Question

Give a brief description of the plateau region of India. What makes it important?

Answer 1

Hint:Plateau is an extensive highland or wide level land that is sharply raised above the surrounding terrain or land. These landforms may have an expanse of more than hundreds or even thousands of kilometres.

Complete answer:
The peninsular India is a raised plateau region. It was formed as a result of breaking and drifting apart of the Gondwanaland during the formation of continents. The Indian peninsula has been clearly divided into two regions that is the Central highlands and the Deccan plateau.
The central highlands are located towards the north of river Narmada and comprise the vast regions of Malwa plateau. It has Vindhyachal range on its south and Aravalli hills in the northwest. In the west it merges with the thar desert in Rajasthan. The eastern regions of central highlands are known as Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand. The Chota Nagpur Plateau in the eastern part of highlands is drained by river Damodar.

The Deccan plateau lies south of river Narmada. It is flanked by the Satpura range in the north and bounded by Maikal range, Kaimur hill and Mahadev hills in the east. Due to its elevation in the west, all the rivers flow eastwards. Towards the south, the deccan plateau tapers downwards. It is flanked by eastern ghats and the western ghats on its both edges. The western ghats have a higher altitude than the eastern ghats. They are continuous and lie parallel to the western coast whereas, the eastern ghats lie parallel to the eastern coast and are discontinuous. As most of the southern rivers have their drainage in the Bay of Bengal they make the eastern ghats discontinuous.
The topography of the peninsular India makes it hospitable for its richness of biodiversity and is one of the main hotspots of the world.

Note:The plateau of India is one of the oldest landmasses and contains both igneous and metamorphic rocks and is thus rich in minerals and ores. The plateau region contains characteristic black soil which is rich in minerals. These are thought to have originated from the parent igneous and metamorphic rocks found in the Deccan trap.