Rivers
The mighty river Godavari, originating in the Western Ghats divides the district of Nizamabad and Karimnagar to the south and Adilabad to the north. The region, lying in between Lat. 18.00 and 19.45 and Long. 77.32 and 80.30, is surrounded by Bidar, Nanded, Rajura, Chandrapur districts of Maharashtra and Bastar district of Madhya Pradesh.The river Maner is a tributary to the Godavari, originating near the village Kalkur, traverses through the Karimnagar district from the west to the east and as far as Kurlagunta in Mantheni taluk, then flow towards the north and falls into the Godavari in Mantheni taluk. It stretches to a length of about 130km. in the Karimnagar district and forms an important source of irrigation. Peddavagu and Chinnavagu are the other minor rivers in the Karimnagar District.
Geology
The Karimnagar region forms part of the Indian Peninsular shield, which remained a stable land-mass since the formation of the earth-crust. The earliest rocks, known as Archaeans, are mostly igneous and highly metamorphosed. The area was later exposed to weathering, after which molten lava, erupting from the fissures, flowed in the west coast and spread over the western and as well the central parts of the Peninsula. The solidified lava flows are known as the traps. For the last 50 million years there was no significant change in the geological history of the region.
The Archaeans
The major part of the region is occupied by the Archaean group of rocks, such as the the peninsular granite complex, banded ferruginous quartzites, drakes of dolerite and lastly veins of pegmatite and quartz. The peninsular granite comprises the pink and grey varieties, the colour of which depends upon the feldspars contained in them. The granites are essentially composed of quartz, potash, feldspar (pink or grey), mica and hornblende minerals.
Numerous dykes of dolerite and veins of pegmatite and quartz traverse through the granites in different directions. The hornblendic granite gneiss of this region weathers in a remarkable manner. Enormous rounded and smoothed boulders stand one over the other and sometimes in the groups. The banded ferruginous quartzites and schists generally known as dharwars, are well displayed as outlying bands in the further east of Karimnagar and Warangal districts. They consists of hornbeldes, talc, chloride and mica schists, quartzites ferruginous-quartzites.
The Deccan Traps
The deccan traps consists of massive or vascular flows of basalt which have given rise to flat-topped hills with plateau-like appearance.
The granite complex is marked by igneous sedimentary groups. The igneous metamorphosed rocks occur as sills and dykes.
The minerals in the basalt are feldspars and pyroxenes which occur roughly in equal amounts. The intertrappean beds consist of marls, sandstones and cherts which are sometimes fossiliferous.
MINERAL RESOURCES
Iron Ore
There are many occurrences of magnetitic quartz rock in the Jagityal taluk of Karimnagar district. 3 Minor deposits also occur in the Karimnagar, Peddapalli and Manthani taluks. In the Armur taluk of Nizamabad district ferruginous quartzites and schists are noticed at many places- Ancient mining activity for iron is noticed at several places in the Armur taluk of Nizamabad district, the Peddapalli and Jagtyal taluks in Karimnagar district, the Jangoan taluk in Warangal district and Siddipet in the Medak district. It was perhaps the ores of Karimnagar and Nizamabad regions, which were supplied to the ancient iron smelter at Konasamudram, where from iron for the Damascus steel is said to have been exported. During their voyages this region was visited by the earlier Roman and Persian traders for the steel, as this Indian 'Wootz' was well-known throughout the Ancient East.
Soap-stone
Small workable pockets of soap-stone occur at Turakala Maddikunta at about 10 km. from Peddabankur and Paltham and Metpalli areas of the Jagtyal taluk. Limestone is abundant at Basantnagar near Ramagundam.
Rainfall
The average rainfall in the region is 1035 millimetres (40.70 in). The rainfall increases from the east towards the west and the south-west monsoon constitutes about 86 per cent of the annual rainfall. July is the rainiest month.
Temperature
Rapid rise in temperature is noticed from February, while May is the hottest month with mean daily maximum temperature of 41.4 C. (106.5 F.) and the mean daily minimum of 27.5 C. The intense heat during the summer is very trying and the day temperature rises up to 46C. (114.8F.). Among the hilly regions of Manthani and Laxettipet the temperature is much higher and the valleys appear like hot pans.
Forests
The forests in the region can be classified into 2 types viz., (1) southern tropical mixed deciduous and (2) southern dry teak type.
Several other types like Babul forest, Hard Wickia forest, Dry Deciduous Scrub forest, and Secondary Dry Deciduous forest are also found scattered in this region.
The Mahadevpuram forest area, noticed all along the bank of river Godavari can easily be classed as the best for the quality of trees with a dominant height of 18 to 24 m. and a girth measure of 1.5 m. The most important and the best teak (teetonagmmiis) producing areas of the state of Telangana fall in Karimnagar region.
Fauna
The fauna of Karimnagar region is both rich and varied, A large variety of wild life is found in the forests of this region, The ecological distribution is not only uniform but also very much variant and consistent with the quality and density of the forest. The game animals, such as deer and other horned varieties, are noticed in the Manthani area, Some of the species, such as the black buck, four-horned antelope, tiger and panther, were abundant in the past, but their number is alarmingly decreasing in the recent years, causing consternation among the ecologists and naturalists. The black buck and the great Indian bison were very abundant in the past, while the neelgai or blue bull, spotted deer, porcupine, rabbit, hare, chital, wild sheep, sambar are quite common now. Among the carnivora, the tiger and panther are noticed in the Tadicherla, Mahadevpur and Singaram blocks.
Game Birds
Among the important game birds in the region, mention may be made of the green pigeon, peacock, peafowl, water duck, partridges, sand-goose, wood-duck, snipe, red jungle fowl, kingfisher, bulbul, dove, crow, rayna, oriole, parakeet, woodpecker and the common pigeon, In winter season many birds of migration from North India and Himalayan regions visit this area.
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