Mains 2019 Preparation and Discussion Thread

@hirockyrocks7101water mass is related to upwelling and downwelling and hence affect biodiversity.

@ranyo_asoka

Thanks. Even i gave the linkage of-
Water Mass to El Nino to Monsoon to Indian Coastal Environment & life.

Having very faint memories that's why couldn't recall.

@deceptrixI don't think filling more pages gives any sort of advantage at all. Obviously one needs to write minimum words but I don't think more pages gives any sort of advantage, particularly if content is irrelevant.

@SUMANSAURABH201296904yes right, cold ocean currents are popularly related to upwelling. Difference was asked, so in tabular form answer Mediterranean water mass downwelling could be written against it.

@deceptrix

kahin aapka optional geography toh nahi ?

@hirockyrocks7101waise toh water masses hve common formation history and hence common property... even water due to deglaciation,runoffs can be quoted in general

@deceptrixok..all the best..hope all here are marked good

@ranyo_asokayes, but since this cold water is dense and sink towards bottom thus polar areas have deep or bottom watermass. And this is the reason why maritime polar air mass doesn't have correlation with these bottom and deep watermasses.

Very specific and tough question though as it's a part of core geography optional.

@kochikaamesaid inMains 2019 Preparation and Discussion Thread:

@deceptrixI don't think filling more pages gives any sort of advantage at all. Obviously one needs to write minimum words but I don't think more pages gives any sort of advantage, particularly if content is irrelevant.

It does give a psychological advantage imo. It's hard to fetch good marks in 15 markers if you have written only one page, even if your content is highly relevant.
After all the examiner evaluating is a human being and is prone to biased and prejudices. So, he or she may award you marks for writing more.
IMO, A good rule of thumb can be to write as much as you can while staying relevant to the question.

@hirockyrocks7101I just wrote about ocean current and some vague lines about water mass impact, wasn't sure what exactly they call water mass.

@dancingminionI believe that an evaluator checking 100 papers in a day would be irritated seeing nonsense content, particularly if it's completely irrelevant and is too long.

Anyway, we'll never get to know about their marking criterion.

India bhai channel on tg has shared Interview guidebook of last year. You can find some general questions related to hobbies and other DAF related things in there.

@vvvikas0078212please post the file here if you could.

@vvvikas0078212bhai how can water mass be subject to different interpretation? Oceanography topic has all related impacts of watermass on coastal environment and marine life like thermohaline circulation, downwelling, salinity, less biodiversity due to temperature extremes etc.

@hirockyrocks7101I didn't interpret differently. I am saying I didn't know well enough to write that time.

The length of one answer should be enough for the examiner to remember what did you wrote in the beginning of your answer while he is approaching towards the end of your answer

@deceptrixधागा खोल दिया धागा

@vvvikas0078212same here...did not wanted to bluff in water mass as it might have affected the marks awarded for ocean current as well

@Shubzbut vikas also has geography optional, so I think despite of knowing he couldn't decipher what exactly examiner wanted to ask, because just like airmass concept in climatology, watermass in oceanography is core topic.

@hirockyrocks7101

Hi Thanks i appreciate your understanding about geography, but you are going too deep. If Water mass is asked in upsc GS1, that doesn't mean you have to show optional specialization.

IMHO, what UPSC were checking in this question was - how, by knowing the definition of Air mass (which is in NCERT), one can predict the definition of Water mass. Infact, both means almost the same - one in hydrological sense and another in atmospheric sense.

"Air masses are formed when air stagnates for long periods of time over a uniform surface. The characteristic temperature and moisture of air masses are determined by the surface over which they form. An air mass acquires these attributes through heat and moisture exchanges with the surface"

So how can't a Water Mass have uniform T-S not help in formation of a Air Mass? Your assumption that Water mass is only formed in deep ocean is wrong (Act. Actually there are multiple water masses in an ocean strata - deep, intermediate, surface, etc. Actual definition of Water Mass has just T-S component considered constant and it can impact the weather of surrounding locality. Here is some authentic & relevant links -

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://curry.eas.gatech.edu/Courses/6140/ency/Chapter11/Ency_Atmos/Ocean_Circ_Water_Types_Masses.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwihwOLgpJ7mAhX3yTgGHZhECaYQFjAAegQIAxAB&usg=AOvVaw3SQcXqTuU6WtMvF_9iV28a

(Showing how Air mass & Water mass related)

Also, see a research report of MIT - "The water masses" by searching on Google "MIT ocw The Water masses".

Thanks