[Mission 2023] STATIC QUIZ, 13 May 2023 – Geography

Solution: c)

Laterite Soil:

The laterite soils develop in areas with high temperature and high rainfall. Humus content of the soil is removed fast by bacteria that thrives well in high temperature. These soils are poor in organic matter, nitrogen, phosphate and calcium, while iron oxide and potash are in excess.

Laterite soils are widely cut as bricks for use in house construction. These soils have mainly developed in the higher areas of the Peninsular plateau. The laterite soils are commonly found in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and the hilly areas of Odisha and Assam.

Solution: a)

Along a convergent boundary two lithospheric plates collide against each other. When one of the plates is an oceanic plate, it gets embedded in the softer asthenosphere of the continental plate, and as a result, trenches are formed at the zone of subduction.

The deepest part of the ocean is called the Challenger Deep and is located beneath the western Pacific Ocean in the southern end of the Mariana Trench, which runs several hundred kilometers southwest of the U.S. territorial island of Guam.

Solution: a)

There are three main reasons for the excessive cold in north India during this season:

(i) States like Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan being far away from the moderating influence of sea experience continental climate.

(ii) The snowfall in the nearby Himalayan ranges creates cold wave situation; and

(iii) Around February, the cold winds coming from the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan bring cold wave along with frost and fog over the north-western parts of India.

Solution: d)

During April and May when the sun shines vertically over the Tropic of Cancer, the large landmass in the north of Indian ocean gets intensely heated. This causes the formation of an intense low pressure in the northwestern part of the subcontinent. Since the pressure in the Indian Ocean in the south of the landmass is high as water gets heated slowly, the low-pressure cell attracts the southeast trades across the Equator. These conditions help in the northward shift in the position of the ITCZ. The shift in the position of the ITCZ is also related to the phenomenon of the withdrawal of the westerly jet stream from its position over the north Indian plain, south of the Himalayas. The easterly jet stream sets in along 15°N latitude only after the western jet stream has withdrawn itself from the region. This easterly jet stream is held responsible for the burst of the monsoon in India.

Solution: c)

On an average, salin­ity decreases from equator towards the poles. It may be mentioned that the highest salinity is seldom recorded near the equator though this zone records high tem­perature and evaporation, but high rainfall reduces the relative proportion of salt. Thus, the equator accounts for only 35⁰/₀₀ salinity.

The temperature of the oceans varies vertically with increasing depth. Refer the graph on temperature and depth.