INSIGHTS REVISION TEST for Preliminary Exam 2018: Test – 39 (Geography)

Answer: (b)

Justification:

Sun rays fall vertically on Equator on 21^st March (Spring Equinox). Hence the pole on equator on 21^st March does not cast the shadow.

Answer: (a)

Justification:

On the continents of northern hemisphere, during winters isotherms bend sharply towards the equator. Whereas they bend towards the pole over the oceans in winter.

Temperature gradient is more pronounced during winter than during summer.

Answer: (d)

Justification:

A long winter night with clear skies and still air is ideal situation for inversion. The heat of the day is radiated off during the night, and by early morning hours, the earth is cooler than the air above. Over polar areas, temperature inversion is normal throughout the year.

Answer: (c)

Justification:

Tropical cyclones as well as Temperate cyclones have anti-clockwise rotation of winds in the Northern Hemisphere, whereas clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

Answer: (c)

Justification:

The unsaturated air, as rises, gets adiabatically cooled and its relative humidity increases. The temperature at which saturation takes place is called dew point. When humidity exceeds 100% condensation takes place leading to precipitation.

Answer: (d)

Justification:

Warm and dry local winds blowing on the leeward sides of the mountains are called chinook in the USA and foehn in Switzerland. Sirocco is a warm, dry and dusty (full of sands) local wind which blows in northerly direction from Sahara Desert and after crossing over the Mediterra­nean Sea reaches Italy, Spain etc. Mistral is a cold local wind which blows in Spain and France from north-west to south-east direc­tion. These winds are more common and effective during winter season because of development of high pressure over Europe and low pressure over Mediter­ranean Sea. They become extremely cold when they blow through central plateau and descend into Rhone valley on the southern coast of France.

Answer: (a)

Justification:

The north equatorial current turns northwards due to the obstruction of Philippines and thus forms the Kuroshio current which flows from Philippines to islands of Japan.

Answer: (b)

Justification:

Rotation of earth influences ocean currents and but not the revolution of earth. Seasonal variation of monsoon winds influences ocean currents of Indian Ocean. Sea floor topography influences ocean circulation in two basic ways. First, it steers ocean flows. Second, it provides barriers that prevent deep waters from mixing, except within deep passageways that connect ocean basins.

Answer: (a)

Justification:

MJO is an oceanic-atmospheric phenomenon which affects global weather activities. The MJO can be defined as an eastward moving ‘pulse’ of clouds, rainfall, winds and pressure near the equator. MJO is different from El Nino and IOD. It is a transient feature and that typically recurs every 30 to 60 days.

As its periodicity extends up to 60 days at times, it is also known as ISO or Intra Seasonal Oscillation.

This traversing planetary scale phenomenon travels across the equatorial region of the Globe carrying a pulse of clouds and rains. It amplitude or powers is invariably large over warmer waters of the Indian Ocean and relatively less over the cooler waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Answer: (d)

Justification:

Features associated with glacier erosion in alpine regions are cirques, horns, and arêtes. Cirques are the bowl shaped depressions found at the head of glacial valleys. For most alpine glaciers, cirques are the areas in the alpine valleys where snow first accumulated and was modified into glacial ice.

Glacial troughs are also known as U shaped valleys. U-shaped valleys have steep sides and a wide, flat floor. They are usually straight and deep. They are formed in river valleys which, during the ice age, have been filled by a large glacier. These glaciers have deepened, straightened and widened the valley by plucking and abrasion.

A hanging valley is a smaller side valley left ‘hanging’ above the main U-shaped valley formed by a tributary glacier.

Answer: (a)

Justification:

Variation in grassland biome across the world is essentially because of the variation of climatic conditions. Vegetation of region is influenced by topography and climatic conditions.

Answer: (c)

Justification:

The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle. The biome in this region is Tundra type. The temperate rainforest biome is mainly located on the northern Pacific coast of North America (from Oregon to Alaska for about 1,200 miles).  Though there are also temperate rainforests in Chile in South America, Japan and some of southeastern Russia and northwestern and southern China, and in New Zealand and Australia.  So in general temperate rainforest are found mid-latitude

Answer: (d)

Justification:

During normal Walker cell circulation South East trade are stronger. High SST on western Indian Ocean (positive IOD) helps in greater moisture content of monsoon winds. Hence it is highly favorable for monsoons.

During El-nino years monsoons usually are weaker because of weak south east trade and development of low pressure over Northern Africa

Strong Somali jet pushes the south west winds towards Indian subcontinent

For the onset of monsoons, STWJS should shift to the north of Himalayas. STWJS location over north Indian plains creates high pressure which is not favorable for monsoon over northern part.

Answer: (c)

Justification:

Winds drive ocean currents in the upper 100 meters of the ocean’s surface. However, ocean currents also flow thousands of meters below the surface. These deep-ocean currents are driven by differences in the water’s density, which is controlled by temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline). This process is known as thermohaline circulation.

Answer: (b)

Justification:

Mount Elbrus (5642 m)-        Highest peak of Europe

Mount Aconcagua(6962 m) – Highest peak of South America

Mount Kilimanjaro(5895 m)  -Highest peak of Africa

Mount Kosciuszko(2228 m)   -Highest peak of Australia

Answer: (a)

Justification:

The Taklamakan Desert is a desert in southwest Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, northwest China. It is bounded by the Kunlun Mountains to the south, the Pamir Mountains and Tian Shan(ancient Mount Imeon) to the west and north, and the Gobi Desert to the east.

Answer: (c)

Answer: (b)

Justification:

Tabernas is arid region in Spain’s Almeria province considered as the true desert of Europe. Mojave and Sonaran are in North America whereas Negev is in Israel.

Answer: (d)

Answer: (b)

Justification:

All land, internal waters, territorial seas and EEZs in the Arctic are under the jurisdiction of one of the eight Arctic coastal states: Canada, Norway, Russia, Denmark (via Greenland), Iceland, Sweden, Finland and the United States.