The Natural Topography of Pakistan, Including Drainage
Definitions
- Natural Topography
- Study of the natural surface features of the land like mountains, plateaus, hills etc.
- Mountains
- Any area that is above 1000 feet high from the surroundings
- Mountain Ranges
- A series of mountains
- Hill
- Any area that is high from its surroundings but not above 1000 feet
- Plateau
- A fairly flat land high above the sea level
- Plain
- An area that has very gentle slope towards sea. It is generally considered a flat area
- Desert
- An area which receives less than 250 mm of rain per year for a long period of time, at least 30 years
- Natural Drainage
- Natural flow of water in the form of rivers, streams etc
Northern Mountains
- Three main divisions
- Karakoram
- Himalayas
- Central/ Upper Himalayas
- Lesser/ Lower/ Outer Himalayas
- Siwaliks
- Hindu Kush
Topography and Relief Features
- High and Lofty Mountains
- Height increases from south to north
- Parallel ranges run mainly from west to east
- Snow covered peaks
- Sharp slope of the peaks
- Deep and narrow valleys
- V and U shaped valleys
- Rocks are soft
- Easily get eroded
- Mountain bottoms are covered with eroded material called scree
- Generally very rugged and uneven landscape
- Glaciers are found in the extreme north
Drainage of Northern Mountains
- River Indus and its several tributaries drain the area
- Fast flowing rivers due to more slope
- Rivers form many different features due to erosion such as waterfalls, rapids, plunge pool, gorges etc.
- Glaciers are found in the extreme north
Importance of Northern Mountains
- Block cold winds coming from Russia
- Weather and climate stability
- Glaciers melt to provide water for agriculture and industry
- Tourist come to the area so foreign exchange is earned
- Boosts economy
- Connects Pakistan to China and Central Asian States
- Political benefits
- Trade
- Many minerals are found in the area
- Trade
- Industry
- Woodwork
- Local wood product demands
- Trade
- Gemstones
- Local industry
- Trade
- Fruits
- Meet local fruit demand
- Export
- Cottage craft industry
- Helps provide souvenirs for tourists
- Increases income
Economic activities of the northern mountains
- Transhumance
- It means seasonal migration in which people move along with their cattle from lower mountains to higher mountains in summer and from higher mountains to lower mountains in winters insearch of pasture
- Main cattle in the area are Yak, Bison, Reindeer
- The main causes of this transhumance are
- Cattle breeding
- Meat production
- Milk and its products
- Leather
- Terraced Farming
- Mountain slopes are cut into flat lands in order to grow crops where water is available
- Rice, wheat and maize etc are grown
- Cottage Craft Industry
- At homes, women and children make many handicrafts like caps, purses, baskets etc.
- Tourism related jobs
- In summers, many tourists come to visit these places so many jobs like transport, hotels, tourist guides etc.
- Forestry
- Fishing
- Mining
- Fruit production
- Apples, plums, apricots and dry fruits etc.
- Mountain slopes are cut into flat lands in order to grow crops where water is available
Western Mountains
- Main passes in western mountains
- Khyber pass
- Wide enough to facilitate the passage of the troops
- Leads to the fertile vale of Peshawar
- Safed Koh ranges
- Kurram Pass
- A route to Afghanistan
- Waziristan Hills along with Safed Koh Ranges
- Tochi pass
- Connects Ghazni to Bannu
- Waziristan Hills near Dera Ismail Khan
- Gomal Pass
- Connects Afghanistan to Dera Jatts
- Waziristan Hills
- Bolan Pass
- Connects the Kacchi Sibi Plain to Quetta
- Central Brahui Range
- Khyber pass
Economic Activities Difficult In Western Mountains
- Rocks are hard and barren (no vegetation)
- Area has less water due to less rainfall
- Rivers have less water as well
- Soil is infertile
- Limited or no agriculture due to less rainfall and soil quality
- Mountains are uneven
- No proper canal irrigation
- Scarcity of agriculture and raw material results in limited or no industry
- No industry leads to limited employment for people
- Population density is low
- Less than 100 people per square km
- Thus, there is no real market in one place
- Low employment and industry means that the government is unable to provide infrastructure in the area
- No proper roads and railways
- Air travel is limited
- Mostly nomadic herding
- Sparse so its difficult to collect people and provide one central benefit
- Highly mineralized area
- However, extraction difficult due to lack of communication methods, industry and capital availability.
Balochistan Plateau
- Large depressions called Basins are found in the north and west of the plateau
- Generally very rugged and uneven land
- Rocks are hard and barren
- Due to less rainfall, water is trapped into basins and salt lakers are formed
- Locally, these are called Hamus
- Hamus e Mashkhel is the largest such lake
- Some mountain ranges like Itala, Siahan, Toba Kakar, Chaghi etc are found
- From salt lakes, water gets evaporated and salty patches are left called salt pans
- In the south near the coast, a small coastal plain is found.
- Eastern part is covered with sand dunes, and is called the Lasbela plain
- The western part is called the Makran coastal plain
Drainage
- Rivers are less with less volume of water
- Rivers travel short distance
- Rivers are seasonal depending upon rainfall
- Inland drainage is common
- This is when river water is either absorbed by the earth of is evaporated and cannot reach the sea
Economic Activities
- Agriculture
- Fruit production
- Vegetable seed industry
- Livestock and their products
- Fishing
- Three main ports
- Gwadar
- Ormara
- Pasni
- Mineral Resources
- Saindak Copper – Gold Project
- Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC)
- 3 Mines
- Deposits of Antimony and gold in Panjore and Karan
- Deposits of crude oil and natural gas
- 46 % of gas supply obtained from Sui
- SUI IS NOT ON BALUCHISTAN PLATEAU
- Three main ports
Can Baluchistan Support Pakistan If Developed
- Nomadic herding
- Can be done on large scale
- Can meet livestock demand
- Food demand is met
- Can also be used in trade
- Fishing
- Many ports
- Can be done on large scale
- Trade and export possible
- Ports developed
- Can give Central Asian States access to Sea
- Earn revenue for Pakistan is the from of fee
- Taxes can be taken
- Ships can be refueled
- Earning
- Gwadar can become trade hu
- Tourism
- Industry in that area
- Increase GDP
- Minerals
- Balochistan is rich in mineral deposits
- Can be extracted
- They can be used for raw material in Industry
- Energy production can increase if coal extracted
- Can be traded
- Fruit production
- Local demand met
- Provide people employment especially seasonal employment
- Export
- Oil can be extracted from the vegetable oil industry and vegetable seed industry
- Can give Central Asian States access to Sea
Potwar Plateau
- Generally very rugged and uneven land surface
- Barren rocks (without vegetation)
- Troughs and depressions are common
- Residual hills are present which are hills left after the erosion of the upper surface
- Deep ravines are present on the surface
- Totally faulted and dissected land
- This type of surface has been given a special name
- BAD LAND TOPOGRAPHY
Differences between the Potwar Plateau and Salt Range
- Potwar Plateau has height from 300 -600 m but the salt range has height from 750 to 900 m
- Potwar plateau is mainly composed of limestone and gypsum but salt range mainly composed of rock salt
Drainage of Potwar Plateau
- River Soan is an important river in the area
- Many seasonal streams flow depending upon rainfall.
Economic activities of Potwar Plateau
- Rainfed/ Barani Farming
- Agriculture that is totally dependent on rainfall because canal irrigation is difficult and even impossible due to soft rocks.
- Wheat, barley, and maize are grown
- Mining
- Minerals such as gypsum, coal, limestone, oil, marble, rock salt, clays, dolomite and soapstone are extracted from the area
- Gypsum and limestone are used in cement manufacturing industry
- Attock oil refinery is established for refinement of oil
- Ceramics are produced in ceramic industry fro good quality of soil extracted from the area
- The soil and rocks are then moulded into toles, basins etc.
- This provides employment and improves quality of life for the people in the area
- Nomadic Herding/ Semi-Nomadic Herding
- Rocks are barren
- People move with their livestock to different areas all the year
- To feed their animals
- Dairy products are produced
- Can be an aid to the industry
Important settlements in the area
- Jhelum
- Chakwal
- Rawalpindi/ Islamabad
- Developed due to road, rail and transport
- High population density in these area
- Water supply developed along with education and health facilities
Indus Plain
What is Active Flood Plain?
- Also called AFP
- Part of the river that is completely covered in water dring normal flood times
- On the other hand OFP or Old flood plain
- When river erodes and deposits for a long time
- It changes its course
- Active flood plain changes to old flood plain
- New active flood plain is formed
- Old flood plain is fertile, rich, cultivable land
Features of Active Flood Plain
- Meanders
- Stream of the river erodes alluvium from the outer bank of the river
- Deposits it on the other side
- Ith time, there are bends created
- These bends change to loops
- Such loops are called meanders
- When these loops tighten they form an oxbow lake
- Seasonally filled with depression
- The river stream makes on the other route to travel around the loops
- These lips are then cut off (slips – off slope_
- They block the way
- When flood comes they are filled again as river volume increases
- After the flood season, the river water removes from that area
- Levees are formed when the deposits are done near the bed of the river.
Doab
- A land between two rivers
- Bari Doab
- Between River Sutlej and River Ravi
- Has Ganji bar and Nilli bar
- Rachna Doab
- Between RIver Ravi and Chenab
- Sandal Bar
- Chaj Doab
- Between River Chenab and River Jhelum
- Has Kirana Bar
- Sindh Sagar Doab
- Between River Jhelum and River Indus
Alluvial Fan
- Fan like feature of Alluvium mostly formed in Sulaiman and Kirthar ranges that has been formed due to the less rainfall and slow flowing rivers. It is a mineralized area due to rich sand
Piedmont Plain
The flat, mineralized area which is formed by the compaction of alluvial terraces at the foot of the mountain
Tidal Delta
- A triangular piece formed due to the the slow flow of river and is often struck by tides.
- Distributaries form when river flows slows down, making a tidal delta.
- Tributaries are streams that join in a river, distributaries are streams that diverge from the river.
Why is Indus Plain the Most Developed Area of Pakistan?
- It is the easiest to develop
- Flat land, plain area
- Crop growing is easy
- Making industries and constructing things is easier
- It also has the five main rivers of Pakistan
- There is a lot of alluvium due to the rivers
- Crop production is high
- Water is present throughout the year
- Better irrigation
- Hydro Electric Power (HEP) produced from the availability of fast flowing rivers
- More employment opportunities
- Trade and communication is increased
- Infrastructure is better
- Road
- Rail
- Communication
- Internet
- Air Travel
Upper and Lower Indus Plain
- Upper
- In northern part of Indus plain
- River Indus and its major tributaries flow here
- Jhelum, Ravi and Sutlej joined Chenab at Panjnad
- River Panjnad jonis Indus near Mithankot
- Almost flat, undulating plain with slope towards south-west
- The average width of the river is 1.4 km till Kalabagh and 1.6 km near Sukkur
- River Indus is in its middle course in the north and enters lower course near the south
- Both erosion and deposition takes place with deposition increasing southwards
- Meanders, oxbow lakes, braided channels and levees in doab
- Alluvial terraces
- Piedmont plain to north and west
- Ideal for agriculture with link canal irrigation
- Lower
- Southern part of Indus plain
- Indus river flows
- River indus flows in Araban sea south of Thatta
- Nearly flat undulating land with slope towards South
- River Indus in lower course
- Width 1.6 km
- Deposition is dominant
- Meanders, oxbow lakes and braided channels are present
- No alluvial terrace
- Piedmont plain to west
- Agriculture with irrigation
Desert
- Thal Desert on Sindh Sagar Doab
- Thar on South Eastern side of Pakistan
- Has Cholistan
- Nara
- Tharparkar (Thar)
- The Kharan Desert
- Topography Features
- Sand plains/ pattis (strips of sand formed by action of wind)
- Gently undulating plain
- Sand dunes/ ridges which are longitudinal and latitudinal
- Longitudinal are more vertical in height
- Latitudinal are more horizontal in width
- The wide interdunal valleys (between sand dunes) with silty and clayey sediments (useful for cultivation)
- Barren/ bare rock due to lack of water
- Cracks in rocks due to effects of weathering
- Rolling sand hills
- Roll with wind
- Change their area as settle when wind gets slower
- Dahar, a hard area, sometime appears on the surface
Economic activities
- Dry area
- No rainfall
- Limited crop production
- Limited agriculture
- There are limited industries due to lack of raw material
- Low employment and less jobs
- Deserts have low population density
- So small market
- Less infrastructure provided
- Like gas pipelines, electricity, internet etc.
- Difficult and costly to provide infrastructure
- Barren and soft rocks
- People find it difficult to live there.
- Nomadic herding can be carried out
- People move form one place to another in search of food, water and pasture for their animals
- Dairy products
- Butter
- Milk
- Cream
- Can be traded
- Tourist come
- Camel riding earning
Irrigation is provided in some areas so there is chance of crop growth and more productive output.
Lesson Tags
Himalayas | Nothern Mountains | Western Mountains |Indus Plain | Balochistan Plateau | Detailed Notes For Preparation & Revision | O Level Pakistan Studies 2059/02 and IGCSE Pakistan Studies 0448/02 | The Environment of Pakistan
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