Peneplain of Sri Lanka

a more or less level land surface produced by erosion

over a long period, undisturbed by crustal movement.

The lowest Peneplain

The
lowest
peneplain
stretches
from
coast to coast in
the north of Sri
Lanka and from
Trincomalee
to
Hambanthota on
the east and North

On the west too, a general

impression of flatness is present
through the peneplain is here at a
somewhat higher level and rather
narrower in extend

This vast plain is the result of millions

of years of weathering of the
ancient highly folded landmasses
of crystalline rocks which must
have been very different in the
appearance from what we see now.

During the time, tens of thousands of

feet of crystalline material were
removed and only the roots of the
great mountain chains that once
existed now remain.

Further the process of erosion have

not only destroyed most of the hills
but
have
also
filled
the
intervening
valleys
with
the
detrital material produced.

The inequality of the original

landscape have thus been leveled
out, except for this isolated hills and
hill ranges which lie scattered about.

The erosion remnants (Inselbergs)

have stood out against the leveling
process of nature largely because
they are made of resistant granite
rocks containing large proportions of
quartz,
one
of
the
most
indestructible
of
rock-forming
mineral.

There are also in the lowest

peneplain, thousands of low, bare
rock mounds whose form is due to
largely to a weathering process
known as exfoliation.

The frequency with which names

baring the prefix gal appear on the
topographic
maps;
Galagoda,
Galnewa, Galewela

The Mid Peneplain

Inland from the coast especially on

the eastern and southern sides of the
island, the land rises very gradually
to about 300 or 400 feet until it
reaches the foot of an escarpment
generally about 1000 feet high.

This escarpment is continuous in

many places, as in the Minipe and
Kongala areas but elsewhere it is
deeply indented and irregular where
rivers have cut back in to the wall
and destroyed its continuity while
enlarging their drainage basins.

On the east, between Minipe and

Wilogamuwa, this steep walls of hills
rises sharply from a flat plain with no
intervening foothills and overlooks
the Mahaweli Ganga for 20 miles.

The same succession of escarpment in the

peneplain can be seen further south, in the
Hanguranketha and Haputhale areas.

The Kongala escarpment south east of Balangoda being

1000 ft high; it forms the boundary of a wide undulating
plateau which has called the southern platform.

On the western side of the island the

steep rock face of the Alagalla
range, dominated by the dark
foreboding
triangular
peak
of
Alagalla, seperates the Kandy plateau
from the lowest peneplain.

The Highest Peneplain

Unlike the lowest and middle
peneplains, highest peneplain is
more
complex
with
plateaus,
mountain chains/ massifs and basins
with in each of which a general
erosion level can be recognized.

The southern margin of the highest

peneplain
is
the
magnificent
southern wall of hill country,
stretching for more than 50 miles
from Adams peak or Sri Pada on
the west to the Namunukula on
the east, and rising from a little over
1000 feet to more than 5000 feet in
some places as at Worlds End.