Geography Mixed Quiz: Set 40

The correct answer is D, Within the mesosphere, temperature increases with increasing height. In the mesosphere the temperature falls as one goes up, reaching about minus 100 degrees Celsius at the mesopause near 80 km, which makes it the coldest layer of the atmosphere.

Temperature rises with height in only two layers: the stratosphere, where ozone absorbs ultraviolet rays, and the thermosphere above the mesosphere.

Option A is correct, because the mesosphere lies directly above the stratosphere and begins near 50 km. Option B is correct, since counting upward from the troposphere and the stratosphere it is the third layer. Option C is correct, as meteors entering from space burn up in this layer, which is why we see shooting stars.

Exam tip: troposphere falls, stratosphere rises, mesosphere falls and is coldest, thermosphere rises.

The correct answer is C, the theory of plate tectonics. Plate tectonics says the Earth's rigid outer shell is broken into plates that keep moving slowly, carried by convection currents in the mantle below. The theory took shape in the 1960s, after Harry Hess explained sea-floor spreading, and the term was given by Tuzo Wilson and others. There are seven major plates and many minor ones, moving a few centimetres a year, and almost all earthquakes, volcanoes, fold mountains and deep trenches occur where they meet. A is wrong because Alfred Wegener's continental drift of 1912 moved only the continents and could not name a force strong enough to do it. B is wrong because Pangaea is the name of the single super-continent, not a theory of motion. D is wrong because plate boundaries are the edges where plates meet, a part of the theory and not the theory itself. Exam tip: Wegener gave continental drift in 1912, Hess gave sea-floor spreading in 1960, and plate tectonics followed.

The correct answer is C, Kerala. Kerala shows almost no difference between day and night temperatures because it lies on the coast close to the equator, where the sea keeps the air mild and the humidity stays high. Water heats and cools far more slowly than land, so a sea breeze by day and a land breeze by night hold the temperature steady, and the heavy moisture in the air traps outgoing heat at night. This small daily range, called the diurnal range of temperature, is typical of a maritime or equatorial climate. A is wrong because Rajasthan has a desert climate, where dry air and bare sand give a very large daily range, with hot days and cold nights. B is wrong because Bihar lies inland in the northern plains and has a continental climate with sharp daily and seasonal swings. D is wrong because Punjab, far from the sea, also records hot days and cold nights, especially in winter. Exam tip: coastal and equatorial places have a small diurnal range, deserts and inland plains a large one.

The correct answer is D, Uruguay. The Tropic of Capricorn runs at about 23.5 degrees south and misses Uruguay, which lies further south between roughly 30 and 35 degrees. In South America the line crosses Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil; going east it passes through Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar and Australia, in all ten countries. It marks the farthest point south at which the Sun is overhead, which happens on 22 December, the summer solstice of the southern hemisphere. Option A is wrong because the line crosses northern Chile near the Atacama desert. Option B is wrong because it passes through Brazil just north of Sao Paulo, and the city sits almost on it. Option C is wrong because it runs across Paraguay, cutting the country into a northern tropical part and a southern temperate part. Exam tip: the Tropic of Cancer crosses eight states of India, while the Tropic of Capricorn passes through no part of India at all.

The correct answer is B, 5. The standard school classification divides India's natural vegetation into five groups: tropical evergreen rainforests, tropical deciduous or monsoon forests, tropical thorn forests and scrubs, montane forests, and mangrove or tidal forests. The deciding factor is rainfall, with temperature and altitude next. Evergreen forests need over 200 cm of rain and are found in the Western Ghats, the north-east and the Andamans; deciduous forests, the most widespread type, grow between 70 and 200 cm; thorn forests take over below 70 cm in Rajasthan and the dry Deccan; montane forests change with height in the Himalayas; and mangroves line the deltas of the Ganga, Mahanadi, Godavari and Krishna. A, C and D are wrong because they do not match this five-fold grouping. Exam tip: remember the order evergreen, deciduous, thorn, montane, mangrove, arranged from wettest to driest and then by height.

The correct answer is B, Young folded mountains. Young fold mountains were raised in the Tertiary period, only a few tens of millions of years ago in geological time, so erosion has had little time to wear them down and many of them are still rising as the plates behind them keep pushing. The Himalayas, the Alps, the Andes and the Rockies belong to this class, and the tallest summits on earth, Mount Everest and K2 among them, stand in the Himalaya and the Karakoram. A is wrong because old fold mountains such as the Aravallis, the Appalachians and the Urals were formed far earlier, and long erosion has reduced them to low rounded hills. C is wrong because residual mountains are only the harder remnants left behind after the surrounding rock was stripped away, so they stay low. D is wrong because block mountains, like the Vosges and the Black Forest, are raised by faulting between rift valleys and never reach such heights. Exam tip: the Himalaya is a young fold range and the highest, while the Aravalli is the oldest fold range in India.

The correct answer is B, Punjab and Haryana. Chandigarh was built as the new capital of Punjab after Partition, and when Haryana was carved out of Punjab in 1966 the city was made a Union territory serving as the capital of both States. It is the only city in the country that is a Union territory and the capital of two States at the same time. Option A is wrong because the capital of Himachal Pradesh is Shimla, with Dharamshala as its winter capital. Option C is wrong because Delhi is the National Capital Territory and its capital is New Delhi, not Chandigarh. Option D is wrong because the capital of Rajasthan is Jaipur. The city was planned by the architect Le Corbusier, a detail often asked in the same paper.

The correct answer is C, eye. The calm centre of a cyclone is called the eye of the storm, a roughly circular area twenty to fifty kilometres across where the air sinks, the winds are light and the sky can even be clear.

Around the eye stands the eye wall, a ring of tall clouds where the wind is strongest and the rain heaviest, so fierce weather returns soon after the deceptive calm passes over a place. A cyclone forms over warm tropical seas when moist air rises, condenses and releases heat, and it weakens quickly after landfall because its supply of moisture is cut off.

Option A, arm, is not a term used for any part of a cyclone. Option B, heart, is not the scientific name for the centre. Option D, head, is also not a cyclone term.

Exam tip: the eye is calm, the eye wall carries the strongest winds.

The correct answer is C, Pacific Ocean. It is the largest ocean, covering nearly half the total ocean surface, and the deepest, because the Challenger Deep in its Mariana Trench is the deepest known point on earth; its rim of volcanoes and earthquake zones is called the Ring of Fire. Option A is wrong because the Atlantic is the second largest, known for its S shape, its Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the busiest shipping routes. Option B is wrong because the Indian Ocean ranks third and is the only ocean named after a country. Option D is wrong because the Arctic is the smallest and shallowest ocean, largely covered with drifting sea ice. Note the pairing examiners use: largest and deepest go together in the Pacific, while smallest and shallowest go together in the Arctic.

The correct answer is A, temperature is highest at ground level and decreases with increasing altitude. In the troposphere the air is warmed mainly from below: the earth absorbs incoming short-wave insolation and then heats the layer of air touching it by conduction, radiation and convection. So the farther you go from this heat source, the colder the air, and the normal lapse rate is about 6.5 degrees Celsius for every 1,000 metres of ascent. This is why hill stations are cool in summer and high peaks stay under snow even in the tropics. Option B is wrong because that upside-down pattern is a temperature inversion, a local and short-lived reversal seen in valleys on calm clear winter nights, not the normal rate. Option C is wrong because temperature does not stay steady with height; the troposphere cools steadily upward. Option D is wrong because no such initial warming occurs in the normal profile. Exam tip: normal lapse rate is a fall of about 6.5 degrees Celsius per kilometre; the opposite is called an inversion.

The correct answer is D, Dw. In Koeppen's scheme the capital letter gives the broad climatic group and the small letters add the rainfall and temperature detail. D stands for cold snow-forest climate, and the small letter w stands for a dry winter, so Dw is cold climate with dry winters, the climate of north-east Asia around Manchuria and Siberia. Koeppen used five main groups: A tropical, B dry, C warm temperate, D cold snow-forest and E polar. A is wrong because EF is the ice-cap climate of Antarctica and Greenland, where no month averages above freezing. B is wrong because Df is a cold climate with no dry season, rain and snow through the year. C is wrong because ET is the tundra climate, where the warmest month stays between 0 and 10 degrees Celsius. Exam tip: f means wet all year, w a dry winter and s a dry summer.

The correct answer is A, A-ii, B-iii, C-iv, D-i. The Gobi is a cold desert of Asia spread over Mongolia and northern China, and it is famous for its dinosaur fossils. Patagonia lies in southern Argentina in South America; it is a rain-shadow desert, dry because the Andes block the moist westerly winds coming from the Pacific. The Great Victoria Desert is the largest desert of Australia, stretching across Western Australia and South Australia. The Kalahari covers most of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa, in southern Africa. Paper setters like Patagonia because it lies on the eastern side of its continent, while most hot deserts lie on the western margins, next to cold ocean currents. Option B is wrong because it puts the Gobi in Australia and Patagonia in Asia. Option C is wrong because it places Patagonia in southern Africa and the Victoria Desert in South America. Option D is wrong because it gives every desert the wrong continent. Exam tip: Gobi–Asia, Patagonia–South America, Great Victoria–Australia, Kalahari–southern Africa.

The correct answer is D, Kanwar Sain. The engineer Kanwar Sain conceived the plan in 1948 of carrying the surplus water of the Sutlej and the Beas into the Thar desert, and the canal was taken up on his design. Work began on 31 March 1958 on what was then called the Rajasthan Canal, which draws water from the Harike barrage below the meeting of the Sutlej and the Beas in Punjab. It was renamed the Indira Gandhi Canal in 1984 and, with its branches, is the longest irrigation canal in India, turning parts of Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh, Bikaner and Jaisalmer into cropland. A is wrong because Mohanlal Sukhadia was a Chief Minister of Rajasthan in whose years the work went ahead. B is wrong because Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister of the day, not the author of the plan. C is wrong because Jainarayan Vyas was also a Chief Minister. Exam tip: conceived by Kanwar Sain in 1948, work started 1958, renamed 1984.

The correct answer is C, 1 and 2 only. Statement 3 is wrong because the Kaleshwaram project is built on the Godavari, not the Krishna. The scheme takes its name from Kaleshwaram in Telangana, near the point where the Pranhita joins the Godavari, and it was inaugurated in June 2019, which makes statement 1 correct. It is described as the world's largest multi-stage, multi-purpose lift irrigation project, so statement 2 is correct: water is raised through a long chain of pump houses, barrages, tunnels, canals and reservoirs to fields that lie far above the river, and it is meant to serve lakhs of hectares in north Telangana as well as drinking water and industry. Option A is wrong and option D is wrong because both accept statement 3 and its Krishna River claim. Option B is wrong because it leaves out the correct statement 2. Exam tip: Kaleshwaram is on the Godavari in Telangana, while Polavaram is on the Godavari in Andhra Pradesh.

The correct answer is D, Minicoy. Minicoy is the southernmost island of the Lakshadweep group, and it lies well apart from the rest of the archipelago.

Lakshadweep is a union territory of 36 islands, of which about ten are inhabited, with Kavaratti as its capital. The group falls into three parts: the Amindivi islands in the north, the Laccadive islands in the middle and Minicoy in the south. Minicoy is cut off from the other islands by the Nine Degree Channel and from the Maldives by the Eight Degree Channel. Its people speak Mahl, written in the Thaana script, which sets the island apart from the Malayalam speaking islands to its north.

A is wrong: Bitra is the smallest inhabited island and lies in the north of the group. B is wrong: Kavaratti is the capital and sits in the middle of the chain. C is wrong: Amini is one of the northern Amindivi islands.

Exam tip: Minicoy is the southernmost island; the Nine Degree Channel separates it from the other Lakshadweep islands and the Eight Degree Channel separates it from the Maldives.

The correct answer is A, Ooty. Ooty, or Udhagamandalam, sits in the Nilgiri hills of Tamil Nadu at about 2,240 metres, but it lies close to the equator at roughly 11 degrees north, so its winter temperatures stay above freezing and it gets no snowfall. What it does get is heavy winter dew and occasional frost on the ground. Snowfall in India needs both height and a location far enough north for winter western disturbances to bring cold air and moisture, which is why the snow line runs along the Himalayas and not the southern hills. B is wrong because Nainital in the Kumaon Himalayas of Uttarakhand receives winter snow. C is wrong because Shimla in Himachal Pradesh is a well-known snowfall destination in December and January. D is wrong because Srinagar in the Kashmir valley sees regular and heavy snowfall. Exam tip: remember the reason - the Nilgiris are high but tropical, so Ooty gets frost, not snow.

The correct answer is B, Pir Panjal. The Banihal Pass crosses the Pir Panjal range and is the gateway between the Jammu region and the Kashmir valley, carrying the Jammu to Srinagar national highway at a height of about 2832 metres. Snow used to close it in winter, so the Jawahar Tunnel was bored under it in 1956, and the newer Banihal Qazigund tunnel now keeps the road open all year. The Pir Panjal is the longest range of the Lesser Himalayas and also holds the Pir Panjal and Haji Pir passes. A is wrong because the Great Himalayas carry Burzil and Zoji La. C is wrong because the Ladakh range has Khardung La, north of Leh. D is wrong because the Zaskar range holds Shipki La and the Baralacha La lies near it. Exam tip: Banihal and the Jawahar Tunnel link Jammu with Srinagar, while Zoji La links Srinagar with Leh.

The correct answer is C, Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is the world's largest producer of uranium and alone accounts for roughly two-fifths of global output.

Its uranium comes mainly from the Chu-Sarysu and Syr Darya basins and is won by in-situ leaching, a method that dissolves the metal underground instead of digging it out. Kazakhstan has held first place since 2009, when it moved ahead of Canada and Australia. Uranium is the fuel of nuclear power plants, and Australia holds the largest known reserves even though it mines less.

Option A, the USA, has large reserves but very small production today, since imported uranium is cheaper. Option B, India, mines only a little uranium, from Jaduguda in Jharkhand and Tummalapalle in Andhra Pradesh. Option D, Uzbekistan, is among the top producers but far behind Kazakhstan.

Exam tip: largest uranium producer Kazakhstan, largest reserves Australia, India's oldest mine Jaduguda.

The correct answer is B, Black. On Survey of India topographical sheets, railway lines, telegraph and telephone lines, settlement names and boundaries are printed in black, so black is the colour of such man-made linear features.

These sheets follow a fixed colour code, which lets a reader tell features apart at a glance: metalled roads and grid lines appear in red, contours in brown, rivers, canals and tanks in blue, open scrub, grass and cultivated land in yellow, and woodland in green.

Option A, yellow, stands for cultivated land and open fields, not railways. Option C, blue, is kept for water features. Option D, red, is used for roads, grid lines and some settlement symbols.

Exam tip: black for railways and telephone lines, blue for water, green for forest, brown for contours, yellow for cultivated land.

The correct answer is A, Endogenic Forces. Mountains are built by endogenic forces, the forces that act from inside the earth and raise, bend or break the crust. They draw their energy from the earth’s internal heat and from the movement of the plates. Slow or diastrophic movements fold and lift rock over millions of years and give rise to fold mountains such as the Himalayas, the Alps and the Andes, while sudden movements appear as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, which build volcanic mountains. Endogenic forces are therefore called constructive, because they create relief on the surface. B is wrong because exogenic forces such as running water, wind, waves and glaciers act on the surface and wear mountains down instead of raising them. C is wrong because gravity only helps loose material move downhill, as in landslides. D is wrong because the earth’s magnetic field records plate movement but does not lift land. Exam tip: endogenic forces build through diastrophism and volcanism, exogenic forces destroy through weathering and erosion.