India Physiography – The Northern Indian Plains

India can be divided into 6 physical divisions which are:

• The Northern Mountains
• The North Indian Plain
• The Peninsular Plateau
• Great Indian Desert
• The coastal Regions
• Islands



The North Indian Plain

These are formed by depositional work by rivers such as Indus, Ganga & Brahmaputra. It is 2400 Km long and its width varies from 240 to approx. 320 km.

It can be divided into three sections which are:

• Punjab Plains

It is formed by the Indus and its tributaries. Major parts of it lie in Pakistan.

• Ganga Plains

It is between Ghaggar and Tista rivers. Haryana, Delhi, UP, Bihar, part of Jharkhand, and West Bengal lie in the Ganga plains.

• Brahmaputra Plains

This plain lies from Tista to Dihang and major parts of it lie in Assam.



The Northern plains can be further divided into the following divisions:

• Bhabhar
• Tarai
• Khadar
• Bhangar

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1 Bhabhar

It lies from Indus to Tista, along the foothills of Shivalik. It is laid down by the streams coming from the hills.

• It comprises of pebble studded rocks that are highly porous bed plain
• The streams disappear here because of the high porosity

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  2 Tarai

  It lies south of Bhabhar running parallel to it. It is marked by the re-emergence of underground streams of the Bhabhar belt

• Highly alluvial & agricultural land
• It also has a water table because of groundwater percolating down from the adjacent zone

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3 Khadar

These are flood plains with newer alluvium deposited by flood almost every year and have very fertile soil.

• It is a zone of intensive agriculture
• The soil is non-porous, clayey, and loamy

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4 Bhangar

It is an alluvial terrace lying above the level of flood plains and composed of the oldest alluvial soil.

• The soil of this region is known as kankar (calcareous concretions)
• It is coarse in nature and contains kankar (lime nodules), pebbles, and gravels