When you travel in Himalayas, you will see the following: 1) Deep gorges 2) U-turn river courses 3) Parallel mountain ranges 4) Steep gradients causing land-sliding Which of the above can be said to be the evidences for Himalayas being young fold mountains?

The correct answer is D. All four features point to the Himalayas being young, still-rising fold mountains.

• Deep gorges: Rivers such as the Sutlej and Indus have cut deep gorges because uplift has been faster than lateral erosion. Vertical incision like this is typical of youthful, rising ranges.
• U-turn river courses: Rivers that meandered over a plain before uplift got their bends sharpened and entrenched as the land rose. The Tsangpo's great bend near Namcha Barwa is the classic example.
• Parallel mountain ranges: The Himalayas run as roughly parallel belts, the Greater Himalaya, Lesser Himalaya and Shiwaliks, formed by successive folding and thrusting.
• Steep gradients and landslides: Young, weakly consolidated rocks on steep slopes, combined with heavy monsoon rain and seismic activity, make the region highly prone to landslides.

Core concept: fold mountains form by compression at convergent plate margins, here the Indian plate colliding with the Eurasian plate. The Himalayas are still rising, which is why their relief is so young and active. This links to GS-I geomorphology and to Mains questions on Himalayan hazard management.

Trap: Aspirants often pick A by treating parallel ranges as a feature of old plateaus or worn-down mountains, or they drop statement 4 by thinking landslides are only a human-induced problem rather than a sign of youthful relief.