Eastern Ghats

The Eastern Ghats is a mountain range that stretches 1,750 km (1,090 mi) along the eastern coast of the Indian peninsula. Covering an area of 75,000 km2 (29,000 sq mi), it traverses the states of Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. The range forms a discontinuous chain of mountains along the eastern edge of the Deccan Plateau, stretching from north of the Mahanadi River in Odisha to Vaigai River in Tamil Nadu at the southern end of the peninsula. The Eastern Ghats meet the Western Ghats at the Nilgiris. The average elevation is around 600 m (2,000 ft) and Arma Konda is the highest peak in the mountains at 1,680 m (5,510 ft). Geological evidence indicates that the mountains were formed during the archeozoic era and became part of the Indian subcontinent post the break-up of the supercontinent of Rodinia and the formation of Gondwana. The mountains were formed through further metamorphism during the mid-Proterozoic era. The northern section of the range has an elevation ranging from 900–1,400 m (3,000–4,600 ft) and lies mostly in Odisha. The middle section stretches up to the Penna River and consists of two parallel ranges with an average elevation of 520 m (1,710 ft). At the southern end, the range is made up of several smaller hills. The Eastern Ghats form a part of one of the major watersheds of India, consisting of many perennial river systems such as the Godavari, Krishna, Mahanadi and Kaveri. Because of the higher elevation of the Deccan Plateau on the west, most rivers originate from the Western Ghats and flow eastwards to cut across the range to the Bay of Bengal. As the mountains are discontinuous and have a lower elevation, they have a considerably lesser influence than the Western Ghats on the weather patterns in...