Canyons, Gorges and Valleys of India

• Canyons and gorges are landforms within the broad class of valleys. In form they are V-shaped or U-shaped troughs cut below the surrounding surface.
• They are low areas that often separate mountains or hills, usually long and narrow, with very steep escarpments and a river running through most of them.
• The terms are often used interchangeably, but they differ in size, mode of formation, location and usage.

Canyons and Gorges Compared

Gorge

• A gorge is a deep valley with very steep to straight sides.
• It is almost as wide at the top as at the bottom, and usually forms in hard rock.
• Example: the gorge of the Narmada in Jabalpur district, Madhya Pradesh.

Formation of Gorges

• Gorges form by three natural forces: erosion, geological uplift and melting glaciers.
• River erosion of a valley, with the washing away of sediment, forms most of the world’s gorges.
• Geological uplift, the upward movement of the Earth’s surface, usually works hand in hand with erosion.
  • This is why Himalayan rivers older than the mountains cut such deep gorges as the land rose.
• Water or lava flow can also be involved.

Canyon

• A canyon is a variant of the gorge, with steep, step-like side slopes. It may be as deep as a gorge.
• It is wider at the top than at the bottom, and usually forms in horizontally bedded sedimentary rocks.
• Example: the Gandikota Canyon, Andhra Pradesh.

• This photograph shows the Colorado River at Horseshoe Bend, Arizona, United States, a classic canyon form.

Formation of Canyons

• Erosion and weathering form canyons, beginning at table land level and working downwards.
• Hard rock resists this attack and stays on the escarpments, as with granite and sandstone.

Canyons, Gorges and Valleys of India

List of Sites

Sites in Detail

• Gandikota Canyon: formed by the Pennar (Penner) as it cuts through the Erramala hills, in Kadapa district, and it is called the Grand Canyon of India.
• Gangani Danga Canyon: on the bank of the Silabati at Garbeta, in West Bengal, a gully-like gorge in laterite.
• Chambal River Canyon: lies on the Chambal in Rajasthan. The river enters a 96 km gorge at Chaurasigarh that runs to Kota.
• Sandhan Valley: a combination of canyon and valley in the Sahyadri ranges of Maharashtra.
• Zanskar Valley: a semi-arid region in the lap of the northern flank of the Great Himalaya.
• Spiti Valley: the name means “the middle land”, the land between Tibet and India.
• Papi Hills: the Godavari gorge near Rajahmundry, long placed in West Godavari district. The river narrows here in the Eastern Ghats, and the Polavaram reservoir is set to submerge much of it.
• Ravines of Chambal: deep gullies that give badland topography.
• Marble Rocks Gorge: cut by the Narmada near Jabalpur.
• Raneh Falls Canyon: on the Ken River, near Khajuraho.
• Laitlum Canyon: in the East Khasi Hills, whose name means “the end of hills” or the end of the Earth.
• Mekedatu Gorge: on the Kaveri, where the river marks the start of the Karnataka–Tamil Nadu boundary.
• Satkosia Gorge: in eastern Odisha, carved by the Mahanadi.
• Kangra Valley: a strike valley, running from the foot of the Dhauladhar to the country south of the Beas.
• Valley of Flowers (Flower Valley): a unique site in the higher Himalaya of Chamoli district, Uttarakhand.
• Nubra Valley: in Ladakh, where the Siachen Glacier, about 75 km long, lies at its head.
• Other river gorges: the same process runs across India, and they make useful map entries.
  • Indus: about 480 km long, about 5,181 m deep at Bunji, north of Nanga Parbat.
  • Satluj: at Nari Khorsum, about 900 m deep, and at Bhakra in Naina Devi Dhar.
  • Beas: about 900 m deep from Larji to Talwara.
  • Chenab: up to 1,000 m deep near Kishtwar.
  • Jhelum: a defile about 200 m deep below Baramulla.
  • Dihang (Brahmaputra): at about 5,485 m below the summit of Namcha Barwa.
  • Godavari: about 60 km through the Eastern Ghats, about 100 km from the mouth.