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Peninsular Plateau, Western Ghats & Eastern Ghats of India GK Questions & Answers
The Peninsular Plateau represents the oldest and most stable geological shield of the Indian subcontinent, composed primarily of Archean gneisses, granites, and Deccan flood basalts. Morphologically, the plateau is demarcated by the Narmada-Tapi rift system into two distinct divisions: the Central Highlands to the north and the Deccan Plateau to the south. The Western Ghats (Sahyadris) form an unbroken escarpment running 1,600 kilometres along the Arabian Sea, featuring major structural gaps including Thal Ghat, Bhor Ghat, and the Palghat Gap. The Western Ghats average 1,200 metres in altitude, culminating in Anamudi (2,695 m) in the Anaimalai Hills, the highest peak in Peninsular India. In contrast, the Eastern Ghats form a highly dissected, discontinuous chain of relict hills breached by east-flowing rivers such as the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri, with Jindhagada Peak (1,690 m) and Mahendragiri (1,501 m) as principal elevations. The two ranges converge at the Nilgiri Hills, crowned by Doda Betta (2,637 m). The region holds substantial mineral reserves in the Dharwar and Gondwana formations and governs the hydrography of southern India.
High-yield conceptual summaries for competitive exams and rapid revision.
Geologically ancient Gondwana shield segment composed of Archean crystalline basement rocks and Cretaceous Deccan trap basalt layers.
Western Ghats (Sahyadris) form a continuous orographic barrier traversed by passes like Thal Ghat (Mumbai-Nashik), Bhor Ghat (Mumbai-Pune), and Palghat Gap (Kerala-Tamil Nadu).
Anamudi (2,695 m) in the Anaimalai Hills is the highest peak in Peninsular India, surpassing Doda Betta (2,637 m) in the Nilgiris.
Eastern Ghats are ancient, discontinuous fold mountains eroded by major peninsular rivers, with Jindhagada Peak as the highest elevation.
The Western and Eastern Ghats converge topographically at the Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu, forming a distinct biological transition zone.
Showing 25 Curated Questions197 Total in Bank
1ID: GK-GEOG-00592
easyPhysiography & Mountain Ranges
At which junction hills do the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats converge in southern India?
Verified Explanation
The Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats meet at the Nilgiri Hills (Blue Mountains) situated at the tri-junction of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka.
2ID: GK-GEOG-00612
mediumPhysiography & Mountain Ranges
The Cardamom Hills (Yela Mala), renowned for spice plantations, are situated in the southern extreme of the Western Ghats across which two states?
Verified Explanation
The Cardamom Hills form the southernmost portion of the Western Ghats, straddling southeastern Kerala (Idukki) and southwestern Tamil Nadu (Theni).
3ID: GK-GEOG-00506
mediumPhysiography & Mountain Ranges
The Cardamom Hills, constituting the southernmost extension of the Western Ghats, are located at the border of which two Indian states?
Verified Explanation
The Cardamom Hills (Yela Mala) form the southern ridge of the Western Ghats straddling south-eastern Kerala and south-western Tamil Nadu.
4ID: GK-AGRI-00374
mediumKharif, Rabi & Cash Crop Patterns
In traditional shifting slash-and-burn cultivation in India, what is the practice locally termed in the Western Ghats region of South India?
Verified Explanation
Shifting cultivation is known by various local names in India: Jhum in Northeast India, Podu in Andhra Pradesh, Bewar/Dahiya in MP, and Kumari in the Western Ghats region of Kerala/Karnataka.
5ID: GK-AGRI-00501
hardKharif, Rabi & Cash Crop Patterns
In shifting cultivation taxonomy in India, what is slash-and-burn farming specifically termed in the Western Ghats region?
Verified Explanation
In the Western Ghats (Kerala, Karnataka, Goa), traditional shifting cultivation was historically referred to as Kumari.
6ID: GK-DMGT-00520
mediumCyclones, Floods & Glacial Lake Outburst Floods
What meteorological phenomenon, involving long, narrow corridors of intense horizontal water vapor transport in the lower troposphere, has been identified as a major driver of extreme flood events along the Western Ghats?
Verified Explanation
Atmospheric Rivers (ARs) are relatively narrow, transient corridors of high integrated water vapor transport in the lower atmosphere, typically extending over thousands of kilometres with widths of several hundred kilometres. Research by IIT Gandhinagar and MoES demonstrates that intense summer monsoon atmospheric rivers channeling moisture from the southern Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea, upon striking the steep orography of the Western Ghats, unleash catastrophic extreme precipitation leading to landslides and mega-floods in Kerala and Maharashtra.
7ID: GK-WILD-00214
mediumRamsar Wetland Sites & Biosphere Reserves
Which global biodiversity hotspot covers the Western Ghats mountain range along the western coast of the Indian peninsula?
Verified Explanation
The 'Western Ghats and Sri Lanka' is one of the world's eight 'hottest hotspots' of biological diversity, recognized for exceptional levels of plant and animal endemism.
8ID: GK-GEOG-00251
easyPhysiography & Mountain Ranges
Which is the highest peak in the Western Ghats (Sahyadri) and also in South India?
Verified Explanation
Anamudi, located in the Eravikulam National Park in Kerala, has an elevation of 2,695 meters (8,842 ft) and is the highest peak in South India and the Western Ghats.
9ID: GK-GEOG-00291
hardPhysiography & Mountain Ranges
Which longitudinal gap/pass in the Western Ghats between Nilgiri Hills to the north and Anaimalai Hills to the south facilitates rail and road transit between Kerala and Tamil Nadu?
Verified Explanation
The Palghat Gap is a low mountain pass about 30 km wide in the Western Ghats that provides a crucial low-altitude transport corridor between Coimbatore and Palakkad.
10ID: GK-GEOG-00411
easyPhysiography & Mountain Ranges
Which is the highest mountain peak located in the Western Ghats and in entire South India?
Verified Explanation
Anamudi, standing at an elevation of 2,695 metres in the Anaimalai Hills of Kerala (Idukki district), is the highest peak in South India and the Western Ghats.
11ID: GK-GEOG-00431
mediumPhysiography & Mountain Ranges
Which major gap or pass in the Western Ghats provides railway and road connectivity between Palakkad in Kerala and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu?
Verified Explanation
The Palghat (Palakkad) Gap is a 32-km-wide structural break in the Western Ghats between the Nilgiri Hills to the north and the Anaimalai Hills to the south.
12ID: GK-GEOG-00514
hardAgriculture & Cropping Patterns
In traditional slash-and-burn shifting cultivation in India, what is the practice called in the Western Ghats region of South India?
Verified Explanation
In India, shifting cultivation has different regional names: Jhum in the North-East, Bewar/Dahiya in Madhya Pradesh, Podu/Penda in Andhra Pradesh, and Kumari in the Western Ghats.
13ID: GK-GEOG-00619
mediumMinerals & Energy Resources
The Kudremukh iron ore mines in the Western Ghats of Karnataka transported concentrated iron ore to Mangaluru port through which engineering method?
Verified Explanation
Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) pioneered a 110-km underground slurry pipeline through dense Western Ghats terrain to transport iron ore slurry directly to Panambur port in Mangaluru.
14ID: GK-GEOG-00755
mediumPhysiographic Divisions & Geomorphology of India
Which mountain pass situated on the crest of the Western Ghats provides a direct transport link between Mumbai and Nashik?
Verified Explanation
Thal Ghat (also known as Kasara Ghat) is a major mountain pass at an elevation of 585 metres in the Sahyadri range connecting Mumbai to Nashik and the northern Deccan plateau via National Highway 3 and the Central Railway line. Bhor Ghat connects Mumbai to Pune, while Palghat and Shencottah Gap are located in the southern Western Ghats.
15ID: GK-GEOG-00824
hardForests, Biosphere Reserves & Wildlife Protected Areas
The unique 'Shola' ecosystems of the Nilgiris and Anamalai hills in the southern Western Ghats consist of which vegetation mosaic?
Verified Explanation
Sholas are high-altitude (above 1,500 metres) montane wet temperate evergreen forests found in sheltered folds, valleys, and depressions of the southern Western Ghats, interspersed with vast rolling frost-tolerant grasslands. Key flora includes Rhododendron arboreum nilagiricum, Ternstroemia gymnanthera, and Michelia nilagirica.
16ID: GK-GEOG-00835
hardForests, Biosphere Reserves & Wildlife Protected Areas
The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP), which recommended declaring the entire Western Ghats as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA), was chaired by which ecologist?
Verified Explanation
The WGEEP (Gadgil Commission) submitted its landmark report in 2011 recommending that the entire Western Ghats (142,000 sq km) be designated as an Ecologically Sensitive Area, stratified into Ecologically Sensitive Zones 1, 2, and 3. The subsequent Kasturirangan Committee (HLWG) in 2013 recommended protecting about 37% of the area as natural landscape.
17ID: GK-GEOG-00870
mediumIndian River Systems & Drainage Basins
Which tributary of the Krishna River is formed by the union of two distinct mountain streams, the Tunga and the Bhadra, originating in the Western Ghats at Gangamoola?
Verified Explanation
The Tungabhadra River is formed by the confluence of the Tunga and Bhadra streams at Koodli in Shimoga district of Karnataka. Both streams originate at Gangamoola in the Varaha Parvatha of the Western Ghats. The Tungabhadra flows eastward across Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh before emptying into the Krishna River near Alampur.
18ID: GK-GEOG-00888
mediumIndian Climate, Monsoon Dynamics & Seasons
Under Koeppen's scheme, which climatic letter code designates the vast Semi-Arid Steppe zone found in the rain-shadow belt of the Western Ghats and parts of western Rajasthan and Haryana?
Verified Explanation
In Koeppen's climatic classification of India, 'BShw' denotes a Low-latitude Semi-Arid (Steppe) climate with a dry winter. It encompasses the leeward rain-shadow corridor of the Western Ghats (stretching across interior Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana) as well as transitional zones between the Thar Desert and the northern alluvial plains.
19ID: GK-GEOG-00952
easyPhysiographic Divisions & Geomorphology of India
Which hill range constitutes the southernmost mountain formation of the Western Ghats along the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu?
Verified Explanation
The Cardamom Hills (also known as Yela Mala) form the southernmost extension of the Western Ghats in south-western India, spanning Idukki district in Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu. They are located south of the Palghat and Shencottah Gaps. Shevaroy, Javadi, and Nallamala hills belong to the Eastern Ghats complex.
20ID: GK-INDM-00905
mediumIndian States & UTs: Capitals, Emblems & Facts
The Nilgiri Tahr (Nilgiritragus hylocrius), an endangered mountain ungulate endemic to the Western Ghats, is the official State Animal of which Indian state?
Verified Explanation
The Nilgiri Tahr is the official State Animal of Tamil Nadu. It is an endangered wild mountain goat species listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, inhabiting the high-altitude montane shola-grassland ecosystems of the southern Western Ghats.
21ID: GK-GEOG-00485
easyPhysiography & Mountain Ranges
What is the highest mountain peak in the Western Ghats and in the entire Peninsular India?
Verified Explanation
Anamudi, standing at an elevation of 2,695 metres in the Anamalai Hills of Idukki district, Kerala, is the highest peak in South India.
22ID: GK-GEOG-00532
easyPhysiography & Mountain Ranges
Which is the highest peak in the Western Ghats as well as in South India?
Verified Explanation
Anamudi, located in the Anamalai Hills of Kerala at an elevation of 2,695 metres, is the highest peak in South India.
23ID: GK-WILD-00245
easyRamsar Wetland Sites & Biosphere Reserves
Which was the first Biosphere Reserve established in India in 1986, spanning across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka in the Western Ghats?
Verified Explanation
The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve was established by the Government of India in September 1986 as India's first biosphere reserve under the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme.
24ID: GK-WILD-00568
easyProject Tiger & Elephant Reserves
Periyar Tiger Reserve, situated around the artificial Periyar Lake in the Western Ghats, is located in which state?
Verified Explanation
Periyar Tiger Reserve is situated in the Cardamom and Pandalam Hills of Idukki and Pathanamthitta districts of Kerala, known for both tigers and Asian elephants.
25ID: GK-WATR-00591
mediumHimalayan & Peninsular River Systems
The Krishna River, the second largest east-flowing peninsular river, originates in the Western Ghats near which famous hill station in Maharashtra?
Verified Explanation
The Krishna River originates from an ancient temple spout at Jor village near Mahabaleshwar in Satara district of Maharashtra at an altitude of 1,337 m.