Regional Division of the Great Plains of India
Apart from Geomorphology of Indian plains Regionally Indian plains divided into
following parts –
1. Rajasthan Plain
2. Punjab-Haryana Plain
3. Ganga Plain – (a) Upper Ganga Plain (b) Middle Ganga Plain (c) Lower Ganga Plain
4. Brahmaputra Plain
1. Rajasthan Plain
(i) The western extended of Great Plain of India consists The Thar Desert which covers
the Western Rajasthan & adjoining parts of Pakistan. The desert is about 650 km long &
250 km wide, the total area is 2 lakh sq km lies in India. This plain has general slope from
north-east to south-west.
(ii) The two-thirds of desert is lying in Rajasthan, west of Aravalli Range. The remaining
One-Third is in neighboring states of Haryana, Punjab & Gujarat. According to Central
Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur this desert is 325 m above the sea level.
(iii) The proper desert is called Marusthali & reason for Marwar Plain. The desert is
covered with bedrock of gneisses, schists & granites which prove that it’s geologically part
of Peninsular Plateau. The surface of desert is looks like aggradational plain.
(iv) The Eastern part of Marusthali is rocky, where its Western part is covered by shifting
sand dunes locally known as dharian.
(v) The Eastern part of the Thar Desert, Upto the Aravalli Range is Semi-arid plain which
known as Rajasthan Bagar. It runs in North-east to South-west direction from edge of
the Aravalli in east to the 25 cm isohyet (line joining places of equal rainfall) in west.
(vi) The Eastern part or Rajasthan Bagar is drained by a number of short seasonal
streams originating from Aravali & support agriculture in some patches of fertile tracts
called rohi, which is found in south-western part of Rajasthan Plain.
(vii) Even the Luni river is a seasonal stream which flows towards the south-west to the
Rann of Kach. The tract north of Luni is called thali or sandy plain
(viii) The LANDSAT imageries used to study Geomorphological characteristics of Great
desert & Sand dunes. There are 6 types of sand dunes we can see, namely – (a) obstacle
(b) parabolic (c) longitudinal (d) transverse (e) barchan & (f) shrub-coppice
(ix) the heights of sand dunes varies from 8 m in Jaipur & Sikar district & 30 m in Barmer
district. The length of dunes are varied from 5-10 km long.
(x) North of luni basin & eastern edge of Thar desert there are several saline(playa) lakes.
Sambhar, Didwana, Degana, Kuchaman, Sargol & Khatu are important. Sambhar Lake is
longest inland Salt lake of India located in 65 km north-west of Jaipur. This lake is 30 km
long & 3-8 km wide.
(xi) During the Permo-carboniferous period, the greater part of Rajasthan plain was under
sea. Several dry beds of Saraswati & Drisdavati indicate that the area was earlier fertile.
2. Punjab-Haryana Plain
(i) The entire plain is 640 km in north-west to South-east direction & is about 300 km
wide in east-west direction. Its eastern boundary is in Haryana formed by Yamuna river.
Average elevation is 250 m and the northern part is 300 m and drop to 200 m in south-
east.
(ii) Part of plain is flat to slightly convex plantation controlled by Delhi-Aravalli ridge.
The part of the plain is formed due to deposits by Sutlej, Ravi, Beas, Chenab & Jhelum,
is known as Punjab Plain. It primarily made by the doabs – land between two rivers. From
east to west doabs are as under :
(a) Bist-Jalandhar Doab – lying between Beas & Satluj.
(b) Bari Doab – between Beas & Ravi
(c) Rachna Doab – between Ravi & Chenab
(d) Chaj Doab – between Chenab & Jhelum
(e) Sind Sagar Doab – between Jhelum, Chenab & Indus.
(iii) these doabs gives the homogenous Geomorphological entity to the entire area.
However, mass of Alluvium has been broken by rivers which carved themselves broad
flood plains of Khadar flanked by bluffs, locally called dhayas. This bluffs are 3 m high or
more, have been heavily guilled.
(iv) The Khadar Belt, is known as Bet lands, through liable flooding, is agriculturally
valuable. The northern part of this plain adjoining the Shiwalik hills has been intensively
eroded by numerous streams called chos.
(v) The erosion by the chos is particularly notice in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab. The
South of the Satluj river there is Malwa plain of Punjab. The area between the Ghaggar &
Yamuna rivers lies in Haryana & often termed as Haryana Tract. The only river between
Yamuna & Satluj is Ghaggar passes through Ambala Cantt. And also called the modern
day successor of Saraswati River.
3. Ganga Plains
(i) This is the largest unit of Great Plain of North India stretching from Delhi to Kolkata
in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar & West Bengal, covering 3.75 lakh sq km. Beside
Ganga, the Yamuna, Gomati, Ghaghra, Gandak, Kosi etc have brought large amount of
Alluvium.
(ii) The Peninsular rivers such as Chambal, Betwa, Ken, Son etc. Joining ganga & also
contribute in formation of this plain. The general slope of this plain is East to South-East.
The plain further divided into following three Divisions –
(A) Upper Ganga Plain (B) Middle Ganga Plain (C) Lower Ganga Plain
(A) Upper Ganga Plain
(i) This plain delimited by 300m contour in Shiwaliks in the north, the peninsular
boundary in the south & course of the Yamuna river in the west. This plain is about 550
km long in the east-west direction & nearly 380 km wide in north-south direction. It’s
very productive plain where Green Revolution is a big success.
(ii) This plain drained by The Ganga & its tributaries like Yamuna, Ram Ganga, Sarda,
Gomati & Ghaghara rivers. Almost all the rivers follow NW-SE course with the lie of the
land. The average gradient of this region is 25 cm/km. The gradient is comparatively
steep in Northern part.
(iii) The monotony of this flat & featureless plain is broken by the tarai-bhabar sub-
montane belt & on micro level by the river bluffs, river meanders & oxbow lakes, leaves,
abandoned river courses, sandy stretches (Bhur-aeolian sandy deposit) & river channels
themselves. It is traversed by kali & sharda rivers.
(iv) The western part of this plain consists of comparatively higher Ganga-Yamuna
Doab. East of this doab are low lying Rohilkhand plains which merge into Avadh plains
further east. The Ghaghra is main stream of Avadh Plains & the Khadar of this river is
very wide because the river meanders through this area.
(B) Middle Ganga Plain
(i) Middle Ganga Plain includes central & eastern Uttar Pradesh & Bihar plains up to Muzaffarpur &
Patna. It is bounded by Shiwaliks along the Indo-Nepal border. It has thick alluvial deposits with less
Kankar formation due to presence of khadar.
(ii) The region is homogenous & featureless where monotony is broken by river levees, bluffs, ox-bow
lakes, Dhus, Tals, Jala & Chaurs (marshy land). Gandak & Kosi are main left hand tributaries, while Son is
an important right hand Tributary of Ganga in the Middle Ganga Plain & East of Son river is Magadh
Plain.
(iii) Western & Eastern boundaries of Middle Ganga Plain giving it the personality of east-west continuum
of vast isotropic Ganga Plain.
(iv) The manor units of this plain are Ganga-Gharghara Doab, Ghaghara-Gandak doab & Gandak-Kosi
doab (Mithila plain)
(B) Lower Ganga Plain
(i) The plain includes the Kishanganj of Purnea (Bihar), whole West Bengal (Excluding the
part of Purulia & mountainous part of Darjeeling) & most of the part of Bangladesh. It
measures 580 km from the foot of the Darjeeling Himalaya in the North of Bay of Bengal
in South. 200 km from Chotonagpur Highlands in West to the Bangladesh border in the
east.
(ii) Total area About 81 thousand sq km. Wide varies from 16 km between Rajmahal hills
& Bangladesh border.,
(iii) The Northern part of this plain has been formed by the sediments deposits by Tista,
Jaldhaka & Torsa. Besides, this area is marked by the duars (Darjeeling Tarai) & Barind
Plain (A tract of old alluvium between the kosi-mahananda corridor in the west & the river
Sankosh in the east.)
(iv) The Delta formation accounts for about two thirds of this plain. This is the largest
delta in the world. The slope of the land is 2 cm/km. Two-thirds of the area is below 30
m above sea level. The entire Kolkata will be completely submerged if the sea level rose
by 7 m.
(v) The delta is cover with largest mangrove forest and also have number of swamps,
mud flats, estuaries, sandbanks, forelands,
(vi) The plain has monotonous surface. The eastern part of the plain is drained by Tista,
Jaldhaka, Sankosh joining Brahmaputra & Western part by Mahananda, Ajay &
Damodar. In the extreme south-west, Kasai & Subarnarekha are the main rivers.
(vii) The general slope of this plain is from South to South-east. The lower Ganga Plain
is formed by the down-waraping of a part of the Peninsular India between Rajmahal hills
& Meghalaya Plateau & subsequent sediments by Ganga & Brahmaputra rivers.
Rahr plain : Lying to the east of Chotonagpur plateau, it is a part of Lower Gangetic
Plains. Drained by the Damodar & Subernrekha, it ia covered by lateritic-alluvium soils.
Soil erosion is the main problem of rahr plain, Rice, maize & pulses are main crops of
Rahr plain.
4. Brahmaputra Plain
(i) It is also called Assam Plain cause most of the part of it lies in Assam. This plain is 720
km long & width is 60-100 km & the entire area is 56 thousands sqkm. The Eastern
Himalaya of Arunachal Pradesh is in North, Patkai & Naga Hills in east & Garo-Khasi-
Jaintia & Mikir hills in the south. This Plain surrounded by mountains on all sides
(ii) The Brahmaputra enters this plain near Sadiya & flows further to Bangladesh after
turning southwards near Dhubri. The Tributaries of Brahmaputra coming from north
form a number of Alluvial fans. Southern bank of Brahmaputra is uneven & less wide.
(iii) these Tributaries brunch out in many channels giving birth to river meandering
leading to formation of bills & ox-bow lakes, Marshy tract & tarai lands. The Alluvium fans
& debris led the formation of tarai or semi tarai conditions.
(iv) The area is well demarcated by 150 m contour beyond which the surrounding hill
terrain dominates the scene. The northern margin has steep slope from the foothills of
Arunachal Pradesh but the southern margin is marked by gradual fall from the hill ranges.
(v) Moreover, the Tributaries in the Southern part are considerably larger. Here, Dhansiri
& Kapili, through the headward of erosion almost isolated the Mikir Hills & Rengma Hills
of Meghalaya Plateau.
(vi) The valley of Assam is divided into (a) Upper Assam & (b) Lower Assam.
(a) Upper Assam Valley – The Upper Assam Valley is includes the district of
Lakhimpur, Dibrugarh, Jorhat & Sibsagar & Tezpur tehsil of Darrang district. It is
a Monotonous plain except for low hills along southern to South-eastern border.
(b) Lower Assam Valley – It consists of Nagaon, Dhubri, Goalpara, Barpeta, Kamrup,
Nalbari, Kokrajhar & parts of Darrang district. This region does not posses
Monotonous Physiography since its landscape is interspersed with spurs of
Meghalaya Plateau. Here, the right bank Tributaries form a trellis Patten of drainage,
while the left bank Tributaries exhibit the dendritic pattern.
Swamps & Marshes are numerous in the northern region of Lower Brahmaputra valley.
The river valley of Brahmaputra has fertile alluvial plain which is conducive to growing rice
& jute. It’s also famous for its tea & two National park s at Kaziranga & Manas.
