Terms
Drainage |
the term drainage describes the river system of an area |
Drainage Basin |
the area drained by a single river is called drainage basin |
Water Divide |
an upland that separates two drainage basins is called water divide |
River System |
a river along with its tributaries is called a river system |
Himalayan rivers
Most of them perennial which means they have water throughout the year |
they receive water from rainfall as well as from melted snow from lofty mountains |
they cut through mountains making gorges. |
have long courses from their source to the sea |
they perform intense erosional activity in their upper courses and carry huge loads of silt and sand |
in the middle and lower courses they form meanders and ox bow lakes and many other depositional features in their floodplains |
also form well developed deltas |
Indus River System
Source |
rises in Tibet near Lake Mansarovar |
Tributaries |
Zaskar,nubra,shyok,humza,jhelum,satluj,chenab,ravi,beas |
Mouth |
Arabian Sea |
Basin |
ladakh jammu and kashmir himachal pradesh and punjab |
Features |
flows through baltistan and gilgit and emerges from the mountains of Attock |
| |
the 5 rivers join near Mithankot |
| |
indus plain has a very gentle slope |
| |
has a total length of 2900km |
Ganga River System
Source |
headwaters of the Ganga BHAGIRATHI is fed by Gangotri glacier and joined by the alaknanda at devaprayag in Uttarakhand |
Tributaries |
yamuna,ghaghara,gandak,kosi |
Mouth |
Bay of Bengal |
Features |
at haridwar the ganga emerges from the mountain on to the plains |
| |
yamuna rises from yamunotri glacier. it flows parallel to the ganga and as a right bank meets ganga at Allahabad |
| |
GGK rise in Nepal himalayas which floods parts of the northern plain every year |
| |
main tributaries come from peninsular uplands are the chambal,betwa and son. these rise from semi arid areas and do not carry much water in them |
| |
enlarged with the waters from its right and left bank tributaries |
| |
the ganga flows till Farakka in west bengal, this is the northernmost part of the ganga delta . here the river bifurcates and forms the Bhagirathi-hooghly,it flows through the deltaic plains to BOB |
| |
flows southwards into bangladesh and is joined by the brahmaputra |
| |
further down the mainstream is known as meghna |
| |
has a length of 2500 km |
| |
ambala is located between the water divide of Indus and ganga river systems |
| |
the plains from ambala to sunderban stetch over nearly 1800km but the fall is hardly 300m , there is a fall of just one metre for every 6km. Therefore the river develops large meanders |
Brahmaputra River System
Source |
rises in tibet east of mansarovar lake |
slightly longer than the indus , most of its course lies outside India |
flows eastwards parallel to Himalayas |
it is called Dihang and it is joined by the Dibang , lohit and many other tributaries to form the Brahmaputra in Assam |
on reaching the Namcha Barwa 7757m it takes a U turn and enters India in Arunachal through a gorge |
in tibet the river carries a smaller volume of water and silt as it passes through a cold and dry area |
in India it passes through a area of high rainfall. here the river contains a large amount of water and silt |
has a braided channel in its entire length in assam and forms many riverine islands |
it is marked by huge deposits of silt on its bed causing the riverbed to rise . the river also shifts its channel frequently |
|
|
Peninsular Rivers
these rivers are seasonal as their flow is dependent on rainfall |
during the dry season even the large rivers have reduced flow of water in their channels |
have shorter and shallower courses |
some of these rivers originate in the central highlands and flow towards the west |
most of them originate in western ghats and flow towards the Bay of Bengal |
Narmada Basin
rises in Amarkantak hills in MP |
flows towards the west in a rift valley formed due to faulting |
the Marble rocks where the narmada flows through a deep gorge and the dhuadhar falls where the rivers plunges over steep rocks |
all tributaries of narmada are very short and join the main stream at right angles |
covers parts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat |
Tapi Basin
rises in the Satpura ranges in the betul district of Madhya Pradesh |
flows in a rift valley parallel to Narmada but it is much shorter in length |
basin covers most parts of Madhya pradesh gujarat and maharashtra |
coastal plains between western ghats and arabian sea are very narrow due to which the coastal rivers are short |
main west flowing rivers are mahi sabarmati periyar and bharathpuza |
Godavari Basin
largest peninsular river |
it rises from the slopes of the western ghats in the nasik district of MH |
has a length of 1500 km |
drains into BOB |
drainage basin covers MH(50%) , MP odisha and Andhra Pradesh |
the purna wardha pranhita manjra penganga wainganga |
manjra wainganga and penganga are very large due to which its also known as Dakshin Ganga |
Mahanadi
rises in the highlands of chhattisgarh |
flows through odisha to reach BOB |
has a length of 860 km |
drainage basin covers MH , chhattisgarh , jharkhand and odisha |
Krishna Basin
rises from a spring near Mahabaleswar |
has a length of 1400km and reaches BOB |
tungabadra,koyana,musi,ghatprabha are some of its tributaries |
its drainage basin covers parts of MH,karnataka and Andhra Pradesh |
Kaveri Basin
rises in the Brahmagri range of the western ghats |
reaches BOB in south of Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu |
has a length of 760km |
amravati,bhavani,hemavati and kabini are its main tributaries |
its drainage basin covers parts of karnataka,Kerala and tamil nadu |
|
