Drainage System
The Himalayan drainage
Explain how Himalayan rivers formed and behave.
Ganga, Indus and Brahmaputra basins; snow-fed and rain-fed, so perennial.
Giant gorges cut as the Himalayas rose; V-shaped valleys, rapids, waterfalls.
On the plains: meanders, oxbow lakes, floodplains, braided channels, deltas; the Kosi shifts its course.
Evolution: a mighty Indo-Brahma (Shiwalik) river once flowed from Assam to Sind (Miocene).
It was split by uplift in the west and down-thrusting of the Malda gap, giving the three systems.
One ancient river became three.
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