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 Batch: Prahar 2026 Hinglish

NAVIGATING
GEOGRAPHY
Subject : Geography
Plate Tectonic Theory By- Dipendra Sir
 Topic : South America

South America
is a long
triangular
shaped
continent
 Topic : South America

• The Equator passes through the northern part of the continent and the Tropic of Capricorn run
• Because of its tapering shape, a major part of the landmass is in the tropics. South America lies on the
• The 60° meridian divides the continent lengthwise into two halves. It is more to the east compare
• It is two-third the size of Africa and six times the size of India. The coastline of South America is s
 Topic : South America

Major Physical Divisions of

South America
• The Pacific coastal strip
• Mountain Ranges
• The Central Lowlands
• The Eastern Highlands
 Topic : South America

1. The Pacific coastal strip

• It lies in the west, between the ocean and the Andes. It is the longest
coastal plain in the Atlantic world.
• In most places, it is about 80 kilometers wide but in some, it is as
narrow as 8 meters. The coastline of South America is smooth and
regular. At the river mouths, there are inlets that are used as harbors.
• The south-western coast of the continent has fiords or deep inlets of
the sea.
 Topic : South America

2. Mountain Ranges
• The Andes stretches through
the entire continent, running in
the north-south direction from
Isthmus of Panama to Strait of
Magellan.
• They are the continuous range
of folded mountain systems that
cover the entire western coast of
South America.
 Topic : South America

The Andes is the longest mountain range in the

world. The highest mountain of this mountain
range is Aconcagua, which stands at 6,962
meters (22,841 feet) and straddles the Argentina-
Chile border.
• They form a chain of ranges and knots with
enclosed intermontane plateaus namely in
Ecuador and Bolivia.
• Being part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, there are
many volcanoes and frequent earthquakes in this
region. Mount Cotopaxi and Mount
Chimborazo are active volcanic peak, which is
the highest peak in South America
 Topic : South America

3. The Central Lowlands

• They are formed by two great river systems –
the Amazon- the Orinoco and the Parana-
Paraguay. The vegetation of the lowlands is
given special names.
• The Orinoco Basin has dense tropical
forests. The northern part is a plain covered
with savanna grass called the Llanos.
• The equatorial jungle of the Amazon Basin is
called the selvas, a typical tropical rain forest.
• The rich temperate grasslands around the
mouth of the Parana-Paraguay is the pampas.
• At the source of these rivers is a region scrub
forest called the Gran Chaco
 Topic : South America

4. The Eastern Highlands

• These are plateaus made up of hard old
rocks.
• The River Amazon separates them into
the Guiana Highland to the north and the
Brazilian Highland to the south.
• They have been worn down by wind,
rain, and rivers. They have steep cliffs
along the east coast and slope gently
towards the Central Plains.
• The savanna grasslands of Brazilian
Highlands are the Campos.
 Topic : South America

Highlands are split in to three regions:

1. Brazilian Highlands
2. Guiana Highlands
3. Patagonian Plateau
 Topic : Deserts of South America

Patagonian Desert – the largest desert by area located in

Argentina
• La Guajira Desert – a desert in northern Colombia and
some of northwestern Venezuela
• Atacama – a desert in Chile, the driest place on Earth.
• Sechura Desert – a desert located along a portion of the
northwestern coast of South America
• Monte Desert – in Argentina, a smaller desert above the
Patagonian desert
 Topic : Drainage System of South America

It has the largest flow of water in the world.

• The river drains nearly 40 per cent of the area of
South America.
• The major tributaries of the Amazon river are
the Caqueta, the Jurua, the Madeira, the Negro,
etc.
• Equatorial rainforest
• Navigable till Manaus
• Petroleum at mouth
• Natural Rubber
• Amazon rainforest – deforestation due to cattle
ranching and soya beans field
 Topic : Drainage System of South America

The Rio de Plata basin

 Topic : Drainage System of South America

The Orinoco basin

The word the Orinoco means ‘a place to
paddle’, i.e. a river where navigation is
possible.
• In the North, the Orinoco river passes through
a zone called ‘Region of Rapids’ where there
are enormous granite boulders.
• The world’s highest waterfall Angel (979 m)
is situated on river Churun which is a tributary
of river Caroni which is further a tributary of
river Orinoco.
• The Orinoco flows through the llanos
(savanna grasslands) of Venezuela into the
(North Atlantic Ocean).
Topic : Drainage System of South America
 Topic : Drainage System of South America

Parana-Uruguay River System

Topic : Important Lakes of South America
Topic : Important Lakes of South America
Topic : Lithium Triangle
 Answer Writing Basics to Advance INTRODUCTION

TYPES OF INTRODUCTION

• Definition Based Introduction

• Current Affairs Based Introduction
• Facts Based Introduction
• Quote Based Introduction
“We never know the worth of water until the well is dry.” – Thomas Fuller
 Topic :Convection Current Theory

MANTLE
•

MANTLE
Topic :Convection Current Theory
Topic :Convection Current Theory

•
Topic :Sea Floor Spreading Theory
 Topic :Sea Floor Spreading Theory

•
•
LITHOSPHERE
•

• CRUST

•
 Topic :Evidence for Seafloor Spreading

•
•

•
Topic :Paleo magnetism
PALEOMAGNETISM IS THE STUDY OF THE RECORD OF THE EARTH’S
MAGNETIC FIELD WITH THE HELP OF MAGNETIC FIELDS RECORDED IN
ROCKS, SEDIMENT, OR ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIALS.

THE POLARITY OF THE EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD AND MAGNETIC FIELD

REVERSALS ARE THUS DETECTABLE BY STUDYING THE ROCKS OF
DIFFERENT AGES.

ROCKS FORMED FROM UNDERWATER VOLCANIC ACTIVITY ARE

MAINLY BASALTIC (LOW SILICA, IRON-RICH) WHICH MAKES UP MOST
OF THE OCEAN FLOOR.

BASALT CONTAINS MAGNETIC MINERALS, AND AS THE ROCK IS

SOLIDIFYING, THESE MINERALS ALIGN THEMSELVES IN THE DIRECTION OF
THE MAGNETIC FIELD.
 Topic :Paleo magnetism
• These oceanic ridges are boundaries where tectonic plates are diverging (moving
apart).
• The fissure or vent (in between the ridge) between the plates allowed the magma to rise
and harden into a long narrow band of rock on either side of the vent.
• Rising magma assumes the polarity of Earth’s geomagnetic field at the time before it
solidifies on the oceanic crust.
• As the conventional currents pull the oceanic plates apart, the solidified band of rock
moves away from the vent (or ridge), and a new band of rock takes its place a few million
years later when the magnetic field was reversed.
• This results in this magnetic striping where the adjacent rock bands have opposite
polarities.
• This process repeats over and over giving rise to a series of narrow parallel rock bands
on either side of the ridge and alternating pattern of magnetic striping on the
seafloor.
 Topic :Plate Tectonics

It was from the continental

drift theory, convection
current theory and the
theory of seafloor
spreading, the theory of
Plate Tectonics was
formulated.
In 1967, McKenzie and
Parker suggested the theory
of plate tectonics. Morgan
later outlined the theory in
1968
 Topic :Plate Tectonics

The oceanic plates contain mainly the Simatic crust and

are relatively thinner, while the continental plates contain
Sialic material and are relatively thicker.

Lithospheric plates (tectonic plates) vary from minor plates

to major plates, continental plates (Arabian plate) to
oceanic plates (Pacific plate), sometimes a combination of
both continental and oceanic plates (Indo-Australian plate).

The movement of these crustal plates (due to convection

currents in the mantle) causes the formation of various
landforms and is the principal cause of all earth
movements.
Topic :Plate Tectonics

Antarctica and the surrounding oceanic plate

North American plate

South American plate

Pacific plate

India-Australia-New Zealand plate

Africa with the eastern Atlantic floor plate

Eurasia and the adjacent oceanic plate

Topic :Plate Tectonics
 Topic :Plate Tectonics

Cocos plate: Nazca plate:

Arabian plate: Philippine plate:
Between Central Between South
Mostly the Saudi Between the Asiatic
America and Pacific America and Pacific
Arabian landmass and Pacific plate
plate plate

Caroline plate:
Between the Aegean plate
Fuji plate: North-
Philippine and Turkish plate, (Mediterranean
east of Australia.
Indian plate (North region),
of New Guinea)

Juan de Fuca plate

(between Pacific
Caribbean plate, Iranian plate.
and North American
plates)
Topic :Plate Tectonics
 Topic :Plate Tectonics

Convergence forming Convergent Edge

or Destructive Edge

There are mainly three ways in which

convergence can occur.

1. Between an oceanic and continental plate;

2. Between two oceanic plates;
3. Between two continental plates.
 Topic :Plate Tectonics

Continent-Ocean Convergence
u The concept of Continent-Ocean Convergence is important to understand the
formation of the Rockies, the Andes and other similar fold mountain systems.
u Continental margins are filled with thick sediments brought by the rivers.
u As a result of convergence, the buoyant granite of the continental crust
overrides (is placed above) the oceanic crust
u As a result, the edge of the deformed continental margin is thrust above sea
level.
u The advancing oceanic plate adds more compressive stress on the upthrust
continental margin and leads to its folding creating a fold mountain system
Topic :Plate Tectonics
Topic :Plate Tectonics
 Topic :Continent-Ocean Convergence

u As the ocean floor crust (oceanic plate) loaded

with sediments subducts into the
softer asthenosphere
u After reaching a certain depth, plates melt.
Magma (metamorphosed sediments and the
melted part of the subducting plate) has lower
density and is at high pressure.
u It rises due to the buoyant force offered by
surrounding denser medium. The magma flows
out, sometimes violently to the surface.
u A continuous upward movement of magma
creates constant volcanic eruptions at the
surface of the continental plate along the
margin
Formation of Fold Mountains (Orogeny)

Orogenic movements are ‘Tectonic movements’ of the earth involve the folding of
sediments, faulting and metamorphism (rocks that have transformed by heat,
pressure).
• Continental margins are filled with thick sediments brought by the rivers.
• As a result of convergence, the buoyant granite of the continental crust overrides
(is placed above) the oceanic crust (continental crust in upthrust by the oceanic
crust).
• As a result, the edge of the deformed continental margin is thrust above sea level.
• The advancing oceanic plate adds more compressive stress on the upthrust
continental margin and leads to its folding creating a fold mountain system
(orogenic belt).
• In some cases, the advancing oceanic plate compresses the orogenic belt leading
to its folding (Rockies and Andes).
Formation of the Andes
u The Andes are formed due to convergence
between Nazca plate (oceanic plate) and
the South American plate (continental
plate). Peru-Chile trench is formed due to
subduction of Nazca plate.
u Ojos del Salado active volcano on the
Argentina-Chile border is the highest active
volcano on earth at 6,893 m. (Olympus
Mons on Mars is the highest volcano in the
solar system. It is 26 – 27 km high)
u Mount Aconcagua (6,960 m, Argentina) in the
Andes is the highest peak outside the
Himalayas and the highest peak in the western
hemisphere. It is an extinct volcano.
 Topic :Ocean-Ocean Convergence

u In Ocean-Ocean Convergence,
a denser oceanic plate subducts
below a less dense oceanic
plate forming a trench along the
boundary.
u As the ocean floor crust (oceanic
plate) loaded with
sediments subducts into the
softer asthenosphere, the rocks in the
subduction zone
become metamorphosed (alteration
of the composition or structure of a
rock) under high pressure and
temperature.
u It rises upwards due to the buoyant
force offered by surrounding denser medium.
u The magma flows out to the surface. A
continuous upward movement of magma
creates constant volcanic eruptions at the
ocean floor.
u Constant volcanism above the subduction zone
creates layers of rocks. As this process
continues for millions of years, a volcanic
landform is created which in some cases rises
above the ocean waters.
u Such volcanic landforms all along the
boundary form a chain of volcanic
islands which are collectively called as Island
Arcs
 Topic :Formation of Philippine Island Arc System

u Philippine Island Arc system

is formed due to
subduction of Philippine
Sea plate under the Sunda
Plate (major continental
shelf of the Eurasian
plate). The trench formed
here is called Philippine
Trench.
 Topic :Formation of Indonesian Islands

u In the case of Indonesian

Archipelago, the Indo-Australian
plate is subducting below Sunda
Plate (part of Eurasian Plate).
The trench formed here is
called Sunda trench (Java
Trench is a major section of
Sunda trench)
Topic :Formation of Caribbean Islands
 Topic :Formation of Caribbean Islands

• The boundary between the two plates in the past has been convergent, and most
of the Greater Antilles group of islands are formed due to the complex
interaction between the two plates.
• The eastern boundary of the Caribbean Plate is a subduction zone, the Lesser
Antilles subduction zone, where oceanic crust of the South American Plate is
being subducted under the Caribbean Plate.
• This subduction zone explains the presence of active volcanoes along the
Lesser Antilles.
• Mount Pelée is an active volcano at the northern end of Martinique Island
(French overseas department) in the Lesser Antilles island arc of the Caribbean.
Topic :Formation of Japanese Islands
 Topic :Formation of Japanese Islands

• The arcs meet at a triple junction on the island of Honshu.

• Northern arc is formed due to the subduction of the Pacific Plate under
the Eurasian Plate. The trench formed is Japan Trench.
• Central arc is formed due to the subduction of the Pacific Plate under
the Philippine Plate (island formation is not significant along this arc). The
trench formed is Izu Trench.
• Southern Arc is formed due to the subduction of the Philippine Plate under
the Eurasian Plate. The trench formed is Ryukyu Trench.
• Japanese island arc was very close to the mainland.
• The force exerted by the Pacific plate and the Philippine plate tilted the arc
towards its east giving rise to the Sea of Japan.
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