OLEVEL

GEOGRAPHY
NOTES BY
SALEEMFEROZI
Contact:03332157652

Email:[email protected]
Topography/Landform
of Pakistan
 Definition
Topography : it is the detailed study of the surface features of a
region.

● Hills and Mountains: 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.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

● Relief/ topography: the condition of the land related to the

rocks,ups and dowrs eroded and depositional features like valleys,
rock type,passes etc

● Drainage :it is related to the eroded and depoditional! Features

of the rivers like ox-low lake,meander,levees etc .all tyeps of river
patterns including dendafric is part of drainage.

● Gorges :they are an irregular depression in a valley.

● Cirque : are regular depression made by the movment of

glaciers.

● Valley: plain land between two mountains.

● Passes: a natural path which connects two areas in mountainous

region.

● Snowfield : A plain field covered with snow usually above the

snow line (4000m)

● Ravine :A deep narrow gorge with steep sides

● Gully : A revine formed by water activity

● Glaciers:Tongue shaped mass of ice moving slow down the
valley

● Streams /Springs: Channels of water from snow capped

mountains towards valley

● Cirque/corrie: A steep walled basin or a kind of lake .example

:Lake saif ul mulook

● Serrated landscape: elevated mountain zone used for

agriculture

● Bare rock:Rock without vegetation due to accumulation of snow

● Scree: Accumulation of loose rock debris

● Abrasion:The scraping of rock surface frozen into the moving ice

● Plucking: When ice freazes onto rocks surface and pulls off
pieces or blocks of moving ice

Northen Mountain
The Northern Mountains are divided into three main mountain
ranges

● The Karakoram

➢ Average Altitude : 6000m

➢ Highest peak : K2 (8610m)

➢ Lifestyle :Nomadic agriculture and lifestock is practiced

➢ Products:Apples Barly millets

➢ Valleys : Gilgit Hunza Baltistan

● Himalayas
➢ Average altitude:4000m lesser or lower Himalyas

➢ Highest peak :Naanga parbat (8126m)

➢ Lifestyle :Nomadic

➢ Economic activity : Tourism/ agriculture and lifestock is

practiced

➢ Important locations :Murree Nathya Gali Ghora Gali

➢ VALLEYS : Murri gullies and Naran Kaghan

● The Hindu Kush.

➢ Average Altitude: 5000m

➢ Highest peak :TirichMir (7690m)

➢ Historical Importance: Alexander Timurlane Mughals Ghazni

and Ghauris passed it to attack India

➢ Important locations :Sawat Kohistan Chitral Dir

➢ Products: Rice apples apricots tobacco

➢ Valleys:Sawat chitral DIR

These three have a dominating physical presence in the northern

areas of Pakistan Topography 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 Featuers
  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;
 Their altitude increases as we move from South towards the
North. 6000m upto 8500m
 These ranges have fast flowing rivers like the River Gilgit,
which has formed alluvial fans and deep narrow gorges
 Massive glaciers like Baltoro Batura and Siachen
 The soil cover on slopes is extremely thin; the mountains
have bare rocks, which support little plant growth above
snowline
 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

Drainage features
● Indus starts from Manasarover lake in karakoram range moving
towards south joins river Kabul at Attock and enters plain of
Punjab at kalabagh

● The Southern slopes of the Himalayas are drained by Eastern

tributaries of the River Indus; Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej and
Beas.

● All of these Rivers run in North-East to South West direction

● Snowfields are found in areas which are above 4000m and feeds
the rivers in summers

Western Mountains
This region consists of the mountain ranges, namely; the
Waziristan hills, the Safed Koh range, the Sulaiman range and the
Kirthar range (shown on next page) Topography.

.Highly mineralized zone

∙ All of these ranges run in the North-South direction except the

Safed Koh, which runs from East to West.

∙ The Safed Koh mountain range is the only range, which has
some existing snow capped peaks. Other ranges are quite dry.

∙ These mountains generally have bare rocks due to low rainfall

and in some cases very high temperatures (which leads to high
rate of evaporation).

∙ These mountain ranges have steep sided peaks along with deep
narrow valleys and gorges.

Safed Koh Ranges:Up to 4712

meters

Waziristan Hills:Up to 3513

meters

Suliman Range:Up to 3383 metes

Kirthar Hills:Up to 2174 meters
Drainage
● The Safed Koh range is drained by River Kabul, which runs in an
West to East direction and eventually joins River Indus The
Waziristan hills are drained by small seasonal rivers like Kurram,
Tochi and Gomal.

● These rivers run from West to East, and all are the Western
tributaries of the River Indus The Sulaiman range is drained by
small hill torrents and small seasonal rivers such as the Bolan and
Mula.

● These rivers usually lead to small inland lakes, where the water
collects and then dries up (for example the lake Damas) The rain
falling on Eastern slopes of Sulaiman range runs down the slopes
and falls into piedmont plains leading to the formation of alluvial
fans.

● The Kirthar range on the other hand is drained by the River Hab
(seasonal river), which flows in a North to South direction and
eventually joins the Arabian Sea

Balochistan Plateau
Plateau: is an area of highland, which is usually flat although a
heavily dissected plateau can also exist.

Features are:

● Balochistan Plateau has a height varying from around 600m to

around 3000m

● Total covered area of 347190 sq km

● It has deep narrow valleys like Quetta

● They have bare rocks due to lack of rainfall

● The mountains have steep slopes and none are snow capped.
● There are parallel ranges running in an East to West direction
for example the Chagai Hills, Raskoh Range, and Makran Coastal
Range are all parallel ranges

● Parallel ranges running North-South direction are Central Brahui

and the Hala range

Drainage
In the Southern part of the Balochistan Plateau, the River Dasht
and River Porali flow from north to South, thus eventually draining
into the Arabian Sea. Both are seasonal rivers; they flow only
during the rainy season.

In Central Balochistan, water either drains into inland lakes known

as Hamuns or is absorbed into the ground, if not, it evaporates
these basins are known as INLAND DRAINAGE BASINS . Dry lakes
known as Hamun exist (like Hamun-i-Mashkel). They are formed
when seasonal rivers flow into them during the rainy season and
when the water evaporates it forms SALT LAKES or SALT PAN
leaving a salty crust behind . A Hamun is a sort of depression on
the Earth’s surface.

In Northern Balochistan, River Zhob flows from southwest towards

northeast. It eventually meets the River Gomal, which is a
western tributary of the River Indus
 Mountain Ranges of
Balochistan
● Ras koh

● Hala

● Makran coastal range

● Central Brahui

● Toba kakkar

● Siahan

Potwar Plateau And Salt

Range
Potwar Plateau
This plateau covers the northern parts of Punjab and some of the
western part of Azad Kashmir.

To the North of the plateau we find the Margalla Hills, in the

South the Salt range, in the East River Jhelum and on the West the
River Indus.

Featuers
  Height ranges from 305 to 610m and represents a region of
badland topography.
 The hills have steep slopes and are badly dissected, faulted
and folded.
 Many residual hills are present, a feature left by the last Ice
Age due to retreating glaciers.
 Ravines (shallow, steep sided narrow valleys) are present
between ridges (elevated pieces of land that run for some
distance). Ravines are formed due to the erosion of soft rock
by flowing water over a long period of time

Drainage
River Soan drains much of Potwar Plateau. It runs from North-East
to South-West and eventually drains into the River Indus. Other
small rivers are also present but all are active in the rainy season.
These rivers have meanders (curves in the path of a river)
because they have to flow around small hills Alluvial plains have
also formed along the rivers due to seasonal flooding and the
consequent deposition of silt by the river

Salt Range
The Salt range is bordered by Potwar Plateau in the North, River
Indus on the west and River Jhelum on the east Topography It
consists of parallel mountains, which generally run from North-
East to South-West. The height of the range varies from 750-900m
The mountain range slopes gently towards the Potwar Plateau (in
the north) but slopes steeply towards the Upper Indus Plain (in the
south)

● River soan is partially separating potwar with salt ranges.

● salt ranges are steeper to words potwar plateau

● They have higher altitude in the south which decrease
northwards

● There are few beautiful lakes in the region like colour

Kalarkahar, Makrachi, Dhabi .

● salt ranges are covered by gullies which are making Bad-land

topography. This is because of deforestation.

● small scale subsistance farming is possible around river source

and its tributaries.

Indus plain
The Indus Plain is divided into two regions; the Upper Indus Plain
and the Lower Indus Plain. The Upper Indus Plain extends from
areas below Kashmir and Lesser Himalayas to Mithankot. The
Lower Indus Plain extends from Mithankot to the Indus Delta.

Upper Indus plain

Features:

● Upper Indus Plain In the upper Indus plain there are doabs (a
doab is a land between two rivers) e.g. Bari Doab

● Bars (alluvial terraces) are also present, which are 7-12m high
e.g. the Nilli and Ganji Bars.

● The rivers keep on changing their course slightly (meanders).

● There are levees along the river bed, which help contain the
river.

● Active flood plains are present alongside the river; these are low
lying areas of flat land, which are annually flooded in the rainy
season. The active flood plain is made up of new alluvium
● The old flood plains are also present. They are flat areas, which
are higher than active flood plains. They are made up of old
alluvium, which had been deposited a decade ago. They’re
flooded after a decade or so, when strong monsoon winds
combine with the heavy melting of snow and ice in the glaciers of
the Northern Mountains.

● Piedmont plains are found at the foothills of the Himalayas in

the Salt Range. They are formed by the deposition of material by
hill torrents, when they lose their speed. Kirak Hills exist between
the River Chenab and Jhelum

Lower Indus Plain

● The Lower Indus Plain principally differs from the Upper Indus
Plain due to presence of a tidal delta (the Indus Delta) and also
because in the Lower Indus Plain only one river that is, the river
Indus, flows.

● Indus delta exists in some of the southern parts of the Lower

Indus Plain. A delta is a low lying triangular area which has alluvial
deposits

● the river divides into distributaries before entering a larger body

of water (in this case the Arabian Sea). The delta exists because
of the deposition of material carried by the river. This happens
because when the river enters into the sea, it loses its speed and
thus also loses its ability to hold this material, which is therefore
deposited at the mouth of the river.

● In the lower Indus Plain, we may find limestone ridges which are
known as cuestas, a few examples being; Rohri and Gango Takar
Cusetas.

● Oxbow lakes are also present in the lower Indus plain

● Active and Old Flood Plains are also present, but a doab and
alluvial terraces are absent. Meanders however are present too.

● Piedmont Plains are present at the foothills of Kirthar and

Sulaiman Mountain ranges.

● Part of the Indus plain that extends into Balochistan is known as

the Kachi Sibi Plain. Both these plains have rolling sand dunes
(Thal and Thar deserts), flat plain areas, have some low lying hills,
oxbow lakes and meanders etc

● The main differences are the number of tributaries and

distributaries (delta) in both the plains,

● The Upper Indus Plain is also a bit higher than the low lying
Lower Indus Plain. Considering the altitude of these two plains, we
see that it decreases from North towards the South generally

Read the table given in huma naz sethi

between upper and lower indus plain on
pg25

Drainage of Indus Plain

The Lower Indus plain is drained by the River Indus mainly flowing
in the North-South direction. Meanders and oxbow lakes also
exist. Piedmont plains exist in-between the river Indus and
Sulaiman and Kirthar Mountain ranges. In the Upper Indus plain,
River Indus and its Eastern tributaries flow in North- South
direction. Tributaries are Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej.
Meanders and oxbow lakes also exist

● Meanders zigzag pattern of rivers is called Meander.

● Oxbow Lake Crescent shaped part separated from a curve of

Meander is known as ox-bow Lake. it is a temporary feature.

● Levees Natural increase of land near river banks is called

levees. This is because of the deposition of sediments alongside
the river banks.( Embankment walls are artificially man-made
walls alongside the river bank)

Active Flood Plain

It is a flat plain on both sides of a river, which suffers annual
floods during the rainy season. It is around 2-3m above the level
of a river. It is around 10-20km long. The river always changes its
position, thus meanders have come into existence. Abandoned
(dry) and braided channels are also visible in the dry season.
Meanders, oxbow lakes and embankments of a river can be seen
as well. Soils of loam and silt (Alluvial Soils), which are good for
farming, are present in both the UIP and LIP.

Old flood Plain

It is higher than active flood plain around 5m higher than river
level. It is around 10-20m long. It is made up of old alluvium.
Evidence of meanders and of levees is present in these plains.
Oxbow lake depressions can also be seen. The old flood plains are
present in both UIP and LIP.

Bars (Alluvial Terraces)

These are flat areas which are only found in the Upper Indus plain.
They are 7—12m high and last for 25-35km. They are made up of
areas of silt and clay. In Pakistan all the bars have a south west
direction.

Scarp
Scarp is a slope,, which separates the old flood plain from the bar
upland. It is around 20m long and 11m high above the river level.
It is made when old alluvium on the bar upland is eroded, thus,
leaving a slope which connects both old flood plain and the bar
upland

Rivers and Doabs of UIP /

LIP
CHAJ doab lies between CHENAB and Jhelum rivers.
RACHNA lies between Ravi and CHENAB rivers.
BARI doab lies between BEAs and Ravi rivers

Deserts
A desert is a place that receives very low amount of precipitation
(less than 250mm). It is an area that can support almost no
vegetation. Deserts can be cold as well as hot (have a high rate of
evapotranspiration). Pakistan has 3 main deserts; the Thal,
Tharparkar and the Kharan desert, all of which are hot deserts

● Thal is found in Punjab between Jhelum and Indus Rivers.

● Tharparkar is divided into 3 parts; Cholistan is found in Southern

Punjab, Nara in Eastern Sindh and Thar in the South East of Sindh

● Kharan is found in Western Balochistan.

● Cholistan :

Topography

There are strips of soil found between sand dunes along with the
sandy plains. Sand dunes shift grain by grain due to the pattern of
the blowing wind. Sand dunes sometimes reach a height of 150m,
and are both longitudinal and latitudinal in direction. All of the
sand dunes are crescent shaped. When the wind blows away the
top cover of sand away, bare and weathered rocks are exposed
onto the surface.

Desertification

Desertification occurs due to continuous land abuse. It is caused

by both natural and manmade factors. Among the natural forces
are continuous wind and water erosion (which erode the fertile
topsoil so only few plants can then grow) along with long-term
changes in rainfall patterns due to climate change (such as a
drought). Human factors include overgrazing by animals, strip
mining, the excessive usage of groundwater supplies and
deforestation (mainly shrubs and wild grass)
 Pide-mont plains:
Pied-mont plains are found in the foot hills of Sulaiman kirthar
mountains towards river Indus.few the pied-mont plains are also
found in the Hills of mountaineers north. The pied-mont plains
were formed by the deposition of rivers flowing down the
Mountain .The river flow only where and when rainfall taxes place.
they come down the Mountain slopes at great speed on reaching
the foot hills the gradient decreases and the river loses its speed.
This diop in speed cause the river to deposit a substance part of it
loads within the river channel. The river is spht in a number of
channels known as the braided channel. The sediment deposited
with the river channel makes a heap known as alluvial fans.
Alluvial fans are the dominant feature of pied-mont plains beyond
the alluvial fans the land has a gentler slope and is covered with
sand, silt and clay and lined with meandering line. Agriculture is
possible in this region but it depends upon rainfall. This type of
agriculture is known as rainfed of Baravi agriculture
 Description about
following
∙ Mountains

In the Northern areas of Pakistan life is at times harsh. Food and

fodder can only be grown in summers because the winters are too
cold to support crop growth. Also, most of the soils are thin and
infertile except for those in the valleys. Thus, the area available
for crop growth is limited. Hence the stockpiling of food and
maintenance of the stock becomes necessary. Furthermore,
animals must be kept in sheds during the winter. Transhumance is
the practice of the seasonal movement of people with their
livestock over relatively short distances, typically to higher
pastures in summer and to lower valleys in the winters. During
the summers, when the snow retreats from higher parts of
mountain slopes; grass can grow as temperatures become warm
and sunlight intensity and its duration increases. This comes at a
time when the lower valley pastures have already been exhausted
by the grazing animals during the winter. As the winter starts,
grass grows back in the lower valleys and the animals are moved
back towards the valleys. Here they are kept in sheds (which also
stores fodder etc). Their products like milk, meat, skins are
utilized throughout the year Other than that communication
services are limited during the winters. There is a risk of sabotage
by terrorists and damage by heavy flooding. Landslides frequently
knock out communication poles. Roads are blocked by landslides
and railway lines can be also blown away by avalanches. Building
roads and railway is difficult due to steep slopes, narrow gorges
and deep narrow valleys, which add to the construction time and
cost. Sometimes heavy machinery can’t be used as these
machines cannot climb steep slopes. Many builders die due to
landslides etc. Also in these sparsely populated areas there is a
small pool of trained labour, which can build and maintain roads
and railways etc. On the other hand frostbite can occur and if not
treated properly can result in death. People have to wear thick
clothes and stay indoors to keep warm. They involve themselves
in making crafts etc Only in the summer months do these areas
receive significant amount of tourists, which helps to increase the
earnings of the local people (who are employed in hotels or sell
ornaments etc)

∙ Plains

The plain areas of Pakistan consist of mainly Indus Plain and Kachi
Sibbi Plain These are fertile areas, where agriculture forms an
important part of daily life. Almost ample land is available for crop
growth and other such activities. Population density is high thus a
large pool of trained labour is available. It is economical to build
big schools, colleges and hospitals 24 Chapter 1: Topography of
Pakistan Temperatures are also bearable although summers are a
bit hot, so crops can be grown in both summers and winters.
Water is available either from rivers or from wells/karez etc. Since
these are flat areas it is easy to build roads, railways as machines
can be used. Thus the road and rail density is high. It is easy to
transport goods etc. Land for making factories and runways etc is
also available, thus more commercial activities can be carried out.
In Indus plain the bar upland is both flat and safe from flooding on
account of its height and is perfect for buildings etc.

∙ Deserts

Deserts are vast expanses of barren land. It must be noted that

here too both the topography and climate are rough. Food can
only be grown during the rainy season which brings less than
200mm of rainfall in only the wetter southern parts of the Thar
desert. People (nomads) have to move along with their animals
and belongings in search of water (near oasis) and food/fodder.
Water availability is a major hindrance to permanent settlement
at a single place. Usually the people stay for some weeks at a
place where there is food and water for livestock. In places of
permanent settlement, embroidery and weaving etc is common
Alternating sand dunes mean that crop areas as well as roads and
railways can be covered by sand completely in a matter of days.
Thus before any such project is carried out the sand dunes are at
first flattened, irrigation facilities are built up to grow certain trees
and bushes whose roots prevent soil erosion. All of this is not
cheap Population density is low and there is very small pool of
skilled labour (don’t write no pool of skilled labour), which can
help in building and construction of buildings, roads etc. Also it is
uneconomical to build roads and railways as they will be used
very few people Population density is low so there is less need for
providing major health and educational facilities, although these
facilities are present but to a limited extent only

Compiled by Saleem Ferozi