Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon – July 27, 2018

Statement 1 is incorrect.

When the Monsoon trough keeps on moving northward or southward, it results spatial distribution of rainfall. It does not stop the rain or no break in Monsoon occurs due to this.

Statement 2 is correct.

Over the west coast the dry spells are associated with days when winds blow parallel to the coast.

Statement 3 is incorrect.

When the axis of the monsoon trough lies over the plains, rainfall is good in these parts (plains). During the south-west monsoon period after having rains for a few days, if rain fails to occur for one or more weeks, it is known as break in the monsoon. These dry spells are quite common during the rainy season.

These breaks in the different regions are due to different reasons:

• When the Monsoon trough shifts to the foothills of Himalayas, which leads to sharp decrease in rainfall over most parts of the country but increase along the Himalayas and parts of Northeast India and Southern Peninsula.
• When the monsoons become weak, generally during July and August. Then, rainfall practically ceases over the country outside the Himalayan belt and southeast peninsula.
• The breaks are believed to be brought about by the northward shifting of the monsoon trough (minimum low-pressure cell in ITCZ). The axis of the trough lies at the foothills  of the Himalayas during the break period.

Pair 1 is incorrect. Saramati peaks is located in Nagaland.

Pairs 2 and 3 are correct.  

*Shared with other country

Peaty Soils are found in the areas of heavy rainfall and high humidity, where there is a good growth of vegetation. Thus, large quantity of dead organic matter accumulates in these areas, and this gives a rich humus and organic content to the soil.

It is arid soil not Peaty which develops in the areas where salt content is very high.

Organic matter in Peaty Soils may go even up to 40-50 per cent.

These soils are normally heavy and black in colour. At many places, they are alkaline also.

These soils occur widely in the northern part of Bihar, southern part of Uttarakhand and the coastal areas of West Bengal, Orissa and Tamil Nadu.

Statement 1 is correct.

The regions more than 300 centimetres of annual rainfall abound in tropical evergreen forests. They are situated in the rainy sides of the Western Ghats (Western side of the Western Ghats) with an altitude of 500 to 1500 metres and in the urban parts of Assam up to 1100 metres in height, numerous species of trees grow in these forests. About 60 metres is their height.

Statement 2 is Incorrect

Bundelkhand has both types of forests Tropical Deciduous Forests (moist and dry deciduous) and Tropical Thorn Forests.

In the plain areas like Banda, Hamirpur and Datia districts along the banks of rivers like the Pahuj, Betwa and Yamuna, acacias like babul, khair, palas, ber, tendu, mahua, semal and kardhai gorw.

In the Bundelkhand Intermediate sub-region trees like salai, seesham, dhau, jamun, seja, the karaundha shrub and occasionally, teak grow.

Teak is found in the southern Bundelkhand Upland sub-region (Panna, Chhatarpur, Tikamgarh), besides the above-mentioned species. In the Damoh and Sagar plateaus, trees known locally as dhawda, tinsa and bija are found.

Pair 1 is correct.

Sandalwood is a tree of Moist Deciduous forests. The Moist Deciduous forests are more pronounced in the regions which record rainfall between 100-200 cm. These forests are found in the northeastern states along the foothills of Himalayas, eastern slopes of the Western Ghats and Odisha.

Other varieties of trees found in the Moist Deciduous forests are Teak, Sal, Shisham, Hurra, Mahua, Amla, Semul, Kusum etc.

Pair 2 is incorrect.

Palas is a tree found in the Dry Deciduous Forests. Dry Deciduous forests cover vast areas of India where, rainfall ranges between 70-100 cm. The tree varieties found in Tropical thorn Forests are babool, ber, and wild date plam, khair, neem, khejri etc. Tropical Thorn Forests occur in the areas which receive rainfall less than 50 cm. Dry Deciduous forests are found in rainier areas of the Peninsula and the plains of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Pair 3 is incorrect.

Rhododendrons is an example of Alpine forest. It occurs between an altitudes of 3000-4000 m. Silver firs, junipers, pines and birch are some notable species of Alpine forest.

Statement 1 is correct.

the extreme of temperature between summer and winter is quite low in southern part of Peninsular India mainly because the adjoining oceans moderate the temperature.

Statement 2 is correct.

Cherrapunji lies on the windward side of the Khasi Hills, so the resulting orographic lift enhances precipitation while shillong lies on the leeward side of the Khasi hills. also, the Shillong Plateau is surrounded by hills.

Cherrapunji receives both the southwest and northeast monsoonal winds, giving it a single monsoon season.

The shifting of Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) over the continent and its (Meghalaya plateau) transverse location between the Eastern Himalayas on its north and the Bay of Bengal in the south leads to a direct contact of moisture laden winds with the plateau.

Karnataka has 166,000 ha of area under mulberry cultivation. Karnataka holds the top rank in producing raw silk, coffee, and sandalwood oriented goods.

Karnataka forms a part of the Deccan Plateau, it lies on the western edge of the plateau. The predominant soil in the eastern tract of Karnataka is the red soil. Laterite soils occur in the western parts in the districts of Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada, Shimoga, Hassan and Mysore. They support tea, coffee, rubber and coconut plantations. The traditional soil groups of Karnataka and the soils of the major landforms of Karnataka are given below.

The main minerals found in Karnataka are gold, silver, copper, iron-ore, manganese, limestone, dolomite, asbestos, bauxite, chromite, kaolin and granite rock. More than 90% of the gold produced in India is produced in the southern part of Karnataka. Kolar Gold Fields (in Kolar District) and Hatti Gold Mines (in Raichur District) are among the oldest gold mines in the world. Besides these, gold reserves have been found in Dharwad and Chitradurga also.

Raichur is also known for its silver deposits. Karnataka also has the largest reserves of Manganese ore in the country.