Context - The Supreme Court on Thursday said illegal mining in the Aravali range in Rajasthan must stop.
Key facts related to Aravallis:
- One of the oldest fold mountains of the world.
- The Aravallis are assembled over a very large province of granite (called the Bundelkhand craton; a craton is part of Earth’s crust which has been stable for nearly a billion years or so) and gneiss (pronounced “nice” which is typically a hard, grey rock with long, white or grey ribbon-like bands).
- Extends from Delhi ridge up to Palanpur (Gujarat).
- Covers Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan & Gujarat.
- The peaks reach their maximum height in the south-western segment, with some rising more than 1,000 m (like the 1,722 m-high Guru Shikhar near Mount Abu and hills around Udaipur). As we move north, the range begins to taper and the hills become modest.
- Its highest peak is Guru Shikhar (on Abu Hills) in Rajasthan. Mt. Abu is also located nearby.
- Goram ghat is located in the Southern part of Aravalli mountain range. It connects Marwar and Mewar regions of Rajasthan.
- It gives rise to several rivers, including the Banas, Luni, Sakhi, and Sabarmati.
- Though heavily forested in the south, it is generally bare and thinly populated, consisting of large areas of sand and stone and of masses of rose-coloured quartzite.
