Which of the following features is characteristic of the western coastal plain of India?
- A.Wide deltas built by large rivers
- B.Estuaries, backwaters and natural harbours
- C.An emergent coast with sand bars and lagoons
- D.The Coromandel coast and the Northern Circars
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, estuaries, backwaters and natural harbours. The western coastal plain is narrow, steep and submergent, so the rivers of the Western Ghats reach the sea through estuaries rather than deltas, and the drowned valleys give deep natural harbours such as Mumbai, Marmagao, New Mangalore and Kochi, besides the Kerala backwaters called kayals. Option A describes the eastern plain, where the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri have built wide deltas. Option C also describes the east, which is an emergent coast with offshore bars and lagoons such as Chilika and Pulicat. Option D names two stretches of the eastern coast, the Coromandel coast of Tamil Nadu and the Northern Circars of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. The western plain is nowhere more than about sixty-four kilometres wide, and it is broadest in Gujarat and narrowest in the stretch between Mumbai and Goa.
Read the full article: India's Coastline and Maritime Zones: Facts and PYQs
Practice Questions
View allWhat is the total length of India's coastline, counting the island groups?
- A.About 5,422 kilometres
- B.About 6,100 kilometres
- C.About 7,516 kilometres
- D.About 15,200 kilometres
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The figure usually quoted is 7,516.6 kilometres, which counts the coast of the mainland together with that of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.
Read the full explanation →Which Indian State has the longest coastline?
- A.Gujarat
- B.Andhra Pradesh
- C.Tamil Nadu
- D.Maharashtra
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Its coast runs along the Gulf of Kachchh and the Gulf of Khambhat and around the Kathiawar peninsula, which gives it a far longer shoreline than any other State, and it is followed by Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Read the full explanation →The territorial waters of India extend up to how many nautical miles from the baseline?
- A.12 nautical miles
- B.24 nautical miles
- C.200 nautical miles
- D.350 nautical miles
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Under the Maritime Zones Act of 1976 the territorial waters extend to twelve nautical miles from the baseline, and within them India has sovereignty over the water, the seabed, the subsoil and the air space, subject only to the right of innocent passage of foreign ships.
Read the full explanation →The exclusive economic zone of a coastal State extends up to
- A.12 nautical miles
- B.24 nautical miles
- C.100 nautical miles
- D.200 nautical miles
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Within this zone the coastal State has sovereign rights for exploring, exploiting, conserving and managing the living and non-living resources of the water, the seabed and the subsoil, and exclusive jurisdiction over artificial islands, marine scientific research and the protection of the marine environment.
Read the full explanation →The Ten Degree Channel separates which two groups of islands?
- A.Andaman and Nicobar groups
- B.Lakshadweep and Minicoy
- C.Minicoy and the Maldives
- D.Great Nicobar and Sumatra
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The Ten Degree Channel runs roughly along the parallel of ten degrees north and separates Little Andaman in the south of the Andaman group from Car Nicobar in the north of the Nicobar group.
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