Anamudi

Geography

Anamudi has an elevation of 2695 m. It is the highest peak and one of the three ultra prominent peaks in South India. It is the peak with the greatest topographic isolation within India and is the highest point south of the Himalayas. It is called the Everest of South India. Anamudi has a topographic prominence of 2479 m, the associated key saddle being over 2000 km away at in Haryana state just to the west of Delhi. The peak is not exceptionally steep and is a fault-block mountain. The north and south slopes are gentle, while the east and west slopes are steeper, with difficult rock faces. It is located in the southern region of Eravikulam National Park at the junction of the Cardamom Hills, the Anaimalai Hills and the Palani Hills in the Periyar River basin of Kerala at a distance of 13 km from Munnar.

Geology

Anamudi is located within a larger tectonic province, a Neoproterozoic mobile belt known as the Southern Granulite Terrane (SGT) or Pandyan Mobile Belt. This geologic province represents an area of Archean rocks that were deeply buried during the neoproterozoic Pan-African Orogeny, as part of the Mozambique Belt, in which developed Himalayan-scale mountains when West and East Gondwana collided due to the closure of the ancient Mozambique Ocean. Specifically, Anamudi is located within a geological sub-province of the SGT known as the Madurai Province. The mountain massif itself is composed of neoproterozoic A-type granite known as Munnar Granite, which was intruded deep into the thickened crust of the SGT during Orogenic collapse of the Pan-African highlands. After approximately 800-500 million years of burial, the Munnar Granite of the Anamundi massif is now exposed high above sea level due to a combination of faulting and unroofing.

Climate

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies it as subtropical highland (Cwb), bordering on Cwc. Sholas are found in its valleys, like most meadows of the Western Ghats.

Not with that precision in citation

Flora and Fauna

Anamudi and the Eravikulam National Park surrounding it is home to the largest surviving population of the Nilgiri tahr. Asian elephants, gaur, Bengal tigers, and the Nilgiri marten are some of the species of animals found here. The area is also habitat of several amphibians including Raorchestes resplendens, unique to the region. The summit of the Anamudi is vegetated with patches of stunted Kuruna densifolia and Gaultheria fragrantissima (wintergreen), Anaphalis, Impatiens and Eriocaulon.

References

References

1. "Web Map Service". Survey of India.
2. "Anamudi". Kerala Tourism.
3. R. P. Chandola. (1994). "Environment and Life". Bhartiya Prakashan Sansthan.
4. "Anaimudi, India".
5. Hunter, William Wilson. (1909). "The Imperial Gazetteer of India". Clarendon Press.
6. "World Peaks with 300 km of Isolation". Peakbagger.
7. (25 July 2017). "Up the Everest of the South". [[The New Indian Express]].
8. "Southern India Mountain Ultra-Prominence". Peaklist.
9. Hoiberg, Dale. (2000). "Students' Britannica India, Volumes 1-5". Popular Prakashan.
10. Maya K. "Studies on the nature and chemistry of sediments and water of Periyar and Chalakudy Rivers, Kerala".
11. (31 January 2014). "Crustal evolution of the Southern Granulite Terrane, south India: New geochronological and geochemical data for felsic orthogneisses and granites". Precambrian Research.
12. "Climate: Munnar: Climate graph, Temperature graph, Climate table". Climate-Data.org.
13. "Munnar Climate and Weather Averages, Kerala". Weather2Travel.
14. "Anamudi peak".
15. "Significance of Eravikulam National Park". Eravikulam National Park.
16. (5 May 2010). "New species of frog found in Eravikulam National Park". [[The Hindu]].
17. "Eravikulam National Park Management Plan". [[Eravikulam National Park]].