Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, (or Sahyadri in Sanskrit), are a chain of mountains forming the rim of western India, and running parallel to the coast of the Arabian Sea. Their length is about 1,600 kilometers. Their northern end is in Rajasthan, and the southern limit Cape Comorin (Kanyakumari), and in most places the Ghats are within sight of the coast. They thus form the western perimeter of the Dekkan Plateau, and average 800 to1,000 meters in elevation. The geological formation is trap in the northern parts and gneiss in the more southern. This range is the source of nearly all the rivers in the Indian peninsula. Unlike the Eastern Ghats, the Western are a continuous chain, with only one significant break, the 40-kilometer-wide Palghat Gap, through which trains and roads connect Cochin with Coimbatore and Madras. Just to the north of this gap the Eastern Ghats fuse with the Western in the Precambrian formation of the Nilgiri Hills. Anai Mudi Peak (2,695 meters), the highest point along the Western Ghats, lies nearby, in the Cardamom Hills of Kerala. The entire range is subject to intense rainstorms during the southwesterly monsoon, June through August each year. Consequently, much of the range is still covered with dense tropical forests, which, however, are being rapidly depleted by loggers.
Further Reading
Nair, K. S. S., R. Gnanaharan, and S. Kedharnath, eds. (1986) Ecodevelopment of Western Ghats. Peechi, India: Kerala Forest Research Institute.
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