Geography (Part-4) (CDS-Solved Paper)

The pattern of circulation around a low pressure area in the Northern hemisphere is counter-clockwise and towards the centre, while in Southern hemisphere it is clockwise and away from the centre.

These circulations may develop into cyclones. The direction of circulation around a high pressure area is same as that around low pressure area but, is directed away from the centre. These circulations result in anti-cyclones.

The atmosphere has no definite upper limits, but gradually thins until it becomes imperceptible. This happens because the atmosphere is held to Earth due to Earth’s gravitational pull.

Thus, the atmosphere is densest at the sea level (due to highest gravitational pull) and this or gets rarefied upwards gradually until it becomes imperceptible.

Cold fronts often come with thunderstorms or other types of extreme weather. They usually move from West to East. Cold fronts move faster than warm fronts because cold air is denser, mean there are more molecules of material in cold air than in warm air.

Oxygen and magnesium are the elements that are found in highest and lowest quantities respectively in the crust of the Earth. Crust is the outermost layer of the Earth. The most common elements in the crust of the are oxygen (46.6%), Silicon (27.7%), Aluminium (8.1%), Iron (5%), Calcium (3.6%), Potassium (2.8%), Sodium (2.6%) and Magnesium (2.1%).

The Kuroshio is a North-flowing ocean current on the West side of the North Pacific ocean. It is similar to the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic and is part of the North Pacific ocean gyre.

Like the Gulf Stream, it is a strong Western boundary current. Warm water currents are streams of warm water that move through the world ocean, carried by wind.

These warm currents get heated-up in the tropics and then move toward the poles. Hence, statement (1) is correct, but 2 is incorrect.

The major factors responsible for the monsoon type of climate in India are location thermal contrast, upper air circulation, the Himalayan mountains etc.

According to study conducted by Ministry of Statistics and Programme implementation, the areas of states given above in descending order are; Andhra Pradesh (162,970 km²)> Chhattisgarh (135, 192 km²) > Tamil Nadu (130, 060 km²) > Telangana (112, 077 km²) > Uttarakhand (53483 km²).

Thus, Andhra Pradesh and Uttarakhand are largest and smallest states respectively (in the terms of geographical area) when whole India is considered, Rajasthan (342, 239 km²) and Goa (3702 km²) are largest and smallest states respectively.

Ebony is a tropical evergreen tree that belongs to the ebony family.
Shisham is a tropical moist deciduous tree. The Indian rosewoods are popularly known as Shisham.
Walnut is a Himalayan moist tree.
Birch is a Alpine and sub-alpine tree.

Mediterranean climate is characterised by warm to hot and dry summers and mild to cool wet winters and located between about 30° and 45° latitude of North and South of the equator.

Marine West Coast climate is characterised by moderate temperature which is influenced by marine. It is usually located along the West coast of mid-latitude continents.

Dry Mid-Latitude climate is characterised by strong temperature with large annual range and warm summers to hot and cold winters to very cold.

Moist Continental climate is characterised by warm summers and cold winters with 3 months below freezing and very large annual temperature range.

Chemical weathering is the subsequent disintegration of rock by chemical reactions. These reaction include oxidation, hydrolysis and carbonation.

Mechanical weathering is the set of various processes of weathering that break apart rocks into particles (sediment) without change in the chemical composition of the rock.

Glacial deposits is the settling of sediment left behind by a moving glacier. The mixture of consorted sediments deposits carved by the glacier is called ‘till’.

Deposition by ground water cause erosion under the surface and carries dissolved minerals in solution.