frontal Siwalik range is characterized
the Naga hills, Manipur hills and the Mizo by large active anticline structures, which
hills. Purvachal or the Eastern hills and were developed as fault propagation and
mountains are part of the Himalayan fault-bend folds in the hanging wall of the
Mountain system having their general HFT.
alignment from the north to the south  Fault scarps showing surface ruptures and
direction. offsets observed in excavated trenches
indicate that the HFT is active.
Cordillera  Mizoram is known as LAND OF ROLLING
 It is a system of mountain ranges that MOUNTAINS, i.e. it has huge number of
often consist of a number of more or less mountains formation of most mountains
parallel chains. are accompanied by formation of foreland
basin or in simple terms valley type
 Cordilleras are an extensive feature in the depression which runs parallel to
Americas and Eurasia. mountains.
 In North America the Rocky Mountains, the  These depressions get accumulated
Sierra Nevadas, and the mountains with unconsolidated deposits known as
between them are collectively known as Molasses basin.
the Cordilleras, and the entire area has
been termed the Cordilleran region. Previous Year Questions:
 The term Cordillera is used with a Q.) Which one of the following pairs of islands is
directional modifier (e.g., Cordillera separated from each other by the ‘Ten Degree
Oriental) to differentiate the various chains Channel’?
of the Andes Mountains as they extend a) Andaman and Nicobar
through Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, and b) Nicobar and Sumatra
other countries in South America. c) Maldives and Lakshadweep
d) Sumatra and Java
 Himalayas, Rockies, Andies etc. are all
cordilleras as they have multiple parallel
Q.) With reference to the Indus River system, of
chains of mountain.
the following four rivers, three of them pour into
Syntaxial Bends one of the which joins the Indus direct. Among the
 The general East – West trend of Himalayas following, which one is such river that joins the
is terminated abruptly at the eastern and Indus direct?
western extremities and ranges are sharply a) Chenab
bent southwards in deep knee bend b) Jhelum
flextures. These are called Syntaxial bends. c) Ravi
d) Sutlej
Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT)
 In the Sub-Himalayan zone, the frontal Q.) Consider the following Rivers:
Siwalik range abuts against the alluvial 1. Brahmani
plain with an abrupt physiographic break 2. Nagavali
along the Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT), 3. Subarnarekha
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4. Vamsadhara  The Meghalaya Mikir Uplands
Which of the above rise from the Eastern Ghats?  The North Deccan
a) 1 and 2  The South Deccan
b) 2 and 4  The Western Ghats
c) 3 and 4  The Eastern Ghats
d) 1 and 3

The Peninsular Plateau

 The Peninsular plateau is a triangular

shaped table land. It is part of ancient land
mass called Gondwana level. The The North Central Highlands:
Peninsular plateau is composed of the old  The central highlands of peninsular India
crystalline, igneous and metamorphic include the Aravallis, The Malwa Plateau
rocks. and the Vindhyan Range.
 It was formed due to the breaking and
drifting of the Gondwana land making it a The Aravallis:
part of the oldest landmass.
 The plateau has broad and shallow valleys
and rounded hills.
 It is spread over the states of Gujarat,
Maharashtra, Bihar, Karnataka and Andhra
Pradesh.
The physiographic regions of peninsular plateau:
 The North Central Highlands
 The South-Central Highlands
 The Eastern Plateau

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 It is one of the resource rich regions of
 It runs from North East to South West for India. It contains good quality iron ore,
800 km between Delhi to Gujarat. mica, bituminous coal etc.
 It is one of the oldest folding mountain
The Meghalaya Plateau:
ranges of the World.
 It consists of the Garo, Khasi, Jaintia hills
 It is highly denuded. Its highest peak is
and the outlying Mikir and Rengma Hills.
Guru Shikhar.
 It is detached from the Indian Peninsular by
 The Great Boundary Fault (GBF) separates
the Malda Gap.
Aravallis from Vindhyan mountains.
 The Shillong peak is the highest elevation
The Malwa Plateau:
 It is bordered by the Aravallis in the North,
Vindhyan range in the South and
Bundelkhand plateau in the East.
 Malwa plateau has two drainage systems,
one towards the Arabian Sea (Narmada
and Mahi) and other towards Bay of Bengal
(Chambal, Sind, Betwa, Ken).

The South-Central Highlands:

 It has got two parts – Bundelkhand and
Baghelkhand

Bundelkhand:
 It stretches over the districts of Banda,
Hamirpur, Jalaun, Jhansi, and Lalitpur in UP
and Datia, Chhatarpur and Panna in MP. (1823 m) in the Meghalaya plateau.
 The rivers like betwa, Dhasan and Ken have
carved out steep gorges, rapids, cataracts Deccan Traps
and waterfalls.
 The Deccan Traps are a large igneous
Baghelkhand: province located on the Deccan Plateau of
 It includes the plateaus of Satna and Rewa west-central India (17–24°N, 73–74°E).
in MP and Mirzapur in UP. Its elevation They are one of the largest volcanic
varies from 150 – 1200 m with uneven features on Earth. They consist of multiple
relief. layers of solidified flood basalt that
 The region is drained by Narmada and Son. together are more than 2,000 m (6,600 ft).
 Deccan traps are one of the largest
The Chotanagpur Plateau:
volcanic features on Earth. They consist of
 The Chotanagpur plateau sprawls over
multiple layers of solidified flood basalt
parts of West Bengal, Jharkhand,
that together are more than 2,000 m
Chattisgarh, Odisha, and northern part of
Telangana.

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The North Deccan: The Western Ghats
 It includes the entire state of Maharashtra,  The Western Ghats (Sanskrit – Sahyadris)
except the Konkan coast and Sahyadris. run parallel to the western coast for about
 It is covered by the Basalt of Cretaceous 1600 km in the north – south direction
period. from the mouth of the Tapi River to
 The basaltic sheet has a thickness of 3 km
in the western part which diminishes
towards the East and South East.
 It is covered by black soil famous for cotton
cultivation.

The South Deccan:

 The South Deccan consists of three parts –
Karnataka Plateau, Telangana Plateau and
Tamil Nadu Uplands.

Karnataka Plateau
 The plateau spans in the state of Karnataka Kanyakumari.
and the Cannanore and Kozhikode district  The western slope of Sahyadri is strep
of Kerala. while the Eastern slope is gentle.
 The plateau has an average elevation of  These are Block Mountains formed by
600 – 900 m. down warping of a part of land in the
 The Northern upland of Karnataka plateau Arabian Sea.
is called Malnad while the Southern part is  They form a watershed of the peninsula.
called Maidan. The eastern side of Sahyadris is semi-arid.
 It is drained by Kaveri and Tungabhadra  Most of the important rivers of Peninsular
rivers. India Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri
The Telangana Plateau originate from the Western Ghats.
 The plateau of Telangana consists of  Jog falls on the Sharavati River is the
Dharwar and Cuddapah rock formations. highest waterfall of India.
 Hyderabad is situated on Telangana  Highest peak of Western Ghats is Anaimudi
in Annamalai hills.
plateau.
 The Western Ghats is very continuous and
The Tamil Nadu uplands have very few passes. Important passes are
 This lies between the South Sahyadris and Bal ghat, Thal ghat and Palghat.
Tamil Nadu coastal plains.  Windward side of Western Ghats receives
 It is largely covered by Archean Rocks. At very high rainfall. Because of this it has
places there are Cuddapah and Alluvial tropical rainforest. It is one of the
Formations. biodiversity hotspots of the World.
 Between Coimbatore and Annamalai,
there is a broad gap, known as Palakkad The Eastern Ghats
Gap. This is about 25 km wide and connects  The Eastern Ghats are discontinuous low
Kerala coast and Tamil Nadu highlands. belt.

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 Their average elevation is 600 m.  Second, the slope of the mountain has a
direct bearing on the possibility of
precipitation. This is borne out by the
Ghats of Karnataka where the mountains
are gently sloping, compared to the steep
slopes of the Ghats in Maharashtra and
Kerala.
 The air parcel will retain its energy and
 They run parallel to the east coast from speed for a longer time when the slope is
south of Mahanadi valley to the Nilgiri hills. gradual. This will provide sufficient vertical
 The highest peak in this region is motion to cloud droplets to grow by
Mahendragiri (1501 m). collision–coalescence process and hence
 The famous hills are Mahendragiri hills, form precipitation.
Nimaigiri hills in Orissa, Nallamallai hills in  Third, the gentle slope provides a greater
Southern area for sunlight absorption and heating
 Andhra Pradesh, Kollimalai and leading to greater convection when
Pachaimalai in Tamilnadu. compared with an abrupt slope i.e., less
 The area is drained by the Mahanadi, Ghat area such as that of the Maharashtra
Godawari, Krishna and Kaveri River and Kerala Ghats.
systems.  Fourth, the continuous mountain range
 The Nilgiri hills join Western & Eastern presents a greater barrier to rain-bearing
Ghats in the south. winds than a range comprising isolated
mountains with gaps in between where the
Western Ghats in Karnataka receive more winds can easily pass to the leeward side.
monsoon rainfall than Maharashtra and Kerala. Unlike in the case of Kerala, the Ghats in
There are several reasons for this. Maharashtra and Karnataka are
 First, the mountain topography in continuous.
Karnataka is broader than the narrow
topography of the Ghats in Maharashtra. Significance of Peninsular Plateau:
Due to the greater width of the mountains,  The region is rich in both metallic and non-
the rain bearing winds have to necessarily metallic minerals. Mineral ores like iron,
travel a longer distance and have more manganese, copper, bauxite, chromium,
time for the drops to coalesce and mica, gold, silver, zinc, lead, mercury, coal,
precipitate as rainfall, resulting in higher diamond, precious stones, granite, marble
rainfall. In contrast, the narrow width of and building stone.
the Ghats in Maharashtra allows the rain-  About 98% of the Gondwana coal deposits
bearing wind to cross over to the leeward are found in the Peninsular region.
side rapidly before precipitation can occur.  A substantial part of Plateau is covered
 As for Kerala, the Ghats there are in the under black soil. The soil is conducive for
form of isolated mountains, where the the cultivation of cotton, millets, maize,
rain-bearing winds can easily cross over to pulses, orange and citrus fruits.
the leeward side through the gaps in  Some areas of southern peninsula are
between without precipitation occurring. suitable for cultivation for the cultivation

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of tea, coffee, rubber, cashew spices,  It is believed that a large part of Indian
tobacco, groundnut and oil seeds. desert is formed by recession of sea. Many
 The forests provide teak, sal, sandalwood,
ebony, mahogany, bamboo, cane,
rosewood and logwood as well as large
variety of forest products.
 The Ghats are rich in biodiversity of flora
and fauna.
 The hilly and mountainous areas of
peninsula are abodes of many scheduled
tribes. saline regions are found in this region as
 There are numerous hill stations and hill well as saline lakes. Most important saline
resorts which are major attraction for lake of India is Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan.
tourists.
The Coastal Plains of India
Think
 Distinguish between Western Ghats and To the east and west of the peninsular plateau,
Eastern Ghats? (Note: This question has two narrow strips of plain lands are found, which
been asked several times by UPSC.) You are respectively called Eastern Coastal Plain and
can answer this question differentiating Western Coastal Plain.
the Ghats on the basis of Continuity,
Average elevation, extent, vegetation, Eastern Coastal and Western Coastal Plain are
rivers etc. formed by the erosional and depositional &
activities of the Sea waves and from the sediments
The Indian Desert brought by the peninsular rivers.

 The Indian Desert lies towards the western

The Eastern Coastal Plains
margin of Aravalli Hills.  The Eastern Coastal Plains refers to a wide
 It is also called Thar Desert. stretch of landmass of India, lying between
 It is the ninth largest desert in the world. the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal.
 It spreads over the states of Gujarat and  It is wider and leveled than the western
Rajasthan. coastal plains and stretches from Tamil
 This region has semi-arid and arid weather Nadu in the south to West Bengal in the
conditions. It receives less than 150 mm of north through Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
rainfall per year.  Chilka Lake is a brackish water lake along
the eastern coastal plain. It lies in the state
Indian Desert of Odisha and stretches to the south of the
 The vegetation cover is low with thorny Mahanadi Delta.
bushes.
 Deltas of many of India's rivers form a
 Luni is the main river in this area. All other major portion of these plains.
streams appear only at the time of rainfall
 The Mahanadi, Godavari, Kaveri and
otherwise they disappear into the sand.
Krishna rivers drain these plains.
 Western side of Thar Desert contains large
Sand dunes and Seifs.

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 The region receives both the Northeast & as the Karnataka coast. Here the Saraswati
Southwest monsoon rains with its annual River, before entering the plains, descends
rainfall averaging between 1,000 and down a 275 m high cliff and forms the
3,000 mm (39 and 118 in). Gersoppa Falls.
 The width of the plains varies between 100  The Western Coastal Plains extend 1,500
and 130 km (62 to 80 miles). km from Cape Comorin in the south to
 It is locally known as Northern Circars in Surat in north, the width ranging from 10
the northern part between Mahanadi and to 25 km from north to south, the Gujarat
Krishna rivers and Coromandel Coast in Plains the Konkan plains (Daman to Goa,
the southern part between Krishna and 500 km), the Karnataka coastal plains
Kaveri rivers. Together these are known as (225 km south from Goa), and the Kerala
eastern coastal plains. coastal plains from Cannanore to Cape
 Eastern coastal plain receives Comorin, 500 km make up the west coastal
comparatively low rainfall but the Western plains.
coastal plain receives heavy rainfall.  The West Continental shelf is widest
(350 km) off the coast of Bombay where
The Western Coastal Plains the oil-rich Bombay High has become
famous.
Konkan Coast (West Coast)
 Western coastal plain is an example of
 The Western Coastal Plains is a strip of
submerged coastal plain (not emergent). It
coastal plain 50 kilometres in width
provides natural conditions for
between the west coast of India and the
development of ports.
Western Ghats hills, which starts near the
south of the Tapi River.
 The plains are located between the
Western Coastal Plains Eastern Coastal
Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. The Plains
plains begin at Gujarat in the north and end It lies between the lies It lies between the
at Kerala in the south. It includes the states in between the Eastern Ghats and
of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka. Western Ghats and the the Bay of Bengal.
 The region consists of three sections: the Arabian Sea
Northern part of the coast is called the It is divided into three It is divided into
stretches- Konkan two stretches-
Konkan (Mumbai-Goa), the central stretch
(Mumbai-Goa), Northern Circar
is called the Kanara, while the southern Kannad(central stretch) (northern part)
stretch is referred to as the Malabar Coast. and Malabar(southern and Coromandel
 On its northern side there are two gulfs: stretch). Coast (southern
the Gulf of Khambat and the Gulf of Kutch. part)
 The rivers along the coast form estuaries The short rivers do not The large rivers
make any deltas on the make wide deltas
and provide conditions ideal for
West Coast. on the Eastern
pisciculture. Coastal Plains.
 The northern portion of the west coast is The West Coast Plain is The East Coast
called Konkan and the southern portion formed by coarse Plain is formed by
Malabar. The south Malabar or Kerala grained soil. It is fine alluvial soil
coast is broken and there are some infertile and and is fertile
lagoons. The north Malabar Coast is known agriculturally not

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prosperous except in especially in the typically in a river
the Malabar Coast. deltaic regions. system, due to the
The Western Coastal Eastern Coastal deposition of
Plain is narrow with a Plain is broader sediment) formed
width of 50 to 65 km. than the West by the rivers
In some places it is so Coast plain. The sediments.
narrow that the width varies from Get maximum
Western Ghats touch 80 to 100 km. cyclonic storms
the Sea water. and fit for
The Western Coast is The Eastern Coast predominantly rice
relatively rocky with is sandy with and jute
sand and sand dunes. It alluvium and cultivation.
slopes abruptly down slopes gently
to the sea. There is no towards the sea. The Islands
lagoon on the northern Sand dunes and India has a total of 615 islands of which 572 lie in
part. It has many marshy lands are Bay of Bengal, and the remaining 43 in the Arabian
estuaries on the also found. In
Sea. Out of the 572 islands of Andaman and
Konkon Coast. But the some Coastal strips
southern part lagoons (Chilka, Nicobar Islands, only 36 are inhabited.
especially the Malabar Pulicat) are Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Coast has the beautiful formed.
scene of back-water
country with a series of
lagoons.
Western Coastal plain This Coastal plain
receives heavy rainfall. receives
comparatively low
rainfall.
It is fault coast and This coast is
shows marks of emergent type
subsidence except in which is
Malabar coast in south characterised by
where evidence of offshore bars, sea
emergence is found. beaches and
lagoons.

In other words,
Western coastal plain is
an example of The Andaman and Nicobar Islands archipelago
submerged coastal consists of approximately 265 small and large
plain (not emergent). It islands.
provides natural
Andaman Islands:
conditions for
 The Andaman Islands are divided into
development of ports.
It is narrow plain It is aggradational three main islands i.e. North, Middle and
drained by many swift plain (It is the term South.
but small rivers. used in geology for  Duncan passage separates Little Andaman
the increase in from South Andaman.
land elevation,
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 Port Blair, the capital of Andaman Nicobar vegetated sand cays above the high-water
Islands lies in the South Andaman. mark. The submerged banks are sunken
 The Andaman group of islands in the north
is separated by the Ten Degree Channel
from the Nicobar group in the south
[Prelims 2014].

atolls.
Nicobar Islands:  Almost all the atolls have a northeast-
 Among the Nicobar Islands, the Great
southwest orientation with the islands
Nicobar is the largest. It is the
lying on the eastern rim, and a mostly
southernmost island and is very close to
submerged reef on the western rim,
Sumatra Island of Indonesia. The Car
enclosing a lagoon.
Nicobar is the northernmost.
 It has 10 inhabited islands, 17 uninhabited
 Most of these islands are made of tertiary
islands, attached islets, 4 newly formed
sandstone, limestone and shale resting on
islets and 5 submerged reefs.
basic and ultrabasic volcanoes [Similar to
 The main islands are Kavaratti, Agatti,
Himalayas].
Minicoy, and Amini.
 THE BARREN AND NARCONDAM ISLANDS,
 Most of the islands have low elevation and
north of Port Blair, are volcanic islands
do not rise more than five metre above sea
(Note: Barren Island is the only active
level (Extremely Vulnerable to sea level
volcano of India.)
change).
 Some of the islands are fringed with coral
 Their topography is flat and relief features
reefs. Many of them are covered with thick
such as hills, streams, valleys, etc. are
forests. Most of the islands are
absent.
mountainous.
 Saddle peak (737 m) in North Andaman is
the highest peak.

Lakshadweep Islands
 Lakshadweep is an archipelago of twelve
atolls, three reefs and five submerged
banks, with a total of about thirty-nine
islands and islets.
 The reefs are in fact also atolls, although
mostly submerged, with only small un-

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Bangaram Atoll, Lakshadweep which a stream receives runoff, through flow, and
Think!! groundwater flow. The number, size, and shape of
 What are the differences between the the drainage basins found in an area vary.
formations of Andaman and Nicobar
Island, and Lakshadweep Islands? Drainage systems are regarded as the
 How many types of islands can be there? Fundamental geomorphic as well as hydrological
Are they all represented in the Indian units for a systematic study of river basins mainly
group of Islands? due to the following reasons:
 They can be placed in an orderly hierarchy.
Drainage System  They are aerial units whose
geomorphological and hydrological
characteristics can be measured
quantitatively.
 They can be treated as working systems
with energy inputs of climatological
variables like temperature and rainfall and
output of river discharge as runoff.

Process of formation of drainage system:

Water naturally travels downhill, pulled by the
force of gravity, to collect in streams, which
eventually carry the water back to the ocean.
Streams are fed by the seepage of groundwater,
melting of ice, lakes and surface runoff from
In this part we will discuss about the natural
precipitation.
drainage of India. In order to understand a natural
drainage system, it is first important to understand
When rainfall occurs too quickly to be absorbed in
what exactly drainage is.
the ground, water travels directly over the surface
as overland flow.
Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a
 Sheet Flow: Where the soil or rock surface
surface's water and sub-surface water from an
is smooth, the flow may be in a form of
area. The tendency of water is to flow down the
continuous thin film, called Sheet flow.
slope.
 Rills: If the ground is rough or pitted,
overland flow may be made of a series of
Natural Drainage Systems: tiny rivulets, connecting one water filled
In geomorphology, drainage systems, also known
hollow to another. These are called the
as river systems, are the patterns formed by the
rills.
streams, rivers, and lakes in a particular drainage
 Streams: These rills down the slope,
basin. They are governed by the topography of the
connects with each other and starts
land, whether a particular region is dominated by
flowing in channels which later form big
hard or soft rocks, and the gradient of the land.
streams.
Geomorphologists and hydrologists often view
streams as being part of drainage basins. A
This network of streams and the sloping ground
drainage basin is the topographic region from
surfaces next to the channels that contribute
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overland flow to the streams are together called
drainage systems.

Note: Kindly understand and remember the above

the definition of drainage system. This sums up the
whole story.

Stream Channel:
It is trough shaped by the force of flowing water.
A channel may be so narrow that you can jump
across it or in case of Brahmaputra River it can be  Dendritic drainage systems are the most
as wide as 12 km. common form of drainage system.
 In a dendritic system, there are many
Scientists and geographers who study streams contributing streams (analogous to the
measure them by their cross-section area (A), twigs of a tree), which are then joined
which depends on the width (w) and depth (d) of together into the tributaries of the main
their channels. river (the branches and the trunk of the
tree, respectively).
Two other key characteristics are stream velocity  They develop where the river channel
(V), which measures how rapidly the water is follows the slope of the terrain. Dendritic
flowing in the stream and discharge (Q), which systems form in V-shaped valleys; as a
measures the volume of water per unit of time result, the rock types must be impervious
passing through a cross section of the stream at and non-porous.
that location.
Parallel Drainage Pattern

The slope gradient (S) of the stream is also an

important characteristic which defines the
velocity, discharge and turbulence of the stream.

Drainage Pattern
A geometric arrangement of streams in a region,
determined by slope, differing rock resistance to
erosion, climate, hydrological variability and
structural controls of the landscape is known as a
drainage pattern.
 A parallel drainage system is a pattern of
In simple terms, drainage pattern refers to the rivers caused by steep slopes with some
design which a river and its tributaries form relief. Because of the steep slopes, the
together from source to its mouth. streams are swift and straight, with very
According to the shape of the tributaries following few tributaries, and all flow in the same
types of Drainage patterns are found: direction.
 This system forms on uniformly sloping
Dendritic Drainage Pattern surfaces, for example, rivers flowing

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southeast from the Aberdare Mountains in to preferentially open the joints and
Kenya. streams eventually develop along the
 Parallel drainage patterns form where joints.
there is a pronounced slope to the surface.  The result is a stream system in which
A parallel pattern also develops in regions streams consist mainly of straight-line
of parallel, elongate landforms like segments with right angle bends and
outcropping resistant rock bands. tributaries join larger streams at right
 A parallel pattern sometimes indicates the
presence of a major fault that cuts across
an area of steeply folded bedrock.

Trellis Drainage Pattern

angles.

Radial Drainage Pattern

 The geometry of a trellis drainage system is
similar to that of a common garden trellis In a radial drainage
used to grow vines. system, the streams
 As the river flows along a strike valley, radiate outwards
smaller tributaries feed into it from the from a central high
steep slopes on the sides of mountains. point. Volcanoes
 These tributaries enter the main river at usually display
approximately 90 degree angle, causing a excellent radial
trellis-like appearance of the drainage drainage. In India it
system. is nicely exhibited by Amarkantak Mountain.
 This pattern is found usually in old
degraded areas like Chota Nagpur plateau, Centripetal Drainage Pattern
Deccan plateau etc.  The centripetal drainage system is similar
to the radial drainage system, with the only
Rectangular Drainage Pattern exception that radial drainage flows out
 Rectangular drainage develops on rocks versus centripetal drainage flows in.
that are of approximately uniform  When streams from surrounding area
resistance to erosion, but which have two come towards on sink in the middle it is
directions of joining at approximately right called centripetal drainage.
angles.
 The joints are usually less resistant to
erosion than the bulk rock so erosion tends

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Deranged Drainage Pattern patterns. Angles are both more and less
 A deranged drainage system is a drainage than 90 degrees.
system in drainage basins where there is  The Drainage Patterns are also categorized
no coherent pattern to the rivers and lakes. on the factor that whether the stream is
It happens in areas where there has been confirming to the geology of a place or not.
much geological disruption. The classic
example is the Canadian Shield. Accordant Drainage Pattern
 A drainage system is described as
 During the last ice age, the topsoil was
accordant if its pattern correlates to the
scraped off, leaving mostly bare rock. The
structure and relief of the landscape over
melting of the glaciers left land with many
which it flows.
irregularities of elevation, and a great deal
 This means that stream confirms to the
of water to collect in the low points,
slope of a place.
explaining the large number of lakes which
are found in Canada. The drainage basins Discordant Drainage Pattern
are young and are still sorting themselves  A drainage pattern is described as
out. Eventually the system will stabilize. discordant if it does not correlate to the
 In India deranged pattern is very rare. topography and geology of the area.
Discordant drainage patterns are classified
into two main types: antecedent and
Annular Drainage Pattern
superimposed, while anteposition
drainage patterns combine the two.
 In an
 In antecedent drainage, a river's vertical
annular
incision ability matches that of land uplift
drainage
due to tectonic forces.
pattern
streams  Superimposed drainage develops
follow a differently: initially, a drainage system
roughly develops on a surface composed of
circular or 'younger' rocks, but due to denudative
concentric activities this surface of younger rocks is
path along a belt of weak rock, resembling removed and the river continues to flow
in plan a ring-like pattern. over a seemingly new surface, but one in
fact made up of rocks of old geological
 It is best displayed by streams draining a
formation.
maturely dissected structural dome or
basin where erosion has exposed rimming
sedimentary strata of greatly varying
degrees of hardness.
 In India many small Himalayan streams
show this pattern.

Angular Drainage Pattern

 Angular drainage patterns form where
bedrock joints and faults intersect at more
acute angles than rectangular drainage

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Drainage Basin  Endorheic drainage basins are inland
basins that do not drain to an ocean.
Around 18% of all land drains to endorheic
lakes or seas or sinks.
 The largest of these consists of much of the
interior of Asia, which drains into the
Caspian Sea, the Aral Sea, and numerous
smaller lakes. Other endorheic regions
include the Great Basin in the United
States, much of the Sahara Desert, the
drainage basin of the Okavango River
(Kalahari Basin), highlands near the African
Great Lakes, the interiors of Australia and
the Arabian Peninsula, and parts in Mexico
A drainage basin or catchment area is any area of
and the Andes. Some of these, such as the
land where precipitation collects and drains off
Great Basin, are not single drainage basins
into a common outlet, such as into a river, bay, or
but collections of separate, adjacent closed
other body of water.
basins.
The drainage basin includes all the surface water
from rain runoff, snowmelt, and nearby streams
that run downslope towards the shared outlet, as
well as the groundwater underneath the earth's
surface.
Drainage basins connect into other drainage
basins at lower elevations in a hierarchical pattern,
with smaller sub-drainage basins, which in turn
drain into another common outlet.
The drainage basin acts as a funnel by collecting all
the water within the area covered by the basin and
channeling it to a single point. Each drainage basin
is separated topographically from adjacent basins Endorheic Drainage Basin in Central Asia
by a perimeter, the drainage divide, making up a
 In endorheic bodies of standing water
succession of higher geographical features (such
where evaporation is the primary means of
as a ridge, hill or mountains) forming a barrier.
water loss, the water is typically more
Drainage basins are similar but not identical to
saline than the oceans. An extreme
hydrologic units, which are drainage areas
example of this is the Dead Sea.
delineated so as to nest into a multi-level
 In India lakes of Rajasthan, Bhopal,
hierarchical drainage system. Hydrologic units are
Bangalore acts as inland sink are area
defined to allow multiple inlets, outlets, or sinks.
around them act as endorheic drainage
In a strict sense, all drainage basins are hydrologic
basin.
units but not all hydrologic units are drainage
basins.
Catchment Factors
Catchment factors determine the amount of water
Endorheic Drainage Basins flowing into the stream.
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Topography pavements, and roads will be collected by
 Generally, topography plays a big part in rivers with almost no absorption into the
how fast runoff will reach a river. Rain that groundwater.
falls in steep mountainous areas will reach
the primary river in the drainage basin Uses of Drainage Basin:
faster than flat or lightly sloping areas
(e.g., > 1% gradient). Geopolitical Boundaries:
 Drainage basins have been historically
Shape important for determining territorial
 Shape will contribute to the speed with boundaries, particularly in regions where
which the runoff reaches a river. A long trade by water has been important.
thin catchment will take longer to drain
Hydrological studies:
than a circular catchment.
 In hydrology, the drainage basin is a logical
Size
unit of focus for studying the movement of
 Size will help determine the amount of
water within the hydrological cycle,
water reaching the river, as the larger the
because the majority of water that
catchment the greater the potential for
discharges from the basin outlet originated
flooding. It also determined on the basis of
as precipitation falling on the basin.
length and width of the drainage basin.
Topographical studies:
Soil type  Drainage basins are the principal
 Soil type will help determine how much hydrologic unit considered in fluvial
water reaches the river. Certain soil types geomorphology. A drainage basin is the
such as sandy soils are very free-draining, source for water and sediment that moves
and rainfall on sandy soil is likely to be from higher elevation through the river
absorbed by the ground. However, soils system to lower elevations as they reshape
containing clay can be almost the channel forms.
impermeable and therefore rainfall on clay  Note: Fluvial landforms are the landforms
soils will run off and contribute to flood made by running water on the surface.
volumes. After prolonged rainfall even
Ecological impact
free-draining soils can become saturated,
 Drainage basins are important in ecology.
meaning that any further rainfall will reach
As water flows over the ground and along
the river rather than being absorbed by the
rivers it can pick up nutrients, sediment,
ground. If the surface is impermeable the
and pollutants. With the water, they are
precipitation will create surface run-off
transported towards the outlet of the
which will lead to higher risk of flooding; if
basin, and can affect the ecological
the ground is permeable, the precipitation
processes along the way as well as in the
will infiltrate the soil.
receiving water source.
 Quality of water determines the quality of
Land use
life of flora and fauna and also the diversity
 Land use can contribute to the volume of
in the stream.
water reaching the river, in a similar way to
clay soils. For example, rainfall on roofs, Resource Management:

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 Rivers and streams are the most important  Minor river basin: River basins with a
source of fresh water. They are used for catchment area of less than 2000 sq km are
agricultural, industrial and household uses. known as minor river basin.
 Controlling the drainage basin, we can plan
Details of Major River basins of India are as
the use of fresh water accordingly. Also,
follows:
there are many resources that we obtain
from these streams like fishes, inland
navigation, aquaculture, sand mining etc.

Disaster Management:
 Disasters like flash floods, cloud bursts,
flooding etc. can be mitigated by
controlling the drainage basin.

Indian Drainage

About 77% of the drainage area consisting of the

Ganga, the Brahmaputra, the Mahanadi, the
Krishna, etc. is oriented towards the Bay of Bengal.

On the other hand, 23% comprising the Indus, the

Narmada, the Tapi, the Mahi, and the Periyar
systems discharge their waters in the Arabian Sea.

River Basin Basin Area Percentage Annual

Drainage Basins in India (km2) area discharge
Drainage basins of India can be classified on the (m3/km2)
Ganga 861404 26.2 468700
basis of the size of drainage basin as well as the
Indus 321284 9.8 79500
origin of rivers. Godavari 312812 9.5 118000
Krishna 258,948 7.9 62,800
Classification of the basis of size: Brahmaputra 258008 7.8 627000
On the basis of the size of catchment area, the Mahanadi 141589 4.3 66640
river basins of India have been classified into three Narmada 98795 3.0 54600
Kaveri 87900 2.7 20950
categories.
Tapi 65150 2.0 17982
 Large river basins: River basins with a Pennar 55213 1.7 3238
catchment area of more than 20,000 sq km Brahmani 39033 1.2 18310
are known as large river basins. Mahi 34481 1.0 11800
 Medium River basins: River basins with a Subarnarekha 21895 0.7 7940
catchment area between 20,000 sq km to Sabarmati 19296 0.6 3800
2000 sq km are known as medium river Medium and 711833 23.6 -
minor rivers
basin.

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Classification on the basis of Origin:
On the basis of origin, two broad drainage systems First Theory: First theory was given by Pascoe and
are recognized Pilgrim independently in 1919.
1. The Himalayan Drainage Hypothesis: They assumed that there was an
2. The Peninsular Drainage ancient mighty river flowed from Assam to Punjab.
This hypothetical ancient river was called the Indo-
The Himalayan Drainage
Brahm by E.H. Pascoe who thought that the
present-day Indus and Brahmaputra were the
severed parts of the original river.
However, it was named as the Shiwalik River by
E.G. Pilgrim who considered that the course of the
primitive river is occupied by the present day
Shiwalik hills.

These rivers are again subdivided into two

groups – Trans Himalayan and Himalayan.
 The Trans-Himalayan Rivers originate
beyond the Great Himalayas. These are
the Indus, the Sutlej and the
Brahmaputra rivers.
 Himalayan rivers are those which
originate in the Himalayas and flow
through the Northern Plains, e.g., the
Ganga, the Yamuna and their tributaries.
These rivers are useful for irrigation and
navigation and the lowlands drained by
The river came into being due to earth movements
them have fertile alluvial deposits. which took place in Tertiary period and is believed
 The Himalayan drainage system comprises to be successor of the Himalayan Sea. In the
of all the International Rivers of India i.e., Eocene Epoch a gulf extended from Sind to
Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra. Afghanistan and from there extended eastward
 Most of these rivers are perennial in nature and south-eastward through Kohat and Punjab to
obtaining their water from glaciers and the neighbourhood of Nainital.
rains. These rivers are in their youthful This gulf gave place to a great river. With its
Stage carving out a number of erosional headwater consisting of portions of the
landforms like waterfalls, cataracts, rapids, Brahmaputra, this master stream flowed along the
gorges etc. foot of the Himalayas first westward and then
north-westward as far as north-western Punjab
Evolution Himalayan Drainage: where it turned southward more or less along the
Note: Since the theory is given in NCERT, we are course of the modern Indus, and emptied itself
explaining it here in the module. However, the into the Arabian Sea.
theories are not exactly important for GS
perspective. It is just for better understanding.
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Later, this mighty stream got dismembered into drainage lines were not fully defined.
the following systems and sub-systems: The second Himalayan upheaval during the mid-
 The Indus, Miocene period increased the altitude of the
 The five tributaries of the Indus in Punjab, medium mass and the bordering ranges. The
 The Ganga and its Himalayan tributaries, remnant sea was also raised to form landmass.
and The rise in land resulted in greater and more
 The stretch of the Brahmaputra in Assam invigorated drainage.
and its Himalayan tributaries. The third Himalayan upheaval during the
Pleistocene period resulted in the folding of the
The dismemberment was the result of the Shiwalik foredeep into hill ranges. Also, the height
following two events: of earlier ranges and the Tibetan plateau was
(i) Upheavals in the western Himalayas including raised. The rise in the Tibetan plateau blocked the
the Potwar Plateau in the Pleistocene age and streams that had gone northward into the Tibetan
(ii) Headward erosion by the tributaries of the Sea.
Indobrahma River. These streams were diverted east or west which
As a result of the above-mentioned probably led to the formation of the trans-
dismemberment of the Indobrahma River, the Himalayan master stream. This master stream was
Indus and its tributaries, the Ganga and its broken into two (the proto-Indus and the proto-
tributaries and the Brahmaputra and its tributaries Brahmaputra) by the formation of the Kailas
came into being. It is supposed that the Yamuna Range. The uplift of the Shiwalik range gave rise to
was first a tributary of the Indus. the last set of consequents originating on the crest
of the range emptying into older streams.
Second Theory:
Second theory was developed by E. Ahmad (1965
Ganga River System
– 71). The Ganga is a trans-boundary river of Asia which
He believed that the Tethys remained as a basin of flows through the nations of India and Bangladesh.
sedimentation from the Cambrian to the Eocene The 2,525 km (1,569 mi) river rises in the western
period but the major portion of the Himalayan Himalayas in Uttarakhand, and flows south and
region as occupied by the Gondwana landmass. east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into
Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of
The first upheaval of Himalayas in Oligocene time Bengal.
initiated the Himalayan Drainage.
As the formation of east-west
ranges created east-west valleys,
the rivers partly flowed along these
valleys. This is indicated by the
upper course of several rivers such
as the Indus, the Sutluj, the
Brahmaputra, the Shyok, the Arun,
etc. Since the whole of the Tethys
was not fully raised to become land
surface, there existed patches of
sea along the margins and the

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It is the third largest river in the world by Panch Prayag
discharge.
Course of Ganga:  After travelling 280 km from its source, the
 The main stem of the Ganges begins at the Ganga reaches Haridwar, debouches from
confluence of the Bhagirathi and the hills and enters plain area. From here it
Alaknanda rivers in the town of Devprayag flows in south and south-east direction for
in the Garhwal division of the Indian state a distance of 770 km to reach Allahabad.
of Uttarakhand. Here it is joined by the Yamuna which is its
 Although many small streams comprise the most important tributary.
headwaters of the Ganges, the six longest  It sweeps another 300 km eastwards to
and their five confluences are considered reach the Bihar plain. Near Rajmahal Hills it
sacred. The six headstreams are the turns to the southeast and south of
Alaknanda, Dhauliganga, Nandakini, Farraka, it ceases to be known as the
Pindar, Mandakini, and Bhagirathi rivers. Ganga. It bifurcates itself into Bhagirathi-
Hugli in West Bengal and Padma-Meghna
The five confluences, known as the Panch Prayag, in Bangladesh. After traversing 220 km
are all along the Alaknanda. They are, in further down in Bangladesh, the
downstream order, Brahmaputra (or the Jamuna as it is known
 Vishnuprayag, where the Dhauliganga here) joins it at Goalundo and after
joins the Alaknanda; meeting Meghna 100 km downstream the
 Nandprayag, where the Nandakini joins; Ganga joins the Bay of Bengal.
 Karnaprayag, where the Pindar joins,
 Before entering the Bay of Bengal, the
 Rudraprayag, where the Mandakini joins;
Ganga, along with Brahmputra, forms the
 Devprayag, where the Bhagirathi joins the
largest delta of the world between two
Alaknanda to form the Ganges River
arms: the Bhagirathi / Hugli and the Padma
proper.
/ Meghna covering an area of 58,752 sq
km.

This basin is shared by ten

states.
 These states are
Uttaranchal and Uttar
Pradesh (34.2%), Madhya
Pradesh and Chhattisgarh
(23.1%), Bihar and
Jharkhand (16.7%),
Rajasthan (13.0%), West
Bengal (8.3%), Haryana
(4.0%) and Himachal
Pradesh (0.5%). The Union
Territory of Delhi accounts
for 0.2% of the total area
of the Ganga Basin.

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Right Bank Tributaries of Ganga Left Bank Tributaries of Ganga
 Yamuna River  Ramganga River
 Chambal River  Gomati River
 Banas River  Ghaghra River
 Sind River  Kali River
 Betwa River  Gandak River
 Ken River  Burhi Gandak
 Son River  Bagmati River
 Damodar River  Kosi River

The following table gives the details of important

tributaries of Ganga:

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The Indus River System  After entering J&K it flows between the
Ladakh and the Zaskar Ranges. It flows
 It flows in north-west direction from its through the regions of Ladakh, Baltistan
source (Glaciers of Kailas Range – Kailash and Gilgit.
range in Tibet near Lake Manasarovar) till  The gradient of the river in J&K is very
the Nanga Parbhat Range. gentle (about 30 cm per km).
 Average elevation at which
the Indus flows through JK is
about 4000 m above sea
level.
 It is joined by the Zaskar
River at Leh (these kinds of
points are important for
prelims).
 Near Skardu, it is joined by
the Shyok at an elevation of
about 2,700 m.
 The Gilgit, Gartang, Dras,
Shiger, Hunza are the other
Himalayan tributaries of the
Indus.
 It crosses the Himalayas
(ends its mountainous
journey) through a 5181 m
deep gorge near Attock, lying
north of the Nanga Parbat. It
takes a sharp southerly bend
here (syntaxial bend).
 Kabul river from
Afghanistan joins Indus near
Attock. Thereafter it flows
through the Potwar plateau
and crosses the Salt Range
 The Indus originates from a glacier near (South Eastern edge of
Bokhar Chu in the Tibetan region at an Potwar Plateau).
altitude of 4,164 m in the Kailash Mountain  Some of the important tributaries below
range. Attock include the Kurram, Toch and the
 Its length is about 2,900 km. Its total Zhob-Gomal.
drainage area is about 1,165,000 square  Just above Mithankot, the Indus receives
km [more than half of it lies in semiarid from Panjnad (Panchnad), the
plains of Pakistan]. It is joined by Dhar accumulated waters of the five eastern
River near Indo-China border. tributaries—the Jhelum, the Chenab, the
Ravi, the Beas and the Satluj.

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 The Indus enters into Pakistan near Chillar flowing through the Chamba valley of the
in the Dardistan region. state, Ravi is one of the important
 Major tributaries of Indus are the Shyok, tributaries of the Indus.
the Gilgit, the Zaskar, the Hunza, the  Beas: Originating from the Beas Kund near
Nubra, the Shigar, the Gasting, and the the Rohtang Pass at an elevation of 4,000
Dras in the upper part. m above the mean sea level, Beas is also an
 Jhelum rises from a spring at Verinag important tributary of the Indus.
situated at the foot of the Pir Panjal. o Beas enters into the Punjab plains
o The Jhelum flows through Srinagar and meets with the Satluj near
and the Wular Lake before entering Harike.
into Pakistan.  Satluj: Also, popular as Langchen Khambab
o Jhelum joins the Chenab near Jhang (in Tibet), the Satluj originates from the
in Pakistan. Rakas Lake near Mansarovar at an altitude
 Chenab: Formed by two streams i.e. the of 4,555 m in Tibet.
Chandra and the Bhaga, the Chenab is the o The Satluj passes through the
largest tributary of the Indus. Shipki La on the Himalayan ranges
o Chenab is also known as and enters into the Punjab plains.
Chandrabhaga. o The Satluj is the river that feeds the
o The Chenab flows about 1,180 km canal system of the Bhakra Nangal
before entering into Pakistan. project.
 Ravi: Originating from the Rohtang pass in
The following table gives the details of tributaries
the Kullu hills of Himachal Pradesh and of Indus:

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The Brahmaputra is one of the major rivers of

The Brahmaputra River System Asia, a trans-boundary river which flows through
China, India and Bangladesh. As such, it is known
by various names in the region.
 It is also called Tsangpo-Brahmaputra
(when referring to the whole river
including the stretch within Tibet).
 With its origin in the Angsi glacier, located
on the northern side of the Himalayas in
Burang County of Tibet as the Yarlung
Tsangpo River, it flows across southern
Tibet to break through the Himalayas in
great gorges (including the Yarlung

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Tsangpo Grand Canyon) and into Characteristics of Himalayan Rivers
Arunachal Pradesh (India).  Large Catchment area: The drainage basin
 It flows southwest through the Assam of the Himalayan Rivers covers an area of
Valley as Brahmaputra and south through millions of square km.
Bangladesh as the Jamuna (not to be  Youth Stage: Himalayan Rivers are in their
mistaken with Yamuna of India). youth stage and have high erosive
 In the vast Ganges Delta, it merges with the tendencies.
Padma, the popular name of the river  Perennial character: Himalayan Rivers
Ganges in Bangladesh, and finally the receive their water from Glaciers and
Meghna and from here it is known as monsoon rains. Hence, they have water
Meghna before emptying into the Bay of across the year and not only in the rainy
Bengal. season.
 Major left bank tributaries of the  Deep gorges: because of severe erosion,
Brahmaputra are Lohit, Dibang or Sikang, these rivers carve deep gorges on the
Burhi Dihing, and Dhansari. mountains.
 Major right bank tributaries of the  High hydroelectric potential: Since the
Brahmaputra are the Subansiri, Kameng, rivers are coming from a height, they have
Manas, and Sankosh. high hydroelectric potential.
 Deltas: They make large deltas as they
Some of the important Tributaries of carry a large amount to sediment down the
Brahmaputra are given in the following Table:
course.
 Flooding: Himalayan Rivers are prone to
flooding in the lower course.
 Changing course: Because of sudden
increase in the water levels during
monsoon. The Himalayan Rivers are prone
to change in their course.
 Navigability: Large Himalayan Rivers have
enough water in them to support inland
navigability.
 Meanders: In their mature stage they form
large meanders and ox – bow lakes.
Think!!
 What are the important threats faced by
the Himalayan rivers currently?
 Plans for Ganga cleaning have been going
on for a very long time. What according to
you is the problem that government has
still not been able to achieve it?

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Previous Year Questions: in troughs, which are not of their own
making.
Mains  These facts are explained by assuming that
Inter-state river water disputes have remained a the Western Ghats were the original
contentious issue post-independence. Name a few watershed and their subsidence below sea
of the river-water disputes around the country and has disturbed the generally symmetrical
suggest some practical and innovative measures plan of the rivers on either side of the
to resolve this issue. original watershed.

Peninsular Rivers:
The Peninsular drainage system is older than the
The Peninsular Drainage
Himalayan Rivers.
 Broadly they can be categorized as East
Flowing Rivers and West Flowing rivers.

East Flowing Rivers:

Some of the important East Flowing Rivers are:

Mahanadi:
 The Mahanadi rises in the Sihawa range in
Chhattisgarh.
 It is approx. 900 kms long and drains an
area of 1,41,600 square kilometres in
Chhattisgarh and Orissa and drains into
Bay of Bengal.
 The left-bank tributaries of the Mahanadi
Peninsular rivers are the rivers which have their
include the Seonath (longest tributary),
origin in Peninsular India.
Hasdo, Mand and lb, while the Jonk, Ung,
 These rivers have acquired maturity as
Tel are among the right-bank tributaries.
suggested by broad, largely graded and
 It covers the Eastern Ghats.
shallow valleys and the fact that they have
existed for a longer period than the  Hirakund Dam is on this River. It is the
Himalayan rivers, with the exception of longest earthen dam in the world.
limited reaches of some of the rivers where Godavari:
recent faulting has occurred.  The Godavari basin is the largest river
 The beds generally have a subdued system in the peninsula and second only to
gradient, as the erosional forces do not act the Ganga system in India. It drains in Bay
laterally. of Bengal.
 Most of the peninsular rivers flow  It rises from Tribakeshwar in Nasik district
eastwards, as the main watershed runs of Maharashtra, and drains the area of
through the Western Ghats close to the 3,12,812 square kilometres, half of which
west coast. The notable exceptions are the lies in Maharashtra.
Narmada and Tapti which flow westwards

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 Besides Maharashtra, the basin is shared  The Krishna is the second largest east
by Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, flowing Peninsular River.
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.  It rises from a spring near Mahabaleshwar.
 The Godavari flows for a length of 1,465 km Its total length of 1,400 km and drainage
and is often referred to as Vridha Ganga or basin area of 2, 58,948 is shared by
Dakshina Ganga because of its large size Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and
and extent. Andhra Pradesh states.
 The major tributaries of the Godavari are  The Koyna, Yerla, Varna, Panchaganga,
the Pravara, Purna, Manjra, Penganga, Dudhganga, Ghataprabha, Malprabha,
Wainganga, Wardha, Pranhita, Indravati, Bhima, Tungabhadra and Musi are the
Maner and Sabari. main tributaries of the Krishna.
 Asia's largest Lift irrigation project named  The Tungabhadra consists of the Tunga and
"Vishnupuri Prakalp" is constructed on the Bhadra rivers which originate in the
river in Nanded city, Maharashtra. western Karnataka and join just below
 Originates in Western Ghats, covers Shimoga.
Deccan Plateau and Eastern Ghats too.  Similarly, the Tungabhadra meets the
Krishna River near Kurnool town. It has a
total length of 640 km with drainage area
of 71,417 sq. km. Another tributary Bhima
commands a catchment area of 76,614 sq.
km.
 Nagarjunasagar Dam is located on Krishna
River.

Pennar:
 The Pennar basin lies between the Krishna
basin and the Cauvery basin, and drains an
area of 55,213 square kilometres, most of
Krishna: which lies in Karnataka.
 Its principal tributaries are the
Jayamangali, Kunderu, Sagileru, Chitravati,
Papagin, and Cheyyeru.

Cauvery/Kaveri:

 The Kaveri/Cauvery rises in the Brahmagiri

rage of the Western Ghats. It flows for a
length of 800 km before falling into the Bay
of Bengal near Kaveripattinam.
 It drains an area of 87,900 square
kilometres, which is shared by Kerala,
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

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 The Cauvery basin is one of the most  The Narmada rises near Amarkantak in
developed regions of India from the point Madhya Pradesh and flows for 1,300 km,
of view of power and irrigation. while draining an area of 98,796 square
 Triangular Delta- Near Thanjavur in Tamil kilometres, most, of it lying in Madhya
Nadu. Pradesh.
 The left-bank tributaries of the Cauvery  Narmada river is the largest west flowing
include the Herangi, Hemavati, Shimsha river of the peninsula India.
and Arkavati, and the right-bank tributaries  It flows through rift valley between
include the Lakshamantirtha, Kabini, Satpuda and Vindhayan range.
 The Narmada valley is gorge-like and full of
rapids and waterfalls between Handia and
Mandhata.
 The Kapildhara and Dhandhar are the most
important waterfalls.
 The Orisan is the major tributary and
others include the Burhner, Banjar, Shar,
Shakkar, Dudhi, Tawa on the south and the
Hiran, Barna and the Kolar on the north.
 It flows through the states of MP,
Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Suvarnavati, Bhawani and Amravati.  Sardar Sarovar Dam, Omkareshwar
Project, Indira Sagar Project and Tawa
Think Project etc. are located on this.
 What is the point of contention between  It forms estuary and drains into Arabian
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka on sharing of Sea.
Kaveri water?
 How are river disputes resolved in India? Tapti:
 The Tapti is the second largest west-
flowing peninsular river.
West Flowing Rivers:  It is also called twin of Narmada.
There are two large and important west flowing  It rises in the Multai, Betul district of
rivers in Peninsular India. Madhya Pradesh and while flowing for a
length of 724 kilometres, it drains an area
Narmada: of 65,145 square kilometres in Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.
 It also flows through rift valley and Gulf of
Khambat. It also flows through the states
of MP, Maharashtra and Gujarat.
 Girna River, Purna River, Panzara River,
Bori River, Waghur River, and Aner River
are the major tributaries of the river.
 The left-bank tributaries of the Tapti are
Purna, Veghar, Girna, Bori and the Panjhra

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and those joining it on the right bank are  Sabarmati
the Aner, Betul, Ganjal, Arunavati and  Dhadhar
Gomai.  Bhadra
 Ukai Dam, Hatnur Dam, Tawa River Valley  Shetruniji
Project and Kakrapur Dam.  Vaitarna
 Zuari
 Bharathapuzha
Small West Flowing streams:
There are also a large number of coastal streams  Sharavati
draining the narrow coastal plains on the western
edge of the peninsula. There are as many as 600 East Flowing Rivers:
tiny streams which drain the western face of the  Subarnrekha
Western Ghats alone.  Baitarni
The most important among these are the  Brahmani
Mandovi, Zuari and Rachol in Goa; Kalinadi,  Vamsadhara
Gangavalli-Bedti, Sharavati, Tadri and Netravati in  Penneru
Karnataka; Beypore, Ponnam, Bharatapuzha,  Tamrapani
Periyar and Pamba in Kerala.  Palar
All these streams have carved out narrow valleys  Vaigai
with steep gradients and often descend to the
plains in the form of cascades and waterfalls. The Comparison between Himalayan and Peninsular
famous Jog Falls (271 metres) is on the Sharavati Rivers
River. Peninsular Himalayan Rivers
Rivers
1 Rivers are very Rivers are young
old. Some of except some
them are as old antecedent rivers
as Pre – like Indus,
Cambrian Brahmaputra, Satluj
period. etc.
2 They are mostly Many of them are
consequent inconsequent rivers
rivers. like Indus, Satluj,
Kali, Kosi etc.
3 These rivers These rivers
Jog Falls
have relatively generally have large
Think smaller drainage basins.
 Why do West flowing rivers form an basin. Godavari
estuary and not a delta? is an exception
in this case.
4 The channels of The size of the
Some of the small West flowing important rivers these rivers are channel changes
are as follows: broad drastically from
 Periyar origin to mouth.
5 There is hardly Both vertical and
 Mandavi
any vertical lateral erosions are
 Pamba origin. significant.

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6 They have low They carry a huge River Regimes
carrying load of sediments.  The regime of a river is defined as the
capacity. variability in its discharge throughout the
7 These are mainly They are very course of a year in response to
depositional strong erosional as
precipitation, temperature,
agents. well as depositional
evapotranspiration, and drainage basin
agents.
8 They make In the plains they characteristics.
shallow make sharp  In simple terms, the variation in the
meanders meanders and ox quantity of water flowing in a river
bow lakes. throughout the year.
9 They are They are generally  The variability in discharge over the course
generally not navigable in plains.
of a year is commonly represented by a
navigable
10 They are mostly They are perennial. hydrograph with mean monthly discharge
seasonal variations plotted over the annual time
11 Most of them They have their scale. When interpreting such records of
originate from origin in Himalayas. discharge, it is important to factor in the
Western Ghats time scale over which the average monthly
and Plateau values were calculated. It is particularly
12 They don’t show River capturing is a
difficult to establish a typical annual river
headward common
regime for rivers with high interannual
erosion and river phenomenon.
capturing variability in monthly discharge and/or
13 The East flowing They make only significant changes in the catchment's
rivers make deltas. characteristics (e.g., tectonic influences or
deltas while the introduction of water management
west flowing practices).
rivers make
estuaries.
Factors affecting a River’s regime:
Difference between Estuary and Delta  Seasons: There will be rise in discharge
 Estuary refers to the waterbody, along the during rainy months and fall in the
coast, that are formed when fresh water of discharge in the dry months.
river meets salt water of ocean.  Climate: Rivers that pass through
 Delta connotes a landform that is formed Mediterranean climate tend to have more
by river-borne sediments deposited at the than one peak periods, while rivers like
river mouth when it joins the sea. Nile tend to have more water in summer
 Narmada and Tapi form estuary. because of melting of glacier in Mount
Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery, Kilimanjaro.
Ganga and Brahmaputra form delta.  Geology: Rivers flowing over porous beds
 The estuary is like funnel-shaped, the tends to have low changes in peaks while a
mouth of a river from where the tides river flowing over hard non-porous rock
move in and out. Conversely, Delta is a will have sharp changes.
triangular land at the river mouth  Human Activities: Anthropogenic activities
travelled across by its distributaries.
like urbanization, deforestation etc. leads
to more runoff and effects regimes by

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changing the peak and low flow of the
channel. Hydrographs showing River Regimes

Think!
 How are river regimes of Himalayan Rivers different from Peninsular Rivers?
 Do you think interconnection of Rivers will have an impact on the river regimes of seasonal rivers of
peninsula?

Classification of Drainage Basin according to the On the basis of the orientation to the sea, the
orientation to the Sea: The black line is showing Indian River system has been divided into two
the water divide of India major drainage systems:
 The Bay of Bengal drainage
 The Arabian Sea drainage

About 77% of the drainage area of the country is

oriented towards the Bay of Bengal. Most of the
major rivers of Himalayan and Peninsular drainage
flows towards Bay of Bengal. For example- Ganga,
Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri etc. 23% of
the country’s surface flow, flows towards the
Arabian sea. Some important west flowing rivers
are Indus, Narmada, Tapi, Mahi, Sabarmati and
numerous Rivers and streams which originates in
Western Ghats.

Drainage Divide:
 The Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea
drainage systems are separated along a
distinct divide which lies approximately

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along the Sahyadris, Amarkantak, Aravallis City River State
and the Satluj- Yamuna divide.
Jammu &
 Adjacent drainage basins are separated Srinagar Jhelum
Kashmir
from one another by a drainage
Surat Tapi Gujarat
divide. Drainage divide is usually a ridge or
Uttar
a high platform. Varanasi Ganges
Pradesh
Vijayawad Andhra
Krishna
a Pradesh
Uttar
Lucknow Gomti
Pradesh
Hampi Tungbhardra Karnataka
Ujjain Shipra MP
Gwalior Chambal MP
Amravati Krishna AP
Maharasht
Nashik Godavari
ra

Do You Know?
 Mahi River cut the Tropic of Cancer twice.
It originates in the Mahi Kanta hills, from
the northern slopes of Vindhyas in Dhar
district of Madhya Pradesh.
Major Cities on Rivers  The Mahadayi/Mandovi River:
o Also known
City River State
as Mahadayi or Mhadei river, is
Western described as the lifeline of
Agra Yamuna Uttar the Indian state of Goa. The river
Pradesh
has a length of 77 kilometres (48
Ahmedaba miles), 29 kilometres (18 miles)
Sabarmati Gujarat
d
in Karnataka and 52 kilometres (32
At miles) in Goa. It originates from a
Uttar
Prayagraj the confluence of Ga cluster of 30 springs at Bhimgad in
Pradesh
nga and Yamuna
the Western Ghats in
Uttar the Belagavi district of Karnataka.
Ayodhya Saryu
Pradesh
o Dudhsagar falls and Vajrpoha falls
Cuttack Mahanadi Odisha located on this river. The Kalasa-
New Delhi Yamuna Delhi Banduri Nala is a project
Hyderaba undertaken by the Government of
Musi Telangana Karnataka to improve drinking
d
Madhya water supply to the Districts
Jabalpur Narmada of Belagavi, Dharwad and Gadag. It
Pradesh
involves building across Kalasa and
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Banduri, two tributaries of etc. Also, it should be on the
the Mahadayi river to divert windward side which receives high
7.56 TMC of water to rainfall.
the Malaprabha river, which o Primary causes of river capture are
supplies the drinking water needs tectonic movements and
of the said 3 districts, i.e., Dharwad, glaciation. Erosion, either lateral
Belagavi and Gadag. Mahadayi river erosion of a meander, karst
water dispute is between Goa, topography, or headward erosion
Karnataka and Maharashtra are also some of the reasons.
 The following conditions favor the  Narmada and Tapi are west flowing rivers.
formation of Deltas: They flow in a rift Valley.
o Active vertical and lateral erosion in o Rift Valleys are formed due to
the upper course of the river to faulting in the rocks and not
supply large amount of sediments; because of the erosion. A rift valley
If there is active erosion, in the is a depression between two block
lower course, it means that river mountain ranges.
has got high energy. This type of  Ephimeral Streams are the seasonal
stream does not deposit the streams which have water only in some
sediments. seasons and remain dry in others. Most of
o tideless, sheltered coast; the streams of Peninsular India are
o shallow sea, adjoining the delta; dependent upon monsoon for their water.
o No strong current at the river Hence, they are ephemeral steams or
mouth which may wash away the seasonal streams.
sediments.
 River Capture: Stream capture, river Previous Year Questions:
capture, river piracy or stream piracy is a
geomorphological phenomenon occurring Q.1) Consider the following statements:
when a stream or river drainage system or 1. Jet streams occur in the Northern
watershed is diverted from its own bed, Hemisphere only.
and flows instead down the bed of a 2. Only some cyclones develop an eye.
neighbouring stream. 3. The temperature inside the eye of a
o Though river capture is a natural cyclone is nearly 10 C lesser than that of
process, but it does not take place the surroundings.
in all circumstances rather it Which of the statements given above is/are
requires certain necessary correct?
conditions. a) 1 only
o One of the conditions include that b) 2 and 3 only
there should be relatively narrow c) 2 only
valley so that water may not spread d) 1 and 3 only
in the otherwise wide and flat
valleys and there should be low Q.) La Nina is suspected to have caused recent
sediment so that the river may floods in Australia. How is La Nina different from
resort to active head ward erosion El Nino?

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1. La Nina is characterised by unusually cold Climate and Weather
ocean temperature in equatorial Indian  Weather is the temporary state of the
Ocean whereas El Nino is characterised by atmosphere, while climate refers to the
unusually warm ocean temperature in the average of the weather conditions over a
equatorial Pacific Ocean. longer period of time.
2. El Nino has adverse effect on south-west  Weather changes quickly, may be within a
monsoon of India, but La Nina has no effect day or week, but climate changes in
on monsoon climate. imperceptivity and may be noted after 50,
Which of the statements given above is/are 100 years, or even more.
correct?  The climate of India has distinct regional
a) 1 only variations discernible by the pattern of
b) 2 only winds, temperature, and rainfall; further,
c) Both 1 and 2 also in the form of rhythm of seasons and
d) Neither 1 nor 2 the degree of wetness or dryness.

Following factors influence the Climate of India:

Indian Climate Location and Latitudinal Extent
In the previous parts, we have learnt about the  India lies roughly between 6°N to 37°N
physiography, drainage system of India etc. Not latitudes. The Tropic of Cancer passes
only are its physiographic divisions diverse but also through the middle of the country. The
far more contrasting in nature. Each one of these southern parts being closer to the Equator,
factors has an impact on climatic conditions of experience high temperatures throughout
India, be it temperature, atmospheric pressure, the year. The northern parts on the other
wind system or precipitation. In this part, we will hand lie in the warm temperate zone.
study regional variations in the climatic conditions Hence, they experience low temperatures
of India. particularly, in winter.

The Northern Mountain Ranges

Note: These topics are very important from  The Himalayan ranges in the North
examination point of view. separates India from rest of Asia. These
ranges protect India from the bitterly cold
After covering this module, you should be able to: and dry winds of Central Asia during
 Understand the factors responsible for winter. Furthermore, they act as an
climatic variations. effective physical barrier for the rain
 Understand the ‘Monsoon-type’ climate of bearing southwest monsoons winds to
India. cross the northern frontiers of India. Thus,
 Influence of Tibetan plateau, Jet-streams these ranges act as a climatic divide
and El-Nino on Indian Monsoon. between Indian Sub-Continent and Central
 Understand the distribution of rainfall in Asia.
India.
 Appreciate different seasons of India. Distance from the Sea
 Rainfall distribution of India  Southern or peninsular India is surrounded
by the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and
the Bay of Bengal, hence the climate of

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coastal regions of India is equable or Theory of Differential Heating:
maritime. Contrary to this, the climate of  This was the first scientific theory given to
the regions located in the interior of the explain the phenomenon of Monsoon.
country is cut off from the oceanic According to the traditional belief, the
influence. As a result, they have an monsoon is caused by the differential
extreme or continental type of climate. heating of land and sea. Due to a higher
temperature over the land in summer, a
Physiography low-pressure area develops over the
 The physical features influence the air continents and the winds blow from
temperature, atmospheric pressure, neighboring seas towards the land. These
direction of winds and the amount of winds are of maritime origin and hence
rainfall in different parts of the country. cause ample rainfall in summer. On the
other hand, the continents become colder
than the neighboring oceans in winter.
Monsoon Winds
 As a result, a high-pressure area is
 Monsoon will be discussed in detail in the
developed over the continents. Therefore,
later part of this VAN.
winds blow from land to sea in winter.
These winds, being of continental origin,
Upper Air Circulation are dry and do not cause rain. This
 There are very strong Westerly as well as traditional theory of monsoon has been
Easterly jet streams (only during summer) criticized by the German meteorologist
blowing over India. They push the Flohn. He argues that the differential
monsoon winds from the sea towards the heating of land and sea is not enough to
land. cause a seasonal reversal of winds at a
global scale.
Broadly it is said that India has monsoon type of
Climate. Then the question arises, that what
exactly is monsoon?

The word monsoon has been derived from the

Arabic word 'Mausim' which means seasonal
reversal of the winds during the course of the year.

Monsoons refer to a system of winds in the

tropical regions under which the direction of
winds is reversed completely between the
summer and the winter seasons. Under this
system, the winds blow from land to sea in winter
and from sea to land in summer. Therefore, most
of the rainfall in the regions influenced by the
monsoons is received in the summer season while
winter season is generally dry. Many theories have Monsoon by Differential Heating
been given to explain the phenomenon.

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FLOHN’S Dynamic Concept of Monsoon
 He has explained the origin of the
monsoon on the basis of seasonal shift of
the pressure and wind belts under the
influence of the shift of the vertical rays of
the sun. According to this theory, as the
vertical rays of the sun shift northwards
over the Tropic of Cancer in summer
season, the Inter-Tropical Convergence
Zone (ITCZ) also shifts to north. This results
in the formation of a low-pressure area
over the northwestern parts of India. This
low pressure is further intensified by the
high temperatures in this region.
 This low-pressure area sucks the air from
the Indian Ocean towards the Indian
landmass in the form of Southwest
monsoons.
 In winter season, the ITCZ shifts
southwards and a mild high pressure is
produced over northern parts of India. This
high pressure is further intensified by the
equator ward shift of the subtropical high-
pressure belt. Due to high pressure over
northern India, the winds start blowing
from northeast as retreating monsoons.
Factors Influencing Indian Monsoon
 Monsoon winds essentially represent
unusually large latitudinal migrations of
the trade winds associated with the large
seasonal shifts of the ITCZ over
southeastern Eurasia.
 The Himalayas evidently also play a role.
This significant topographic barrier allows
The complete phenomenon can be understood
by the following table. greater winter temperature contrasts
between South Asia and the interior of the
According to recent observations, the origin of continent to the north, and this in turn may
Indian monsoon is influenced by a number of influence the location and persistence of
other factors, besides the differential heating of the subtropical jet stream in this region.
land and sea and the seasonal shifts of pressure  There are two major monsoon systems
and wind belts. (one in South Asia and the other in East
Asia), two minor systems (in Australia and
West Africa), and several other regions
where monsoon patterns develop

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(especially in Central America and the Hemisphere. During the summer, easterly
southwest United States). jets can form in tropical regions, typically in
 South Asian Monsoon: The most notable a region where dry air encounters more
environmental event each year in South humid air at high altitudes. Low level jets
Asia is the annual burst of the summer can form wherever low-level winds are
monsoon, illustrated in the given figure squeezed together, typically between an
below. In this first of the two major oncoming front and a high-pressure cell.
monsoon systems, prominent onshore  The subtropical westerly jet streams
winds spiral in from the Indian Ocean, blowing over India in winter causes a high
bringing life-giving rains to the parched pressure over northern India. It thus
subcontinent. In winter, South Asia is intensifies the northeast monsoons. This
dominated by out-blowing dry air diverging jet stream shifts northwards beyond India
generally from the northeast. This flow is in summer season and tropical easterly jets
not very different from normal northeast develop over India in this season. The
trades except for its low moisture content. behaviour of these jet streams is partly
Jet Streams responsible for the variations in the time of
onset of southwest monsoons over India.
 The jet stream theory explains the
variability in timing and strength of the
monsoon.
o Timing: A timely northward shift of
the subtropical westerly jet at the
beginning of summer is critical to
the onset of the southwest
monsoon over India. If the shift is
delayed, so is the southwest
monsoon. An early shift results in
an early monsoon.
o Strength: The strength of the
 Jet streams are fast flowing, relatively southwest monsoon is determined
narrow air currents found at the by the strength of the easterly
tropopause, the transition between the tropical jet over central India. A
troposphere (where temperature strong easterly tropical jet results in
decreases with height) and the a strong southwest monsoon over
stratosphere (where temperature central India, and a weak jet results
increases with height), and are 10-15 in a weak monsoon.
kilometers above the surface of the Earth.
They form near boundaries of adjacent air
masses with significant differences in
temperature, such as the polar region and
the warmer air to the south.
 The major jet streams are westerly winds
(flowing west to east) in the Northern

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 The core is most frequently found between
35,000 and 40,000 feet. A subsidence
motion accompanies subtropical jets and
gives rise to predominantly fair weather in
areas they pass over.
 These jets are also remarkably persistent
from time to time, but they do fluctuate
daily. Sometimes they drift northward and
merge with a polar-front jet. Over Asia in
summer, the subtropical jet is replaced by
the tropical easterly jet stream.

Tropical Easterly Jet Stream

 This jet occurs near the tropopause over
Southeast Asia, India, and Africa during
summer.
 The strongest winds are over southern
India, but they are not as intense as the
winds encountered in polar-front or
subtropical jet streams.
 This jet is closely connected to the Indian
and African summer monsoons. The
existence of this jet implies that there is a
deep layer of warm air to the north of the
jet and colder air to the south over the
Indian Ocean.
 This warm air is of course associated with
the maximum heating taking place over
India in summer, while the colder air is
Subtropical Jet Streams
 These jets are best developed in winter over the ocean.
and early spring. During summer, in the  The difference in heating and cooling and
Northern Hemisphere, the subtropical jet the ensuing pressure gradient is what
weakens considerably, and it is only drives this jet.
identifiable in sporadic velocity streaks
around the globe.
 During winter, subtropical jets intensify
and can be found between 20° and 50°
latitude.
 Their maximum speed approaches 300
knots, although these higher wind speeds
are associated with their merger with
polar-front jets.

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El-Nino and La-Nina gradients. The most important driver of

ENSO is these temperature gradients
El Nino and La Nina events are a natural part of the across the Pacific, both at the surface and
global climate system. They occur when the Pacific below the surface, particularly at the
Ocean and the atmosphere above it change from thermocline.
their neutral ('normal') state for several seasons.  During El Niño, the surface winds across
El Nino events are associated with a warming of the entire tropical Pacific are weaker than
the central and eastern tropical Pacific, while La usual. Ocean temperatures in the central
Niña events are the reverse, with a sustained and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean are
cooling of these same areas. warmer than average, and rainfall is below
These changes in the Pacific Ocean and its average over Indonesia and above average
overlying atmosphere occur in a cycle known as over the central or eastern Pacific.
the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The  Rising air motion (which is linked to storms
atmosphere and ocean interact, reinforcing each and rainfall) increases over the central or
other and creating a 'feedback loop' which eastern Pacific, and surface pressure there
amplifies small changes in the state of the ocean tends to be lower than
into an ENSO event. When it is clear that the ocean average. Meanwhile, an increase in
and atmosphere are fully coupled an ENSO event sinking air motion over Indonesia leads to
is considered established. higher surface pressure and dryness.

 La Niña is sometimes referred to as the

cold phase of ENSO and El Niño as the
warm phase of ENSO. These deviations
from normal surface temperatures can
have large-scale impacts not only on ocean
processes, but also on global weather and
climate.
 El Niño and La Niña episodes typically last
nine to 12 months, but some prolonged
events may last for years. While their
During La Niña, it’s the opposite. The surface
frequency can be quite irregular, El Niño
winds across the entire tropical Pacific are
and La Niña events occur on average every
stronger than usual, and most of the tropical
two to seven years. Typically, El Niño
Pacific Ocean is cooler than average. Rainfall
occurs more frequently than La Niña.
increases over Indonesia (where waters remain
 Even in a neutral state, temperatures in the warm) and decreases over the central tropical
Pacific Ocean vary from east to west – for Pacific (which is cool). Over Indonesia, there is
example, the western Pacific 'warm pool' more rising air motion and lower surface pressure.
in the tropical Pacific has some of the There is more sinking air motion over the cooler
warmest large-scale ocean temperatures waters of the central and eastern Pacific.
in the world. During an ENSO event, ocean
temperatures become warmer than usual
or cooler than usual at different locations,
which are reflected in ocean temperature

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eastern Pacific lie under a high-pressure
system. This creates a pressure gradient
from east to west and causes surface air to
move east to west, from high pressure in
the eastern Pacific to low pressure in the
western Pacific. Higher up in the
Between the warm phase (El Niño) and cool atmosphere, west-to-east winds complete
phase (La Niña), scientists describe conditions as the circulation.
“ENSO-neutral.” Neutral means that the  The warm waters of the western Pacific
Ocean in East Asia heat the air above it and
supply it with moisture. On average, the air
rises, forms clouds, and then flows to the
east across the Pacific, losing moisture to
rainfall. The air then sinks off the west
coast of South America and returns to the
west along the surface of the ocean, back
temperatures, winds, convection (rising air), and to the western Pacific Ocean.
rainfall across the tropical Pacific are near their
long-term averages. The Walker circulation contributes to normal
weather conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean:
What is Walker Circulation? warm, wet weather in the western Pacific and
cool, dry weather in the eastern Pacific.

The Walker circulation reverses every few years,

as part of a phenomenon called the El Niño-
Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
 When the Walker circulation weakens, the
winds also weaken and the warm water of
the western Pacific spreads to the east.
 These conditions are called El Niño. During
times when the Walker circulation is
particularly strong, called La Niña, the
winds are stronger across the Pacific.
 These strong winds cause cooler ocean
 The Walker circulation is an ocean-based temperatures because of upwelling in the
system of air circulation that influences eastern Pacific.
weather on the Earth. The Walker  El Niño and La Niña impact the weather in
circulation is the result of a difference in North and South America, Australia, and
surface pressure and temperature over Southeast Africa, and can cause flooding,
the western and eastern tropical Pacific droughts, and increases or decreases in
Ocean. Normally, the tropical western hurricane activity.
Pacific is warm and wet with a low-
pressure system and the cool and dry

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Effect on Indian Monsoon the moisture laden winds move from near
 The Monsoon is a recurring event i.e., it the west pacific to the Indian Ocean and
repeats after a certain frequency of time – from there on to the lands.
a year in our case. But it may not be  The pressure on heated Indian land is much
uniform in every period (year). There are a lower than that on the Indian Ocean.
lot of factors which affect its duration and
intensity over India. This facilitates the movement of monsoon winds
 The Monsoon is basically a result of the from the sea to the Indian land without any
flow of moisture laden winds because of significant diversion. But if for some reason this
the variation of temperature across the normal distribution is affected, then there is a
Indian Ocean. change in the way trade winds (or monsoon winds)
 There are a number of climatic phenomena would blow.
which affect it namely the Indian Ocean
dipole, El-nino, La-nina, Equatorial Indian This is because of the following reasons (and its
Ocean Oscillation (EQUINOO) etc. These effects):
phenomena affect the temperature  Off the coast of Peru (read in Eastern
distribution over the oceans and thus Pacific and Central Pacific), there is
affecting the direction and intensity of flow normally cool surface water because of the
of the moisture laden winds. cold Peruvian current. But El Niño makes it
 There have been recent reports that El go warm.
Nino may disturb the Indian Monsoon and  When the water becomes warm, the tread
play badly with Indian agriculture. winds, which otherwise flow from East to
west, either reverse their direction or get
lost.
 Due to this warm water, the air gets up and
surface air pressure above Eastern Pacific
gets down. On the other hand, the waters
cool off in western pacific and off Asia. This
leads to rise in surface pressure over the
Indian Ocean, Indonesia, and Australia.
 Now as the pressure over the Peruvian
coast reduces because of the warm sea
water, the flow of moisture laden winds is
directed to the Peruvian coasts from the
western pacific (the areas near North
For a normal monsoon season, the pressure
Australia and South-east Asia – refer to the
distribution is as such:
diagrams above).
 The Peruvian coast has relatively high
 Hence, the moisture laden winds that
pressure than the areas near north
should have moved towards the Indian
Australia and South-East Asia.
coast now move towards the Peruvian
 The Indian Ocean is slightly warmer than
coast.
the adjoining oceans (West pacific –see
 The warm water causes lots of clouds
diagram) and thus the pressure is low
getting formed in that area, causing heavy
relatively due to the warm seas. This is why
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rains in Peruvian desert during El Niño disappears from the southern side of the
years. plateau.
 This robs the Indian subcontinent of its  In other words, the jet streams disappear
share in the Monsoon rains. The greater completely over northern India. It is
the temperature and pressure difference, believed that there is a correspondence
the greater would be the shortage in the between the shifting of the jet stream and
rainfall in India. the slowing down of the westerlies over
the whole of Eurasia.
La – Nina on the other hand is the opposite event.
 In addition, the plateau accumulates the
It intensifies the monsoon and India gets more
northward displacement of jet stream. On
than average rain. La Nina condition may result in
the contrary, the plateau proves to be the
flooding in parts of India due to excessive rainfall.
most important factor in causing the
advance of the jet stream far to the south
Some important data to understand:
in the middle of October.
India: Effect Monsoon  This abrupt onset of summer monsoon at

El the beginning of June is promoted by the

hydrodynamic effect the Himalayas and
Nino not by the thermally induced low pressure
centre over northwest India.
years
2004 Drought 86%
2009 Severe 77%
Drought
2013 Neutral 106%

Role of Tibet Plateau

 Tibetan highland plays a crucial role in
initiating the monsoon circulation over the
Indian subcontinent.
 Tibetan plateau is an enormous block of
high ground acting as a formidable barrier.
It is also one the most geographical
controls on general circulation. Recently it has been emphasized that the summer
 Tibetan plateau affects the atmosphere in time heating of the extensive Tibetan Plateau
two ways, acting separately or in makes it a high-level heat source. A thermal
combination; as a mechanical barrier, or as anticyclone appears over Tibet during the
highland heat source. At the beginning of southwest monsoon. This warm core highly
the June, the subtropical jet stream develops in mid troposphere at 500 mb-level is the
result of a process called dynamic anti-cyclogensis.

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On the south side of the anticyclone the tropical
jet stream is produced.
Madden-Julian Oscillation
 While the MJO is a lesser-known
phenomenon, it can have dramatic
impacts in the mid-latitudes.
 Unlike ENSO, which is stationary, the MJO
is an eastward moving disturbance of
clouds, rainfall, winds, and pressure that
traverses the planet in the tropics and
returns to its initial starting point in 30 to
60 days, on average. This atmospheric
disturbance is distinct from ENSO, which
once established, is associated with
persistent features that last several
seasons or longer over the Pacific Ocean
basin. There can be multiple MJO events
within a season, and so the MJO is best
described as intraseasonal tropical climate
variability (i.e., varies on a week-to-week
basis).
 The MJO consists of two parts, or phases:
one is the enhanced rainfall (or
convective) phase and the other is the
suppressed rainfall phase. Strong MJO
activity often dissects the planet into
halves: one half within the enhanced
convective phase and the other half in the
suppressed convective phase. These two
phases produce opposite changes in
clouds and rainfall and this entire dipole
(i.e., having two main opposing centers of
action) propagates eastward. The location
of the convective phases is often grouped
into geographically based stages that
climate scientists’ number 1-8 as shown in
Figure below.

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Difference from average rainfall for all MJO events explain extreme events of Indian monsoons are
from 1979-2012 for November-March for the widely approved, but when we think in terms of
eight phases described in the text. normal years it doesn’t correlate according to the
expectation. EQUINOO is found to be independent
The green shading denotes above-average rainfall, of ENSO influence but can be treated as an
and the brown shading shows below-average atmospheric outcome of Indian Ocean Dipole.
rainfall. To first order, the green shading areas
correspond to the extent of the enhanced Previous Year Questions:
convective phase of the MJO and the brown
shading areas correspond to the extent of the Q.1) With reference to ‘Indian Ocean Dipole
suppressed convective phase of the MJO. Note (IOD)’ sometimes mentioned in the news while
eastward shifting of shaded areas with each forecasting Indian monsoon, which of the
successive numbered phase as you view the figure following statements is/are correct?
from top to bottom. 1. IOD phenomenon is characterised by a
difference in sea surface temperature
EQUINOO – Equatorial Indian Ocean Oscillation between the tropical Western Indian
The recently noticed dipolar nature of convection
Ocean and the tropical Eastern Pacific
on either side of Indian Ocean called EQUINOO is
Ocean.
subjected to more observations and analysis to
2. An IOD phenomenon can influence an El
understand its effect on ISMR between the period
Nino’s impact on the monsoon.
from 1950 – 2005. The positive phase of EQUINOO
Select the correct answer using the code given
with increased cloud on the western side of Indian
below:
Ocean accompanied with dominating easterly
a) 1 only
wind anomaly found to affect ISMR strength
b) 2 only
positively and the reverse conditions leads to
c) Both 1 and 2
negative results. The floods and droughts go well
d) Neither 1 nor 2
with EQUINOO incidents but normal monsoon
does not display equal uniformity with EQUINOO
Q.2) The seasonal reversal of winds is the typical
affect. It is not binding that the positive neither
characteristic of
negative phase of this phenomena should show
a) Equatorial climate
expected results when it co - occur with similar big
b) (b)Mediterranean climate
oceanic or atmospheric oscillations.
c) Monsoon climate
d) All of the above climates

Q.3) Consider the following pairs:

Types of Earthquakes Associated with
1. Collapse Areas of large
Equatorial Indian Ocean Oscillation can be defined earthquakes reservoirs
as a phenomenon that display a dipole formation
2. Tectonic Sliding of rocks
in terms of cumulus convection accompanied with
earthquakes along a fault
zonal wind and rainfall anomaly in equatorial
plane
Indian Ocean mainly confined to Arabian Sea and
Bay of Bengal. The ability of this oscillation to

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3. Explosion Areas of active c) Both 1 and 2
earthquakes volcanoes d) Neither 1 nor 2

Which of the pairs given above is/are incorrectly Climate

matched? In general, six major controls of the climate of any
a) 1 and 2 only place are:
b) 1 and 3 only  latitude,
c) 2 and 3 only  altitude,
d) 1, 2 and 3
 pressure and wind system,
 distance from the sea (continentality),
Q.4) Which of the following disasters is/are
 ocean currents
classified as aquatic disaster?
 relief features.
1. Tropical Cyclone
2. Ocean Currents
You know most of them from previous VAN. Let us
3. Floods
discuss some more:
Select the correct answer from the following codes
a) 1 only
b) 1 and 2 only What is Continentality?
 Areas of a continent that are distant from
c) 2 and 3 only
an ocean experience greater extremes in
d) 1,2 and 3
temperature than places that are closer to
Q.5) With reference to tsunami, which of the
an ocean.
following is/are true?
 Extreme temperature means extreme hot
1. Over deep water the tsunami has very long
in summers and extreme cold in winters.
wave-length and limited wave-height.
2. In shallow waters tsunami its wave-length  Areas close to oceans experience
gets reduced and the period remains moderating effects from the ocean that
unchanged, which increases the wave- reduce the range in temperatures.
height.  In simple terms ‘as the distance from the
3. Tsunami is also called as shallow water sea increases, people experience extreme
waves. weather conditions’, i.e., very hot during
Select the correct answer from the following codes summers and very cold during winters. This
a) Only 1 condition is known as Continentality.
b) Only 1 and 2
c) Only 2 and 3 Why this happen?
d) 1,2 and 3  It is a consequence of the much lower
effective heat capacities of land surfaces as
Q.6) Consider the following statements well as of their generally reduced
1. Floods also cause positive contributions. evaporation rates as compared to oceans.
2. Agricultural drought is more linked to soil  By far the greatest effective heat capacities
moisture than rainfall. are those of water surfaces, owing to both
Select the correct answer from the following codes the mixing of water near the surface and
a) 1 only the penetration of solar radiation that
b) 2 only distributes heating to depths of several
metres. In addition, about 90 percent of
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the radiation budget of the ocean is used  Cherapunji and Mawsynram (two places
for evaporation. Ocean temperatures are of Meghalaya) are world’s wettest place
thus slow to change.

Indian Monsoon
 In Kerala and
Maharashtra coast, the
first monsoon shower
leads to blossoming of
coffee flowers and
mango flowers. This
shower is called
‘Blossom shower’ or
‘Mango shower’.
 Burst of monsoon on
eastern coast (Bengal)
leads to destruction of
standing crops. This is
called ‘Kal Baisakh’.
The ‘Calamity’ of
Baisakh (the harvest
season).
 In Assam, Nor Westers
are known as Bardoli
Chheerha.
 In northern plains, hot
and dry winds blow
during summers. They
are called Loo.
 Tamil Nadu coast
remains dry during the
monsoon season
because it is situated
parallel to the Bay of
Bengal branch of
southwest monsoon.
Tamil Nadu coast
receives rainfall during
retreating monsoons.
 The months of October
and November are
known as retreating
monsoons season.

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The map showing South-West monsoon and time region. It brings little rain in winter months.
that it takes to travel up to North. Source: IMD This rain is considered to be very good for
wheat crops in northern plains.
 The tropical cyclones also develop in the
Map showing comparative advance and retreat
Bay of Bengal. The frequency and direction
of monsoon.
of these cyclones influence weather
conditions along the eastern coast during
October, November and December.

The Northeast Monsoon (Retreating Monsoon)

and its Effect
There are two phenomena responsible for winter
 During winter, the weather conditions are
rainfall in India – Western Disturbances and
influenced by high pressure developed
Retreating monsoon.
over Northwestern part of the
 Westerlies – these are a branch of
subcontinent. This results in the blowing of
Temperate cyclone forming over East
cold dry winds from this region towards
Atlantic during winter. These winds
southern low-pressure areas lying over
capture moisture from Mediterranean Sea
water bodies surrounding peninsular India.
and cause rainfall in Punjab, Haryana and
 Since these winds are cold and dry, they do
western UP.
not cause rainfall and weather conditions
 Retreating Monson – As ITCZ shifts
under their influence remain cold and dry.
towards south in the winter season, the
 However, wherever these Northeast
monsoon starts retreating. Retreating
monsoon winds collect moisture while
monsoon winds capture some moisture
passing over the Bay of Bengal, they bring
from Bay of Bengal and cause rainfall on
rain along Coromandel Coast. Strictly
Tamil Nadu coast. Apart from it due to shift
speaking these winds are planetary winds
in ITCZ, low pressure is created over Bay of
known as North-east Trades. In India they
Bengal which leads to the formation of
are essentially land bearing winds.
cyclones.

Western Disturbances and Winter Rainfall in Seasons in India

By now, you have understood that the complete
North- India
reversal of direction of winds is the most striking
 The inflow of western disturbances moves
feature of the monsoons. These changing
under the influence of westerly jet streams
monsoon winds result in the change of seasons
from the Mediterranean Sea. It influences
over the year. It is, therefore, important to
winter weather conditions over most parts
understand in detail, the prevailing weather
of Northern Plains and Western Himalayan
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conditions throughout India during different  Some amount of rainfall occurs on the
seasons. Tamil Nadu coast from these winds as,
Climatically, the year is divided into following here they blow from sea to land. (In
four seasons in India: northwestern India, some weak temperate
 The cold weather season - December to cyclones from the Mediterranean Sea
February; cause rainfall in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and
 The hot weather season - March to May in western Uttar Pradesh.)
south and up to June in the north;  The weather is normally marked by clear
 The advancing southwest monsoon season sky, low temperatures and low humidity.
- June to September;
 The retreating southwest monsoons Hot Weather Season
season - October and November.

Cold Weather Season

The important characteristics of cold weather
season are:
 Low temperatures in the north and their
gradual increase towards southern parts of
India.
 Blowing of cold and dry northeast
monsoon resulting in dry weather
conditions in most parts. Coromandel
Coast receives rainfall during winter.
 The apparent movement of the sun
 Western disturbances cause light rain in towards the north increases the
northern plains and snowfall over the temperatures in the northern plains. As a
Himalayan ranges. result, the spring sets in soon giving way to
 During winter season, the northeast trade the hot weather season which lasts till end
winds prevail over the country. They blow of June in this region. The temperatures
from land to sea and hence, for most part increase northwards and reach around
of the country, it is a dry season. 45°C in mid-May in most parts of the
northern plains.
 The characteristic features of this season
are afternoon dust storms and ‘Loo’ which
is a hot dry wind which blows during May
and June mainly over the northern plains.
These winds cause heat stroke resulting in
deaths of hundreds of people every year.
The day temperatures at times rise above
45°C in some north-western parts of the
country.

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South-West Monsoon Season crops and property along the eastern coast
 It is a rainy season for most parts of India. of India.
It starts with the inflow of Southwest
monsoons which strike the coast of Kerala The retreating southwest monsoon season is
normally in the first week of June and cover marked by clear skies and rise in temperature.
most of India by mid-July. This weather  The land is still moist. Owing to the
continues till September. conditions of high temperature and
 The arrival of these warm moisture laden humidity, the weather becomes rather
winds brings a total change in weather oppressive. This is commonly known as the
conditions. Their arrival causes sudden ‘October heat’.
rains which bring down the temperatures  The weather in the retreating monsoon is
considerably. The decline in temperature is dry in north India but it is associated with
between 5°C to 10°C. rain in the eastern part of the Peninsula.
 The sudden onset of rain is called break of Here, October and November are the
monsoons or the burst of monsoons. The rainiest months of the year.
arrival of these winds may be delayed by a  The widespread rain in the season of
week or two depending upon the pressure retreating monsoon is associated with the
conditions over northern plains and over passage of cyclonic depressions which
the Indian Ocean. The peninsular shape of originate over the Andaman Sea and
India divides these Southwest monsoons manage to cross the eastern coast of the
into two branches - Arabian Sea branch southern Peninsula. These tropical
and Bay of Bengal branch. cyclones are very destructive.

Rainfall Distribution in India

Retreating Monsoon
The main characteristic features of retreating
Southwest monsoon season are:
 weakening of low-pressure area over
Northwest India;
 fall in temperatures throughout India;
 shifting of low-pressure area to the south;
and
 origin of cyclonic storms in the Bay of
Bengal causing heavy rains and damage to

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Study the map carefully. You will find that the  Areas lying on the windward side receive
regional variations in average annual rainfall are more rains than the areas lying on the
well pronounced. The distribution map of rainfall leeward side.
shows that northeastern parts of Jammu and
Kashmir and extreme western Rajasthan receive a Climatic Unity of India
rainfall of less than 20 cm.  The ‘Climatic Unity’ means that weather
conditions over different parts of India are
On the other hand, the west coastal plains, Sub- more or less the same during different
Himalayan areas of northeast India including the seasons round the year leaving minor
Shillong plateau receive more than 200 cm. of variations as exceptions to the rule. Indian
annual rainfall. Southern slopes of Khasi and Jantia climate is called ‘monsoon climate’. It
Hills, particularly the Cherrapunji valley receive explains how much influence the monsoon
the highest rainfall exceeding 1000cm. Starting winds have in bringing climatic unity. This
from the southern coast of Gujarat, the isohyte of unity in climatic conditions results from the
200 cm runs somewhat parallel to the coast of combined influence of regular movements
Western Ghats up to kanyakumari. To the east of of monsoons (seasonal winds) and the
Western Ghats, the rainfall drops abruptly below bounding role of the Himalayan Mountain
60 cm. over interior Maharashtra and Karnataka. system.

Most parts of Punjab, Haryana, central and The Climatic system of India has the direct impact
eastern Rajasthan and western Gujarat also on the lives of people in the following ways:
receive rainfall below 60 cm. Starting from the
southwestern parts of Jammu and Kashmir, the Seasonal changes: The sequence of hot, wet and
isohyte of 100 cm. moves eastwards up to east of cold seasons affects the life styles and economic
Allahabad from where it bends to the west and activities of the people throughout India.
south west, running over western Madhya  The farmers all over India start their
Pradesh, eastern Maharashtra and northern agricultural activities like ploughing of
Andhra Pradesh, it joins eastern coast near fields, sowing of seeds, transplantation etc.
Visakhapattnam. To the west and south west of with or just before the onset of monsoons.
this isohyte, the areas receive less rainfall. Some Kharif crops - rice and millets, cotton and
parts of Coromondel coast receive a rainfall of sugarcane in different areas is an
more than 100 cm. The areas receiving less than expression of amount of rainfall they
100 cm. of rainfall depend on means of irrigation receive. During winter, wheat is the major
for agricultural activities. rabi crop in cool and irrigated areas;
whereas barley, gram and oil seeds are
The distribution of annual rainfall in different common crops of non-irrigated areas in
parts of India shows the following trends: northern and central India.
 The rainfall decreases as one move from  The clothes are also affected by seasons.
Kolkata to Amritsar. During summer, the people wear cotton
 It shows declining trend towards interior clothes whereas the woolen clothes are
from the coastal areas on Deccan Plateau. used in winter season especially in north
 Northeastern parts receive more rainfall and central India.
than north western parts of India.

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 Most parts of India have to bear a long dry that have the potential to cause harm to
season; contrary to it, the season of life- people or property or both.
giving rains is limited to only a few months.  Thus, any event can be classed as disaster
This has a far-reaching effect on the life when the magnitude of destruction and
style of the Indian people. damage caused by it is very high.
 Most of the Indian festivals are closely
linked with seasons. In north India, “Disaster is an undesirable occurrence resulting
Baisakhi is celebrated when rabi crop is from forces that are largely outside human
ready for harvesting. During winter, when control, strikes quickly with little or no warning,
the sun shines vertically over the which causes or threatens serious disruption of life
 Tropic of Capricorn and extreme cold and property including death and injury to a large
weather conditions prevail over northern number of people, and requires therefore,
plains Lohri and Makar Sakranti are mobilization of efforts in excess of that which are
celebrated in the north and west while normally provided by statutory emergency
Pongal distinctly is its southern services”.
counterpart. Holi is celebrated in spring
after bidding good bye to the prolonged  Every disaster is unique in terms of the
cold winter especially in the north. local socio-environmental factors that
 The seasonal and regional variations in control it, the social response it generates,
weather conditions have made different and the way each social group negotiates
regions capable of producing different with it.
crops in varying quantities making all  Three factors affecting disasters - The
regions completely interdependent. This is magnitude, intensity, frequency and
not a less contribution of the monsoons in damages caused by natural disasters have
promoting underlying unity despite all increased over the years.
pervasive diversity.  There is a growing concern among people
 The paradox of Indian monsoons is that no the world over to deal with the menace
part in India is spared from occasional or created by these so that the loss of human
even frequent floods or droughts, if not life and property can be minimized.
famines. The drought is common even in  And significant changes have taken place in
the areas of heavy rainfall like Kerala and the pattern of natural disasters over the
Assam; likewise, dry areas of Northwest years.
India are not free from floods, be it Punjab  The damages caused by natural disasters
or Rajasthan. Consequently, there is need have global repercussions that are beyond
to conserve, control and store water for the means and capabilities of individual
irrigation, drinking and power generation. nation-states to cope up with.
 Hence, this issue was raised at the U.N.
Natural Hazards General Assembly in 1989 and it was finally
Note: We will study about Disasters in detail formalized at the World Conference on
under GS Paper 3-Mains in advance modules. Disaster Management in May 1994 at
 Natural Hazards are elements of Yokohama, Japan.
circumstances in the Natural environment

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 This was subsequently known as the  National Geophysical Laboratory,
Yokohama Strategy and Plan of Action for Geological Survey of India, Department of
a Safer World. Meteorology, Government of India, along
with the recently formed National
Do You Know? Institute of Disaster Management and
 The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk have divided India into the following five
Reduction 2015-2030 (Sendai Framework) earthquake zones:
was the first major agreement of the post- • (i) Very high damage risk zone
2015 development agenda and provides • (ii) High damage risk zone
Member States with concrete actions to
• (iii) Moderate damage risk
protect development gains from the risk of
disaster.
zone
• (iv) Low damage risk zone
Earthquakes: • (v) Very low damage risk zone.
 Earthquakes that are of tectonic origin
have proved to be the most devastating Socio-Environmental Consequences of
and their area of influence is also quite Earthquakes
large.  The idea of an earthquake is often
 These earthquakes result from a series of associated with fear and horror due to the
earth movements brought about by a scale, magnitude and suddenness.
sudden release of energy during the  It becomes a calamity when it strikes the
tectonic activities in the earth’s crust. areas of high density of population.
 The Indian plate is moving at a speed of  It damages the settlements, infrastructure,
one centimeter per year towards the transport and communication network,
north and North-eastern direction. industries and other developmental
 This movement of plates is being activities.
constantly obstructed by the Eurasian  It also robs the population of their material
plate from the north. and socio-cultural gains that they have
 As a result of this, both the plates are said preserved over generations.
to be locked with each other resulting in
accumulation of energy at different points Effects of Earthquakes
of time.  Earthquakes have some serious and far-
 Excessive accumulation of energy results reaching environmental consequences.
in building up of stress, which ultimately  Surface seismic waves produce fissures on
leads to the breaking up of the lock and the upper layers of the earth’s crust
the sudden release of energy causes through which water and other volatile
earthquakes along the Himalayan arch. materials gush out, inundating the
 Some of the most vulnerable union neighboring areas.
territories/states are Jammu and Kashmir,  Earthquakes are also responsible for
Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, landslides and often these cause
Sikkim, and the Darjeeling subdivision of obstructions in the flow of rivers and
West Bengal, and all the seven states of channels resulting in the formation of
the northeast. reservoirs.

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 At times, rivers also change their course  Peninsular Zone is called as the Zone of
causing floods and other calamities in the Minimum Intensity.
affected areas.
Tsunami:
Do You Know?
 About 58.6 percent of the landmass of  Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that
India is prone to earthquakes of moderate cause the sea-floor to move abruptly
to very high intensity. resulting in sudden displacement of ocean
 An area over 40 million hectare (12 percent water in the form of high vertical waves are
of land) is prone to floods. called tsunamis (harbor waves) or seismic sea
 Out of the 7516 km long coastline close to waves.
5,700 km is prone to cyclone and tsunamis.  Normally, the seismic waves cause only one
instantaneous vertical wave.
Earthquake Hazard Mitigation  After the initial disturbance, a series of after
 Establishing earthquake monitoring centres waves are created in the water that oscillate
(seismological centres) for regular monitoring between high crest and low trough in order to
and fast dissemination of information among restore the water level.
the people in the vulnerable areas.  The speed of wave in the ocean depends
 Use of Geographical Positioning System (GPS) upon the depth of water.
can be of great help in monitoring the  It is more in the shallow water than in the
movement of tectonic plates. ocean deep.
 Preparing a vulnerability map of the country  As a result of this, the impact of tsunami is
and dissemination of vulnerability risk less over the ocean and more near the coast
information among the people and educating where they cause large-scale devastations.
them about the ways and means minimizing  Therefore, a ship at sea is not much affected
the adverse impacts of disasters. by tsunami and it is difficult to detect a
 Modifying the house types and building tsunami in the deeper parts of sea.
designs in the vulnerable areas and  Thus, a tsunami wave raises the ship only a
discouraging construction of high-rise meter or two and each rise and fall takes
buildings, large industrial establishments and several minutes.
big urban centres in such areas.  On the contrast when a tsunami enters
 Making it mandatory to adopt earthquake- shallow water, its wave-length gets reduced
resistant designs and use light materials in and the period remains unchanged, which
major construction activities in the vulnerable increases the wave height.
areas.  Sometimes, this height can be up to 15m or
more, which causes large-scale destructions
Do You Know? along the shores. Thus, these are also called
 Himalayan Zone is called as Zone of Shallow Water Waves.
Maximum Intensity in terms of earthquake  Tsunamis are frequently observed along the
prone regions. Pacific ring of fire, particularly along the coast
 Indo-Gangetic Zone is called as Zone of of Alaska, Japan, Philippines, and other
Comparative Intensity. islands of Southeast Asia, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and India etc.

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 After reaching the coast, the tsunami waves Consequence and Control of Floods
release enormous energy stored in them and  Floods do not only destroy valuable crops
water flows turbulently onto the land every year but these also damage physical
destroying port-cities and towns, structures, infrastructure such as roads, rails, bridges
buildings and other settlements. and human settlements.
 Millions of people are rendered homeless
Tropical Cyclones: Revise from previous VAN’s and are also washed down along with their
cattle in the floods.
Floods:  Spread of diseases like cholera, gastro-
enteritis, hepatitis and other water-borne
 Inundation of land and human settlements diseases spread in the flood-affected
by the rise of water in the channels and its areas.
spill-over presents the condition of  Every year, floods deposit fertile silt over
flooding. agricultural fields which is good for the
 Floods occur when water in the form of crops.
surface run-off exceeds the carrying  Majuli (Assam), the largest riverine island
capacity of the river channels and streams in the world, is the best example of good
and flows into the neighboring low-lying paddy crops after the annual floods in
flood plains. Brahmaputra.
 Floods can also be caused due to a storm  Construction of flood protection
surge (in the coastal areas), high intensity embankments in the flood-prone areas,
rainfall for a considerably longer time construction of dams, afforestation and
period, melting of ice and snow, reduction discouraging major construction activities
in the infiltration rate and presence of in the upper reaches of most of the flood-
eroded material in the water due to higher creating rivers, etc. are some steps that
rate of soil erosion. need to be taken up on urgent basis.
 Indiscriminate deforestation, unscientific  Removal of human encroachment from the
agricultural practices, disturbances along river channels and depopulating the flood
the natural drainage channels and plains can be the other steps. This is
colonization of flood-plains and river-beds particularly true in western and northern
are some of the human activities that play parts of the country which experience
an important role in increasing the flash-floods.
intensity, magnitude and gravity of floods.  Cyclone centers provide relief in coastal
 Various states of India face heavy loss of areas which are hit by a storm surge.
lives and property due to recurrent floods.
 Rashtriya Barh Ayog (National Flood
Commission) identified 40 million hectares
of land as flood-prone in India.
 Assam, West Bengal and Bihar are among
the high flood-prone states of India.
 Tamil Nadu and Kerala also experience
flooding during November - January due to
the retreating monsoon.

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Urban Floods above-average rainfall produces flooded
 Urban flooding is the inundation of land or localities.
property in urban areas caused due to  Similarly, by violating environmental
uneven distribution of rain fall coupled laws and municipal bye-laws, open spaces,
with massive urbanization and lack of wetlands and floodplains have been
proper drainage. mercilessly built over, making cities
Issues impermeable and hostile to rainwater.
 Floods recur in major cities like Mumbai,  Unfortunately, encroachments are always
Hyderabad, Chennai, Kerala etc. and blamed on the urban poor who live
accompany high-intensity rainfall events. precariously in low-lying drainage areas
 IPCC’s 6th Assessment Report (AR6) report because of inadequate social housing.
noted the increasing frequency of heavy  After the devastating Chennai floods of
precipitation events since the 1950s and 2015, experts pointed out that the biggest
inferred that they were being driven by encroacher of urban waterways and
human-induced climate change. wetlands was actually the state
 Climate Change is only a part of story, the government which had built runways, bus
other part is land-centrism. terminals and IT parks by paving over
water bodies.
Land Centrism  Ever since concretization became pivot for
 All cities in the subcontinent are urbanization, rainfall no longer finds its
waterscapes. They are threaded with way towards underground or surface
rivers, speckled with wetlands and springs, water bodies.
and they rest on invisible aquifers. What were the possible reasons for Urban Floods
 Yet, driven by a thirst for land, our cities are experienced in Hyderabad in 2020?
planned to subjugate water, not live with  Unprecedented rainfall: The rainfall
it. It is this land-centrism that undermines received in 2020 had been the highest for
urban drainage. the month of October in a century.
 Urban drainage has been sacrificed at the  Inability to manage the city’s drainage
for making way to land-centric urban systems: The floods of October 2020
growth. occurred because discharge of water did
 The apathy for restoring disappearing not take place on time. And when water
urban waterways, stands in stark contrast was discharged it was in a sudden,
to the Indian government’s recent uncontrolled manner. To put it bluntly, first
obsession with reviving ancient rivers. sluices did not open and then bunds
 Urban floods are also caused by the design breached.
of constructed stormwater drains. The size  Antiquated drainage
of their outlets should be based on the infrastructure: Hyderabad’s century-old
intensity of rainfall (mm/per hour) and the drainage system (developed in the 1920s)
peak flow inside the drains. covered only a small part of the core city.
 In India either design guidelines are In the last 20 years, the city has grown at
missing, or the outlets are too small to least four times its original built-up area
accommodate peak flow. As a result, and not much was done to address the
absence of adequate drainage systems.

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 Neglecting issues of incremental land use moisture that is necessary to support the
change, particularly of those commons crops, thereby resulting in crop failures.
which provide us with necessary ecological  Hydrological Drought: It results when the
support — wetlands. This has led to availability of water in different storages and
creation of urban terrain which is reservoirs like aquifers, lakes, reservoirs, etc.
incapable of absorbing, holding and falls below what the precipitation can
discharging water. replenish.
 Ecological Drought: When the productivity of
THINK a natural ecosystem fails due to shortage of
 Why are urban floods so frequent and water and as a consequence of ecological
devastating in India? What measures can distress, damages are induced in the
be taken to address urban flooding in ecosystem.
India? Discuss.  Drought Prone Areas in India Indian
 Which parts of the world are most prone to agriculture has been heavily dependent on
floods? With the help of suitable examples, the monsoon rainfall.
explain the most common physiographic  According to estimates, nearly 19 per cent of
features that cause flooding of a place. the total geographical area of the country and
12 per cent of its total population suffer due
Droughts: to drought every year.
 The term ‘drought’ is applied to an extended  This is mainly due to large-scale variations
period when there is a shortage of water and unpredictability in the behavior of the
availability due to: monsoon in India.
• Inadequate precipitation  On the basis of severity of droughts, India can
• Excessive rate of evaporation be divided into the following regions:
• Over-utilisation of water from the  Extreme Drought Affected Areas: Most parts
reservoirs and ground water. of Rajasthan, particularly areas to the west of
 Drought is a complex phenomenon as it the Aravali hills, i.e., Marusthali and Kachchh
involves elements of meteorology like regions of Gujarat fall in this category.
precipitation, evaporation, evapo-  Included here are also the districts like
transpiration, ground water, soil moisture, Jaisalmer and Barmer from the Indian desert
storage and surface run-off, agricultural that receive less than 90 mm average annual
practices. rainfall.
 12% of population suffers because of drought  Severe Drought Prone Area: Parts of eastern
in India. Rajasthan, most parts of Madhya Pradesh,
 Close to 20% of total geographical area is eastern parts of Maharashtra, interior parts
affected by drought in India. of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka Plateau,
Types of Droughts northern parts of interior Tamil Nadu and
 Meteorological Drought: It is a situation when southern parts of Jharkhand and interior
there is a prolonged period of inadequate Odisha are included in this category.
rainfall marked with mal-distribution of the  Moderate Drought Affected Area: Northern
same over time and space. parts of Rajasthan, Haryana, southern
 Agricultural Drought: It is also known as soil districts of Uttar Pradesh, the remaining parts
moisture drought, characterized by low soil of Gujarat, Maharashtra except Konkan,

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Jharkhand and Coimbatore plateau of Tamil Landslide Vulnerability Zones
Nadu and interior Karnataka are included in  Very High Vulnerability Zone: Highly
this category. unstable, relatively young mountainous
Consequences of Drought areas in the Himalayas and Andaman and
 Crop failure leading to scarcity of food Nicobar, high rainfall regions with steep
grains (akal), fodder (trinkal), inadequate slopes in the Western Ghats and Nilgiris,
rainfall, resulting in shortage of water the north-eastern regions, along with areas
(jalkal), and often shortage in all the three that experience frequent ground-shaking
(trikal) is most devastating. due to earthquakes, etc.
 Large-scale death of cattle and other  Along with areas of intense human
animals, migration of humans and livestock activities, particularly those related to
are the most common sight to be seen in construction of roads, dams, etc. are
the drought affected areas. included in this zone.
 Scarcity of water compels people to  High Vulnerability Zone: Areas that have
consume contaminated water resulting in almost similar conditions to those included
spread of many water borne diseases like in the very high vulnerability zone are also
gastro-enteritis, cholera, hepatitis. included in this category.
 Farmers suicide rate is very high in India  The only difference between these two is
and drought is one of the most prominent the combination, intensity and frequency
reasons for the same. of the controlling factors.
 Remote sensing and satellite imageries can  All the Himalayan states and the states
be useful in identifying the possible river- from the north-eastern regions except the
basins that can be inter-linked and in plains of Assam are included in the high
identifying the ground water potential. vulnerability zones.
 Moderate to Low Vulnerability Zone:
Landslides: Areas that receive less precipitation such
 Unlike other disasters that are as Trans-Himalayan areas of Ladakh and
unpredictable and are largely controlled by Spiti (Himachal Pradesh), undulated yet
macro or regional factors, landslides are stable relief and low precipitation areas in
largely controlled by highly localised the Aravali, rain shadow areas in the
factors. Western and Eastern Ghats and Deccan
 Hence, gathering information and plateau also experience occasional
monitoring the possibilities of landslide is landslides.
not only difficult but also immensely cost-  Landslides due to mining and subsidence
intensive. are most common in states like Jharkhand,
 On the basis of past experiences, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh,
frequency and certain causal relationships Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,
with the controlling factors like geology, Tamil Nadu, Goa and Kerala.
geomorphic agents, slope, land-use,
vegetation cover and human activities, Landslide Mitigation
India has been divided into a number of  Restriction on the construction and other
zones. developmental activities such as roads and
dams, limiting agriculture to valleys and

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areas with moderate slopes, and control  Northeast monsoon also brings rainfall in
on the development of large settlements in Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry apart from
the high vulnerability zones, should be Tamil Nadu.
enforced.
 Such is supplemented by some positive
actions like promoting large-scale
afforestation programmes and
construction of bunds to reduce the flow of
water.
 Terrace farming must be encouraged in the
northeastern hill states where Jhumming
(Slash and Burn/Shifting Cultivation) is still
prevalent.
Disaster Management
 Disasters due to cyclones, unlike the ones
caused by earthquakes, tsunamis and
volcanic eruptions are more predictable in
terms of the time and place of their  Winter monsoons do not cause rainfall as
occurrences. they move from land to the sea. It is because
 Construction of cyclone shelters,  Firstly, they have little humidity; and
embankments, dykes, reservoirs and  Secondly, due to anti cyclonic circulation
afforestation to reduce the speed of the on land, the possibility of rainfall from
winds are some of the steps that can help them reduces. So, most parts of India do
in minimizing the damages. not have rainfall in the winter season.
 National Disaster Management Act, 2005:  Jet streams are like rivers of wind high above
Legal, financial, institutional and in the atmosphere. These slim strips of strong
coordination mechanism at the national, winds have a huge influence on climate, as
state, district and local levels. they can push air masses around and affect
 National Disaster Management Authority weather patterns.
with Prime Minister as the ex-officio  The jet streams on Earth (other planets
Chairperson to lay down policies on have jet streams as well), notably Jupiter
disaster management. and Saturn typically run from west to east,
 National Disaster Management Plan, 2016: and their width is relatively narrow
Prevention, Mitigation, Response and compared to their length.
Recovery.  Jet streams are typically active at 20,000
feet (6,100 meters) to 50,000 feet (9,144
Do You Know? meters), or about 7 miles (11 kilometers)
 During Southwest monsoon, Indian above the surface and travel in what is
Subcontinent has low pressure and the known as the troposphere of Earth’s multi-
direction of air movement is from Australia layered atmosphere.
(high) to Indian subcontinent (low).  The seasons of the year, location of low-
and high-pressure systems and air
temperature all affect when and where a

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jet stream travels. Jet streams form a weather as much as the polar fronts jets
border between hot and cold air. Because do.
air temperature influences jet streams,  Tropical easterly jet: they are seasonal jet
they are more active in the winter when streams flowing east to west. These are
there are wider ranges of temperatures only found in northern hemisphere and
between the competing Arctic and tropic generates only in summer season. These
air masses. are also thermally induced.
 Temperature also influences the velocity
of the jet stream. The greater the  Kali Andhi or Black Storm are violent dust
difference in air temperature, the faster squalls that occur in the late-spring in the
the jet stream, which can reach speeds of northwestern parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain
up to 250 mph (402 kph) or greater, but region of the Indian Subcontinent.
average about 110 mph (177 kph).  They are usually brief, but can block out
 Both the Northern and Southern the sun, drastically reduce visibility and
hemispheres have jet streams, although cause property damage and injuries. They
the jet streams in the north are more are a common precursor to the arrival of
forceful. Each hemisphere has two primary the monsoon in the northern plains.
jet streams — a polar and a subtropical.
The polar jet streams form between the  Nor Westers or Bardoli Chheerha or
latitudes of 50 and 60 degrees north and Kalbaisakhi - Thunderstorm of India
south of the equator, and the subtropical  Norwesters known by its more famous
jet stream is closer to the equator and name KALBAISAKHI is local thunderstorm
takes shape at latitudes of 20 to 30 which is found mainly in the Northeastern
degrees. and Eastern parts of India.
 Polar front jet stream: this is a thermally  It is also prevalent in Bangladesh. The
induced jet stream and it flows parallel to Indian states affected by this phenomenon
surface fronts. They flow west to east in a are West Bengal, Assam, Chattisgarh,
sinusoidal fashion. It is strongest at 200- Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and the other
300mb level and swings between 40o-60o seven North Eastern states of India which
latitude. It is found in both the include Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur,
hemispheres. Its band is non-continuous Sikkim, Tripura, Meghalaya and Arunachal
but flows all-round the year. It can reach Pradesh.
up to 160-200 km/hr.  These thunderstorms are dreaded as they
 Tropical westerly jet streams: they also cause widespread devastation to
flow all-round the year. They flow to infrastructure, property, human and
conserve the angular momentum in upper animal life. However, these thunderstorms
atmosphere. They are found at the pole have some beneficial after effects.
ward limit of Hadley cell around 30oN and  These thunderstorms cause rainfall which
S latitude. It follows a more fixed pattern is useful for jute and rice cultivation in
than polar jet stream. It is strongest on West Bengal. They are also useful for Tea
Indian sub-continent. The maximum speed cultivation in Assam.
can reach upto 300km/hr. the subtropical  They start occurring from the month of
westerly jet do not seem to affect surface March and their effect is pronounced in

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the month of April and May. Flying of Autumn (Sharad Ritu), Pre-winter (Hemant
aircrafts through the Norwesters cloud and Ritu), and Winter (Shishir or Shita Ritu).
winds is highly unadvisable and pilots avoid
travelling through them as the aircraft is What are Isohyets?
quite unstable and prone to accident.  A line on a map connecting points having
 The Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, or ITCZ equal amounts of precipitation during a
 It is a belt of low pressure which circles the given time period or for a particular storm.
Earth generally near the equator where the  The method used in estimating average
trade winds of the Northern and Southern rainfall across a particular area is known as
Hemispheres come together. an isohyetal method.
 It is characterized by convective activity  The method is used when drawing lines of
which generates often vigorous equal precipitation on a map. Additionally,
thunderstorms over large areas. an isohyetal method uses topographic data
 It is most active over continental land together with other data to come up with
masses by day and relatively less active authentic estimates.
over the oceans.
 The intense sun and warm water of the Indian Ocean Dipole
equator heats the air in the ITCZ, raising
its humidity and making it buoyant. Aided
by the convergence of the trade winds, the
buoyant air rises. As the air rises it expands
and cools, releasing the accumulated
moisture in an almost perpetual series of
thunderstorms.
 Seasonal shifts in the location of the ITCZ
drastically affects rainfall in many
equatorial nations, resulting in the wet and
dry seasons of the tropics rather than the
cold and warm seasons of higher latitudes. According to the India Meteorological Department
Longer term changes in the ITCZ can result (IMD), Rainfall in August 2021, which recorded
in severe droughts or flooding in nearby 24% deficiency, was lowest in 12 years. The
areas. Southwest Monsoon season officially commences
from June 1 and lasts till September 30.
Traditional Seasons and Names
 Since Vedic times, people of the Hindu What are the possible reasons for large deficient
faith across India and South Asia have been rainfall?
following the Hindu calendar for Hindu  The formation of less number of low
festivals and other auspicious occasions. pressure systems (LPS) and their lesser
Throughout the year, according to the number of days compared to climatology.
Hindu calendar, there are six seasons in  Absence of longer westward movements
India- Spring (Vasant Ritu), Summer of LPS during the month of August 2021.
(Grishma Ritu), Monsoon (Varsha Ritu),  Negative Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) over
tropical Indian Ocean, unfavourable for

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Indian monsoon prevailed throughout the in India. Since, it is a high-pressure area, it
month of August. is also known as Mascarene high.
 The dipole has resulted in floods in eastern
Africa and bushfires in Australia. Normally, the high-pressure region starts forming
by mid-April and its strength is an important factor
What is the Indian Ocean Dipole? which determines the intensity of monsoon in
 The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), also known India. its impact on the weather pattern in India is
as the Indian Niño, is an irregular as follows:
oscillation of sea surface temperatures in  A stronger high pressure will produce
which the western Indian Ocean becomes stronger winds or monsoon current.
alternately warmer (positive phase) and  If there is a delay in the formation of
then colder (negative phase) than the Mascarene High, there is also the
eastern part of the ocean. possibility of a delay in the onset of
 A negative IOD is associated with the monsoon in India.
heating of waters of the Indian Ocean.  Most research says that its strength is
 A positive IOD is associated with droughts determined by the happenings in the
in Southeast Asia and Australia. Antarctic region.
 It is expected that the Western Indian  The position and intensity of this high are
Ocean will warm at accelerated rates due considered to be closely linked to the south
to climate change leading to an increasing summer monsoon activity.
occurrence of positive IODs.  But overall, this factor is not often held
 This is likely to result in the increasing responsible for delays and poor
intensity of rainfall during the short rain performance of the monsoon in India.
period over East Africa. Following figure 1 represents the region of
Mascarene high.

What is Mascarene High?  According to scientists, the broad belt of

 This high-pressure region located between high pressure around the Mascarene
25°S-35°S and 40°E-90°E near the Islands generates a cross-equatorial flow
Mascarene Islands in the southern Indian known as the Somali Jet which brings
Ocean is a source of Southwest monsoon heavy rain to India’s west coast. A strong,

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low-level jet usually means a strong  The warm water volume of the equatorial
monsoon over peninsular India. Pacific Ocean (conditions during February
 Winds from Mascarene High head in a and March of the present year).
north-westerly direction towards the east
coast of Africa (Somalia). Here, the Q.) Which of the following is/are rabi crops?
topography of Somalia deflects the winds
towards the east. Also, after crossing the 1. Mustard
equator, these winds experience the 2. Soybean
Coriolis Effect. 3. Gram
 Coriolis Force is a pseudo force which 4. Cotton
exists only because of the Earth’s
rotational effect. Rotational motion Select the correct answer using the code given
observed in a tropical cyclone is also due to
below:
this force.
 Hence, these monsoon winds get deflected a) 1 and 2 only
eastwards and now they blow from south- b) 1 and 3 only
west to the north-east direction. They split c) 2 and 4 only
into two branches—the Arabian Sea d) 2 and 3 only
branch and the Bay of Bengal branch.
Q.) Which of the following statements is/are
In this way Mascarene high impacts, the weather correct regarding Footloose Industry?
pattern in India by creating a way and safe passage
for the arrival of monsoon winds in India. 1. It can be located at any location
without effect from factors of
The Earth System Science Organization (ESSO) production.
and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) 2. Sugar and Tea industry are the
take into account five conditions while making examples of Footloose Industry.
forecasts about the monsoon in April every year.
These special conditions are as follows: Select the correct answer using the code given
 The Sea Surface Temperature (SST) below:
gradient between the north Atlantic and
a) 1 only
the north Pacific (conditions during
b) 2 only
December of the previous year and
c) Both 1 and 2
January of present year).
d) d) Neither 1 nor 2
 SST of the equatorial south Indian Ocean
(conditions during February and March of
the present year).
Mains
 Mean Sea Level pressure in east Asia Q.) Account for the present location of Iron
(conditions during February and March of and steel industries away from the source of
the present year). raw material, by giving examples.
 The surface air temperature over
northwest Europe (conditions during
January of the present year).

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Agriculture Nomadic Herding:

Agriculture is the cultivation and breeding of
This is one of the most primitive types of
animals, plants and fungi for food, fiber, biofuel,
agricultural practice. Nomadic herding is practiced
medicinal plants and other products used to
in the drylands of Sahara, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran,
sustain and enhance human life. Agriculture was
Afghanistan, Central Asia, Mongolia and China.
the key development in the rise of sedentary
Nomadic herding is also practiced in south-west
human civilization, whereby farming of
Africa, western Madagascar and along the
domesticated species created food surpluses that
southern boundary of the Tundra region in Eurasia
nurtured the development of civilization. The
where the Tungus rear reindeers.
study of agriculture is known as agricultural
science. The history of agriculture dates back
thousands of years, and its development has been
driven and defined by greatly different climates,
cultures, and technologies. Industrial agriculture
based on large-scale monoculture farming has
become the dominant agricultural method.

Types of Agriculture:

You will find different types of categorisation of

Agriculture/ farming practices given in different
This type of economic activity is characterised by a
books. One of the most widely accepted
frequent change of habitation in search of animal
classification was given by an economist named
fodder, fruits, nuts, edible roots, trading
Whittelesey.
opportunities, etc. The migration may even be of
NOTE: As far as GS geography is concerned, even ‘seasonal’ nature. For instance, the Tundras move
northwards to mountains during summer and
if you forget the name, there is no problem, by
southwards to forests during winter. Similarly, the
this classification you won’t miss any angle of
agriculture. Gujjars of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal
Pradesh move to upper altitudes during summer
Whittlesey’s Classification was based on the
and to the plains during winter.
following factors:
 Crop and livestock association
Pastoral Nomadism
 Labour and capital intensity Pastoral nomadism is associated with three
 Productivity important regions.
 Consumption pattern of production  The core region extends from the Atlantic
 Methods and techniques used for shores of North Africa eastwards across
production. the Arabian Peninsula into Mongolia and
central China.
Following types of agricultural practices are  The second region extends over the Tundra
found in the world: region of Eurasia.
 In the southern hemisphere, there are
small areas in south-west Africa and on the

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island of Madagascar. A gathering is and the remaining vegetation is burnt. The ashes
practiced in Amazon basin. add potash to the soil. Then the seeds are sown
 In the mountainous areas of Tibet and after the rains. It is practiced in West Bengal.
Andes, Yak and Lamas are reared.  In North eastern states of India shifting
 In the Arctic and sub-Arctic areas, reindeer cultivation is called Jhuming.
are the most important animals.  Named Milpa in Central America and
 In Sahara and Asiatic deserts, sheep, Mexico.
goats, and camels are reared.  It is named Ladang in Indonesia and
Malaysia.
Shifting Cultivation:
 Rocha in Brazil
This is a subsistence type of agriculture practiced
 Ray in Vietnam and Laos
in forested highlands of South America, Africa,
 Logan in West Africa
India (North-East, Orissa, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh,
 Tongya in Myanmar
and Madhya Pradesh) and in the belt from
Myanmar to south China. Intensive Subsistence Farming:
 Subsistence agriculture is the type of farming
This is an unscientific, wasteful and inefficient
in which crops grown are consumed by the
agricultural practice with low productivity in which
grower and his family.
primitive techniques and rudimentary implements
 In intensive subsistence farming, farmers use
are used.
simple tools, such as spades and ploughs, and
manual labour to cultivate a small plot of
land. Intensive subsistence farming is
practiced in areas having fertile soil and
receiving plenty of sunshine throughout the
year. For example, it is practiced in the
tropical and sub-tropical areas of West Bengal
and Andhra Pradesh.
Shifting cultivation is an agricultural system in  Intensive subsistence farming is practiced by
which plots of land are cultivated temporarily, farmers in the monsoon regions of south,
then abandoned and allowed to revert to their southeast and east Asia. It is more common in
natural vegetation while the cultivator moves on the thickly populated areas in these regions.
to another plot. The period of cultivation is usually Rice is the main crop grown through intensive
terminated when the soil shows signs of farming in addition to wheat, maize, pulses
exhaustion or, more commonly, when the field is and oilseeds on the same plot of land.
overrun by weeds. The length of time that a field
is cultivated is usually shorter than the period over
which the land is allowed to regenerate by lying
fallow.

In shifting agriculture, after two or three years of

producing vegetable and grain crops on cleared
land, the migrants abandon it for another plot.
Trees, bushes and forests are cleared by slashing,

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Commercial Grain Farming: the animals. While in under developed
 Commercial grain farming is the cultivation of countries, mixed farming is done for
crops for commercial purposes where crops subsistence and to have multiple sources of
are grown for sale in the market. This type of income.
farming is common in the sparsely populated
areas of the temperate grasslands of North
America, Europe and Asia. The main crops
grown are wheat and maize.
 Availability of land is the greatest reason for
the successful development of commercial
grain farming in temperate regions. Low
density of population (50-200 persons/ sq.
km.) facilitates higher per capita land avail- Paddy – Fish Mixed farming
ability. Plantation Agriculture:
 Since the labour in these places is too costly,  Plantation refers to large farms or estates
most of the work is mechanized and labour growing a single crop for commercial usage.
used is very less. This type requires a large amount of labour,
and capital investment in building an
Monoculture is dominated, i.e. one crop is grown extensive transportation network.
in large stretches of land. Plantations involve the cultivation of crops
like tea, sugarcane and rubber for supply to
agro – based industries as raw material.
 Generally, once the crop is sown, it can be
harvested multiple times.
 The produce from these plantations, like tea
leaves and rubber latex, are processed to
produce market-ready output, i.e. tea and
Mixed Farming: rubber sheets. Plantations are common in
 In mixed farming, the same plot of land is tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world,
used for cultivating crops and rearing like India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Brazil.
livestock. Farmers cultivate food crops like
rice and wheat, and fodder crops like barley
and grass. This type of farming is common in
Europe, parts of eastern USA, Argentina,
southeast Australia, New Zealand and South
Africa.
 In India to increase their sources of income,
farmers are going for mixed farming.
 Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh farms
fishes in paddy fields.
 In developed countries, the mixed farming is Tea Plantations
highly developed and market oriented. Farms
are specialized and crops are grown to feed

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Rubber 55 per cent of total cane area in the
 It is an equatorial crop grown in tropical country is in the sub-tropics. U.P, Bihar,
and sub-tropical climate Haryana and Punjab comes under this
 Dry spell and low temperature is harmful. region.
Daily rainfall followed by strong sun is very  It is a long duration crop and requires 10 to
useful for its cultivation. 15 and even 18 months to mature,
 It requires hot and humid climate with depending upon the geographical
temperature of 25°-35°C and annual conditions. It requires hot and humid
rainfall of over 200 cm. The rainfall should climate with average temperature of 21°-
be well distributed throughout the year. 27°C and 75-150 cm rainfall.
 Deep well drained loamy soils on the hill  In the latter half, temperature above 20°C
slopes at elevation ranging from 300 to 450 combined with open sky helps in acquiring
metres above sea level provide best juice and its thickening.
conditions for its growth. The yields  Too heavy rainfall results in low sugar
decline at higher elevations and no rubber content and deficiency in rainfall produces
plantations are found above 700 m fibrous crop.
elevation  Irrigation is required in areas receiving
 Rubber plantations were first established lesser rainfall than the prescribed limit.
in Kerala in 1902. Kerala is the largest Short cool dry winter season during
producer of natural rubber. ripening and harvesting is ideal.
 India is 4th largest producer in world.  Frost is detrimental to sugarcane.
Thailand is leading followed by Indonesia Therefore, it must be harvested before
and Vietnam. frost season, if it is grown in northern parts
 India is 4th largest consumer of natural of the country where winters are very cold
rubber in the world. China is the world’s and frost is a common phenomenon.
biggest consumer of natural rubber.  Hot dry winds are also harmful to
 Despite natural rubber being native to the sugarcane.
Amazon basin, approximately 90 percent
of the world’s supply is grown in Asia. Mediterranean Agriculture:

Sugarcane  This is a fairly widespread agricultural

practice which takes place in the European
countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea
(Spain, France, Italy and former republics of
the Yugoslav Federation), along western
edges of continents (central California,
central Chile), temperate regions between
30° and 40° in both the hemispheres
(southern tip of South Africa and south-
western and southern Australia).
 These regions are reputed for good quality
 Broadly there are two distinct agro- citrus fruits—grapes, olives, oranges, lemons,
climatic regions of sugarcane cultivation in pineapples etc.
India, viz., tropical and subtropical. Around
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Commercial Dairy Farming:  Mediterranean agriculture is highly
 Commercial dairy farming type is practiced on specialized Commercial agriculture. This
the western shores of France, the UK and region is an important supplier of citrus
Ireland, the Great Lakes region and the north- fruits. Viticulture or grape cultivation is a
west in the USA, south-eastern Australia and specialty of the Mediterranean region.
in New Zealand.  The regions where farmers specialize in
 These areas receive rainfall throughout the vegetables only, the farming is known as
year and produce good quality, nourishing truck farming. The distance of truck farms
grass. Mainly cattle and poultry are reared. from the market is governed by the
These regions are known for good quality milk distance that a truck can cover overnight,
products—cheese, butter etc., which are hence the name truck farming.
even exported.  Collective farming or the model of
Kolkhoz was introduced in erstwhile Soviet
Union to improve upon the inefficiency of
the previous methods of agriculture and to
boost agricultural production for self-
sufficiency.
 Cooperative Farming- A group of farmers
form a co-operative society by pooling in
their resources voluntarily for more
efficient and profitable farming. Individual
farms remain intact and farming is a matter
of cooperative initiative.
Rotary milking parlour

Livestock Ranching:
 Livestock ranching is undertaken in the vast
prairies of western USA and western Canada,
central Mexico, the belt from Venezuela to
Argentina, the veld region of South Africa,
temperate grasslands of Australia and New
Zealand, and the region to the north of
Caspian Sea. Livestock Ranching in Canada
 In agricultural regions of this type, cattle
rearing is done in relatively rainy parts, sheep Types of Crops
are reared in less rainy parts and goats and In India, the cropping pattern follows two distinct
camels are reared in low rainfall and warmer seasons; Kharif season from July to October and
regions. Rabi season from October to March. The crops
 Livestock rearing is highly specialized and in grown between March to June called Zaid. The
one region only one type of animal is kept. crops are grown solo or mixed (mixed-cropping) or
The rearing is on scientific lines, which is in a definite sequence (rotational cropping). The
highly mechanized and labour intensive. land may be occupied by one crop during one
session (mono-cropping) or by two crops during
Do you know?

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one season (double- cropping) which may be In general terms, we classify crops into two: Food
grown in a year in a sequence. crop and Cash crop.

Crops are plants that are grown and harvested for Food Crops:
eating or selling. On the basis of usage, crops are The Crops which are grown for food are called
classified into three types: Crops grown for food, food crops like rice, wheat, millets and maize.
Beverage Crops, and Crops grown for agro-based Every food crop needs a specific environment and
industries. These include fibre crops. geographical conditions to grow and thrive. Hence
different crops are produced at different places.
Types of Crops
 Kharif Crop: Kharif crops, monsoon crops,
Rice: Rice is the main component of people’s diet
or autumn crops are cultivated and
in the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia. This
harvested in the monsoon season. The
is because rice crops show best yield with high
farmer sow seeds at the beginning of the
temperature, high humidity and rainfall. Alluvial
monsoon season and harvest them at the
clayey soil is the best for growing rice as it can
end of the season. i.e., between
retain water.
September and October. Kharif crops need
a lot of water and hot weather for proper
growth. Examples: Rice, Maize, Millet,
Soybean, Arhar, Cotton etc.
 Rabi Crop: Rabi means spring in Arabic.
Crops grown in the winter season [October
to December] and harvested in the spring
season [Aril-May] are called Rabi crops.
These crops require a warm climate for
germination and maturation of seeds and
need a cold environment for their growth.
China is the leading producer of rice, followed by
Rain in winter spoils the Rabi crop but is
India which together account for half of the
good for the Kharif crop. Examples: Wheat,
world’s total rice production. Indonesia, Japan, Sri
Gram, Barley, Peas, Oats, Chickpea,
Lanka, Egypt and Bangladesh are the other major
Linseed, Mustard, etc.
producers of rice.
 Zaid Crop: Zaid crops are grown between
 Rice is a staple food for the overwhelming
Kharif and Rabi Seasons, i.e., between
majority of population in India.
March to June. They require warm, dry
 It has about 3,000 varieties which are
weather as a vital growth period and
grown in different agro-climatic regions.
longer day length for flowering. Zaid crop
 In southern states and West Bengal, the
is significant for farmers as it gives fast cash
climatic conditions allow the cultivation of
to the farmers and is also known as gap-
two or three crops of rice in an agricultural
filler between two chief crops, Kharif and
year.
Rabi. Examples: Cucumber, Pumpkin,
 In West Bengal farmers grow three crops of
Bitter gourd, Watermelon, Muskmelon,
rice called ‘aus’, ‘aman’ and ‘boro’.
Sugarcane, Groundnut, Pulses, etc.
 About one-fourth of the total cropped area
in the country is under rice cultivation.

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 West Bengal has the highest production of  Bangladesh, West Bengal, the Prairies of
rice in India. Close to half of its arable land the USA, Canada, Russia, Australia and
is under rice cultivation. Pakistan are major producers of wheat.
 China is the leading producer of Wheat in
There are 20 different varieties of rice in India,
the World. India is 2nd in the list.
which includes the following.
 Wheat production in Uttar Pradesh is
 Brown Rice
among the highest in India.
 Basmati Rice
 Jasmine Rice Note: Recently India banned wheat export.
 Mogra Rice Why India has banned wheat exports despite
 Bamboo Rice big trade plans?
 Wild Rice
 Black Rice Millets: Millets are also known as coarse grains
 Red Rice and are available in the form of jowar, bajra and
 Red Cargo Rice ragi in India.
 Indrayani Rice
 White Rice
 Sushi Rice
 Purple Thai Rice
 Bomba Rice
 Glutinous Rice or Sticky Rice
 Arborio Rice
 Valencia Rice
 Sona Masuri  Millets grow well on soils of relatively low
 Samba Rice fertility or sandy soil and require low to
 Rosematta Rice adequate rainfall and temperatures
ranging from high to moderate.
Wheat: Wheat requires a well-drained loamy soil.  India is the leading country in millets
production. Along with India other major
producers of millets in the world are China,
Niger and Nigeria.
 India is the largest global producer with a
41.04% global market share.
 More than 40% of global millet
consumption is held by African countries
mainly Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Burkina, and
Sudan.
 This crop grows best in moderate rainfall
 Rajasthan accounts for more than 40% of
and moderate temperature and requires
the total Millet production of the country.
loads of sunshine in the harvest season.
Karnataka is also a leader in millet
 Hence, in India, wheat is sown in the winter production, with over 3 lakh tonne
season and harvested in the summer. production each year.

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Maize: Maize another popular food crop is enough clay, organic matter and a
commonly referred to as corn. The soil needs to be moderate concentration of nitrogen and
well drained and fertile for growing maize with phosphorus. The best yields are often
moderate temperatures, moderate rainfall and achieved in loamy soils that are rich in
abundance of sunshine. The major producers of calcium carbonate.
maize in the world are: USA, China, Brazil, Mexico,  Because of their clayey nature, black soil is
India, Canada, and South Africa. also very good for growing cotton. Cotton
cultivation requires high moisture
retention. Black soils are very fine grained
and dark, contain a high proportion of
calcium and magnesium carbonates and
highly argillaceous.
 India is the leading producer of cotton in
the World.

The major crops grown for agro-based industries

are cotton and jute and are also known as fiber
crops.

Cotton is the main raw material for the cotton

 Apart from India, the leading producers of
textile industry and owing to its light and airy
cotton in the world are: China, The USA,
texture, it is ideal for clothing.
Pakistan, Brazil and Egypt.

Cotton:
 A good yield of cotton requires: high Jute:
temperatures, light rainfall, 210 frost-free  Jute is essentially a tropical plant and
days and plenty of sunlight. requires high temperature and high
 Cotton grows in tropical and sub-tropical precipitation.
warm humid climate. Annual temperature  Jute on the other hand is golden in colour
requirement is 20°-28°C. with a silky shine and is popularly known as
 Annual rainfall of 55-100 cm is ideal for the Golden Fibre.
cotton Cultivation. Rainfall during  Jute requires high temperatures, plain
harvesting is harmful. alluvial soil, plenty of rainfall and a humid
 Fertile, saline soil with high water- climate to thrive.
retention capacity is ideal for cotton  It needs a well-distributed rainfall
cultivation. throughout with light showers and ample
 Loamy soil with high calcium carbonate is sunshine in the early stages.
best for cotton cultivation. Suitable soils
for achieving high yields are considered the
deep well drained sandy loam soils, with
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 They require rich soils and thrives on river  It requires 150-300 cm annual rainfall
alluvium, especially where annual floods which should be well distributed
renew the fertility of the soil. throughout the year. While prolonged dry
 The best quality of jute is obtained from spell is harmful for tea, high humidity,
loamy soils, whereas the heaviest yield heavy dew and morning fog favour rapid
comes from clayey soils. development of young leaves.
 India and Bangladesh are the primary  Alternate waves of warm and cool winds
providers of jute. are very helpful for tea leaves. Tea is a
shade-loving plant and develops more
vigorously when planted along with shady
trees.
 Tea requires heavy rainfall for its growth,
stagnant water is injurious to its roots. It is,
therefore, grown on hill slopes where
water drains away easily and water-logging
does not take place.
 However, it grows equally well in the valley
if the drainage is good. Most of the tea
Bevarage Crops plantations in India are found at elevations
varying from 600 to 1,800 metres above
Beverage crops include crops like tea and coffee. sea level.
Tea is supposed to be indigenous to China.  Tea bush grows well in well drained, deep,
friable loams. However, virgin forest soils
Tea: rich in humus and iron content are
considered to be the best soils for tea
plantations.
 Relatively large proportion of phosphorus
and potash in the soil gives special flavour
to tea as is the case in Darjeeling.
 China, India, Kenya and Sri Lanka are
known to produce the finest tea in the
world.
 Darjeeling tea is recognized by consumers
worldwide for its unique flavor and quality.

 Tea bush is a tropical and sub-tropical plant Coffee:

and thrives well in hot and humid climate. It is indigenous to Abyssinia Plateau (Ethiopia)
 There is a very close relation between from where it was taken to Arabia in 11th century.
climate, the yield and the quality of tea. From Arabia, its seeds were brought to India by
The ideal temperature for its growth is 20°- Baba Budan in the 17th Century and were raised in
30°C and temperatures above 35°C and the Baba Budan Hills of Karnataka.
below 10°C are harmful for the bush.

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India has total geographical area of about 328.73
million hectors but statistics pertaining to land
utilization were available for about 306.05 million
hectares.

Coffee grows well in: well-drained loamy soil and

hilly slopes. Humus and minerals like iron and
calcium are ideal for coffee cultivation.
 Hot and humid climate with temperature
varying between 15°C and 28 °C and
rainfall from 150 to 250 cm.
 The climate needs to be warm and wet like
in subtropical regions.
 It does not tolerate frost, snowfall, high
temperature above 30°C and strong sun
shine and is generally grown under shady
trees.
 Brazil is the world leader in the production
of coffee, followed by Vietnam, Columbia,
Indonesia, Ethiopia, Honduras and India.
 Coffee Arabica and Coffee Robusta are the
two main varieties of coffee grown in India
accounting for 49 per cent and 51 per cent
of area respectively under coffee.
 Karnataka is the largest producer
accounting for about 70 per cent of total
coffee production and 60 per cent of the
area under coffee in India.

Land Utilization Land usage can be broadly categorized as

The utilization of land depends upon physical follows:
factors like topography, soil and climate as well as
upon human factors such as the density of Net Sown Area:
population, duration of occupation of the area, Cropped area in the year under consideration is
land tenure and technical levels of the people. called net sown area. This area has a special
significance in an agricultural country like India
because agricultural production largely depends
upon this type of land.

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Currently the net sown area in
India is almost 46% which is much
higher than the world average of
32%. In most of the developed
nations it is less than 10%.
Unfortunately, because of very
high population, the per capita net
sown area is very low in India.

In order to have food security, we

need to increase the net sown
area in India. But now this is not
possible as the limit is already
saturated. The only way is to
increase the productivity of the
available land or to cure the
barren/ waste land for agriculture.

Madhya Pradesh has the largest

net sown area of 19.89 million
hectares which is about 13.89 per
cent of the total reporting net
sown area of India. This is followed
by Maharashtra (17.69 million
hectares), Uttar Pradesh (17.58
million hectares), Rajasthan (15.51
million hectares), Andhra Pradesh
(10.66 million hectares) and
Karnataka (10.26 million
hectares). (71.22 million hectares), which is 21.71 percent of
the total geographical area. In 2019 it was 21.67
It may be noted that agricultural prosperity does percent.
not depend as much as on the total net sown area  Tree cover is 2.91% of the geographical
as it does on the percentage of net sown area to area of the country.
the total reporting area. There are large variations  As compared to ISFR 2019 the current
in the proportion of net sown area to total assessment shows an increase of Forest
reporting area from one state to another Punjab Cover: 0.22% and Tree Cover: 0.76%.
and Haryana had some of the highest proportions  Five states in terms of increase in forest
of 84.2 and 80.7 per cent respectively while cover: Andhra
Arunachal Pradesh had 3 per cent only. Pradesh>Telangana>Odisha>Karnataka>Jh
arkhand.
Forests:
According to the India State of Forest Report (ISFR)
2021, the total forest cover is 713,789 Sq km

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 The total carbon stock in forests is This class consists of two types of land viz. (i) land
estimated as 7,204.0 million tonnes an put to nonagricultural uses and (ii) barren and
increase of 79.4 million tonnes since 2019. unculturable waste. The area put to non-
 The Mangrove cover in the country has agricultural uses includes land occupied by
increased by 0.34% as compared to the villages, towns, roads, railways or under water i.e.
previous assessment rivers, lakes, canals, tanks, ponds, etc.

Some Important Terms: The barren land covers all barren and uncultivated
 The Forest Canopy Area/Forest Cover is lands in mountains and hill slopes, deserts and
covered on the ground irrespective of the rocky areas. These areas cannot be brought under
legal status of the land. It includes all tree plough except at high input cost with possible low
patches which have a canopy density of returns. The amount of this land has been variable
more than 10% and an area of 1 ha or more right from 1950-51 to 1999-2000, the data for
in size. which are available.
 'Forest Cover' and 'Tree Cover' put
Land not available for cultivation accounted for
together constitutes 'Forest & Tree Cover'
13.8 per cent of the total reported area in 1999-
which is the key parameter for monitoring
2000. The largest amount of land in this category
progress as per the National Forest Policy'
is in Andhra Pradesh followed by Rajasthan,
goal of achieving 33% of the country's
Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and
geographical area under green cover.
Bihar.
 Trees Outside Forest: Trees found outside
the recorded forest areas. TOF refers to all Pastures and Grazing Lands:
trees growing outside RFA irrespective of A total area of 11 million hectares is devoted to
patch size which could also be larger than permanent pastures and other grazing lands. This
1 ha. amounts to about 4 per cent of the total reporting
 Tree Cover: All patches of trees occurring area of the country. Grazing takes place mostly in
outside RFA which are of size less than 1 ha forests and other uncultivated land wherever
including the scattered trees. pasturage is available.
 Forest Area or recorded forest area refers
to all the geographic areas recorded as The area presently under pastures and other
forest in government records. grazing lands is not sufficient keeping in view the
 Canopy Density: It is defined as the large population of livestock in the country. About
proportion of an area in the field/ground one-third of the reporting area in Himachal
that is covered by the crown of trees. Pradesh is under pastures. The proportion varies
from 4 to 10 per cent in Madhya Pradesh,
According to the expert committee Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and
recommendations, much of the area reclaimed Orissa. It is less than 4 per cent in the remaining
from the forest for agriculture should be retired parts of the country.
from cultivation and brought back under forests to
save the land from the adverse effects of Culturable Waste:
deforestation.
The “wasteland survey and reclamation
Land not available for cultivation: committee” defines “culturable waste” as the land

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available for cultivation but not used for  Fallow land is left uncultivated from 1 to 5
cultivation for one reason or the other. This land years to help soil recoup its fertility in the
was used in the past but has been abandoned for natural way depending upon the nature of
some reason. It is not being used at present due to soil and the nature of fanning.
such constraints as lack of water, salinity or
alkalinity of soil, soil erosion, water-logging, an There is need to reduce the extent and frequency
unfavourable physiographic position, or human of fallow land in order to increase agricultural
neglect. production. This can be done by proper dose of
fertilizers, providing irrigation facilities, crop
Reh, bhur, usar, and khola tracts of Uttar
Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana as well as in
several other parts of the country were used for
agriculture in the past but had to be abandoned
due to some deficiencies in the soil resulting
from faulty agricultural practices.

This decline in the wasteland is due to some land

reclamation schemes launched in India after
Independence. About one-sixth of the total
reporting area in Goa is termed as culturable
waste. Rajasthan has 4.9 lakh hectare of
cultivable waste land which is about 36.1 per
cent of the total waste land of India.

The other states with considerable culturable

waste land are Gujarat (13.6%), Madhya Pradesh
(10.2%), Uttar Pradesh (6.93%) and Maharashtra
(6.83%). The cultivable waste, if brought under
cultivation can be an important factor in
augmenting the country’s agricultural
production.

Fallow Lands:
This category includes all that land which was rotation and combination and several other
used for cultivation but is temporarily out of similar farm techniques.
cultivation.
Various Cultures related to Agriculture:
 Fallow land is of two types’ viz., current Permaculture Permaculture is an approach
fallow and fallow other than current to land management and
fallow. settlement design that
 Fallow of one year is called ‘current fallow’ adopts arrangements
while that of 2 to 5 years is classified as observed in flourishing
‘fallow other than current fallow’. natural ecosystems.

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Apiculture It is the maintenance of bee Arboriculture Arboriculture is the
colonies, commonly in man- cultivation, management,
made hives, by humans and study of individual trees,
Aquaculture It is breeding, raising, and shrubs, vines, and other
harvesting fish, shellfish, and perennial woody plants.
aquatic plants. Basically, it's Viticulture Viticulture is the cultivation
farming in water. and harvesting of grapes
Aviculture It is the practice of keeping which deals with the series
and breeding birds, of events that occur in the
especially of wild birds in vineyard.
captivity. Aviculture is
generally focused on not
only the raising and breeding
of birds, but also on New Agricultural Techniques
preserving avian habitat, and
Hydroponics
public awareness campaigns Growing plants without soil is known as
Floriculture Floriculture or flower
hydroponics. Instead of soil, plants use a nutrient
farming is the study of
rich solution for growth.
growing and marketing
flowers and foliage plants.
Horticulture The branch of plant  Some hydroponic growers have found they
agriculture dealing with get yields many times greater when they
garden crops, generally switch from conventional methods.
fruits, vegetables, and Because hydroponically grown plants dip
ornamental plants. their roots directly into nutrient-rich
Mariculture It is the farming of marine solutions, they get what they need much
organisms for food and other more easily than plants growing in soil, so
products such as they need much smaller root systems and
pharmaceuticals, food can divert more energy into leaf and stem
additives, jewelry (e.g.,
growth.
cultured pearls),
 With smaller roots, you can grow more
nutraceuticals, and
cosmetics. plants in the same area and get more yield
Sericulture The production of raw silk by from the same amount of ground (which is
means of raising caterpillars particularly good news if you're growing in
(larvae), particularly those of a limited area like a greenhouse or on a
the domesticated silkworm balcony or window-ledge inside).
(Bombyx mori).  Hydroponic plants also grow faster.
Silviculture It is the practice of
controlling the growth,
composition/structure, and
quality of forests to meet
values and needs, specifically
timber production
Vermiculture Artificial rearing or
cultivation of worms
(Earthworms)

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 Many pests are carried in soil, so doing  Unlike hydroponics, which uses a liquid
without it generally gives you a more
hygienic growing system with fewer
problems of disease.
 Since hydroponics is ideal for indoor
growing, you can use it to grow plants all
year round.
 Automated systems controlled by timers
and computers make the whole thing very
precise.
nutrient solution as a growing medium and
Drawbacks: essential mineral to sustain plant growth, or
 Overall system to support hydroponics is aquaponics, which uses water and fish waste,
costly. aeroponics is conducted without a growing
 A very controlled environment is required medium.
to get a desired yield.  Because this system allows very high-density
 Bigger plants with big tap roots are difficult planting and makes harvesting much easier,
to grow. growers find that they have very high yields.
 You need to check them constantly to In one study in Sardinia, Italy, researchers
make sure they're growing in exactly the found that tomato plants grown
conditions they need. There is a need to aeroponically even produced four crops a
check the electrical conductivity of the year instead of the more common one or two.
water every day to make sure that the pH AQUAPONICS
of the water is just right. Fluctuations in the
pH level of the water can damage plants
and eventually cause a die-off.
 Relatively more water consumption.
 Another downside is that with the
booming interest in hydroponics in recent
years, the price of the chemical
compounds needed to create a viable
nutrient solution has been steadily rising
due to the over-mining of these minerals.  Aquaponics is different than both
AEROPONICS hydroponics and aeroponics in that it’s
 Aeroponics is a way of growing plants without achieved through a combination of
soil and with very little water. aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics
 Using this method means you can grow (the soil-less growing of plants).
vertically as well as horizontally, so it can be a  Adding fish into the equation creates a
great way of saving space. natural ecosystem in which fish, plants, and
 Aeroponic culture differs from both bacteria thrive off one another.
conventional hydroponics, aquaponics, and  Instead of needing a nutrient solution mixed
in-vitro (plant tissue culture) growing. with chemicals, the waste from fish and the

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living bacteria in an aquaponics system  This also holds true the other way around
provide all of the nutrients the plants need. so that if growth hormones or antibiotics
 Likewise, the fish together with the bacteria or anything else unnatural is given to the
create a cleaner, non-toxic environment for fish, the plants will suffer.
the fish to live in.  Because of the way this natural process
 The principle of hydroponics is the oldest works, aquaponics is scientifically proven
among the three because the use of soil-less to achieve better growth, lower disease
setups has been around since the age of the rates, and less system maintenance.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Vertical Farming
Hydroponics and aeroponics have an advantage
in that they are a bit quicker to start. In some
cases, setting up these systems can also be
simpler.
 When fish are left out of the equation,
there are less variables to measure and
monitor for water quality. Fish can die off
quickly in an aquaponics system if the  Vertical farming is a practice of growing food
water quality (temp, oxygen, nitrogen crops on vertically stacked layers.
levels) isn’t just right for them.  In vertical farming, crops are grown indoors,
 One more advantage for hydroponics is under artificial conditions of light and
that an aquaponics system has to be temperature.
cultivated in the beginning and it takes at  Crops are grown indoors, under artificial
least a month or so to introduce fish into conditions of light and temperature. It aims at
the water. higher productivity in smaller spaces. It uses
 This process involves letting a bacteria soil-less methods such as hydroponics,
colony build in the system that can aquaponics and aeroponics.
regulate the water and covert fish waste to  Vertical farming uses significantly less water
keep it from being too toxic for the fish. and pesticides than traditional agricultural
methods. Being indoors, the crops aren't
Besides growing and harvesting fish for protein,
subject to seasons and hence give high
one of the biggest advantages of aquaponics over
productivity year-round. Lettuces, tomatoes
other methods is that it is a necessarily natural
and green crops can be produced through this
and organic process.
practice.
 Hydroponics requires growing in a man-
made environment and adding man-made
There are four critical areas in understanding how
nutrient solutions, whereas in aquaponics
vertical farming works: 1. Physical layout, 2.
you are creating a natural ecosystem
Lighting, 3. Growing medium, and 4. Sustainability
relying on bacteria to convert fish waste
features.
into a complete plant food.
 Firstly, the primary goal of vertical farming
 It’s also worth noting that if herbicides or
is producing more foods per square meter.
pesticides are applied to the plants, the
To accomplish this goal, crops are
fish will be harmed.

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cultivated in stacked layers in a tower life  It could be very costly to build and
structure. economic feasibility studies haven't yet
 Secondly, a perfect combination of natural been completed.
and artificial lights is used to maintain the  Pollination would be very difficult and
perfect light level in the room. costly.
Technologies such as rotating beds are  It would involve higher labor costs.
used to improve lighting efficiency.  It relies too much on technology and one
 Thirdly, instead of soil, aeroponic, day of power loss would be devastating.
aquaponic or hydroponic growing
mediums are used. Peat moss or coconut Zero Budget Natural Farming
 The idea of ZBNF was developed by shri
husks and similar non-soil mediums are
Subhash Palekar.
very common in vertical farming.
 It is a method of farming where the cost of
 Finally, the vertical farming method uses
growing and harvesting plants is zero. In this
various sustainability features to offset the
process farmers need not purchase fertilizers
energy cost of farming. In fact, vertical
and pesticides in order to ensure the healthy
farming uses 95 percent less water.
growth of crops.
Vertical farming has a lot of promise and sounds  It is, basically, a natural farming technique
like the farm of the future. However, there are a that uses biological pesticides instead of
few stumbling blocks to consider before rushing chemical-based fertilizers. Farmers use
earthworms, cow dung, urine, plants, human
excreta and such biological fertilizers for crop
protection. It reduces farmers’ investment. It
also protects the soil from degradation.
Four wheels of ZBNF:
The “four wheels” of ZBNF are ‘Jiwamrita’,
‘Bijamrita’, ‘Mulching’ and ‘Waaphasa’.
 Jiwamrita: It is a fermented mixture of cow
dung and urine (of desi breeds), jaggery,
pulses flour, water and soil from the farm
bund. This is not a fertilizer in itself, but a
source of some 500 crore micro-organisms
full-speed ahead into vertical farming. that can convert all the necessary “non-
Pros available” nutrients into “available” form.
 It offers a plan to handle future food  Bijamrita: It is a mix of desi cow dung and
demands urine, water, bund soil and lime that is
 It allows crops to grow year-round used as a seed treatment solution prior to
 It uses significantly less water sowing.
 Weather doesn't affect the crops  Mulching, or covering the plants with a
 More organic crops can be grown layer of dried straw or fallen leaves, is
meant to conserve soil moisture and keep
 There is less exposure to chemicals and
the temperature around the roots at 25-32
disease
degrees Celsius, which allows the
Cons microorganisms to do their job.
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 Waaphasa, or providing water to maintain which was -Monoculture- in which only one type
the required moisture-air balance, also of crop was cultivated in a particular location.
achieves the same objective.
2. Soil Management: After the cultivation of crops,
Advantages
the soil loses its nutrients and its quality depletes.
 It is environment friendly and has very low Organic agriculture initiates the use of natural
carbon foot print. ways to increase the health of soil. It focuses on
 It is economically viable for the farmers. the use of bacteria that is present in animal waste
 Fertility and nutrient value of soil is which helps in making the soil nutrients more
improved naturally. productive to enhance the soil.
 It is better than organic farming as farmers
have to buy a lot of inputs in case of 3. Weed Management: Weed, is the unwanted
organic farming. plant that grows in agricultural fields. Organic
agriculture pressurizes on lowering the weed
Andhra Pradesh Policy:
Andhra Pradesh is the first state to implement a rather than removing it completely.
ZBNF policy. By 2021-22, the programme is to be
implemented in every panchayat, with full 4. Controlling other organisms: There are both
coverage by 2024. useful and harmful organisms in the agricultural
farm which affect the field. The growth of such
organisms needs to be controlled to protect the
Organic Farming
soil and the crops. This can be done by the use of
 Organic farming is not a new concept; it is
herbicides and pesticides that contain less
being practiced from ancient times.
chemicals or are natural. Also, proper sanitization
 Organic Farming is a farming method which
of the entire farm should be maintained to control
aims at cultivating the land and raising crops
other organisms.
in such a way that the soil is kept alive and in
5. Livestock: Organic farming instigates domestic
good health by use of organic wastes (crop,
animals use to increase the sustainability of the
animal and farm wastes, aquatic wastes) and
farm.
other biological materials. It is basically the
revival of traditional type of farming.
6. Discarding Genetic Modification: Genetic
 Organic farming is done to release nutrients
modification is kept away from this kind of
to the crops for increased sustainable
agricultural set up because organic farming
production in an eco-friendly and pollution-
focuses on the use of natural ways and
free environment. It aims to produce crop
discourages engineered animals and plants.
with a high nutritional value.

Disadvantages of Organic farming:

There are various methods by which organic
 Reduction in productivity of crops in long
farming is practiced are as follows:
term.
 It is very time consuming and labour
1. Crop Diversity: Now a days a new practice has
intensive. The farmer has to spend most of
come into picture which is called -Polyculture- in
the time, day after day, observing and
which a variety of crops can be cultivated
catering for the needs of his/her crops and
simultaneously just to meet the increasing
animals with utmost care in the best
demand of crops. Unlike the ancient practice

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natural way. This makes organic farming to nutrient composition and food quality,
be more labor intensive compared to the resistance to pests and disease, greater
conventional mechanical or chemical food security, and medical benefits to the
agriculture. world's growing population.
 More skills are needed to farm organically  Advances have also been made in
compared to mechanical and chemical developing crops that mature faster and
agriculture. Organic farmers lack the tolerate aluminum, boron, salt, drought,
convenience of using mechanized or frost, and other environmental stressors,
chemical techniques to fix every problem allowing plants to grow in conditions
that is encountered. where they might not otherwise flourish
 Organic foods are the most expensive  Other applications include the production
agricultural produces in the market. Since of nonprotein (bioplastic) or nonindustrial
yield is less and inputs are high, the price of (ornamental plant) products.
organic produce is very high.  A number of animals have also been
genetically engineered to increase yield
Five innovative agricultural technologies and
and decrease susceptibility to disease.
practices that are changing agriculture across the
 For example, salmon have been
world.
engineered to grow larger and mature
faster and cattle have been enhanced to
Genetic Editing
exhibit resistance to mad cow disease.
 Scientists have now started to utilise
CRISPR/Cas9 to carry out genetic Urban agriculture and vertical farming
“surgeries”. This allows them to identify  The big thing about urban agriculture in
and alter an organism’s genome by particular is how to make the best use out
replacing or removing specific genetic of what is often very limited farm space.
sequencing on a strand of DNA. Urban farms can by nature be quite small,
 Now, CRISPR is being used to alter a cow’s and could literally just be an outdoor
gut microbes with the aim of controlling traditional community garden. However,
the animal’s size as well as reducing the they can still be very valuable, offering an
amount of methane they produce. environmentally controlled, self-contained
 Adjusting the microbiomes of cows in this pod.
way could produce more meat on less  Sometimes they may even be stacked on
food. This in turn leads to industry top of each other known as vertical
efficiency and increased profitability. farming. And despite the relatively small
 Scientists have also begun to engineer size, yields from vertical farming can be
crops that can thrive on less water and around ten times more efficient than
yield more food. traditional agriculture.
 Agricultural plants are one of the most  Although vertical farming doesn’t promise
frequently cited examples of genetically to turn the way we farm on its head, it can
modified organisms (GMOs). Some make huge strides in efficient, productive
benefits of genetic engineering in farming methods.
agriculture are increased crop yields,  Traditional farmers could learn a lot from
reduced costs for food or drug production, vertical farmers in their design and building
reduced need for pesticides, enhanced
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structures, making the most of smart farmers very welcomed assistance during
design to increase yield and reduce waste. the busy harvest season. This innovative
 As the world’s population continues to technological step will allow farmers to
grow and take up more room, efficiencies automate their existing equipment too, to
in space and farming practices will become maximise its capacity and efficiency.
all the more essential for feeding  The AutoCart software is actually a cloud-
ourselves. based platform, meaning that these
automated agricultural vehicles will
Blockchain technology
become part of the global internet of
 Whilst many people will have heard of
things (IoT). Essentially however,
blockchain within the sphere of
automated vehicles are only one small
cryptocurrency finance, the agricultural
piece of IoT innovation and machine
world is starting to incorporate this
learning in agriculture.
innovative new technology in a different
 A new AI system that uses a combination
way.
of voice recognition, machine vision, and
 Most of the earliest blockchain
temperature sensors for example is now
applications in agriculture were with
being trialled to keep track of the health,
regard to supply chains and traceability;
wellbeing and location of pigs. Other cases
the status of crops could be recorded and
of AI use include highly advanced disease
updated using blockchain, right from
detection in crops using a number of
harvesting through to delivery.
similar techniques.
 The true benefit of this for larger
 It’s all exciting stuff, but is clearly just the
operations in particular is a secure, highly
tip of the iceberg. Much of the true
accurate ledger where nothing ever goes
potential of AI has yet to even be realised
missing in transit. All crops that belong to a
with the field still being very much in its
specific farmer can be traced in real time.
infancy.
 Blockchain can also be used for resource
management, like tracking other sensors Bees and drones
and equipment for example, or  If climate change continues, scientists
maintaining machinery records. warn that food shortages could be more
likely which will drive up prices. For this
Artificial intelligence, automation and the reason, public health officials have been
Internet of Things turning their attention towards shoring up
 Ask anyone what they think the future of food reserves and finding alternative ways
driving might be, and most people will talk of farming.
about driverless cars where AI takes full  Drones have many uses in agriculture, but
control. What people generally think less one problem that’s been in the news a lot
about however, is driverless vehicles on recently is around disappearing bees.
farms. Nevertheless, Smart Ag, a company  Indeed, some species are even at risk of
based in the USA, has announced its extinction. This would be disastrous, as
driverless tractor technology in the form of bees play a vital economic role as
“AutoCart” software. pollinators, helping maintain current
 Apparently, this software will fully agricultural production levels.
automate a grain cart tractor, providing
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 Luckily, drones are now being used in Q.) Which among the following is not among
experiments to hopefully supplement the the major domains of earth?
pollination efforts that remaining bees are
completing. Other ways that agriculture is a) Lithosphere
starting to use drones includes automated
crop harvesting, aerial drone photography b) Hydrosphere
and even potentially in future as delivery
c) Stratosphere
drones.
d) Atmosphere
NOTE: Contemporary concepts and aspects
encompassing ‘Agriculture and Industries’ are
also covered in Babapedia (Current Affairs).
Moreover, there are many overlapping topics in Mains
GS Paper 1 and Paper 3 topics as per UPSC Q.) How will the melting of Himalayan glaciers
syllabus, so if something is not covered in have a far-reaching impact on the water
geography related agriculture, it will definitely be resources of India? ((GS1)
covered in Paper 3 related agriculture topics.
Q.) Examine the status of forest resources of
Q.) Consider the following statements: India and its resultant impact on climate
change. (GS1)
1. Agricultural soils release nitrogen
oxides into the environment

2. Cattle release ammonia into the SOIL

environment
Soil can be defined as the organic and inorganic
3. The poultry industry releases reactive
materials on the surface of the Earth that provides
nitrogen compounds into the
the medium for plant growth.
environment
Inorganic materials, or those materials that are
Which of the statements given above is/ are
not living, include weathered rocks and minerals.
correct?
Weathering is the mechanical or chemical process
a) 1 and 3 only by which rocks are broken down into smaller
pieces. As rocks are broken down, they mix with
b) 2 and 3 only organic materials, which are those materials that
originate from living organisms. For example,
c) 2 only plants and animals die and decompose, releasing
nutrients back into the soil.
d) 1, 2 and 3

Process of Soil Formation:

Soil formation is a result of various processes that
tend to affect the soil profile (parallel layers of soil
each with distinct physical characteristics).

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Following are the processes that result in soil Climate: Temperature and humidity decides the
formation: rate of weathering of rocks and amount of humus
in soil.
1. Eluviation: It is the mechanical translocation of
clay or other fine particles from upper layers to Parent Rock: Decides the colour, minerals and
lower layers due to downward precipitation. The grain size of soil.
particles could also translocate in dissolved form.
Topography: Slope and altitude decides the
2. Illuviation: It is the accumulation of the washed accumulation of soil on the surface. Slopes usually
off material i.e. eluviated material in the lower have thin layer of soil.
layers of the soil profile. Water percolating the soil
leaches out soluble salts and mineral particles, Organic Material: flora, fauna and
thereby adding them to the lower portions. microorganisms decide the formation of humus in
the soil.
3. Leaching: It is the loss of water-soluble material Time: Time is the most important factor for the
like calcium due to percolation of water down the soil formation. Time decides the formation of
soil profile. zones in soil. It also decides it thickness.

4. Cheluviation: It is a combination of weathering Soil Degradation: Soil degradation is the decline in

of minerals by organic acids and translocation of soil quality caused by its improper use, usually for
organic matter through the layers of soil profile. It agricultural, pastural, industrial or urban
is similar to leaching but under the influence of purposes.
organic complex compounds Soil degradation is a serious global environmental
problem and may be exacerbated by climate
Factors of Soil formation: change. It encompasses physical, chemical and
biological deterioration. Examples of soil
degradation include

 Loss of organic matter

 Decline in soil fertility
 Decline in structural condition
 Erosion
 Adverse changes in salinity
 Acidity or alkalinity
 The effects of toxic chemicals, pollutants or
excessive flooding.

Soils host the majority of the world's biodiversity

and healthy soils are essential to securing food and
Formation of soil is a very slow process and it takes fibre production and providing an adequate water
thousands of years for the formation of one cm supply over the long term. Ecosystem services
soil. provided by soils are integral to the carbon and
water cycles and include cultural functions. There

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are strong links between climate change and soil Gully Erosion – Gully erosion is the removal of soil
condition. along drainage lines by surface water runoff.
When rills increase in size, they become gullies.
Some factors leading to Soil degradation are: Once started, gullies will continue to move by
 Deforestation headward erosion or by slumping of the side walls.
 Overgrazing Gullies formed over a large area gives rise to
 Overuse of Chemical fertilizers and badland topography (Chambal Ravines). When a
pesticides gully bed is eroded further due to headward
 Rain erosion, the bed gradually deepens and flattens
 Landslides out, and a ravine is formed. The depth of a ravine
 Floods may extend to 30 metres or more.

Soil Erosion Anthropogenic reasons for Soil Erosion –

Loss of soil because of the impact of external Even though soil erosion is a natural process, it is
agents is called soil erosion. aggravated by anthropogenic activities. Most
The most dominant type of erosion is due to the disastrous reasons for soil erosion are –
action of water. It occurs in a sequential order –  Deforestation
Splash erosion, Sheet erosion, Rill erosion and
 Over grazing
Gully erosion.
 Construction
 Unscientific Agriculture
Splash Erosion - Splash erosion or rain drop impact
 Mining and blasting
represents the first stage in the erosion process.
Splash erosion results from the bombardment of Waterlogging
the soil surface by rain drops. Rain drops behave The waterlogging may be defined as rendering the
as little bombs when falling on exposed or bare soil unproductive and infertile due to excessive
soil, displacing soil particles and destroying soil moisture and creation of anaerobic conditions.
structure. When the conditions are so created that the crop
root-zone gets deprived of proper aeration due to
Sheet erosion – It refers to detachment of soil the presence of excessive moisture or water
particles by raindrop impact and their removal content, the tract is said to be waterlogged.
downslope by water flowing overland as a sheet
instead of in definite channels or rills. A more or Causes:
less uniform layer of fine particles is removed from  Improper drainage of the field.
the entire surface of an area, sometimes resulting  Creation of inward slope due to over
in an extensive loss of rich topsoil. ploughing.
 Excessive irrigation of the field.
Rill Erosion - Rill erosion results from the  Over flowing of rivers and canals.
concentration of surface water (sheet erosion)  Suction of underground water through
into deeper, faster-flowing channels. As the flow capillary action.
becomes deeper the velocity increases detaching  Reduced permeability of soil.
soil particles and scouring channels up to 30 cm
deep. Rill erosion represents the intermediate Remedies:
process between sheet and gully erosion.  Best way to cure water logging is to
prevent it at the first place.

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 Slope of the field should be checked the Desertification and Land Degradation
frequently. Atlas of India.
 Proper drainage should be provided.  In eight states—Rajasthan, Delhi, Goa,
 Canal linings should be checked for Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Nagaland,
leakage. Tripura and Himachal Pradesh—around 40
to 70 per cent of land has undergone
Desertification desertification.
Desertification is defined as a process of land
degradation in arid, semi-arid and sub-humid
Region prone to desertification
areas due to various factors including climatic
variations and human activities. Desertification
Major reasons for desertification in India
results in persistent degradation of dryland and
 Unsustainable Agricultural Practices: The
fragile ecosystems due to man-made activities and
cultivation of water-intensive crops and
variations in climate.
unmindful agro-climatic cropping pattern.
 Deforestation: Forests acts as shelter beds
Overgrazing is the major cause of desertification
restricting expansion of deserts.
worldwide. Other factors that cause
 Soil Erosion: Soil Erosion is the loss of soil
desertification include urbanization, climate
cover mainly due to rainfall and surface
change, overuse of groundwater, deforestation,
natural disasters, and tillage
practices in agriculture that
make soils more vulnerable to
wind.

Desertification affects topsoil,

groundwater reserves,
surface runoff, human,
animal, and plant
populations. Water scarcity in
drylands limits the production
of wood, crops, forage, and
other services that
ecosystems provide.

Desertification in India
 Some 97.85 million
hectares (mha) of
India's total
geographical area
(TGA) of 328.72 mha
underwent land
degradation during
2018-19, according to

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runoff water. It reduces the quality of soil Steps to control desertification:
which in turn prevents the growth of  Land and water management: Sustainable
vegetation. land use can fix issues such as overgrazing,
 Wind Erosion: It denotes the spread of overexploitation of plants, trampling of
sand by various processes, even up to lofty soils and irrigation practices that cause and
altitudes of Himalayas. Wind erosion worsen desertification.
removes the topsoil, which is rich in all  Protection of vegetative cover: Protecting
plant nutrients and bacterial activities. soil from wind and water erosion helps to
 Salinity: It occurs mostly in cultivated prevent the loss of ecosystem services
lands, especially in the irrigated areas. Soil during droughts.
salinity refers to the water dissolvable salt  Alternative Farming and Industrial
present in the soil. Salinity can develop Techniques: Encourage agro-forestry,
naturally, or human-induced. organic farming, environmentally
 Population Pressure: The general problem sustainable cropping patterns and
of arid areas with large populations is adoption of efficient irrigation techniques.
essentially one of human ecology.  Establish economic opportunities outside
 Human-made settlement: All land drylands: Unpacking new possibilities for
degradation processes are induced directly people to earn a living, such as urban
or indirectly by human intervention. growth and infrastructure, could relieve
Construction dislodges the soil grains and and shift pressures underlying the
aids in erosion. desertification processes.
 Climate Change: Climate change plays a  Adoption of science-based and traditional
huge role in desertification. As the days get sustainable land use practices: Applying a
warmer and periods of drought become combination of traditional techniques with
more frequent, desertification becomes the selective transfer of locally acceptable
more and more imminent. technology is a major way to prevent
 Lack of knowledge and awareness: There desertification.
is inadequate quantitative data on current
Some of the methods used across the world to
land use in arid and semi-arid regions of
conserve soil are:
the country. Whatever information is
 Mulching: The bare ground between
available is scattered across many agencies
plants is covered with a layer of organic
and institutions and is not readily
material like straw. This helps to retain soil
accessible to researchers, planners, and
moisture.
policymakers, hampering the full
assessment of land degradation and
desertification problems and the
quantification of economic losses to the
region.
 Other factors: They include waterlogging,
frost shattering, mass movement, barren
and rocky land type.

Mulching

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 Contour Barriers: Stones, soil, grass are  Crop Rotation: It is a practice of growing
used to build barriers along the contours. different crops in systematic succession.
Trenches are made in front of the barrier This helps in maintaining the level of
to collect water. nutrients in the soil and also pest control.
 Rock Dam: Rocks are piled up to slow down  Contour Ploughing: In slopes farmers
the flow of water which prevents gully plough the land across the slope rather
formation. than up and down the slope.
 Shelter belts: In coastal and dry regions,
rows of trees are planted to check the wind
movement to protect soil cover.

Rock Dam
 Terrace Farming: The terraces are cut on
the slopes to provide a flat surface for Shelter belts
farming. This also prevents the direct flow
of water down the slope.  Afforestation: Planting of trees on a large
scale to create a barrier against flowing
water and wind. It also increases water
penetration in soil.
 Prevention of overgrazing.

Soil Characteristics

Soil is identified by following characteristics:

Terrace Farming  Soil texture
 Soil structure
 Intercropping: Different crops are grown in  Organic material
the same field in different rows and at  Soil colloids
different times to avoid exposing the bare  Soil moisture
land to water or wind.  Soil Profile

Soil Texture
Texture indicates the relative content of particles
of various sizes, such as sand, silt and clay in the
soil.
 It governs the water holding capacity of
Intercropping
soil.

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 3 broad size grades – Sand, Silt and Clay
 Sizes – Sand (0.2 – 0.02 cm), Silt (0.02 –
0.002 cm) and Clay (< 0.002)
 Almost equal proportion of each grade is
called Loam.

As sand particles are large, there is a lot of air gaps

between the grains which allows the water to
penetrate. Hence, sand has got the least water
holding capacity. With the same logic, Silt has
better water holding capacity than sand and clay
has got very high-water holding capacity.

Soil organic matter (SOM) is the organic matter

component of soil, consisting of plant and animal
detritus at various stages of decomposition, cells
and tissues of soil microbes, and substances that
soil microbes synthesize.

Its composition and breakdown rate affect: the

soil structure and porosity; the water infiltration
rate and moisture holding capacity of soils; the
diversity and biological activity of soil organisms;
and plant nutrient availability.

Soil Colloids
Soil Structure:  They are extremely small particles which
Soil structure describes the arrangement of the do not tend to settle down in water.
solid parts of the soil and of the pore space located  These are negatively charged particles
between them. which tend to maintain the fertility of soil.
 As colloids are negatively charged, they
It is determined by how individual soil granules tend to hold the positively charged bases
clump, bind together, and aggregate, resulting in near the surface and make them available
the arrangement of soil pores between them. to plants.

Soil structure defines the ease of workability of Soil Moisture

soil. It means how easy is it to plough and turn the  Soil moisture is the water present in the
soil. space between the soil particles. Soil
moisture is the water stored in the soil and
Organic Material: is affected by precipitation, temperature,
soil characteristics, and more.

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 Soil moisture influences the physical, surface, but this horizon can also be buried. The
chemical, and biological characteristics of master horizon, E, is used for subsurface horizons
the soil. Soil moisture is the percentage of that have a significant loss of minerals (eluviation).
moisture (on a weight basis) in a soil Hard bedrock, which is not soil, uses the letter R.
sample at any given time. Types of Soil
 These same factors help determine the
type of biome present, and the suitability Classification based on the depth:
of land for growing crops.
Soil types according to depth are as follows:

Soil Profile
If you look in a soil pit or on a roadside cut, you will 1) Shallow Soil - Soil depth less than 22.5cm. Only
see various layers in the soil. These layers are shallow rooted crops are grown in such soil, e.g.
called soil horizons. The arrangement of these Paddy, Nagli etc.
horizons in a soil is known as a soil profile. Soil
scientists, who are also called pedologists, observe 2) Medium deep soil - Soil depth is 22.5 to 45cm.
and describe soil profiles and soil horizons to Crops with medium deep roots are grown in this
classify and interpret the soil for various uses. type of soil e.g. Sugar cane, Banana, Gram etc.
Soil horizons differ in a number of easily seen soil
properties such as color, texture, structure, and 3) Deep soil - Soil depth is more than 45cm. Crops
thickness. Other properties are less visible. with long and deep roots are grown in this type a
Properties, such as chemical and mineral content, soil e.g. Mango, coconut etc.
consistence, and reaction require special
laboratory tests. All these properties are used to Based on Fertility:
define types of soil horizons. Urvara – fertile soil
Usara – barren soil

In India, the soils are broadly classified by Indian

Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) on the
basis of physical and chemical properties.
Gradually, the number of classified soils increased
to 15 soils. However, all of them are not prominent
as far as UPSC is concerned. So, we will limit our
detailed discussion to following soils.

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)

has classified soils into 8 categories.
 Alluvial Soil,
 Black Cotton Soil,
Soil scientists use the capital letters O, A, B, C, and  Red Soil,
E to identify the master horizons, and lowercase  Laterite Soil,
letters for distinctions of these horizons. Most  Mountainous or Forest Soils,
soils have three major horizons -- the surface  Arid or Desert Soil,
horizon (A), the subsoil (B), and the substratum
 Saline and Alkaline Soil,
(C). Some soils have an organic horizon (O) on the
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 Peaty,  Red
 Marshy Soil soils
have two
broad
classes:
a) Red
loam
with cloddy structure and allow content of
concretionary materials; and
b) Red earths with loose, Permeable top soil
and a high content of secondary
concretions. Generally, these soils are light
textured with porous and friable structure
and there is absence of lime Kankar and
free carbonates. They have neutral to
acidic reaction and are deficient in nitrogen
humus, phosphoric acid and lime.

Black Soil
 Cover
around
Alluvial Soil 14.5%
 Most area.
abundant (44%) Found
 Deposited by largely
rivers in the in
northern plains Deccan plateau.
and the coastal  It has Volcanic origin and is clayey in
and Deltaic texture.
regions.  The Soil swells when wet and becomes
 Texture – Sandy to silty sticky hence it is difficult to plough.
 Rich in Potash but lacks phosphorus and  When dry becomes hard and forms deep
Nitrogen cracks.
 Bhangar – Old alluvium, silty, highly fertile  It is difficult to plough but is self-ploughing
if irrigation is available, impure calcium as soil breaks form the edges of the cracks
carbonate nodules (kankars) are found. and falls in the cracks.
 Khadar – New alluvium, sandy in texture,  These soils are deficient in nitrogen,
soil is replenished every year by yearly phosphoric acid and organic matter but
floods. rich in calcium, potash and magnesium.
 They are most suited for growing cotton,
Red Soil
 Second most abundant (18.5%) groundnut and sugarcane.
 Dominantly found in Peninsular plateau.
 Red colour is imparted by iron oxides.

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Laterite Soil
 Derived from latin word ‘later’ meaning Peaty and Marshy Soils:
brick. When dry, it is very hard. However,  These types of soils are found in Kerala,
when wet it is soft and can be directly cut coastal track of Orissa, Sunderban area of
into bricks and used as construction W.B.
material.  When the vegetation growing in such wet
 Is found in places dies, it decomposes very slowly
areas with dues to excessive wetness of soils and after
very heavy several hundreds of years a layer of partly
rainfall. decayed organic matter accumulates on
 Due to heavy the surface, giving rise to such peaty and
rainfall, soil is marshy soils.
leached and  These are black coloured, heavy and highly
devoid of acidic soils.
nutrients.
 Only specialised crops like cashew nuts, NOTE: Peaty soils are the only prominent soils in
spices etc. are grown. India which are rich in Nitrogen.
Karewa Soils:
Montane Soil:  Karewa soils are lacustrine deposits (Lake
 The basic deposits) and are found only at two places
character of in India – Kashmir Valley and Bhadarwa
the mountain Valley.
soils depends  It contains fine silt, clay and gravel. It also
on the climate contains aquatic fossils.
and are  These soils are very fertile and are most
mainly found in the warm temperate belt suitable for cultivation of saffron, apple,
or the cool temperate belt of the Himalaya walnuts, almonds etc.
Mountains.
 Brown forest soil is mainly found in the
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good for agriculture.
 Alpine soil is acidic in nature. It is found
under coniferous vegetation. Coniferous
leaves when fall on the ground reacts with
the basis in the soil and leach them. This
process is called Chelation. Because of the
loss of bases, the soil becomes acidic in
nature and is not suitable for agriculture.

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