[Mission 2023] STATIC QUIZ, 02 February 2023 – Geography

Solution: a)

Some initial conditions for the emergence of a tropical cyclone are:

(i) Large and continuous supply of warm and moist air that can release enormous latent heat.

(ii) Strong Coriolis force that can prevent filling of low pressure at the centre (absence of Coriolis force near the equator prohibits the formation of tropical cyclone between 0°-5° latitude).

(iii) Unstable condition through the troposphere that creates local disturbances around which a cyclone develops.

(iv) Finally, absence of strong vertical wind wedge, which disturbs the vertical transport of latent heat.

Solution: d)

Geyser :-

• Geysers are fountains of hot water and superheated steam. The phenomena are associated with thermal or volcanic region.
• The jet of water is usually emitted with an explosion, and is often triggered off by gases seeping out of the heated rocks.

Hot springs

• Hot springs are more common, and found anywhere water sinks deep enough beneath the surface to be heated by the interior forces and not only at volcanic regions.
• The water rises to the surface without any explosion.
• Such springs contain dissolved minerals which may be of some medical value.

Solution: b)

Seamounts

• Seamount is a mountain with pointed summits, rising from the seafloor that does not reach the surface of the ocean.
• Seamounts are volcanic in origin.
• These can be 3,000-4,500 m tall.
• The Emperor seamount, an extension of the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean, is a good example.

Solution: d)

The vertical pressure gradient force is much larger than that of the horizontal pressure gradient. But, it is generally balanced by a nearly equal but opposite gravitational force. Hence, we do not experience strong upward winds. Due to gravity the air at the surface is denser and hence has higher pressure.

Solution: b)

The temperature-depth profile for the ocean water shows how the temperature decreases with the increasing depth. The profile shows a boundary region between the surface waters of the ocean and the deeper layers. The boundary usually begins around 100 – 400 m below the sea surface and extends several hundreds of metres downward.

This boundary region, from where there is a rapid decrease of temperature, is called the thermocline. About 90 per cent of the total volume of water is found below the thermocline in the deep ocean. In this zone, temperatures approach 0° C.

It is a well-known fact that the maximum temperature of the oceans is always at their surfaces because they directly receive the heat from the sun and the heat is transmitted to the lower sections of the oceans through the process of convection.