Highlands Dean: description, geographical location, photo

Plateau Dean is the base of the Hindustan Peninsula. On the map, it is located between 11 ° and 20 ° north latitude and 75 ° - 80 ° east longitude. There is a plateau in the center of the peninsula. Its borders from the north and south are two rivers: Narmada and Kaveri, the latter, due to the slope to the east, carries its waters to the Bay of Bengal. And the Narmada River flows into the Arabian Sea.

Briefly about the plateau

The Dean is India's largest plateau. Has an area of 1 million square meters. Km. It is a rocky plain with separately rising mountain peaks. The Dekan Plateau is located in such a way that the Indo-Gansky Plain is on its northern part, and the Malabar coast from the south. On the western and eastern edges of the borderline, expressed by mountain chains. They are called Western and Eastern Ghats.

The Deccan plateau has a peculiarity of slightly evading the eastern coast. For this reason, the entire flow of inland waters of this territory falls on the Bay of Bengal. The age of the plateau is the Mesozoic period. It was at this time that the peaks came to the surface.

Relief

Highlands Dean is part of the Indian platform. Its basis is composed of Archean and Proterozoic gneisses, quartzites, schists and small granites.

The relief of the plateau consists of steppe plains typical for this region, called traps. They represent the remaining craters of ancient volcanoes. Traps consist entirely of igneous rocks, the surface of which is covered with basalts. The average height is 600-900 m.

The name "trap" is taken from the Swedish language, which means "ladder". But it's not for nothing that they got such a name. It is the ladder with steps and resembles this relief. Trapps are found in various mountain systems, where the great influence on their formation was rendered by ancient volcanoes. But such relief areas that can be observed on the Deccan plateau are considered to be the largest volcanic formations of this type on Earth.

In addition to the traps, the mountain peaks rise along the territory of the plateau. They can stand alone or close to a mountain chain. All of them are denudation table mountains, the average height of which is 1,500-1,800 m.

Climate

For the Deccan plateau, the most favorable climate of all South Asia is the subequatorial monsoon type. The highest level of heat is in May. During this period the thermometer's column rises to + 28 ... + 32 ° С. But the coldest is January. The temperature drops to + 21 ° C this month. There are no frosty days on the plateau. On the local territory, the precipitation is unevenly distributed. Most of them fall on the eastern and western outskirts (windward slopes) - 2 500-3 000 mm. In the central part, the average annual rainfall reaches 900 mm. Most often they fall out in the form of rain in the summer.

Inland waters and soils

On the territory of the plateau there are large rivers of India - Mahanadi, Godavari, Kaveri, Narmada.

Plateau Dean is covered with fertile black tropical soils. Currently, more than 60% of this area has been plowed up to develop agriculture in this region.

From the vegetation here you can find monsoon deciduous forests, which mainly consist of trees such as bamboo, teak, sal. This area is also characterized by sparse and dry savannas.

Minerals

The formation of the largest deposits of minerals in this region was greatly influenced by ancient volcanic activity. In the valleys, where sedimentary rocks accumulated, large deposits of coal formed. Important deposits of iron and copper ores, tungsten, manganese and gold have also been developed.

Having become acquainted with this article, all students will know where the Deccan plateau is located and what its features are.