Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon (Geography) – July 3, 2020

India has a land frontier of 15,106.7 km. The total length of the coastline of India is 7,516.6 km.  India shares its border with seven countries namely Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka.

The drainage pattern was already present before a period of uplift and folding that formed the present structure.

• As the uplift took place, the rivers were able to cut down at approximately the same rate and so maintain their courses.
• This process is called antecedence and the drainage system thus developed is called antecedent drainage.
• Many of the Himalayan Rivers have antecedent origine. these rivers existed even before the Himalayan ranges were uplifted.
• These rivers originate in the Tibetan side beyond the mountain ranges of Himalayas. The Indus, Satluj, Alaknanda, Gandak, Kosi, Brahmaputra all has an antecedent origin.
• Since these rivers are antecedent, they run transverse to the mountain ranges cutting deep V-shaped, steep-sided valleys (deep gorges).

Zoji La: Zoji La is a high mountain pass located in the Kargil district of Ladakh.

• The pass links Leh and Srinagarand provides an important link between Union Territories of Ladakh and Kashmir.
• In 2018, the Zojila tunnel project was launched.
• The tunnel is Asia’s longest and strategic bi-directional tunnel, which will provide all-weather connectivity between Srinagar, Kargil and Leh.

Banihal Pass: It is in Jammu & Kashmir. The National Highway No.1A that links Srinagar to Jammu goes through it.

NOTE: Satluj River flows through Shipki La (Pass).

Nathu La: It is in Sikkim. It gives way to Tibet from Darjeeling and Chumbi Valley. The Chumbi River flows through this pass.

Jog Falls, also called Gersoppa Falls, cataract of the Sharavati River, western Karnataka state, southwestern India. The Jog Falls are located 18 miles (29 km) upstream from Honavar at the river’s mouth on the Arabian Sea.

Dharwar system is later than the Archean system but older than the other systems.

• The Dharwar period of rock formation has been largely fixed from 2500 million years ago to 1800 million years ago.
• Dharwar Rock System is special because it is the first metamorphic sedimentary rocks in India.
• They are named Dharwar system because they were first studied in Dharwar region of Karnataka.
• But they are also found in Aravallis, Tamil Nadu, Chota-nagpur plateau, Meghalaya, Delhi, and the Himalayas region.
• The Dharwar rocks are rich in iron ore, manganese, lead, zinc, gold, silver etc.

Rivers and their adjacent towns.

The Soils can be classified on the basis of dominating factors:

Zonal Soil – These soils occur in broad geographical areas or zones.

• They are influenced more by the climate and vegetation of the area rather than the rock-type.
• They are mature, as a result of stable conditions over a long period of time.
• For example – red soils, black soils, laterite soils, desert soils

Azonal Soil – It is that soil which has been developed by the process of deposition by the agents of erosion.

• It means that it has been made by the fine rocky particles transported from the far-off regions.
• These are immature soils and lack well-developed soil profiles.
• This may be due to the non-availability of sufficient time for them to develop fully or due to the location on very steep slopes which prohibits profile development.
• For Example – alluvial and loess soils.

Intrazonal Soil – These soils occur within other zonal soils.

• It is a well-developed soil reflecting the influence of some local factor of relief, parent material, or age rather than of climate and vegetation.
• For example, calcareous soil (soils which develop from limestone), peat soil.

The Bureau of Indian Standards has classified regions in India into four seismic zones on the basis of historical seismic activity.

• These are zones II, III, IV and V. Among these, Zone V is the most seismically active region and zone II is the least active.
• According to Modified Mercalli scale, the seismic zone intensity is/are classified as zone II (low intensity zone), zone III (moderate intensity zone), zone IV (severe intensity zone) and zone V (very severe intensity zone).

According to the Ministry of Earth Sciences:

• Zone V includes entire northeastern India, parts of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, parts of North Bihar and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
• Zone-IV includes the remaining parts of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. Delhi-NCR region, Sikkim, northern parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, parts of Gujarat and small portions of Maharashtra near the west coast and Rajasthan also fall in this zone.
• Regions under zone III are Goa, Kerala, Lakshadweep, and remaining parts of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and West Bengal, parts of Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu and Karnataka.
• The remaining portion of the country falls under zone II.

Peanut or groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), is a species in the legume or “bean” family. The peanut was probably first domesticated and cultivated in the valleys of Paraguay.

• It is an annual herbaceous plant growing 30 to 50 cm (1.0 to 1.6 ft) tall. The leaves are opposite, pinnate with four leaflets (two opposite pairs; no terminal leaflet), each leaflet 1 to 7 cm long and 1 to 3 cm broad.

• Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and Uttar Pradesh major growing states in India.

The main ore of lead is galena. It is found in the sedimentary rocks of limestone and sandstone.

• Rajasthan is the richest state in terms of availability and variety of minerals in the country and produces about 57 different minerals.
• Rajasthan is the sole producer of lead & zinc ores, selenite and wollastonite.
• The Zawar area (Udaipur) of Rajasthan is famous for the production of Lead.