Indian Geography - 4

The process that results in the breakdown of rocks and minerals in situ is known as weathering. Weathering is the breaking down of rocks, soils and minerals as well as artificial materials through contact with the Earth's atmosphere, biota and waters. Weathering occurs in situ or with no movement and thus, should not be confused with erosion, which involves the movement of rocks and minerals by agents such as water, ice, snow, wind and gravity.

Chemical weathering is much more common in locations where there is a lot of water. This is because water is important to many of the chemical reactions that can take place. 

As we know, the erosive action of wind is more pronounced in the absence of vegetation. Due to intense degree of deflation, hollows are excavated on the land surface, which may be filled with water during a storm of rain giving rise to a lake. 

The correct sequence of their seaward appearance from the coasts is Continental shelf, Continental slope, Deep sea plain and Oceanic trench. The oceanic trenches are hemispheric-scale long, but narrow topographic depressions of the sea floor. They are also the deepest parts of the ocean floor. A continental slope is the seaward border of continental shelf. A deep sea plain is a broad, almost level area forming the predominant portion of the ocean floor. 

The soils which have undergone gleying and are associated with marshes, swamps or poorly drained upland are called hydromorphic soils.

The river Adyar divides the southern half into two parts, trisecting the city of Chennai.

The Sunderbans are a part of the world's largest delta formed by the rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna. 

The Seven Sisters of India are the seven relatively unexplored and isolated Indian states - Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh.

Located on the Andhra Pradesh-Tamil Nadu border, the Pulicat Lake is the second largest saltwater lake in India. It lies near Nellore and is about 60 km to the north of Chennai. 

Of the total iron ore reserves in the country, Singhbhum in Jharkhand accounts for the major portion.

The Mahanadi does not drain into the Arabian Sea. The rivers mainly flowing into the Arabian Sea are the Karnataka Coastal Rivers, Kerala Coastal Rivers, Goa Coastal Rivers, Maharashtra Coastal Rivers, Tapti River Basin, Narmada River Basin, Mahi River Basin, Sabarmati-Tapti River Basin and Indus River Basin. 

The Tapti flows through rift valleys, but between different ranges. 

The delta of the Ganga is bigger than the delta of the Indus because the path of the Indus is through arid area, while the Ganga collects more water along its path to the sea.

The Indian rivers of the Indus Basin are Sutlej, Beas and Ravi. In the plains, its left bank tributary is Chenab, which itself has four major tributaries, namely Jhelum, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. Its principal right bank tributaries are Shyok, Gilgit, Kabul, Gomal and Kurram.

Tropical rain forests are found in India at all the given locations, except Maharashtra.

Arunachal Pradesh does not have a common boundary with Bangladesh. Bangladesh and India share a border of 2429 miles. Bangladeshi divisions of Khulna, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Mymensingh, Sylhet and Chittagong, along with Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram are situated along the border.

Deodar is a coniferous tree typically found in the temperate forests of the Himalayas, not in the tropical deciduous forests of the Deccan Plateau. Teak, Sandalwood, and Mahua are characteristic of tropical deciduous regions.

Bhadravathy, Coimbatore, Kapurthala and Surat have Steel, Electrical motors, Railway coach and Gem Cutting, respectively. Bhadravathi has two major factories that take up a large part of the city: The Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Plant factory, started by Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya, and the Mysore Paper Mills Limited factory. Established in 1986, RCF is a coach manufacturing unit of Indian Railways. RCF has already carved a niche in the industrial scenario of the country at large in Kapurthala.

The largest district in Himachal Pradesh in terms of area is Lahaul Spiti, covering an area of 13835 sq. km. 

The shaded areas in the following map of India receive an annual rainfall of 200 cm and above. During the monsoon season between June and September, the unbroken Western Ghats and northeastern states act as barriers to the moisture laden clouds. The heavy, eastward-moving rain-bearing clouds are forced to rise and in the process, deposit most of their rain on the windward side. Rainfall in these regions averages 200 cm and above.  

The regions marked in the given map account for the production of cotton. Cash crops are those which are grown not primarily as a source of food, such as grains, but mainly as raw materials for the industries mainly in states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. 

The shaded portion shows laterite soils. Laterite soils are commonly found in different parts of India including the Eastern Ghats, Rajmahal Hills,Western Ghats, Maharashtra, Kerala, Orissa, etc.

Chillika Lake is a brackish water lagoon, spread over the Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts of Orissa. Kolleru Lake is a large freshwater lake located in Andhra Pradesh state, India. Kolleru is located between Krishna and Godavari delta. The Sambhar Salt Lake, India's largest inland salt lake, sits 96 km South-West of the city of Jaipur (North-West India) and 64 km North-East of Ajmer along National Highway 8 in Rajasthan. Vembanad is the longest lake in India and the largest lake in the state of Kerala.