Q. Consider the following statements regarding the physical and climatic features of the Tibetan Plateau:
1.It was geologically formed due to the tectonic collision of the Indo-Australian and Eurasian plates.
2.The plateau is bound to the northeast by the Karakoram Range and to the west by the Kunlun Range.
3.Its immense altitude is sufficient to reverse the atmospheric Hadley cell convection cycles.
4.It acts as a major thermal engine that drives the summer monsoonal winds of India towards the south.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Answer: A
Notes:
Detailed Explanation:
- Statement 1 is correct: The Tibetan Plateau is the highest and largest plateau on Earth, formed during the Cenozoic era due to the continental collision between the Indo-Australian (Indian) plate and the Eurasian plate.
- Statement 2 is incorrect: The Tibetan Plateau is bound to the south by the Himalayas, to the northeast by the Kunlun Range, and to the west by the Karakoram Range.
- Statement 3 is correct: Due to its average elevation exceeding 4,500 meters, intense summer heating over the plateau creates a strong rising thermal core. This localized updraft is powerful enough to physically alter and reverse the classic regional atmospheric Hadley cell circulation.
- Statement 4 is incorrect: The thermal low pressure generated over the heated Tibetan Plateau acts as a meteorological pump that pulls and drives the moist multi-branch South West Monsoonal winds towards the north/northwest into the Indian subcontinent, not towards the south.
