Malda fault
Also called: Malda gap · Topic: Structure and Physiography of India: Himalayas, Plains, Peninsula, Coasts and Islands · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "Structure and Physiography"; Class 11, Ch 3 "Drainage System"
Meaning
The Malda fault is a sunken zone in West Bengal between the Rajmahal hills and the Meghalaya plateau. A fault is a crack in the earth's crust where blocks of rock have moved. During the Himalayan uplift, India's push towards the north-east opened this large gap, and rivers later filled it with sediment. The gap separates the north-eastern plateau from the Chotanagpur plateau. Its sinking in the mid-Pleistocene turned the Ganga and the Brahmaputra towards the Bay of Bengal.
Example
The Ganga flows around the Rajmahal hills and then enters the low, sediment-filled Malda area in West Bengal. Across this gap stand the Garo hills of Meghalaya, which were once joined to the Chotanagpur plateau.
Don't confuse with
- Rift valley (Narmada, Tapi): this is a long sunken trough inside the Peninsula with a river flowing along it. The Malda fault is a gap that cut one part of the Peninsula away from the rest.