NTA UGC NET/JRF Re-Exam, June, 2024 Geography

The second most visited monument by domestic tourists during 2022-23 was the Sun Temple, Konarva. The top five most visited monuments/sites by domestic tourists during 2022-23 are: (Monument/Site) (Number of tourists in³)
(1) Taj Mahal 10.55%
(2) Sun Temple, Konarva 5.02%
(3) Red Fort 4.62%
(4) Qutub Minar 3.69%
(5) Red Fort, Agra 3.60%
As of 2022-23, the top visited monuments/sites by foreign tourists in India are:
(1) Taj Mahal (27.46%),
(2) Red Fort, Agra (9.64%),
(3) Qutub Minar (7.97%),
(4) Humayun's Tomb (6.93%),
(5) Fatehpur Sikri (4.31%).

Due to the large daily temperature difference, physical weathering, rather than chemical weathering, is more common in desert regions. In physical weathering processes, thermal changes have a greater impact on rocks. Mechanical weathering occurs in cold regions due to frost action. Under mechanical weathering, the disintegration of rocks into large fragments by frost is more prevalent in temperate and cold regions. Chelation is the biochemical weathering by plants.
The disintegration and dissociation of rocks by organic matter, i.e., chemical weathering, is called biochemical weathering. Limestone is highly resistant to wind action but is susceptible to rainwater. Limestone cannot be dissolved by ordinary water, but when it combines with carbon dioxide gas, it transforms into calcium bicarbonate, which readily dissolves in water. Therefore, option (a) is correct.

David Harvey was not associated with the behaviorist movement in geography, but rather with the development of revolutionary geography. The fundamental philosophy of behaviorism is phenomenology, which considers value-neutral and objective study incomplete and places greater importance on human experience and cognition.
The fundamental belief of behaviorism was that humans are rational and sensitive creatures, and that their decisions regarding their environment are not the result of direct cause-and-effect relationships, but rather the result of mental perceptions of the actual situation. Therefore, scholars such as William Kirk, Julian Wolpert, Coх, Golliz, Goody, Pred, Downs, Gould, and Williamton have made significant contributions to the development of the behaviorist approach to geographical studies. Therefore, option (a) is correct.

During summer, the sun shines perpendicular to the tropic of Capricorn, resulting in maximum daylight hours in this region. As distance from the tropic increases, daylight hours decrease. The latitudinal position of Jammu is 32°45N, and the latitudinal position of Chennai is 13°06'N.
Thus, the Jammu region is closer to the tropic of Capricorn than Chennai. Therefore, the summer daylight hours in Jammu are longer than in Chennai. The maximum solar eclipse is found between the tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5°N to 23.5°S latitude). Due to the Sun's northward and southward movements, the Sun's rays fall perpendicularly at every location in this tropic twice a year.
Being located north of the curve, it will never shine perpendicularly on Varanasi. The southern slopes of the Himalayas receive more solar radiation than the northern slopes. The portion of the surface slope that faces the sun (facing the sun) receives relatively more solar radiation because the solar rays reach it almost directly.
Therefore, the sun-facing slope has a higher temperature than the sun-facing slope because the sun-facing slope receives less solar radiation due to the refraction of the sun's rays. The electromagnetic spectrum, in increasing order of their wavelengths, is gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet rays, visible rays, infrared rays, microwaves, and radio waves.
Therefore, the share of visible wavelengths in the total solar radiation is greater than the share of ultraviolet wavelengths. According to the UCAR COMET program, about 43% of the radiant energy emitted by the Sun is in the visible part of the spectrum, about 49% in the infrared, about 7% in the ultraviolet, and less than 1% of solar radiation is emitted as X-rays, gamma rays, and radio waves. Therefore, statements (A), (C) and (D) are true, and statement (B) is false. Therefore, option (b) is correct.

A border is an area between two social systems or entities, that is, it is a geographical region that lies beyond the boundaries, and its geographical position neutralizes and balances the expansion of two rival powers.
On the other hand, a border is a line and is an essential component of sovereignty. Sovereignty is necessarily bounded; the world of sovereign states is a world divided by borders. Thus, borders are an essential element of the modern global economy. Borders are two-dimensional, while frontiers are three-dimensional because they have a definite size and shape.
Borders are de facto, not de facto, but de jure, while frontiers are de facto, meaning borders are imaginary, while frontiers are real; they have a definite area and physical location. Borders are determined by states and do not have any physical existence, as they are the result of an agreement between two countries/regions.
Borders have a definite status which, as a result of increasing knowledge of geographical areas, economic and technological development, population growth, awareness of resources, and political and military development, transform the border region into a boundary line over time. Therefore, it is clear that statements (B) and (D) are not true, while statements (A) and (C) are true, hence option (A) is correct.

"All history must be viewed geographically, and all geography historically," was stated by Herodotus. Herodotus was a renowned Greek historian and geographer who traveled and described the countries along the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Herodotus was the first to describe the continents of Africa and Asia as divided by the Red Sea. He first used the word "delta" and called Egypt "the gift of the Nile."

In reverse urbanization, people move from large urban areas to smaller urban settlements because rapidly growing populations in a single location lead to housing problems, housing shortages, employment problems, and environmental issues. Troubled by problems like rapid population growth, industrialization, congestion, and pollution in cities, citizens migrate to the periphery in search of suitable housing.
The process of reverse urbanization has resulted in a renaissance in the demographic fortunes of rural areas, while this has not been the case for urban areas. Therefore, statements (A) and (C) are correct, while statements (B) and (D) are incorrect. Thus, option (a) is correct.

The Davisian concept of the cycle of erosion was inspired by the central idea of Darwin's book "The Origin of Species." According to Davis, the cycle of erosion is the period through which a newly elevated land surface passes through youth, maturity, and old stages through erosion, ultimately transforming into a peneplain. Mr. Davis named this cycle of erosion the geographical cycle.
Davis formulated his concept of the geographical cycle in 1899. According to Davis, the emergence and development of landforms in any region is controlled by three factors: structure, process, and time (stage). These three factors are called Davis's trikoot. Therefore, option (b) is correct.

The next Hawaiian island to form, already named Loihi, is forming on the ocean floor at the southeastern end of the chain. Loihi Island is an underwater volcano and seamount southeast of the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean that is rising to the surface to form an island also known as Kama Ahuakanaloa.