Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon – December 22

Statements 1 and 2 are correct:

• In the southern hemisphere, the climate is ex-perienced in southern Chile, Tasmania and most parts of New Zealand, particularly in South Island.
• The natural vegetation of this climatic type is deciduous forest. The trees shed their leaves in the cold season. This is an adaptation for protecting themselves against the winter snow and frost. Shedding begins in autumn, the ‘fall’ season, during which the leaves fall and are scattered by the winds.

Statement 3 is incorrect:

The British type of climate has adequate rainfall throughout the year with a tendency towards a slight winter or autumn maximum from cyclonic sources. Since the rain-bearing winds come from the west, the western margins have the heaviest rainfall. The amount decreases eastwards with increasing distance from the sea.

All the above statements are correct:

• Cultivation in the steppes was unknown just before a century and the region was one of the most sparsely populated parts of the world. In recent years, the grasslands have been ploughed up for extensive, mechanized wheat cultivation and are now the ‘granaries of the world’ [Prairies]. Besides wheat, maize is increasingly cultivated in the warmer and wetter

• The tufted grasses have been replaced by the more nutritious Lucerne or alfalfa grass for cattle and sheep rearing. These temperate grasslands are now the leading ranching regions of the globe.
• The natural conditions of the steppes suits animal farming. With the development of refrigerated ships in the late nineteenth century, the temperate grasslands became major pastoral regions, exporting large quantities of beef, mutton, wool, hides. Milk, butter, cheese and other dairy products are also important in some parts of the North American grasslands.

Some of the features associated with glacier erosion in alpine regions are cirques, horns, and arêtes

Cirques: are the bowl shaped depressions found at the head of glacial valleys. For most alpine glaciers, cirques are the areas in the alpine valleys where snow first accumulated and was modified into glacial ice. The glaciers that occupy cirques are called cirque glaciers.

Horns: are pyramidal peaks that form when several cirques chisel a mountain from three or more sides. The most famous horn is the Matterhorn found in the Swiss Alps.

Arêtes are the narrow serrated ridges found in glaciated alpine areas. Arêtes form when two opposing cirques back erode a mountain ridge.

Moraines: Moraines are accumulations of dirt and rocks that have fallen onto the glacier surface or have been pushed along by the glacier as it moves. The dirt and rocks composing moraines can range in size from powdery silt to large rocks and boulders. A receding glacier can leave behind moraines that are visible long after the glacier retreats.

The highest and biggest plateau on Earth, the Tibetan Plateau in East Asia, resulted from a collision between two tectonic plates about 55 million years ago. The land buckled up along the seam of the collision and formed the Himalaya mountain range. Farther away, the crust uplifted but didn’t crumple and wrinkle, creating instead a raised, flat, and wide open expanse known as the “roof of the world.”

The Malwa plateau and Deccan traps of India, Columbia and Snake Rivers Plateau of North America, Kimberlay Plateau of Australia and Parana and Patagonian Plateaus of South America were also formed by the solidification of molten lava which had escaped from the earth’s interior to its surface at different geological times.

Statement 1 is correct:

Faulting results in the formation of well known relief features such as riftvalleys and the block mountains. A rift valley is formed by sinking of rockstrata lying between two almost parallel faults. The classicalexamples of rift valleys in the world include the Midland Valley of Scotland,the Rhine Valley, the Valley of Nile, the Dead Sea basin and the Great RiftValley of East Africa comprising few lakes of this region.

A rift valley is a trough with steep parallel walls along the fault lines. Such avalley is also called a graben.

Statement 2 is Incorrect:

A rift valley may also be formed by upliftmentof two blocks along the fault line. These uplifted blocks are called horsts orblock mountains. The well known examples of horsts are the VosgesandtheBlackforest mountains on both sides of Rhine rift valley and the Plateaus ofPalestine and Trans Jordan.

• PirPanjal Range: This is the largest range of the lower Himalayas and runs from the East-Southeast to west-northwest. The PirPanjal pass lies to the west of Srinagar and comprises Banihal Pass, Sinthal Pass, Rohtang La, Munawar Pass and HajiPir Pass.
• Ladakh Range: This range extends from the northern side of Leh to the Tibetan border. It comprises Digar La Pass and Khardung La Pass. Considered a segment of the Karakoram mountain range, the Ladakh range has an extreme climate. Leh, which is the main town of the region, is regarded as a trade centre for fine pashmina wool.
• Zanskar Range: This range starts from south-eastern boundaries of Kashmir and extends to the eastern limit of Baltistan. Singge La Pass, Runrang La Pass, Fotu (Fatu) La Pass, Marbal Pass and Zoji La Pass are some of the passes of this range.
• Dhauladhar Range: This range rises from the plains of India to the north of Mandi and Kangra. Hanuman ji Ka Tiba or the ‘White Mountain’ is the highest peak.
• East Karakoram Range: This range separates India from Central Asia and is also one of the larger ranges of Asia. It is home to the second highest peak of the world, K2.

The countries with coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea are Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Monaco, Montenegro, Slovenia, Spain, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey. In addition, the Gaza Strip and the British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri and Dhekelia have coastlines on the sea