Subtitle

THE NATURAL TOPOGRAPHY

Topography
Topography describes the physical features of an area of

land.
These features typically include natural formations such
as mountains, rivers, lakes, and valleys. Manmade
features such as roads, dams, and cities may also be
included.
In this chapter our focus will be on Natural Topography,
Natural topography deals with various elevations of an
area i.e. mountains, rivers, land scape etc.

Natural topography of Pakistan

Natural topography of Pakistan

Millions of years ago, There were no mountain ranges at the boundary of Indian

subcontinent.
The Asian continent was mostly intact, but India was an island floating off the
coast of Australia.
Around 220 million years ago, around the time that Pangea (one big land mass)
was breaking apart, India started to move northwards. It travelled some 6,000
kilometres before it finally collided with Asia around 40 to 50 million years ago.
Then, part of the Indian landmass began to go beneath the Asian one, moving the
Asian landmass up, which resulted in the rise of the Himalayas and other
mountain ranges.
Its thought that Indias coastline was denser and more firmly attached to the
seabed, which is why Asias softer soil was pushed up rather than the other way
around.

Natural topography of Pakistan

The mountain range grew very rapidly in comparison to most

mountain ranges, and its actually still growing today. Mount

Everest and its fellows actually grow by approximately a net of
about a centimetre or so every year. Thats in comparison to the
Appalachian Mountains, which developed some 300 million years
ago or more, which is actually decreasing in peak elevations as it
erodes.
The continued growth in the Himalayas is likely due to the Indian
tectonic plate still moving slowly but surely northward. We know
the plate is still moving in part because of the frequent
earthquakes in the region.

Natural topography of Pakistan

Pakistan can be divided into six major topographical areas
1. The Northern mountains and the North Western

mountains
2. The Western mountains
3. The Baluchistan plateau
4. Indus plains
5. Desert areas
6. Potwar plateau and salt range

Topography of Pakistan
First of all we will study the topography of Northern and North Western

mountains.
Some basic terms
A Hill is generally considered to be an elevated piece of land less than
600 -610 meters high, and a Mountain is an elevation of land that is
more than 610m high. But it must be remembered that there is no
universally acceptable definition. Some hills are called mountains
while some mountains are referred to as hills.
A Mountain Range is a succession of mountains which have the same
direction, age and same causes of formation etc.
A snowfield is a huge permanent expanse of snow

Northern mountains
The Northern Mountains are divided into

three main mountain ranges; the Karakoram,

Himalayas and the Hindu Kush. These three
have a dominating physical presence in the
northern areas of Pakistan
The Karakoram runs from South East to
North-West. They have an average height of
6000m.
The Himalayas run from South-East to
North-West and have an average height of
4000m.
The Hindu Kush runs from North East to
South West with an average height of
5000m.

Physical features of this terrain

Physical features are:
These mountain ranges have deep narrow valleys such as Gilgit and

Chitral.
Mountains are snow capped (like K2) and have steep sided slopes
The peaks are conically shaped; like Rakaposhi 7788m.
The height of mountains in a mountain range generally shows a trend;
their height increases as we move from South towards the North.
These ranges have fast flowing rivers like the River Gilgit, which has
formed alluvial fans and deep narrow gorges ( A gorge is a narrow
valley with steep, rocky walls located between hills or mountains )

Physical features of this terrain

The soil cover on slopes is extremely thin; the mountains

have bare rocks, which support little plant growth as

plants need soil (so their roots could absorb both minerals
and water for growth).
These rocks usually undergo the process of weathering
(by wind, water and lichens etc), which gradually break
down the rock into small soil particles over a long time

Natural topography of Pakistan

Alluvial fans are fan-shaped

deposits of water-transported
material (alluvium). These
deposits are called alluvium.

Natural topography of Pakistan

A gorge is a narrow valley

with steep, rocky walls located

between hills or mountains