When you travel in Himalayas, you will see the following:
- 1.Deep gorges
- 2.U-turn river courses
- 3.Parallel mountain ranges
- 4.Steep gradients causing land-sliding.
Which of the above can be said to be the evidence for Himalayas being young fold mountains?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
All four features are evidence, so the answer is (d). The Himalayas are young fold mountains that are still rising. They form a series of parallel ranges with very steep slopes, and fast youthful rivers cut deep gorges and take sharp U-turns through them.
- ✓ 1. Fast-flowing rivers in their youthful stage cut deep gorges and V-shaped valleys. They erode at the same time as the Himalayas are being uplifted. Such landforms show that the mountains are young.
- ✓ 2. Himalayan rivers take sharp bends and U-turns. For example, the Brahmaputra turns sharply around Namcha Barwa before entering India through a gorge. Such courses are a drainage sign of a young range still under uplift.
- ✓ 3. The Himalayas consist of a series of parallel mountain ranges, including the Greater Himalaya, the Lesser Himalaya and the Shiwaliks. This is the pattern of crustal folding at a plate collision.
- ✓ 4. The Himalayas are tectonically active and largely made of sedimentary and loosely consolidated material. Their slopes are very steep, so debris avalanches and landslides are frequent.
Remember · Young fold mountains like the Himalayas show parallel ranges, steep landslide-prone slopes, and youthful rivers that cut deep gorges and take sharp U-turns. All four features count.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 2 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 2 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Ch 3 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 11 · India: Physical Environment, Chapter 2 “These mountains are tectonic in origin, dissected by fast-flowing rivers which are in their youthful stage. Various landforms like gorges, V-shaped valleys, rapids, waterfalls, etc. are indicative of this stage.”
- NCERT Class 11 · India: Physical Environment, Chapter 2 “The Himalayas consist of a series of parallel mountain ranges.”
- NCERT Class 11 · India: Physical Environment, Chapter 3 “These rivers pass through the giant gorges carved out by the erosional activity carried on simultaneously with the uplift of the Himalayas.”
- NCERT Class 11 · Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Chapter 5 “They are mostly made up of sedimentary rocks and unconsolidated and semi-consolidated deposits. The slopes are very steep.”
Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2012, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·
