Geography (CDS-Solved Paper)

Anamudi is the highest peak in the Western Ghats in India. It is located at junction of Cardamom hills, Annamalai hills and Palani hills.
Doddabetta is the highest peak in the Nilgiri mountains, situated in Nilgiris distric of TamilNadu.
Dhupgarh is highest point on the Satpura mountains, situated in Panchmaehi, Madhya Pradesh.
Guru Shikhar, a peak in Rajasthan is the highest point of the Aravalli range. Hence, option (c) is correct.

In India, coral reefs are found in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Gulf of Kutch, Gulf of Mannar, Lakshadweep Islands, Gulf of Khambat etc. It is not found in Gulf of Cambay. Hence, option (d) is not correct.

The cultivation of jute is mainly confined to the Eastern region of the country. The jute crop is grown in nearly 83 districts of West Bengal, Assam, Odisha, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura and Meghalaya. Jute is not cultivated in Andhra Pradesh significantly. Hence, option (d) is not correct.

Arikamedu gives us valuable information about India’s maritime links on Coromandel coast. It is situated in South India’s Puducherry. Arikamedu was an important port of Chola Kingdom. It also helps in trade with Roman people.

Cichlids are fish from the family cichlidae in the order cichlid forums. They are the largest verteberate families in the world. They are found mostly in Africa and South America. They are foundless in brackish and saltwater habitats. They are largest in number in the Godavari river of Indian subcontinent.

Inter-cropping is growing two or more crops simultaneously on the same field in a definite pattern. A few rows of one crop alternate with a few rows of a second crop, for example Soyabean + Maize. The crops are selected such their nutrient requirements are different. This ensures maximum utilisation of nutrients supplied and both the cultivations give better returns. 17. The term ‘soi

The term ‘soil impoverishment’ relates to soil getting very deficient in plant nutrients. Soil gets impoverished due to reasons like : over-grazing mono-cropping, leaching, erosion, land use charge etc.

An impoverished soil leads to increase in input cost of crop cultivation in the form of fertilizers cost, pesticide cost, etc. Soil erosion refers to removal of top fertile layers of the soil.

Erosion may be due to natural reasons (like : river erosion, glacial erosion etc.) or anthropogenic factor (like : mining activities, urbanisation, etc). Usually, soil erosion leads to soil impoverishment.

The correct sequential phase is the successional development of vegetation community in a habitat is Nudation, Migration, Reaction and Stabalisation. Successional development of vegetation community is the process of change in the species structure of vegetation community over time. The sequential stages of this development include,

Nudation Process of succession begins with the formation of a bare area.

Migration The seeds or spores of the species reach the bare area through the agency of air, water or wind.

Competition and Reaction As the number of a species increase, the competition for space and nutrition is started among them (both inter and intraspecific competition). Individuals also modify the environment which leads to reaction. This reaction leads to arrival of new species and extinction of previous ones.

Stabilisation Eventually a stage is reached when the final terminal community becomes more or less stabilised for a longer period of time and it can maintain itself in equilibrium with the climate of that area.

Oxisols are very old soil and they are highly weathered.

Vertisols are very rich in organic matter.

Histosols are rich in clay content and highly basic.

Entisols are soils which lack horizons.

The Caucasus mountains are a mountain system at the intersection of Europe and Asia stretching between Black sea and Caspian sea. It is home to mount Elbrus, highest peak in Europe. It includes greater Caucasus in the North and lesser Caucasus in the South.