Travelling through #India you can't miss such boulder heaps...
Think of Hampi's ruins (below) or Sravanabelagola (Karnataka), or Mt Abu (Rajasthan)?
#DidYouKnow, such isolated hill/ridge features that jut out from the surrounding plains are called #inselbergs?
#Geo thread/
Think of Hampi's ruins (below) or Sravanabelagola (Karnataka), or Mt Abu (Rajasthan)?
#DidYouKnow, such isolated hill/ridge features that jut out from the surrounding plains are called #inselbergs?
#Geo thread/
Derived from German words meaning 'island mountain', #inselbergs are residual features that form across climatic zones.
Yet are most abundant in tropical regions with granite-gneiss outcrops, like those on the cratons across India, as also in the zones marked BCG, CGC, and SGT.
Yet are most abundant in tropical regions with granite-gneiss outcrops, like those on the cratons across India, as also in the zones marked BCG, CGC, and SGT.
Debates rage on how #inselbergs formed, yet most concede they are the result of weathering (breaking down of rocks at site) and erosion (transport of weathered material).
In #India, insolation (heat from sun's rays), rainwater, and rivers have shaped landscapes for millennia.
In #India, insolation (heat from sun's rays), rainwater, and rivers have shaped landscapes for millennia.
Most #inselbergs are remote, fragile ecosystems, with uniquely adapted flora-fauna.
Yet in #India, Iron Age settlements & pastoral activity have created diverse features on inselbergs from rock pools to vegetated terraces, with rich biodiversity.
(Ref: Climate without Nature)
Yet in #India, Iron Age settlements & pastoral activity have created diverse features on inselbergs from rock pools to vegetated terraces, with rich biodiversity.
(Ref: Climate without Nature)
#India's granitic landscapes bear other human imprints: temples for worship, hill forts for warfare, stone quarrying for settlements & agriculture based on run-off water - at a scale unlike that on any other continent.
Hence, our #inselbergs offer a unique geo-perspective!
Hence, our #inselbergs offer a unique geo-perspective!
#Inselbergs shouldn't be confused with the extensive, flat-topped features (duricretes & ironstone) along the western edge of the Deccan plateau.
Some mistake inselbergs for wind-carved features, but their shape (which should offer least resistance to winds) indicates otherwise.
Some mistake inselbergs for wind-carved features, but their shape (which should offer least resistance to winds) indicates otherwise.
#ReadingList
This book presents #India's inselbergs as a unique opportunity for inclusive #biodiversity conservation: nature & culture, as both have shaped the present-day environment.
Tropical inselbergs: doi.org/10.1590/S0100-…
$$ article: link.springer.com/chapter/10.100…
This book presents #India's inselbergs as a unique opportunity for inclusive #biodiversity conservation: nature & culture, as both have shaped the present-day environment.
Tropical inselbergs: doi.org/10.1590/S0100-…
$$ article: link.springer.com/chapter/10.100…
The next time you travel around #Bengaluru, #Hyderabad, Aravalli Hills in #Rajasthan, among other places - keep an eye out for #inselbergs!
India's inselbergs are less studied than those elsewhere & are sure to offer insights into #geology, #geomorphology & #biogeography!
FIN/
India's inselbergs are less studied than those elsewhere & are sure to offer insights into #geology, #geomorphology & #biogeography!
FIN/
* Sorry... the zones marked BGC (Banded Gneissic Complex), SGT (Southern Granulite Terrain), and the Chotanagpur Plateau located roughly where the Singhbhum Craton is.
