QUIZ – 2020: INSIGHTS STATIC , 27 May 2021 – Geography

Solution: c)

NASA notes that the difference between a meteor, meteorite and meteoroid is nothing but where the object is. Meteoroids are objects in space that range in size from dust grains to small asteroids. “Think of them as “space rocks,”. But when meteoroids enter the Earth’s atmosphere they are called meteors. But if a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere and hits the ground, it is called a meteorite.

Solution: b)

Twelve of the eighteen biosphere reserves are a part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves, based on the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme list.

Solution: a)

Cyclones are shaped by the Coriolis effect. Cyclones are large air masses that rotate around a center. As they rotate, cyclones pull air into their center, or “eye.” These air currents are pulled in from all directions. In the Northern Hemisphere, they bend to the right. This makes the cyclone rotate counter-clockwise. In the Southern Hemisphere, currents bend to the left. This makes cyclones rotate clockwise.

The eye is a Calm region with no rainfall and experiences highest temperature and lowest pressure within the cyclonic system.

Solution: c)

Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded by wind and water. They are characterized by steep slopes, minimal vegetation, lack of a substantial regolith, and high drainage density. Canyons, ravines, gullies, buttes, mesas, hoodoos and other such geologic forms are common in badlands.

Solution: a)

During the cooling of the earth, gases and water vapour were released from the interior solid earth. This started the evolution of the present atmosphere. The early atmosphere largely contained water vapour, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia and very little of free oxygen. The process through which the gases were outpoured from the interior is called degassing. Continuous volcanic eruptions contributed water vapour and gases to the atmosphere. As the earth cooled, the water vapour released started getting condensed. The carbon dioxide in the atmosphere got dissolved in rainwater and the temperature further decreased causing more condensation and more rains. Oceans began to have the contribution of oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. Eventually, oceans were saturated with oxygen, and 2,000 million years ago, oxygen began to flood the atmosphere.