CSP-2015: Key to the World Geography Test-1 Dt.31.01.2015

1.	b	21.	a	41.	b	61.	b	81	a
2.	a	22.	d	42.	b	62.	b	82	d
3.	d	23.	c	43.	a	63.	d	83	a
4.	c	24.	a	44.	b	64.	b	84	d
5.	c	25.	d	45.	d	65.	c	85	b
6.	a	26.	b	46.	b	66.	a	86	c
7.	a	27.	c	47.	c	67.	b	87	c
8.	a	28.	d	48.	c	68.	c	88	*
9.	c	29.	a	49.	d	69.	d	89	c
10.	d	30.	b	50.	d	70.	a	90	c
11.	a	31.	d	51.	c	71	b	91	b
12.	a	32.	c	52.	a	72	c	92	c
13.	c	33.	b	53.	d	73	b	93	d
14.	b	34.	d	54.	b	74	c	94	c
15.	a	35.	c	55.	d	75	c	95	d
16.	d	36.	d	56.	a	76	c	96	b
17.	d	37.	b	57.	a	77	a	97	b
18.	b	38.	a	58.	c	78	b	98	c
19.	d	39.	d	59.	d	79	d	99	a
20.	c	40.	d	60.	a	80	a	100	b

Note: * Question No 88 was not given in the question paper.

Explanations:

1. The South American countries were colonized by European powers such as Spain, Portuguese etc. and most of them settled there. The settlers speak their mother tongue such as Portuguese, Spanish and Italian which were derived from old Latin. Because of this reason, South America is also called as “Latin America”.  The shores of the continent are washed by the two major Oceans of the World, the Pacific and the Atlantic, but not by the Indian Ocean.   It harbors largest river, the Amazon, but not the country with longest coast line in the world. The country with largest coast line is Canada which is in North America.  

The languages imposed by the process of European colonization of the Americas are mainly Indo-European. Portuguese is the majority language of South America, by a small margin. The second most spoken language on the continent is the Spanish, is a few speakers less than Portuguese.  Dutch is the official language of Suriname; English is the official language of Guyana, although there are at least 12 other languages spoken in the country, including Hindi, Arabic,, and various indigenous languages. English is also spoken in the Falkland Islands. French is the official language of the French Overseas department of French Guayana.

Indigenous languages of South America include, among several others, Quechua languages Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador; Guarani in Paraguay and, to a much lesser extent, in Bolivia; Aymara in Bolivia, Peru and less often in Chile; and Mapudungun is spoken in certain pockets of southern Chile and more rarely, Argentina.

2. The Andes are a Mesozoic-Tertiary organic belt of mountains along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a zone of volcanic activity that encompasses the Pacific rim of the Americas as well as the Asia -Pacific region. The Andes are the result of plate tectonics processes, caused by the subduction  of oceanic crust beneath the South American plate. The main cause of the rise of the Andes is the compression of western rim of the South American plate due to the subduction of the Nazca plate and Antarctic plate. The Nazca plate is located northwest of South America and contains the Galápagos Islands as its primary landmass. The Nazca plate moves east-southeast at a rate of about five cm per year. This direction of movement causes a collision with the South American Plate which has formed the Andes Mountains on the western coast of South America. Sub-duction is caused by one plate colliding with another and the denser plate sinks underneath the other plate, pushing it upward, thus forming a mountain ridge. The sub-ducted plate melts and produces new magma, which becomes the source material for the chain of volcanoes that are the Andes. The Galápagos Islands are located on the northwestern portion of the Nazca plate and are being ferried towards South America. Two other tectonic plates are located in close proximity to the Galápagos' northern and western most islands. The Cocos plate is located to the north of the Galápagos Islands and the Pacific Plate to the west. The interaction between the tectonic plates and a hot spot form the Galápagos Islands.

The volcanic activity is not there in the East coast of South America.

About South America

South America has an area of 6,890,000 sq miles. Bordered to the west by the Pacific Ocean, to the north and the east by the Atlantic Ocean, the continent contains twelve independent countries - Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela. These countries and their capitals are marked on the map. Apart from these there are 3 dependencies - French Guiana (overseas territory of France), the Falkland Islands (overseas territory of the United Kingdom), and the ABC islands (overseas territory of the Netherlands). The map is most useful in understanding the natural landforms such as the Mato Grosso, the Brazilian Highlands, the Guiana Highlands, the Patagonia, and the lush Amazon basin.

5. The sedimentary rocks provide congenial atmosphere for the formation of fossils in them. The sedimentary rocks are formed from the fluvial deposits of river or ocean which contain many dead animals and plants. When different layers of deposits are formed one above another, the pressure from the top, creates the sedimentary rocks. The sedimentary rocks are porous  and permeable and therefore allow the minerals enters the animal or plant parts and makes them hard and these hard mineralized parts of once lived plants and animals are called “Fossils”.

Unlike Sedimentary rocks, igneous rocks do not contain any fossils. This is because any plant or animal which entered the magma while forming igneous rock would get melted in high temperature magma and also the existing fossils in the original rock will also get melted when they come into contact with magma. It is to be noted that igneous rocks are primary rocks formed from the solidification of magma or lava which comes enters lithosphere from underlying layers of the Earth. Similarly, when sedimentary rocks converted to metamorphic rocks, the fossils will get destroyed or deformed. Hence, the primary source of fossils is the “Sedimentary rocks” only.

6. Endemism is the ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation, country or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms those  are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it, if they are also found elsewhere. The extreme opposite of endemism is cosmopolitan or universal distribution. A native species, such as a native plant, is one that is considered to have been endemic for a relatively long period of time. Endemic types or species are especially likely to develop on geographically and biologically isolated areas such as islands and remote island groups, such as New Caledonia of France, Hawaii Islands, the Galapagos Islands, and Socotra; they can equally develop in biologically isolated areas such as the highlands of Ethiopia, or large bodies of water far from other lakes, like Lake Baikal. The highest endemism in the world is found in New Caledonia belongs to France off the Australia. Socotra, also called as the “Jewel of Indian Ocean” has highest endemism in Indian Ocean. The remoteness to mainland and isolation promotes endemism. The Western Ghats of India and tropical rain forests of Brazil are very rich in biodiversity and have good number of endemic species. But they won’t represent highest endemism as shown by the geographic locations mentioned in options 1 to 4.

Socotra is considered the jewel of biodiversity in the Arabian Sea. In the 1990s, a team of United Nations biologists conducted a survey of the archipelago’s flora and fauna. They counted nearly 700 endemic species species, found nowhere else on earth; only Hawaii, New Caledonia, and the Galapagos Islands have more impressive numbers. One of the most striking of Socotra's plants is the dragon’s blood tree (Dracaena cinnabari), which is a strange-looking, umbrella-shaped tree. Its red sap was thought to be the dragon's blood of the ancients, sought after as a dye, and today used as paint and varnish

The island was recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a world natural heritage site in July 2008. The European Union has supported such a move, calling on both UNESCO and International Organization of Protecting Environment to classify the island archipelago among the environmental heritages.

7. Metamorphic rocks also further metamorphose into other metamorphic rocks.

8 and 18 . During Elnino years, the surface temperatures of the Peruvian coast goes up with consequential upwelling of the nutrients from Ocean bottom, causing the excessive plankton growth which will further push up the fish growth. The excessive fish growth also promotes the growth of the guano birds. However, the growth of guano birds will not create more growth in guano deposits, due to heavy rainfall drains away the deposits into the Ocean. As you are aware that wind blowing over warm surface temperature picks up more moisture and cause excessive rainfall on the coast of Peru. Otherwise, the Peruvian coast is very dry in non-Elinino years and provide congenial atmosphere for guano deposits.

During non-elnino years, the Peruvian coast is washed by cold Peruvian current and thereby creates high pressure belt. The winds pick up no moisture and result in no or very minimal rainfall. But the mixing of Peruvian cold current with the warm counter equatorial current promote the growth of  plankton and thereby excessive growth of fish. The guano birds thrive here as there are no predators, cool atmosphere and plenty of fish. The excreta of the birds get accumulated and grow several meters of thickness, as there is little rainfall and no run-off into the Ocean. The manure was in great demand in 1960s and 80s when there was no much production of inorganic fertilizers. Even now, there is a demand of this organic manure.

15. If Earth stops rotating on its axis, the movement of wind and currents would not stop, but slowed down. Seasons would occur as they are caused by the revolution of the Earth around the Sun, not due to rotation of Earth in its axis. Due to stopping of rotation, the Earth would be revolving around the Sun, with a fixed inclination and therefore one half of the Earth would be fully day and other would be night.

19. The highest active volcano in the world is Ojos del Salado on the Chile-Argentina border in the Central Andes. It rises to 6887 m / 22,595 ft. It has not erupted in historic times, but is an active volcano.

20. Africa is called a "plateau continent" because much of the continent is made up of raised, mostly level areas of land that drop of sharply near the sea. Additionally, Africa's continental shelf drops off precipitously, providing deep harbors but limiting offshore resource exploitation. Africa's plateau structure is largely due to its existence on a single tectonic plate. Most of the continent is flat and, despite faults in some areas, free of mountains generated by tectonic collision. The Olduvai Gorge may be the single place where Africa is partially on another tectonic plate, but even this is disputed by geologists.

The largest and highest plateau in the world is the Tibetan Plateau, called the "roof of the world", which is still being formed by the collisions of the Indo-Australian and Eurasian tectonic plates.

23. The Great Dividing Range is located in Australia; Jagros mountains in Iran and the Kunlun Shan mountains in China. Hence, all the options are incorrect in the query.

24. Fold mountains contain fossils in them as they were formed due to folding and rise of fluvial deposits laden sedimentary rocks. Hence, option “a” is the answer.

29. The Proto Star is a dense galactic nucleus getting compressed to form a star. The Red

Giant stage is Hydrogen depleted star with outer regions swollen and redden. The Neutron Star       has dense core of comparatively bigger star. The Black hole is a collapsed ancient star where gravity becomes intense and nothing escapes from it. The Pulsars are high Speed Neutron star emitting radio waves.

32. The sources for the Ganges are the Glaciers in the high altitude peaks of Himalayas. They are Gangotri glacier, Satopanth glacier, Khatling glacier, and waters melted from the snow from the peaks such as Nanda Devi, Trisul, Kedarnath, Nanda Kot and Kamet. The River Zaire or Congo is in the equatorial region of Africa. The copious rainfall throughout the year in the equatorial region feeds the river. The River Indus originates in the Tibetan plateau in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar and runs a course through the Ladakh region of J and K, towards Gilgit-Baltistan and then flows in a southerly direction along the entire length of Pakistan to merge into the Arabian Sea near the port city of Karachi in Sindh. This is fed by the glaciers as well as the waters of the lake Mansarovar. The Nile which is the longest river in the world has many lakes as source of its flow.

33. The river Amazon releases its water into Atlantic Ocean; the Niger opens into Gulf of Guinea; the Volga into Caspian Sea; the Mississippi into Gulf of Mexico and the Zambezi into the Mozambic Channel/ Indian Ocean.   

38. The highest water falls in the world is “Angle Falls” located in Canaima National Park, Boliver in in Venezuela which is 979 meters [3212 ft].

Lake Baikal in Siberia is the largest fresh water lake by volume in the World and represents 20% of the world’s surface fresh water. The second largest fresh water lake in volume is Lake Tanganyika in East Africa. Lake Superior in Canada-USA border is third largest fresh water lake in volume and the largest freshwater lake in the world in area. The largest peninsula is Arabian Peninsula, but longest in length is Indian peninsula. The highest active volcano in the world is Ojos Del Salado on the Chile-Argentina border in the Central Andes. Cotopaxi is a potentially active strato-volcano in the Andes Mountains, located about 50 km (31 mi) south of Quito, Ecuador.

42. The Isthmus of Panama is of very recent origin when compared to the two big land masses of North and South Americas. [The Americas were derived from the Super Continent, Pangaea about 100 million years before.] Twenty million years ago, there was a gap between the continents of North and South America through which the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans flowed freely. The two underwater plates of the Earth’s crust were slowly colliding into one another, forcing the Pacific Plate to slide slowly under the Caribbean Plate. The pressure and heat caused by this collision led to the formation of underwater volcanoes, some of which grew tall enough to break the surface of the ocean and form islands as early as 15 million years ago. More and more volcanic islands filled in the area over the next several million years. Meanwhile, the movement of the two tectonic plates was also pushing up the sea floor, eventually forcing some areas above sea level. Over time, massive amounts of sediment (sand, soil, and mud) were peeled away from North and South America by strong ocean currents and fed through the gaps between the newly forming islands. Little by little, over millions of years, the sediment deposits added to the islands until the gaps were completely filled. By about 3 million years ago, an isthmus had formed between North and South America. (An “isthmus” is a narrow strip of land, with water on either side that connects two larger bodies of land.)

The formation of the Isthmus of Panama also played a major role in biodiversity of Americas. The bridge made it easier for animals and plants to migrate between the continents. For instance, in North America today, the opossum, armadillo, and porcupine all trace back to ancestors that came across the land bridge from South America. Likewise, the ancestors of bears, cats, dogs, horses, llamas, and raccoons all made the trek south across the isthmus from North.

43. Boreal forests are a band of coniferous forests [derived the name as they are cone bearing] that encircle the globe in the high northern latitudes between about 50°N and 70°N. Boreal forests form a circumpolar eco-region that stretches across Canada—from Alaska to Newfoundland—and extends across northern Europe and Asia—from Scandinavia to eastern Russia. Boreal forests are the world's largest terrestrial biome and account for more than one quarter of all the forested land on Earth. Boreal forests blanket a vast range across northern Europe, Asia, and North America. They are bordered by tundra habitat to the north and temperate forest habitat to the south. The tree species present in boreal forests are primarily spruces, pines, and larches.

Key Characteristics of boreal forests:

ü  terrestrial biome that accounts for more than one quarter of all the forested land on Earth

ü  occurs in high northern latitudes between about 50°N and 70°N

ü  low average annual temperatures and extreme cold during winter months

ü  among the biomes most vulnerable to the effects of climate change

ü  the peat lands of boreal forests are significant reservoirs of carbon

Fauna/Animals of Boreal Forests

·         Snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) - Snowshoe hares inhabit the boreal forests of North America. Snowshoe hares have large feet with thick fur on their soles to help prevent them from sinking into the snow.

·         Siberian Tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) - Siberian tigers are a critically endangered subspecies of tiger. They are the largest of all the tiger subspecies. Siberian tigers inhabit the coniferous, deciduous and boreal forests of the Russian Far East. Their range extends along the border of China and North Korea and bounded on the west by the Sea of Japan.

·         Bobcat (Felis rufus) - Bobcats are medium-sized cats that inhabit the boreal forests of North America. Bobcats feed on small mammals such as rabbits, hares, and rodents as well as birds and insects. Bobcats are thought to be the descendents of Eurasian lynx that crossed to North America from Eurasia during the Pleistocene by way of the Bering Land Bridge.

·         Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) - The caribou is a member of the deer family that inhabits the boreal forests and tundra of North America, Siberia, and Europe. Caribou are grazing herbivores that feed on the leaves of willows and birches, as well as mushrooms, grasses, sedges, and lichen.

·         Boreal chorus frog (Pseudacris maculata) - The boreal chorus frog is a small brown frog that inhabits the wetlands of the boreal forest as well as high elevations in more southern latitudes. Boreal chorus frogs have a distinct call that has been described as sounding like someone running their finger over the teeth of a comb

45. The Western Cordillera contains three parallel mountain ranges in the western side of the North American continent. They are 1. Coastal Ranges, 2. Sierra Nevada and 3. The Rocky Mountains. The Coastal Ranges starts at Southern Alaska and extend up to Panama, bordering the Pacific Ocean. The next mountain ranges are Sierra Nevada between Coastal ranges and Rocky Mountains. The Rocky Mountains are very large Mountains extending from the North to South in the continent.

The Appalachian Mountains forms the eastern border of USA. They are called “Eastern Highlands”. They are old fold mountains and mostly eroded by old glaciers and rivers and at present their height varies between 1000 to 1800 meters. Hudson is the main river flowing through these mountains. It is good in minerals such as Coal, copper, and lead and also source of Hydroelectricity.

Canadian Shield covers almost half of the Canada in the North. Its northern part lies in the cold zone and remains frozen for most of the year and southern part is occupied by the Great lakes and River St. Lawrence. The total Hudson Bay is deeply located into the shield. A large part of shield is occupied by swamps and a number of lakes including the Great Lakes of North America, Lake Great Bear and Lake Winnipeg. This shield is important source of minerals such as Gold, Silver, Nickel, Iron, Copper, Platinum, Radium, Uranium, and Cobalt in large quantities.

46. The rivers Colorado and Yellow stone flow in Canyons. Canyons are very deep gorges. The other two rivers Mississippi and St. Lawrence don’t flow in canyons and flow in plains and main arteries of inland transportation of USA and Canada.

The brief facts of the certain rivers in North America are given under.

Colorado: 

Beginning in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado, it moves southwest, ending in the Gulf of California. It's 2,333 km in length and over the centuries formed numerous canyons along its winding path. The most famous of these is the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona. The river has more than 30 electric power plants along its run, as well as dozens of dams and reservoirs

Mississippi: 
It is the major river of North America and the United States at 3,765 km in length. It flows from northwestern Minnesota south to the Gulf of Mexico, just below the city of New Orleans. It is a significant transportation artery and when combined with its major tributaries (the Missouri and Ohio rivers) it becomes the third largest river system in the world at (3,877 miles) (6,236 km) in length. It would not flow in grand canyons and that is the reason it is a good transportation avenue of the continent.  

St. Lawrence: 

This river flows northeast out of Lake Ontario and on into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It's 1,225 km in length and permits the passage of deep-water ships between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes. It includes a series of man-made canals, locks and dams, and is considered one of the most vital shipping routes on the planet on the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes. It would not flow in grand canyons and that is the reason it is a good transportation avenue of the continent.

Yellowstone River:

 It The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 1,114 km long, in the western USA. It drains a wide area stretching from the Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of the Yellowstone National Park across the mountains and high plains of southern Montana and northern Wyoming. It makes Yellowstone Falls in Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Additional information:

Mackenzie: 
It's the longest river in Canada and dissects the Northwest Territories. It flows generally northwest into Mackenzie Bay and the Beaufort Sea. This historic river was discovered by Sir Alexander MacKenzie, and along its path are thick, green forests and dozens of major lakes. It's 1,800 km in length. If then combined with its tributaries - the Slave, Peace and Finlay rivers - it extends to (2,635 miles) (4,240 km), and becomes the second longest river in North America, second only to the Mississippi/Missouri river system combination at (3,877 miles) (6,236 km) in length.

47.  The desert is located in South Western part of USA and North western part of Mexico in North America. This is in line with the entire world where most of the deserts are found in the Western part of the continent. In North America, Mediterranean type of climate is found in the western coast of California in USA.  It is an area of hot dry summer and cool winter due to seasonal shifting of the wind belts. This climate is famous for citrus fruits such as oranges and lemons. The important trees are Oak, Olive and Pine.

52. A landlocked country is a country that has no access to the ocean at its borders. Lesotho and Swaziland are the two land-locked countries in South Africa. The South American continent has only two land locked countries, Bolivia and Paraguay. Uruguay is not a land-locked country and has coast with South Atlantic Ocean.   A doubly landlocked country is one which is surrounded by landlocked countries. There are only two countries which are doubly landlocked in the World and they are Uzbekistan and Liechtenstein. Uzbekistan is surrounded by the landlocked countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan. Liechtenstein is surrounded by the landlocked countries of Switzerland and Austria. Hence, “a” is the only correct option.

The top 10 land locked countries in the World are 1. Kazakhstan, 2. Mongolia, 3. Chad, 4. Niger, 5. Mali, 6. Ethiopia, 7. Bolivia, 8. Zambia, 9. Afghanistan and 10. Central African Republic.

53. Bharati is the name of latest Antarctic research station commissioned by India on trial basis in 2012, though official launch is pending. It is India's third Antarctic research facility and one of two active Indian research stations, alongside Maitri. India's first committed research facility, Dakshin Gangotri is currently being used as a supply base. India has demarcated an area beside Larsemann Hills at 69°S, 76°E for construction. India became one of nine nations to have multiple stations within the Antarctic Cirlce. Bharati's research mandate focuses on oceanographic studies and the phenomenon of continental breakup. Additionally, it also facilitates research to refine the current understanding of the Indian subcontinent's geological history. "Bharati"The project for setting up of the ground station is undertaken by the Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) from the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) for a contract value of Rs.50 crore.

High-speed satellite raw data would be beamed in real time from Bharati Station to NRSC (National Remote Sensing Centre) in Hyderabad for processing the images once the project starts functioning.

In 2007, ECIL also established the communication link between Maitri, the second Indian research station in Antarctica and NCAOR [National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) is India’s premier R&D institution responsible for the country’s research activities in the polar and Southern Ocean realms.

56. The term Mediterranean climate is one typical of the Mediterranean Basin and is a particular variety of subtropical climate. The lands around the Mediterranean Sea form the largest area where this climate type is found, but it also prevails in much of California, in parts of Western and Southern Australia, in southwestern South Africa, sections of Central Asia, and in central Chile.

The native vegetation of Mediterranean climate lands must be adapted to survive long, hot summer droughts and prolonged wet periods in winter. Hence the trees have long roots, waxy leaves and thick spongy barks. They are Evergreen trees such as Pines, Deciduous trees such as Oaks; Fruit trees such as Olives, Figs, Citrus, Walnuts and grapes. Further, different plants of Shrubs and sub-shrubs and grasses grow here.  The wine industry is associated with this type of climate.

57. The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe that includes three neighboring monarchies, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, which lie in the north western European region between France and Germany. The name is formed from the beginning of each country's name. In 1947 the three nations formed the Benelux Customs Union, which broadened over the years into what a 1960 treaty confirmed as the Benelux Economic Union.

These three countries are called as “Low Countries” because much of their land along the North Sea coast and for some distance inland is either below sea level or just slightly above it. 

59. The Lithosphere of the Continents as well as Oceans act as a single block and divided into different Tectonic Plates which move on the plastic like material in the upper mantle of the Earth called “Aesthenosphere”. The key principle of plate tectonics is that the lithosphere exists as separate and distinct tectonic plates, which ride on the fluid-like [Visco-elastic solid] asthenosphere. Plate motions range up to a typical 10–40 mm/year (Mid-Atlantic Ridge; about as fast as fingernails grow), to about 160 mm/year [Nazca Plate; about as fast as hair grows). The major plates of Lithosphere are

ü  The Pacific Plate

ü  Eurasian Plate

ü  African Plate

ü  Austral-Indian Plate

ü  Antarctica Plate

The other Minor Plates are Caribbean Plate, Cocas Plate, Nazca Plate, Juan de Fuca Plate, Philippine Plate etc..

The location where two plates meet is called a plate boundary. Plate boundaries are commonly associated with geological events such as earthquakes and the creation of topographic features such as Mountains, Volcanoes, mid-Ocean ridges  and Oceanic trenches. The majority of the world's active volcanoes occur along plate boundaries, with the Pacific Plate's Ring of Fire being the most active and widely known today. Some volcanoes occur in the interiors of plates, and these have been variously attributed to internal plate deformation and to mantle plumes

Three types of plate boundaries exist, with a fourth, mixed type, characterized by the way the plates move relative to each other. They are associated with different types of surface phenomena. The different types of plate boundaries are:

1.    Transform (Conservative) occur where two lithospheric plates slide, or perhaps more accurately, grind past each other along transform faults, where plates are neither created nor destroyed. The relative motion of the two plates is either sinistral (left side toward the observer) or dextral (right side toward the observer). Transform faults occur across a spreading center. Strong earthquakes can occur along a fault. The San Andreas Fault in California is an example of a transform boundary exhibiting dextral motion.

2.    Divergent Boundaries (Constructive) occur where two plates slide apart from each other. At zones of ocean-to-ocean rifting, divergent boundaries form by seafloor spreading, allowing for the formation of new ocean basin. As the continent splits, the ridge forms at the spreading center, the ocean basin expands, and finally, the plate area increases causing many small volcanoes and/or shallow earthquakes. At zones of continent-to-continent rifting, divergent boundaries may cause new ocean basin to form as the continent splits, spreads, the central rift collapses, and ocean fills the basin. Active zones of Mid-ocean ridges (e.g., Mid Atlantic Ridge and East Pacific Rise), and continent-to-continent rifting (such as Africa's East African Rift and Valley, Red Sea) are examples of divergent boundaries.

3.    Convergent Boundaries (Destructive) (or active margins) occur where two plates slide toward each other to form either a subduction zone (one plate moving underneath the other) or a continental collision. At zones of ocean-to-continent subduction (e.g., Western South America, and Cascade Mountains in Western United States), the dense oceanic lithosphere plunges beneath the less dense continent. Earthquakes then trace the path of the downward-moving plate as it descends into asthenosphere, a trench forms, and as the subducted plate partially melts, magma rises to form continental volcanoes. At zones of ocean-to-ocean subduction (e.g., the Andes mountain range in South America, Aleutian Islands, Mariana Islands, and the Japanese Island arc), older, cooler, denser crust slips beneath less dense crust. This causes earthquakes and a deep trench to form in an arc shape. The upper mantle of the subducted plate then heats and magma rises to form curving chains of volcanic islands. Deep marine trenches are typically associated with subduction zones, and the basins that develop along the active boundary are often called "foreland basins". The subducting slab contains many hydrous minerals which release their water on heating. This water then causes the mantle to melt, producing volcanism. Closure of ocean basins can occur at continent-to-continent boundaries (e.g., Himalayas and Alps): collision between masses of granitic continental lithosphere; neither mass is subducted; plate edges are compressed, folded, uplifted.

4.    Plate boundary zones occur where the effects of the interactions are unclear, and the boundaries, usually occurring along a broad belt, are not well defined and may show various types of movements in different episodes.

Different Tectonic Plates of the World.

60. Today, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and the Indian Ocean cover the area once occupied by the Tethys Ocean, and Turkey, Iraq and Tibet sit on Cimmeria. What was once the western arm of the Tethys Sea was the ancestor of the present-day Mediterranean Sea. Other remnants are the Black, Caspian and Aral Seas  (via a former inland branch known as the Paratethys). Most of the floor of the Tethys Ocean disappeared under Cimmeria and Laurasia. Geologists such as Eduard Suess have found fossils of ocean creatures in rocks in the Himalayas, indicating that those rocks were once underwater, before the Indian continental shelf began pushing upward as it smashed into Cimmeria. Similar geologic evidence can be seen in the Alpine orogeny of Europe, where the movement of the African Plate raised the Alps. Greece and the Levant also retain many units of limestone and other sedimentary deposited by various stands of the Tethys Ocean.

Paleontologists also find the Tethys Ocean particularly important because much of the world's sea shelves were found around its margins for such an extensive length of time. Marine, marsh-dwelling, and estuarine fossils from these shelves are of considerable paleontological interest. The Solnhofen limestone in Bavaria, originally a coastal lagoon mud of the Tethys Ocean, yielded the famous Archaeopteryx fossil. This fossil evidences that the birds had emerged from Reptiles and acts as a missing link between Reptiles and Birds. 

61. The Montreaux Record is a voluntary mechanism to highlight specific wetland of international importance under the Ramsar convention, but which are facing immediate challenges. In particular, the Montreux Record is a register of listed Ramsar sites where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur as a result of technological developments, pollution or other human interference.

At present, 51 sites were listed in the Montreaux Record. The Montreaux Record was established by Recommendation 4.8 at the 1990 cop. There are only two Indian sites in the Montreaux Record and they are Keolade National Park-Rajasthan, Loktak Lake – Manipu

 At present, 51 sites were listed in the Montreaux Record.

Additional Information:

List of Indian wetlands under Ramsar Convention:

Sr. No.	Name of Wetland	State	Date of Declaration
1.	Chilika lake	Orissa	01 – 10 – 1981
2.	Keoladeo National park	Rajasthan	01 – 10 – 1981
3.	Harike Lake	Punjab	23 – 03 – 1990
4.	Loktak Lake	Manipur	23 – 03 – 1990
5.	Sambhar Lake	Rajasthan	23 – 03 – 1990
6.	Wular Lake	Jammu Kashmir	23 – 03 – 1990
7.	Ashtamudi wetland	Kerala	19 – 08 – 2002
8.	Bhitarkanika Mangroves	Orissa	19 – 08 – 2002
9.	Bhoj wetland	Madhya Pradesh	19 – 08 – 2002
10.	Deepor Beel	Assam	19 – 08 – 2002
11.	East Calcutta wetlands	West Bengal	19 – 08 – 2002
12.	Kanjili	Punjab	22 – 01 – 2002
13.	Ropar P	unjab	22 – 01 – 2002
14.	Kolleru Lake	Andhra Pradesh	19 – 08 – 2002
15.	Point calimere	Tamil Nadu	19 – 08 – 2002
16.	Pong Dam Lake	Himachal Pradesh	19 – 08 – 2002
17.	Sasthamkotta Lake	Kerala	19 – 08 – 2002
18.	Tsomoriri	Jammu & Kashmir	19 – 08 – 2002
19.	Vembanad-kol wetland	Kerala	19 – 08 – 2002
20.	Chandertal wetland	Himachal Pradesh	08 – 11 – 2005
21.	Hokera wetland	Jammu & Kashmir	08 – 11 – 2005
22.	Renuka wetland	Himachal Pradesh	08 – 11 – 2005
23.	Rudrasagar Lake	Tripura	08 – 11 – 2005
24.	Surinsar-Mansar Lakes	Jammu & Kashmir	08 – 11 – 2005
25.	Upper Ganga River (Brijghat to Narora stretch)	Uttar Pradesh	08 – 11 – 2005

65. The chief berber speaking area is in North Africa mainly Morocco and Algeria; Smaller berber speaking population also found in Libya, Mali, Niger, Tunisia, Burkina Faso, Egypt and Mauritania. Sizable communities of speakers in: Belgium, France, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Canada, and the United States. This language belongs to Afro-Asiatic family. In 2001, Berber became a constitutional national language of Algeria, and in 2011 Berber became a constitutionally official language of Morocco.

Swahili is a Bantu language spoken in Tanzania, Burundi, Congo (Kinshasa), Kenya, Mozambique, Oman, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Uganda, UAE and the USA. Around 5 million people speak Swahili as a native language, and a further 135 million speak is as a second language.

Zulu is one of the official languages of South Africa and is a member of the Bantu/ Nguni family of languages. It is spoken by about 9 million people mainly in Zululand and northern Natal in South Africa and also in Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and Swaziland.

66. The Mountains of the Africa are basically located inside the African plate.  The Drakensberg Mountains are located in South Africa from North South direction in South Eastern side. The Atlas Mountains are located in north western Africa. The Ethiopian Highlands are spread in Ethiopia in the Central Eastern Africa and in the horn of Africa. The Mitumba Mountains are located in Central Africa just west to Lake Tanganyika and acts as a border between Democratic Republic of Congo on the west and Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda on the East.

68. The Tropic of Capricon passes through South America, Africa and Australia, not through Asia as given in the option “c”.

70. The major cities of Australia can be remembered by a code. It is B.Sc., M.A. PhD. It is in an anti-clock wise direction of the continent in an order, except Hobart which is in Tasmania, an island belong to Australia. They are Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart and Darwin. You can see the Atlas and remember. In the given question, the Wellington is the capital of New Zealand which is south of Australia. Adelaide is located in the southern side of Australian mainland in the Great Australian Bight and more specifically in the Spencer Gulf. Sydney is further North in the East coast and Brisbane further north in the East coast. The Darwin is located on the North west coast of Australia in Cambridge Gulf. Prepare well on Australia and New Zealand on all aspects such as Fauna, cities, Minerals and Physiographic features, Gulfs, Bays, straits,  etc. as Cricket World Cup, 2015 is being hosted jointly by Australia and New Zealand.

72. The Australian Alps are located in South East Australia and the Monsoon climate is found in the Northern Australia. Hence, option “c” is correct. See the physiographic  map of Australia.

74. Australia has largest number of sheep in the world and the sheep number is more than 10 times that of human population. The Merino breed forms 70% of the sheep population and gives high grade wool. The vast temperate grass lands in Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia  Victoria and Southern Australia support sheep. Cattle rearing are also one of the main activities in Australia, especially concentrated in tropical grasslands of East coast, Northern Australia etc.  This country harbor unique mammals with a pouch in their abdomen to take of their young ones called “marsupials” or pouched mammals where birth is given to a tiny precarious young ones and then transferred to pouch and fed there with milk. Eg. Kangaroo. It is also house to egg laying mammals such as duckbill platupus and the scaly ant eater, Pangolin.

75. Lake Nicaragua is located in Central America on the Isthmus of Panama. Lake Chad is a fresh water shallow lake located mainly in the far west of Chad, bordering on northeastern Nigeria. The Chari River, fed by its tributary the Logone, provides over 90% of Lake Chad's water, with a small amount coming from the Yobe River in Nigeria/Niger. Lake Eyre is located in Australia. The Great Salt Lake is located in USA. The lakes located in Canada-USA border are called the “Great Lakes” of North America [Lake Superior, L.Michigon, Lake Huron, L. Erie and L.Ontario] and purely in Canada are Lake Bear, L.Slave, L. Winnipeg etc.

77. The river releasing highest fresh water into the Ocean is R.Amazon located in Brazil. Country with longest coast line is Canada and the lake with highest salinity is Lake Van in Turkey [330 grms per 1000 grms of water as against normal salinity of 35 grams per 1000 gms of water]. Highest lake in the world is L.Titicaca located in the Peru and Bolivian border. [ If the question is on highest saline sea, it is “dead sea” which has around 240 gms/1000 gms of water. If the question is highest saline water body, it is lake Van].

78. Sixth largest country in the world is Australia. The first five are Russia, Canada, China, USA, and Brazil. India is seventh largest country in the world. The most populous country in Africa is Nigeria [18.5 crores]. The other populous countries in Arica are Ethiopia with 9 cr, Egypt with 8.8 cr, Democratic Republic of Congo with 7 cr and South Africa with 5.48 crores. The most populous countries in the world are China, India, United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Russia and Japan in that order. In Nepal, people call Everest as Sagarmatha.

79. The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes is a valley within Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska which is filled with ash flow from the eruption of Novarupta on June 6–8, 1912. Following the eruption, thousands of fumaroles vented steam from the ash. Katmai is a strato-volcano, formed from alternating layers of lava flows and pyroclastic rocks. The presence of pyroclastic materials indicates that some Katmai eruptions have been explosive. The subsidence of the summit to form the central caldera and the extraordinarily energetic earthquakes accompanying the 1912 eruption are evidence of this.

81. The Sechura Desert (also Nazca Desert) is located in Peru along the Pacific Ocean coast and inland to the foothills of the Andes Mountain. The famous Atacama Desert is located south to this in Chile. Blackrock and Mohave deserts are located in the western part of USA. Gibson, Simpson and Stuart deserts are located in Australia. The famous deserts of Australia are Great Sandy Desert and Great Victoria Desert. The Gobi is located in Northern and North Western China and Southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands of Steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Taklimakan Desert to the West and by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the southwest, and by the North China Plain to the Southeast. The Gobi is most notable in history as part of the great Mongol Empire, and as the location of several important cities along the Silk Road.

84. The interplay of altitude and latitude affects the precise placement of the snow line at a particular location. At or near the equator, it is typically situated at approximately 4,500 meters (or about 15,000 feet) above sea level.As one moves towards the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricon, the parameter at first increases: in the Himalayas the permanent snow line can be as high as 5,700 metres (18,700 feet), whilst on the Tropic of Capricorn no permanent snow exists at all in the Andes because of the extreme aridity. Beyond the Tropics the snow line becomes progressively lower as the latitude increases, to just below 3,000 meters in the Alps and falling all the way to sea level itself at the ice caps and Poles.

In addition, the relative location to the nearest coastline can influence the altitude of the snow line. Areas near a coast might have a lower snow line than areas of the same altitude and latitude situated in a landmass interior due to more winter snowfall and because the average summer temperature of the surrounding lowlands would be warmer away from the sea.

In view of this glaciers exist all over the world in all places from Equator to the poles. In the equator and tropics, they are placed in higher altitudes as mountain caps and on peaks.

85. Lambert Glacier is a major glacier in East Antarctica, not on Greenland. At about 60 miles (100 km) wide, over 250 miles (400 km) long, and about 2,500 m deep, it holds the Guinness World record for the world's largest glacier.

Longest glacial systems outside poles:

The Biafo Glacier is a 67 km (42 mi) long glacier meets the 49 km (30 mi) long Hispar glacier at an altitude of 5,128 m (16,824 ft) at Hispar La (Pass) to create the world's longest glacial system outside the Polar Regions. South America hosts two large ice fields, the Northern and Southern Patagonian Ice Fields, of which the second is the largest contiguous body of glaciers in extra Polar Regions.

Longest glaciers outside poles:

Outside the polar region, Siachen Glacier [70 km (43 mi)] is the largest controlled by India, followed by Fedchenko Glacier controlled by Tajikistan and  the  Biafo Glacier in the Karakoram Mountains of Gilgit Balitistan, Pakistan.

[Additional and imp information: The Perito Moreno Glacier is a glacier located in the Los Glaciers National park in southwest Santa Cruz Province of Argentina. It is one of the most important tourist attractions in the Argentinean Patagonia. The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of only three Patagonian glaciers that are growing. The reason remains debated by glaciologists. The 250 km² ice formation, and 30 km in length, is one of 48 glaciers fed by the Southern Patagonian Ice field located in the Andes system shared with Chile. This ice field is the world's third largest reserve of fresh water.]

Break up of Water on the Earth:

A graphical distribution of the locations of water on Earth. Of the total water found on the globe, 97% is saline water and fresh water constitutes around 3%.  Within the 3% of the earth's fresh water, the lion share is in the form of icecaps and glaciers (69%) and groundwater (30%), while all lakes, rivers and swamps combined only account for a small fraction of 0.3% of the Earth's total freshwater reserves.

89. To answer this query, you shall keep the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in mind and the maritime borders of India. The coco channel in the Bay of Bengal indicates the maritime border with the Myanmar not with Indonesia. Borneo is the third-largest island in the world and the largest island of Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi and Celebes Sea, and east of Sumatra. It belongs to three countries, most of the southern part to Indonesia, Northern part to Malaysia and Brunei Sultanate is fully located in the island in the Northern part. Banda Aceh or Banda Acèh is the capital and largest city in the province of Aceh, Indonesia. It is nearest to the Indira point which is the southernmost point of India in Nicobar Islands and northernmost tip of Sumatra Island of Indonesia at the mouth of the Aceh River.

92. Europe is called “Land of Peninsulas”. The top 3 peninsulas of Europe are 1. Scandinavian Peninsula, 2. Balkan Peninsula and 3. The Iberian Peninsula commonly called Iberia. The Iberian Peninsula is located in the extreme southwest of the continent. There are three countries in it, Spain, Portugal and Andorra, besides a part of France and and the British Overseas territory of Gibraltar. The Iberian coast is shared by the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, but not the Pacific as given in the query.

93. The Sudd is a vast swamp in South Sudan [Not in Sudan as given in the query], formed by the White Nile’s Bahr al-Jabal section.   The Arabic word “sudd” is derived from sadd meaning ‘barrier’ or ‘obstruction. This swamp is an obstruction for navigation in the Nile, hence the name.  The area which the swamp covers is one of the world's largest wetland and the largest freshwater wetland in the Nile basin.

94. The Sial means Silica plus Aluminum and Sima means Silica and Magnesium. They are present in the crust of both Oceans and continents. The asthenosphere is a plastic like material in the mantle on which the lithosphere or the tectonic plates move. The Earth's inner core is the Earth's innermost part and according to seismological studies, it is a primarily solid ball with a radius of about 1220 kilometers, or 760 miles (About 70% of the Moon's radius). It is believed to consist primarily of an iron-nickel alloy and to be approximately the same temperature as the surface of the Sun: approximately 5400 °C. The Earth's outer core is a liquid layer about 2,300 km or 1400 miles thick composed of iron and nickel that lies above Earth's solid inner core and below its mantle. Its outer boundary lies 2,890 km (1,800 mi) beneath Earth's surface. The transition between the inner core and outer core is located approximately 5,150 km (3,200 mi) beneath the Earth's surface.  

95. There are 47 countries on the African continent, including the disputed territory of Western Sahara. However, the islands off the coast are also usually listed as African, bringing the total to 53. The island nations are Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Madagascar, the Comoros, the Seychelles, and Mauritius. The top 10 land locked countries in the World are 1. Kazakhstan, 2. Mongolia, 3. Chad, 4. Niger, 5. Mali, 6. Ethiopia, 7. Bolivia, 8. Zambia, 9. Afghanistan and 10. Central African Republic. Africa sometimes nicknamed as “Mother continent” due its being the oldest inhabited continent of the Earth. Human and Human ancestors have lived in Africa for more than 5 million years and migrated to different parts of the Earth from there.

96. Four African countries make up the Horn of Africa, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia. The Bab-el-Mandeb is a strait located between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. It connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. [Bab-el-Mandeb" means "Gateway of anguish” or “Gateway of tears] The Bab-el-Mandeb acts as a strategic link between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. The distance across the strait is about 20 miles (30 km) from Ras Meneheli in Yemen to Ras Siyyan in Djibouti. The island of Perim divides the strait into two channels, of which the eastern, known as the Bab Iskender (Alexander's Strait), is 2 miles (3 km) wide and 16 fathoms (30 m) deep, while the western, or Dact-el-Mayun, has a width of about 16 miles (25 km) and a depth of 170 fathoms (310 m). Near the coast of Djibouti lies a group of smaller islands known as the "Seven Brothers ". There is a surface current inwards in the eastern channel, but a strong undercurrent outwards in the western channel.

97. Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia sub cultures in the Pacific Ocean.

   

All the pairs in the query are correctly matched. Polynesia is a sub region of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. Micronesia is a sub region of Oceania, comprising thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a shared cultural history with two other island regions, Polynesia to the east and Melanesia to the south. Melanesia is a sub region of Oceania extending from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji. The region consists of the four countries of: Vanuatu, Solomon Islands Fiji Papua New Guinea.

98. The tropical monsoon climate is found in Indian sub-continent, South East Asia and Southern China in Asia; Northern Australia; parts of Africa etc. The hot deserts are found in the world in the tropical latitudes, i.e., 30 degrees North to 30 degrees South. The Europe being the continent which mainly located in temperate zone in Northern Hemisphere and therefore no hot desert is found in Europe. However, temperate deserts are found in European continent. The temperate grass lands are found in all continents, except in Antarctica which is not inhabited by any human population. Hence the correct option is “c”.  

Distribution of tropical monsoon climate

Distribution of Tropical rain forests in the World

The desert type of climate can broadly be categorized as Tropical or hot deserts and Cold desert type. The distributions of these climates are depicted as under.

Distribution of tropical/Hot desert type of climate

Distribution of temperate or cold desert type of climate

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Note: Those who are following the blog may not be able to see the diagrams given in appropriate places in this key [Q.1, 56, 59, 97 and 98].  They may see them  from the Net or Atlas.

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