Geography for General Studies

* The Karakoram is situated in the disputed region of Kashmir. It has more than sixty peaks above 7,000 m (22,966 ft), including K2, the second highest peak in the world 8,611 m (28,251 ft). K2 is just 237 m (778 ft) smaller than the 8,848 m (29,029 ft) tall Mount Everest. The range is about 500 km (311 mi) in length and is the most heavily glaciated part of the world outside of the polar regions. The Siachen Glacier at 70 km (43 mi) and the Biafo Glacier at 63 km (39 mi) rank as the world's second and third-longest glaciers outside the polar regions.

* Vavul Mela is the highest peak of Sahyadri.Nilgiris join Sahyadri near Gudalur and marks the junction of Eastern and Western ghats
* Anai Mudi is the highest peak of Western Ghat
* Highest range of the Aravallis is Mt Gurushikhar.Mt Abu, Piplighat are also its part
* Western ghat was formed in the late Cenozoic era
* he Aravali Range is the oldest mountain range in India
* The Thar Desert (also known as the Great Indian Desert) is world's seventh largest desert;[15] it forms a significant portion of western India and covers an area of 238,700 km² (92,200 mile²).[15] The desert continues into Pakistan as the Cholistan Desert
* Thalghat connects Mumbai and Nasik whereas Bhorghat connects Mumbai and Pune
* Gangotri,Yamunotri,Nandadevi,Vadrinath and Kedarnath are all parts of Kumayon Himalayas
* Pir Panjal,Nagtibba,Dhauladhar,Mahabharat,Mussourie are all parts of Middle Himalayas or Himachal
* Beautiful hill stations like Shimla,Kulu,Manali,Nainital are all parts of Middle Himalayas
* Aravalli was formed in the Precambian era
* Mahendragiri is the tallest peak of Eastern ghat
* The backwater of Kerala is known as Kayal
* Mt Everest is also known as Chomo Langma and Sagarmatha
* Aksai Chin is in Ladakh plateau
* Siachen is in Nubra Valley
* Kangra valley is a strike valley whereas Kullu valley is a transverse valley
* Deccan Plateau was formed in the Cretaceous Eocene era and the highest peak of it is Mulangiri
* Cyclone 05B, a supercyclone that struck Orissa on 29 October 1999, was the deadliest in more than a quarter-century
* Alwar, on the fringes of the Thar Desert, registered a temperature of 50.6 °C (123 °F), India's highest.


Name of various cyclonic disturbances in India
T Shower-Assam
Mango Shower-Kerala,TN,AP
Cherry Blossom-Karnataka
Aandhi-UP
Kalbaisakhi-WB
Such disturbances occur most in Oct-November period

* Rainfall over 2.5 mm in 24 hours causes Rainy Day
* Monsoon does not occur in Aravalli as it lies parallel to the air flow
* Indian monsoon is orographic in nature
* P Koteswaram-Worked on Monsoon
* Southern Oscillation Index= Pressure in Tahiti-Pressure in Darwin.When there is Low pressure in Darwin, thus a positive SO Index,India gets maximum rainfall whereas low pressure in Tahiti causes negative SO Index and less rainfall in India.This is known as Walker phenomenon
* Jet Stream Theory first given by M.T.Yin.The height of it is 12 km,it is in the troposphere.
* Arabian sea branch of South West Monsoon causes more rainfall tha Bay of Bengal branch because of more volume of water and because India does not get full part of the Bay of Bengal branch of Monsoon
* India's major areas in terms of height from the sea level in ascending order Calcutta-Chennai-Mumbai-Trivandam-Delhi-Jodhpur-Nagpur-Bangalore-Shillong-Leh
* India's major areas in terms of rainfall Leh- Jodhpur-Delhi-Bangalore-Nagpur-Chennai-Calcutta--Trivandam-Mumbai-Port Blair-Shillong


WETLANDS

Loriga-Andhra Pradesh
Pt Calimere-Tamil Nadu
Pichavaram-Tamilnadu
Ratnagiri-Maharashtra
Achra Cundapore-Karnataka and Maharashtra
Vembanad-kerala
Bhittar kanika-Orissa

SOIL

* Khadar-new alluvial, fertile soil
* Bhangar-Old alluvial soil.Middle pleistocoene
* Kankar-lime nodules few meters below the surface of bhangar
* Bhur-alkaline khadar
* Bhabar-Alluvial fans at the foothills of shivalik
* Terai-murshy land to the south of bhabar
* Black soil-Highest % of soil in India.Black color due to titaniferous magnetite or iron.also known as reguda soil as cotton in AP is known as Reguda.Poor in P,N and organic matters
* Red soil-Rich in Potash
* Laterite soil-rich in iron,aluminium and manganese and thus infertile.brick is prepared from it
* Desert soil-Formed due to mechanical disintegration of rocks,rich in phosphate
* Saline soil-Also known as Reh,kallar, thur,rakar,chopan,usar.High Ca,Na, k content

ENVIRONMENT

* Out of 15 biosphere reserves 4 are UNESCO sites-Gulf of mannar,sundarbans,nilgiri and nanda devi
* India is a party to UNFCC
* National Institute of animal welfare-faridabad
* Ozone depleting substances- Halon,CFC,CHBr3,CHCl3,CCl4
* Central pollution control board-1974
* Coral reef found in Gulf of mannar, A&N,Lakshadweep,Gulf of kachchh
* Hawksbill turtle is found in A& N and Tamil Nadu
* Arna or wild buffalo in Assam and MP
* Centre for social forestry-Allahabad
* Inst of forest management-Bhopal
* Salim Ali centre for ornithology-Coimbatore
* Heritera kanikensis found in Bittarkanika(orissa)
* Rhizophora annamalaya-Pichavaram(TN)
* Jim Corbett national park earlier known as Hailey National Park is the earliest national park of India

Courtesy: saptarshinag1.blogspot.com