Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon – March 30, 2018

Fold Mountains occur near convergent or compressional plate boundaries. Examples of Fold Mountains include the Alps, Rockies, Andes and Himalayas.

The highland of Scotland are Scandinavia are residual mountains.

Block Separation and Exfoliation are examples of Physical Weathering.

Action of Algae is an example of Biological weathering.

1. Exfoliation: With rise in temperature, every mineral expands and pushes against its neighbor and as temperature falls, a corresponding contraction takes place. Because of diurnal changes in the temperatures, this internal movement among the mineral grains takes place regularly. This process is most effective in dry climates and high elevations where diurnal temperature changes are drastic.
2. Block Separation: This type of disintegration takes place in rocks with numerous joints acquired by mountain-making pressures or by shrinkage due to cooling. This type of disintegration in rocks can be achieved by comparatively weaker forces.

Statement 1 is correct. The Mediterranean climate entirely confined to the western portion of continental masses, between 30° and 45° north and south of the equator. The basic cause of this type of climate is the shifting of the wind belts. In summer when the sun is overhead at the Tropic of Cancer, the belt of influence of the Westerlies is shifted a little pole wards. Rain bearing winds are therefore not likely to reach the Mediterranean lands. The prevailing Trade Winds [tropical easterlies] are off-shore and there is practically no rain. The Mediterranean lands receive most of their precipitation in winter when the Westerlies shift equator wards.

In the northern hemisphere, the prevailing on-shore Westerlies bring much cyclonic rain from the Atlantic.

Thus, the Mediterranean climate has the characteristics of clear skies and high temperatures; hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters.

Statement 2 is incorrect. Although both the winds i.e. Sirocco and Mistral are associated with Mediterranean climate, they are totally different in nature. While Sirocco is a hot, dry dusty wind, Mistral is a cold wind.

Agulhas is a warm oceanic current of Southwest Indian Ocean.

Gulf Stream is a warm current which flows south-east of USA.

California current is cold current which flows along the coasts of the western USA.

Humboldt Current or Peruvian current is cold current which flows along the west coast of South America.

Benguela Current in Atlantic Ocean is a cold current.

All of the above are characteristics of savanna landscape.

The savanna landscape is characterized with tall and luxuriant grass. In true savanna lands, the grass is coarse, growing 6 to 12 feet high. The elephant grass may attain a height of even 15 feet. The trees in savanna landscape are short in height. Many trees are umbrella shaped, exposing only a narrow edge to the strong winds.

In Savanna landscape, the trees are deciduous, shedding their leaves in the cool, dry season to prevent excessive loss of water through transpiration, e.g. Acacias.

Some trees found in the Savanna landscape have broad trunks, with water-storing devices to survive through the prolonged drought such as baobabs and bottle trees. These are mostly hard, gnarled and thorny and may exude gum like gum Arabic.

All of the above are characteristics of China type of climate.

China type climate experiences South East monsoon during summer with heavy rainfall and North West monsoon during winter with dry and cold weather.

It has high annual temperature range. During winter a steep pressure gradient is set up between the cold Mongolia and Siberia and the warmer Pacific coastlands. This leads to the flow of continental polar streams.

It is characterized by the formation of tropical cyclone in southern China. E.g. typhoons. The cyclones originate in the Pacific Ocean and move westward to the coastal lands bordering the South China Sea.

Statement 1 is incorrect. BIOFIN is managed by UNDP, in partnership with the European Commission and the Governments of Germany, Switzerland, Norway and Flanders.

Statement 2 is incorrect.  Project Tiger is a tiger conservation programme launched in 1973 by the Government of India. This project does not have direct association with BIOFIN. The project tiger aims at ensuring a viable population of Bengal tigers in their natural habitats and also to protect them from extinction, and preserving areas of biological importance as a natural heritage forever represented as close as possible the diversity of ecosystems across the tiger’s distribution in the country.