STD VIII – GEOGRAPHY ASIA- Physical Features NAME OF THE FEATURE EXTENT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT SPECIAL FEATURES MOUNTAINS, WATERBODIES PEAKS & PLATEAUS The Northern Lowlands Ural Mts in the Central Mts in the • Arctic Ocean in the • It is the World’s greatest continuous West to the South. North. plains. Bering Strait in • Aral Sea. • They are marshy and swampy the North- East. • Amu Darya lowlands as in the lower courses • Syr Darya and mouth of the rivers freeze in • Rivers Ob, winter. So, water coming from the Yenisey and Lena. upper courses which are situated in the warmer latitudes, spreads out over large parts of the plains. • It is also known as the Great Siberian Plain. • It is known as the Turan Plain in the south which is drained by the rivers Amu Darya and Syr Darya. The Central Fold Mts & Intermontane South of the Pamir Knot: The • Black Sea • Some of the World’s highest Peaks Plateaus. Northern following Mts and Fold Mountains lie in these Lowlands. CONVERGE at ranges. the Pamirs • Fold Mountains are the result of • (N)Tien Shan large-scale lateral compression of Mts. the earth’s crust. • (S.E) Himalayas and its highest Peak The Mt. Everest. The Himalayas further continue as Arakan Yoma in Myanmar. • (S.E) Karakoram • It is home to several Inter Montane Range and it’s Plateaus i.e. Plateaus lying between Peak Mt. K2. Mountain ranges such as The • (W) Hindukush Plateau of Tibet and the Plateau of Range & Elburz Iran. Mts. • (S.W)- Sulaiman, Kirthar and the Zagros Mts. • Plateau of Tibet- Roof of the World. Armenian Knot: The following Mts RADIATE from this zone • (N) Pontine Mts • (S) Taurus Mts. • Plateau of Anatolia. The Southern Plateau South of the • The Arabian Rivers draining each • These regions are made of hard Central Mts. Plateau (Saudi of these Plateaus. crystalline rocks. Arabia) Deccan Plateau: • Their surfaces are undulating • Deccan Plateau R. Godavari and gently sloping. (India) R. Mahanadi • The Arabian Plateau is a dry • The Shan R. Krishna area as no rivers drain this Plateau R. Kaveri plateau and it lacks rainfall. It is (Myanmar) The Shan &Yunnan steep towards the west but • The Yunnan Plateau: slopes gently towards the Plateau (China) R. Salween and Persian Gulf in the East. Mekong • The Deccan Plateau of India lies between the Western and the Eastern Ghats. It is steeper and higher along the Arabian Sea in the West but slopes gently towards the Bay of Bengal towards the East. A number of rivers drain the Deccan Plateau. The Great River Valleys Across Asia • The The Following rivers • The rivers responsible for the Mesopotamian are responsible for the formation of these fertile plains Plains.(Iraq) formation of these are mostly snow-fed and • The Indo- fertile Plains: perennial. Gangetic Plains The Mesopotamian • Their villages are very fertile (India & Plains: hence it is densely populated. Pakistan) R. Tigris & Euphrates. • These fertile plains were once • The Manchurian The Indo- Gangetic known as ‘The Cradles of Plain.(China) Plains: Civilization’ • Plains of R. Indus, Ganga and its • Asia’s longest river Yangtze Myanmar tributaries. flows across these plains. The Manchurian Plain: R. Amur The Plains of Myanmar: R. Irrawaddy The Island Chain To the East and • Pacific Ocean • These group of islands are South-East of • Indian Ocean collectively known as an Mainland Asia. • The Bay of Archipelago. Bengal • It is a tourist hot spot. • Numerous Islands are found here such as the: • Kuril Island (Russia) • Maldives • Sri Lanka • Lakshadweep (coral Islands) • Andaman & Nicobar (Volcanically formed)