Test: Geography - 2 - UPSC MCQ

Statement 1 is incorrect. Anaimudi is the highest peak of peninsular India. Peninsular India comprises Deccan Plateau and the mountain ranges – Aravali, Vindhya, Satpura, Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats.

Anamudi/Anamudi Peak of Munnar is Located at the junction of the Cardamom Hills, Anaimalai Hills and Palani Hills in Kerala. It is the highest peak of western Ghats. It has an elevation of 2,695 metres above sea level. The name Anamudi literally translates to “elephant’s forehead”.

Statement 2 is correct. Meghalaya includes the Khasi, Garo, Jaintia hills and the Assam ranges at its border. Meghalaya represents the extension of peninsular India towards the north-east. The height of the dissected Meghalaya Plateau is 150m to 1961m above sea level. This place is detached from the Indian peninsula

by the Malda Gap.

Important Passes of Western Ghats

• Pair 1 is incorrectly matched. Thal Ghat: It links Nasik to Mumbai.

• Pair 2 is incorrectly matched. Bhor Ghat: It links Mumbai to Pune.

• Pair 3 is correctly matched. Pal Ghat: It connects Kerala to Tamil Nadu (link Kochi to Chennai).

• Senkota pass: It is located between the Nagercoil and the Cardamom hills links Thiruvananthapuram and Madurai.

There are two views regarding the Geology of the Western Ghats. One view says the mountains of the Western Ghats are Block Mountains formed due to the down warping of a part of land into the Arabian Sea. Other view says that the mountains of the Western Ghats are not true mountains, but are the faulted edge of the Deccan Plateau.

• Statement 1 is correct. Western Ghats are formed due to the down warping of a part of land into the Arabian Sea.

• Statement 2 is correct. The mountains of the Western Ghats are Block Mountains.

• Statement 3 is incorrect. Western Ghats are spread in six states viz. Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and two Union Territories viz. Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Pondicherry. The range starts near the border of Gujarat south of Tapti river where foothills of the ranges are occupying the eastern portion of Dadra and Silvassa in Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

• Statement 1 is correct. The Aravalli Range is one of the oldest fold mountain ranges in the world stretching about 300 miles from the northeast to the southwest. These are fold mountains of which rocks are formed primarily of folded crust, when two convergent plates move towards each other by the process called orogenic movement.

• Statement 2 is correct. The Aravallis height increases as one moves from South of Delhi to Gujarat. Guru Shikhar is the highest point which is located in Mount Abu. in Gujarat.

• Statement 3 is incorrect. The length of the Aravallis is about 1100 km which extends from Delhi to Ahmedabad.

Knowledge Base: The system is divided into two sections: the Sambhar-Sirohi ranges, taller and including Guru Peak on Mount Abu, the highest peak in the Aravalli Range (5,650 feet [1,722 metres]); and the Sambhar-Khetri ranges, consisting of three ridges that are discontinuous. The Aravalli Range is rich in natural resources (including minerals) and serves as a check to the growth of the western desert. It gives rise to several rivers, including the Banas, Luni, Sakhi,

and Sabarmati. Though heavily forested in the south, it is generally bare and thinly populated, consisting of large areas of sand and stone and of masses of rose-coloured quartzite.

Monsoon Trough:

• Monsoon Trough is an elongated low-pressure area that extends from heat low over Pakistan to the Head Bay of Bengal. Hence statement 1 is correct.

• This is one of the semi-permanent features of monsoon circulation.

• Monsoon trough may be a characteristic of the east-west orientation of Himalayan ranges and the north-south orientation of Khasi-Jaintia Hills.

• The monsoon trough’s location, oscillation, and duration over a specific location, all directly affect the rainfall activity over the regions exactly to the south of its position.

  • That is, when it is located to the south of its normal position, there is active or vigorous rainfall over most parts of central, peninsular India regions. Hence statement 2 is correct.

  • When it shifts to the north of its normal position or lays along the Himalayan foothills, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and the northeastern states benefit.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Main Central Thrust (MCT) Zone:

• This separates the Higher Himalayas in the north from lesser Himalayas in the south. It has played an important role in the tectonic history of these mountains.

• Statement 2 is incorrect. Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) Zone:

  • It is a reverse fault of great dimensions which extends all the way from Assam to Punjab and serves to separate the outer Himalayas from the lesser Himalayas.

• Statement 3 is correct. Himalayan Frontal Fault/Thrust (HFF/T):

• It is a series of reverse faults that demarcates the boundary of the Shivalik of the Himalayan province from the alluvial expanse of the Indo-Gangetic plains.

Nathu La Pass:

• altitude of 4310 m

• it forms part of an offshoot of the ancient Silk Route

• an important trade route between India and China

• It was closed after the Chinese aggression on India in 1962 but was reopened in 2006 as the governments of the two countries decided to enhance their trade through land routes

• Statement 1 is correct. The Greater Himalayas receives less rainfall as compared to lesser Himalayas and Shiwalik.
• Statement 2 is correct. Duars are floodplains and foothills of Himalayas in North-Eastern state Assam and northern part of West Bengal. The altitude of this region varies widely with as low as 90 m and as high as 1,750 m. The similar region in Nepal and North India is termed Terai.
• Statement 3 is correct. Western Himalayas is wider than the Eastern Himalayas. It narrows down towards Eastern Himalayas but its altitude increases towards the east.

• Statement 1 is correct. The origin of rocks of Peninsular India is more than 3600 million years old. Before the carboniferous period, it was a part of Gondwanaland.

• Statement 2 is incorrect. Peninsular India exhibits a complex system of geological structures. It has some of the oldest rocks of the world from the Precambrian period and some youngest rocks of the Holocene epoch.

• Statement 1 is incorrect. Fast Track courts are established by the state governments in consultation with the respective High Courts.

• Statement 2 is correct. The judges for these courts are appointed on an ad hoc basis, selected by the High Courts of the respective states.

• Statement 3 is incorrect. There is no central funding to Fast track courts after 2011. However, the state governments could establish FTCs from their own funds.

About Fast Track Courts

They were established in the year 2000, to expeditiously dispose of long pending cases in the Sessions Courts and long pending cases of under trial prisoners in a time bound manner.

The 11th Finance Commission recommended the creation of 1734 FTCs in the country.

The 14th Finance Commission endorsed the proposal for setting up 1800 FTCs at a cost of Rs.4144.00 crores. It also urged the State Governments to utilize the enhanced devolution of central taxes from 32% to 42% to fund this effort. As on December 2018, 699 FTCs are functional across the country.

• Statement 1 is correct. It is the number of students enrolled in a given level of education as a percentage of the total population of that age.

• Statement 2 is incorrect. It can be greater than 100% if students from outside the official age group are also enrolled.

About Gross Enrollment Ratio

Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) or Gross Enrollment Index (GEI) is a statistical measure used in the education sector, and formerly by the UN in its Education Index, to determine the number of students enrolled in school at several different grade levels (like elementary, middle school and high school), and use it to show the ratio of the number of students who live in that country to those who qualify for the particular grade level. The United

Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), describes ‘Gross Enrolment Ratio’ as the total enrolment within a country ‘in a specific level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the population in the official age group corresponding to this level of education.

Statement 1 and 3 are correct. Vindhya Range, broken range of hills forming the southern escarpment of the central upland of India. From Gujarat state on the west, it extends about 675 miles (1,086 km) across Madhya Pradesh state to abut on the Ganges (Ganga) River valley near Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The mountains form the southern edge of the Malwa Plateau and then divide into two branches: the Kaimur Range, running north of the Son River into western Bihar state, and the southern branch, running between the upper reaches of the Son and Narmada rivers to meet the Satpura Range in the Maikala Range (or Amarkantak Plateau).

Satpura range is a range of hills, which is part of the Deccan plateau, western India. The hills stretch for some 560 miles (900 km) across the widest part of peninsular India, through Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh states. The range, the name of which means “Seven Folds,” forms the watershed between the Narmada (north) and Tapti (south) rivers. Satpura range is parallel to Vindhyan range.

Statement 2 is correct. Satpura range is a combination of Satpura, Mahadeo, and Maikala hills. Satpura hills are tectonic mountains, formed about 1.6 billion years ago, as a result of folding and structural uplift. They are a Horst landform. They run for a distance of about 900km. Mahadeo hills lie to the east of Satpura hills. Pachmarhi is the highest point of the Satpura range. Dhupgarh (1350m) is the highest peak of Pachmarhi.

Chotanagpur Plateau

• Chotanagpur plateau represents the north-eastern projection of the Indian Peninsula.

• Option (d) is the correct answer. It is extended mostly in Jharkhand, northern part of Chhattisgarh and Purulia district of West Bengal.

• The Son river flows in the north-west of the plateau and joins the Ganga.

• The average elevation of the plateau is 700 m above sea level.

• This plateau is composed mainly of Gondwana rocks.

• The plateau is drained by numerous rivers and streams in different directions and presents a radial drainage pattern. {Drainage Pattern}

• Rivers like Damodar, the Subarnarekha, the North Koel, the South Koel and the Barkar have developed extensive drainage basins.

• The Damodar river flows through the middle of this region in a rift valley from west to east. Here are found the Gondwana coal fields which provide bulk of coal in India.

• North of the Damodar river is the Hazaribagh plateau with an average elevation of 600 m above mean sea level. This plateau has isolated hills. It looks like a peneplain due to large scale erosion.

• The Ranchi Plateau to the south of the Damodar Valley rises to about 600 m above mean sea level. Most of the surface is rolling where the city of Ranchi (661 m) is located.

• At places it is interrupted by monadnocks (an isolated hill or ridge of erosion-resistant rock rising above a peneplain. Ex: Ayers Rock in Australia) and conical hills.

• The Rajmahal Hills forming the north eastern edge of the Chotanagpur Plateau are mostly made of basalt and are covered by lava flows {Basaltic Lava}.

• They run in a north-south direction and rise to average elevation of 400 m (highest mount is 567 m). These hills have been dissected into separate plateaus.

Statement 1 is incorrect. It is a wholly owned Government of India undertaking/ Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE), under the administrative control of Department of Space (DOS).

Statement 2 is correct. NSIL has been incorporated to carry out the following roles and functions as part of its mandate viz.

• Small Satellite technology transfer to industry, wherein NSIL will obtain license from DOS/ISRO and sub-license it to Industries.

• Manufacture of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) in collaboration with the Private Sector. (iii) Production of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) through Indian Industry.

• Production and marketing of Space based products and services, including launch and application.

• Transfer of technology developed by ISRO Centers and constituent units of DOS.

• Marketing spin-off technologies and products/services, both in India and abroad.

• Any other subject which Government of India deems fit.

Statement 3 is incorrect. Some of the above functions are common to both Antrix corporation as well as New Space India Limited (NSIL).

Statement 1 is not correct: The Union Territory of Puducherry consists of four small unconnected districts: Puducherry district (293 km²), Karaikal district (161 km²) and Yanam

district (20 km²) on the Bay of Bengal and Mahé district (9 km²) on the Laccadive Sea,

covering a total area of 483 km²

Statement 2 is not correct: Karaikal is on the eastern coast OF India.

Karewa: Thick deposits of glacial clay famous for saffron cultivation.

• Karewas are lacustrine deposits. According to geographers, the Karewa Formation are glacio- fluvial-lacustrine and aeolian loess of Plio-Pleistocene age.

• In other words, these lacustrine deposits are witness to and treasure of many human civilizations and habitations. The Stone Age man has survived the harshest of the Pleistocene glaciations.

• The artefacts left by him are still embedded in the deep soil horizons of the plateau lands.

• Sediments kept coming in through rivers and kept on depositing in that lake, thus resulting in the formation of a lacustrine plain.

• Over the time the water drained away leaving behind deposits viz. unconsolidated gravel and mud. These deposits are known as Karewas.

• The Karewa deposits are composed of sand, silt, clay, shale, mud, lignite, gravel and loessic sediments. Therefore, it is extremely important for agricultural and horticultural practices in the valley.

• The world-famous variety of saffron, which is locally known as zafron is cultivated on this deposits.

• It also helps in the cultivation of almond, walnut, apple and orchards.

Geomorphological features of Indo – Gangetic – Brahmaputra Plain

The Bhabar

• Statement 3 is incorrect. It is a narrow, porous, northernmost stretch of Indo-Gangetic plain.

• It is about 8-16 km wide running in an east-west direction along the foothills (alluvial fans) of the Shiwaliks.

• They show a remarkable continuity from the Indus to the Tista.

• Rivers descending from the Himalayas deposit their load along the foothills in the form of alluvial fans.

• These alluvial fans have merged together to build up the bhabar belt.

• The porosity of bhabar is the most unique feature.

• The porosity is due to deposition of huge number of pebbles and rock debris across the alluvial fans.

• The streams disappear once they reach the bhabar region because of this porosity.

• Therefore, the area is marked by dry river courses except in the rainy season.

• The Bhabar belt is comparatively narrow in the east and extensive in the western and north-western hilly region.

• The area is not suitable for agriculture and only big trees with large roots thrive in this belt.

The Terai

• Statement 4 is incorrect. Terai is an ill-drained, damp (marshy) and thickly forested narrow tract to the south of Bhabar running parallel to it.

• The Terai is about 15-30 km wide.

• The underground streams of the Bhabar belt re-emerge in this belt.

• This thickly forested region provides shelter to a variety of wildlife. [Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand and Kaziranga National Park in Assam lie in terai region]

• The Terai is more marked in the eastern part than in the west because the eastern parts receive comparatively higher amount of rainfall.

• Most of the Terai land, especially in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, has been turned into agricultural land which gives good crops of sugarcane, rice and wheat.

The Bhangar

• Statement 2 is correct. The Bhangar is the older alluvium along the river beds forming terraces higher than the floodplain. It is in south of Tarai.

• The terraces are often impregnated with calcareous concretions known as ‘KANKAR’.

• ‘The Barind plains’ in the deltaic region of Bengal and the ‘bhur formations’ in the middle Ganga and Yamuna doab are regional variations of Bhangar.

• [Bhur denotes an elevated piece of land situated along the banks of the Ganga river, especially in the upper Ganga-Yamuna Doab. This has been formed due to accumulation of wind-blown sands during the hot dry months of the year]

• Bhangar contains fossils of animals like rhinoceros, hippopotamus, elephants, etc.

The Khadar

• Statement 1 is incorrect. The Khadar is composed of newer alluvium and forms the flood plains along the river banks. It is in south of bhangar.

• A new layer of alluvium is deposited by river floods almost every year.

• This makes them the most fertile soils of Ganges.

Godavari River:

• The Godavari basin extends over states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha in addition to smaller parts in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Union territory of Puducherry (Yanam) having a total area of ~ 3 lakh Sq.km.

• The basin is bounded by Satmala hills, the Ajanta range and the Mahadeo hills on the north, by the Eastern Ghats on the south and the east and by the Western Ghats on the west.

• The Godavari River rises from Trimbakeshwar in the Nashik district of Maharashtra about 80 km from the Arabian Sea at an elevation of 1,067 m.

• The total length of Godavari from its origin to outfall into the Bay of Bengal is 1,465 km.

Tributaries of Godavari River

• The left bank tributaries are more in number and larger in size than the right bank tributaries.

• The Manjra (724 km) is the only important right bank tributary. It joins the Godavari after passing through the Nizam Sagar.

• Left Bank Tributaries: Dharna, Penganga, Wainganga, Wardha, Pranahita [conveying the combined waters of Penganga, the Wardha and Wainganga], Pench, Kanhan, Sabari, Indravati etc.

• Right Bank Tributaries: Pravara, Mula, Manjra, Peddavagu, Maner etc.

• The delta of the Godavari is of lobate type with a round bulge and many distributaries.

Reh, Kallar, Usar, Thur

• It is saline soil found in bhangar plain of drier areas.

• Composition: Rich in Chloride, calcium, and magnesium

• Formation: Accumulation of soluble salt

• Characteristics: Unproductive soil. In Punjab and Haryana gypsum is added to improve the soil

• Distribution: Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Maharashtra

• Crops: Berseem, Dhaincha and leguminous crops

• Recently, a flare-up began between Azerbaijan and Armenia after Azerbaijan claimed that it had captured the territory in Karabakh in a retaliatory campaign.
• Statement 1 is not correct: Nagorno-Karabakh region is a mountainous land-locked region in the South Caucasus. It is a forested region and geographically lies within the boundary of Azerbaijan. South Caucasus or Transcaucasia is a region on the southern Caucasus Mountains on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It roughly comprises of the modern countries of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.

• Statement 2 is not correct: Armenia is a landlocked country and does not share a border with the Caspian Sea

The rivers that originate in Western Ghats and flow towards west are Periyar, Bharathappuzha, Netravati, Sharavathi, Mandovi etc. The west flowing rivers of Western Ghats are fast-moving, owing to the short distance travelled and steeper gradient. This makes Western Ghats more useful than Eastern Ghats in terms of production of hydroelectricity.

Narmada and Tapti although don’t rise from Western Ghats but flow westwards.

The rivers that originate in Western Ghats and flow towards east include three major rivers viz. Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri, and many smaller / tributary rivers such as Tunga, Bhadra, Bhima, Malaprabha, Ghataprabha, Hemavathi, Kabini. These east flowing rivers are comparatively slower moving and eventually merge into larger rivers such as the Kaveri and Krishna.

The Thamirabarani or Tamraparni or Porunai is a perennial river that originates from the Agastyarkoodam peak of Pothigai hills of the Western Ghats. It flows through Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts of the Tamil Nadu state of southern India into the Gulf of Mannar.

• Statement 1 is correct. The extensive use of irrigation has made Punjab, Haryana and western part of Uttar Pradesh the granary of India, in the same way Prairies are called the granaries of the world.

• Statement 2 is correct. Fertile alluvial soils, flat surface, slow moving perennial rivers and favorable climate facilitate intense agricultural activity. It should be clear that most of the North Indian Rivers are perennial in nature but not all the rivers are perennial. Some of the rivers in Rajasthan are seasonal in nature.

• Statement 3 is incorrect. The sedimentary rocks of plains have petroleum and natural gas deposits, but there are less sources of metallic deposits.

Antecedent Drainage or Inconsequent Drainage:

A part of a river slope and the surrounding area gets uplifted and the river sticks to its original slope, cutting through the uplifted portion like a saw (Vertical erosion or Vertical down cutting), and forming deep gorges: this type of drainage is called Antecedent drainage.

Examples: Indus, Sutlej, Brahmaputra, Ganga, kali, Arun (a tributaries of Kosi), Tista and other Himalayan rivers that are older than the Himalayas themselves. They are usually called as Antecedent rivers. Yamuna is not an antecedent river.

Pair 1 is correctly matched. Indus:

• Origin → Bokharchu Glacier, Near Mansarovar

• In Tibet, it is called Singi Khamban / Lion’s mouth

• Enters in India through Ladakh, flows only in Jammu and Kashmir.

• Enters Pakistan through the hair pin bend of Nanga Parbat

• Finally Discharges in Arabian Sea.

Pair 2 is incorrectly matched. Satluj:

• Origin → Rakas lake, Tibet, near Mansarovar

• Enters Himachal Pradesh through Shipki La Pass

• Collects water from Ravi, Chenab, Jhelum and Beas to join Indus near Mithankot (Pakistan)

• Famous Projects → Naptha Jhakri Project & Bhakra Nagal Dam with Govind Sagar Reservoir.

Pair 3 is incorrectly matched. Yamuna:

• Yamuna River is the largest tributary of Ganga River,

• Yamuna is another sacred river of India that origins from Yamunotri Glacier at height 6,387 metres, on the south western slopes of Banderpooch peak.

Pair 4 is correctly matched.

• The Ganga originates as the Bhagirathi from the Gangotri glacier in UttarKashi District of Uttarakhand at an elevation of 7,010 m. so pair 4 is correct.

Left hand tributaries of Indus River:

• The Zaskar river, Suru river, Soan river, Jhelum river, Chenab river, Ravi river, Beas river, Satluj river, Panjnad river are its major left-bank tributaries.

Right hand tributaries of Indus river:

• The Shyok river, Gilgit river, Hunza river, Swat river, Kunnar river, Kurram river and Kabulriver are its major right-bank tributaries.

Features of national water grid:

• Statement 1 is correct. The Inter-Linking of Rivers programme aims to connect various surplus rivers with deficient rivers.

• The idea is to divert excess water from surplus regions to deficient regions to help improve irrigation,

• Increase water for drinking and industrial use, and mitigate drought and floods to an extent.

• It is a large-scale engineering proposal for the management of water resources in India by the interlinking of the Indian rivers through networks of reservoir and canals.

• Redistribution of water

• Statement 2 is correct. Hydropower generation Irrigation Facilities

Statement 3 is incorrect. Groundwater recharge is not one of the explicitly stated objectives of the National water grid project.

Weathering and erosion are processes by which rocks are broken down and moved form their original location. They differ based on whether a rock's location is changed: weathering degrades a rock without moving it, whileerosion carries rocks and soil away from their original locations. Weathering often leads to erosion by causingrocks to break down into smaller pieces, which erosive forces can then move away.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Frost is an agent of weathering and not erosion because frost does not move away or cut through the underlying surface and do not move rocks or matter from one location to another.

Statement 2 is correct. Wind is an agent of both weathering and erosion. Both air and water contain some amount of chemical which when exposed to surface of rocks starts chemical weathering.

While wind blows it also carries the lighter weathered materials with it. A strong wind can also erode the surface and transport it somewhere else.

Knowledge Base: Denudation is the general lowering and levelling of the earth’s surface.

The denudation process occurs in four phases namely weathering, erosion, transportation and deposition. Rain, frost and wind are the agents of weathering. Rivers, ice, wind and waves are agents of erosion.

The earth’s crust constantly undergoes changes and that plays a very important role in rejuvenation of a river.

Statement 3 is incorrect. When there is an uplift of land or a fall in sea level occurs then a negative movement occurs in the river system which steepen the slope and active down-cutting of the river is renewed.

Statement 1 is correct. A fall in sea level results in the increase in the altitude of flood plain above the sea level. The river with its new energy starts to cut the former floodplain leaving behind terraces on both sides of the river. The point where the old and rejuvenated profile meet is known as Knick point or Rejuvenated head.

Statement 2 is incorrect. A positive movement occurs when there is a depression of land or rise in sea level. This submerges the land along the coast drown, the valleys and weaken the erosive power of the river

India is rich in underground water resources. Its spatial distribution is however uneven. The underground water resource is a function of geological structure, topography, slope, precipitation, runoff, soils and hydrological conditions of a region. India is divided into 8 underground water provinces:

• The Pre-Cambrian Crystalline Province

• The Pre-Cambrian Sedimentary Rocks Province

• The Gondwana Sedimentary Province

• The Deccan Trap Province

• The Cenozoic Sedimentary Province

• The Ganga Brahmaputra Alluvial Province

• The Himalayan Province

• The Cenozoic Fault Basin

Statement 1 is correct. The Himalayan province is structurally complex. In general, it is deficient in underground water except the intermontane valleys like the Dun, Kashmir, Kangra, Kullu and Manali valleys. This region has numerous springs.

Statement 2 is correct. The Cenozoic Sedimentary Province includes the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Gujarat.The sandstones of the tertiary period in these regions are rich in underground water resources.