South Asia: Landforms and Resources

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South AsiaLandforms and Resources
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South Asia
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• Mountains and Plateaus
• The most noticeable terrain feature of the
  subcontinent is the Himalaya Mountains.

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• The Himalayas were formed about 50 million years
  ago.
• Back when Pangaea broke apart, India would
  charging to the north and rammed into Asia.

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• Thats one reason its sometimes called the
  subcontinent, because its like a continent in
  itself.
• When India hits Asia, the Indian plate subducts
  beneath the Eurasian plate, but the crust is
  forced upwards, producing the Himalayas, the
  worlds tallest mountain chain.
• In fact, the Himalayas are still growing at about
  5 mm per year because the Indian plate is pushing
  in at about 67 mm per year.

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

Its 29,035 feet high thats 5.5 miles.
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• Hindu Kush Mountains
• Along the western end of the Himalayas. Provide
  a barrier between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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Former Taliban and possibly even Osama bin Laden
hang out in the Hindu Kush.
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• Khyber Pass is here which is a traditional route
  of invasion for everybody from Alexander the
  Great to the British.
• At its narrowest, its just 15 yards wide.

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Khyber Pass, looking from Afghanistan to Pakistan
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• Other mountain ranges
• Vindhya
• Western and Eastern Ghats
• The arid Deccan Plateau lies in the middle. Its
  arid because the mountains block moisture.

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• Rivers, Deltas, and Plains
• South Asia has three main rivers the Indus,
  Ganges, and Brahmaputra.

Brahmaputra
Indus
Ganges
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• The rivers carry a great deal of alluvial soil
  (silt) that gets deposited on the alluvial plains
  and makes for an exceptionally fertile area.
• These plains support a massive population. Most
  of Indias 1 billion people live around here.

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• Offshore Islands
• Sri Lanka

• Quite tropical, with a mountain chain in the
  center and rivers flowing from them.
• Sri Lanka is its own country and not part of
  India.

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• The Maldives
• A collection of 1,200 islands that make up an
  archipelago (a collection of islands).
• The islands are actually the tops of volcanoes
  surrounded by coral to make up smaller atolls.
• Theyre short too. The highest point of the
  island country is 7.5 feet above sea level.
• The total land area is only 115 square miles, but
  has 400 miles of coastline.
• Of the 1,200 islands, only about 200 are
  inhabited.

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• A better look at the atolls.

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• Natural Resources
• Theres a lot thats dependent on water and soil.
• Those rivers and their soil provide for a lot of
  irrigation and rich farmland.
• That makes for a lot of agriculture as well as
  river-based products like fish in addition to sea
  fishing.
• The navigable rivers and the coastlines are good
  for transportation.

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• Forests
• The timber industry is big.
• Rain forests produce sal, teak, bamboo, and
  sandalwood.
• Highland forests produce pine, fir, and others.
• Deforestation is a big problem, however.

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• Minerals
• Plenty of em.
• Coal, iron, uranium, diamonds, rubies, sapphires.