UPSC Prelims Previous Year Questions 2022: Geography | Geography for UPSC CSE PDF Download

Ans: (d)
The study of clouds, where they occur, and their characteristics, play a key role in the understanding of climate change. Low, thick clouds primarily reflect solar radiation and cool the surface of the Earth. High, thin clouds primarily transmit incoming solar radiation; at the same time, they trap some of the outgoing infrared radiation emitted by the Earth and radiate it back downward, thereby warming the surface of the Earth.
Hence, both statements are not correct.

Ans: (d)
Tea is processed within the tea garden to restore its freshness. Major tea producing states are Assam, hills of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Apart from these, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh and Tripura are also tea-producing states in the country.

Ans: (c)

• Ghataprabha has a hydroelectric and irrigational dam at Hidkal.
• Hidkal Dam is located in Belagavi district in Karnataka. The dam was completed in 1977. To make it multipurpose project a reservoir was also constructed on the dam. Gandhi Sagar Dam on Chambal River (Madhya Pradesh) is one of the five water reservoirs of national importance.
• Indira Sagar (Polavaram) project is located on river Godavari near Ramayyapet village of Polavaram Mandal of West Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh.
  • However, the Indira Sagar given in question lies in Madhya Pradesh as the Indira Sagar of Andhra Pradesh will include Polavaram in its name.
• The Maithon Dam is located about 48 kms from the Coal City of Dhanbad (Jharkhand)

Hence, Option (c) is correct.

Ans: (b)
According to the United Nations Climate Change Conference-COP 26, Lake Faguibine in West Africa has dried up and turned into a desert. Hence option (b) is correct.

Ans: (c)
Gandikota is a Twi village in Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh surrounded by the Pennar River on the right, the village is popular for the spectacular valleys formed by the river running through the Erramala hills. The narrow valleys and steep rocky walls with streams running between them look very beautiful. Hence option (c) is correct.

Ans: (b)
Nanda Devi peaks are a part of Kumaon Himalaya.

• The part of Himalaya situated between Sutlej and Kali rivers is known as Kumaon Himalaya.
• The Greater Himalayas extend from Nanga Parbat in the west to Namcha Barwa Peak in the east.
• The Namcha Barwa mountain range comes under Tibet.

Hence option (b) is correct.

Ans: (a)
The Levant is the eastern shoreland of the Mediterranean, a stretch of land approximately 800 km long and approximately 150 km wide. It is wedged in between the Mediterranean Sea in the west and the Arabo-Syrian Desert in the east, stretching from the mouth of the River Orontes in the north to the Isthmus of Suez in the south. Hence option (a) is correct.

Ans: (c)

• Afghanistan originally known as Ariana or Bactra and then as Khorasan (the land of the rising sun) is bounded by Iran and Turkmenistan to its west, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to its north, Pakistan to its east and south, while the northeast portion of the Wakhan province of Afghanistan by China.
• Afghanistan has borders with the following countries: China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Hence option (c) is correct.

Ans: (b)

Monazite ore is found in India, Madagascar and in South-Africa. Monazite is an important ore of rare earths elements thorium, lanthanum, and cerium. The state-wise sources of monazite:

• It is not found all along the Indian coast.
• Private companies were not allowed to mine beach sand minerals until 1993. After liberalisation, private companies were initially allowed to mine garnet and sillimanite and permissions for other minerals followed.
  • An earlier amendment in 2016 barred private companies from mining beach sand that had monazite concentration of more than 0.75%.
  • Private firms are restricted from processing or exporting monazite. It remains a government monopoly, extracted under the purview of the Department of Atomic Energy.

Hence, option (b) is correct.

Ans: (b)

In the northern hemisphere ‘Second half of the month june (21st june)’ is the longest day of the year. Hence option (b) is correct.

Ans: (b)

Hence, option (b) is correct.