Geography
Geography - Part3
124) What is a coral?
It is a marine invertebrate
125) What is a reef?
It is a ridge, coral or something similar lying beneath the surface of natural water
126) Which is the earth’s largest coral reef system?
Great barrier reef in Australia. Length is 2300 kms
127) Which is the longest continuous barrier reef in the world?
New Caledonian barrier reef
128) What is an estuary?
An estuary is where the freshwater stream meets the ocean. It may also be a bay or lagoon
129) Which is the world’s largest estuary?
St. Lawrence river. 1197 kms long
130) What is the Longest river in USA?
Missouri river
131) What are the main types of mountains?
The main types of mountains are volcanic, fold and block mountains. They are formed by plate tectonics.
132) Which is the highest mountain in Africa?
Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Its height is 5895 meters (19,340 feet)
133) Which is the highest mountain in North America?
Denali ( Mount Mckinley) in Alaska, USA. Height is 6190 meters (20,310 feet)
134) Which is the highest mountain in South America?
Mount Aconcagua in Argentina near Chile border
135) Which is the highest mountain in Asia?
Mount Everest between Nepal and Tibet. Its height is 8848.86m (29,031.7 feet)
136) What is the highest mountain in Australia?
Mount Kosciuszko. Its height is 2228 meters (7310 feet)
137) Which is the highest mountain in Antarctica?
Vinson Massif. Its height is 4892 meters (16,050 feet)
138) Which rocks often have distinctive layering or bedding?
Sedimentary rocks
139) Venus has same density, size and mass of earth. True or false?
True
140) What is the study of the formation of universe?
Cosmology
141) What are the types of deserts?
Hot and dry (arid or subtropical) deserts, Semi-arid deserts, Coastal deserts and Cold deserts
142) What are the features of hot and dry deserts?
Temperatures can be from 20 to 50 degrees Celsius. Rain is rare. Soil is coarse. Few plants exist. Mostly animals are small
143) What are the examples of hot and dry deserts?
The Sahara in Africa (largest hot and dry desert), Kalahari and Arabian deserts
144) What are the features of semi-arid deserts?
Long arid summers followed by winter. Temperatures are mostly in mid-20’s degrees Celsius. Gets less rainfall. Cacti grows here. Mostly nocturnal animals exist. Gobi desert in China and Mongolia is one example of semi-arid desert.
145) What are the features of coastal deserts?
Located along coasts and have warm summers. Temperatures around 13 to 24 degrees Celsius. Receives not much rain. Winters are cooler. Soil supports plant life
146) What are the examples of coastal deserts?
Atacama desert of South America and the Namib desert in Africa.
147) What are the features of cold deserts?
They have frigid winters. Covered with ice and snow. Average temperatures are freezing. There is some rain and few plants survive. Polar bears, penguins and seals are seen here. Example of these deserts are Antarctica and Arctic.
148) What are the major vegetation regions of earth?
The major vegetation regions are forest, grassland, tundra, desert and ice sheet
149) What are the different types of forests?
The different types of forest are tropical forests, temperate forests and boreal (taiga) forests
150) What are the features of tropical forests?
They generally have rainy and dry seasons. They grow around equator. Found in Africa, Southeast Asia and South America. They have lot of species. Temperature stable around 27 degrees Celsius. Lot of rain. Many plants grow here. The subcategories are evergreen, seasonal, dry, montane, coniferous and sub-tropical
151) What are the features of temperate forests?
Four seasons exist. Temperatures range -30 to 30 degrees Celsius. Mostly deciduous trees and some coniferous trees are found. Found in Europe, North America and North east Asia. Oak trees, maple trees etc. are found here. Animals like squirrels, rabbits, birds etc. are found here. The subcategories are moist conifer and evergreen broad-leaved, Mediterranean, dry conifer and temperate broad-leaved rainforest.
152) What are boreal (taiga) forests?
The two seasons are short, moist, warm summer and long cold dry winter. Temperature range from -40 to 20 degrees Celsius. Poor acidic soil. Trees are coniferous and evergreen. Pine, fir, spruce trees are found. Thick fur animals are found here. Found between 50 and 60 degrees latitude. Found in Siberia, Alaska, Scandinavia and Canada
153) What are grasslands?
Grasslands are areas where vegetation is dominated by grasses. The climate is between desert and forest climates
154) What are the different names of grasslands?
The grasslands in USA are called prairies, in Africa they are called savannas, in central Eurasian area they are called steppes and in South America they are called pampas
155) What are the types of grasslands?
There are two types of grasslands. They are tropical grasslands and temperate grasslands. The examples of tropical grasslands are savannas of northern Australia and sub-Saharan Africa. Examples of temperate grasslands are north American prairies, Eurasian steppes and Argentine pampas.
156) What are tundras?
Tundras are treeless regions found in Arctic and mountain regions. There are very low temperatures here. There is little precipitation and nutrients are poor. Nitrogen and phosphorous are available here. There is short season of growth.
157) What is the study of caves?
Speleology
158) What is Exosphere?
The outermost layer of earth’s atmosphere.
159) What is the inner most layer of earth’s atmosphere?
The troposphere
160) What is the outermost layer of earth?
Crust
161) What is the innermost layer of earth?
Core
162) How are fold mountains created?
When earth’s tectonic plates are pushed together.
163) What are examples of fold mountains?
The Himalayas, The Andes, The Alps are the examples
164) What is a landform?
It is a feature of the earth’s surface
165) What are the types of landforms?
Mountains, hills, plateaus and plains.
166) What is wind?
It is the movement of air caused by uneven heating of the earth
167) What are the categories of wind?
Planetary wind, Periodic wind and Local wind
168) What are Periodic winds?
They change their direction according to seasons. Examples are monsoon winds, land breezes, sea breezes and mountain breezes
169) What are Planetary winds (prevailing winds or permanent winds)?
They are winds that blow from high pressure regions to low pressure regions. They blow in the same belt throughout the year. Examples are trade winds (tropical easterlies), westerlies and easterlies (polar easterlies)
170) What are local winds?
They blow in a small area due to difference in temperature and pressure of that area.
171) What are westerlies?
The westerlies are the winds from the west to the east in the latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees. These winds blow from sub-tropical high pressure areas towards low-pressure poles
172) What are trade winds (tropical easterlies) ?
They are east to west winds that flow in equatorial region. They blow from northeast in northern hemisphere and from southeast in the southern hemisphere.
173) What are easterlies (polar easterlies)?
They are dry, cold prevailing winds that blow from high pressure polar regions towards low pressure regions
174) What is equator?
It is the latitude that runs through the centre of the earth
175) Which is the tallest waterfall in the world
Angel Falls in Venezuela. Its height is 979 meters (3,212 feet)
176) What is the largest desert in the world?
The Sahara desert
177) What is Cook strait?
It separates the north and south islands of New Zealand
178) What are the types of soils?
Clay soil, Sandy soil, Peaty soil, Chalky soil, Silty soil, Loamy soil
179) What are the features of sandy soil?
There is more sand and little clay. Sandy soil is acidic and low in nutrients. They warm up in spring and dry out in summer. Easy to work. It is light.
180) What are the features of clay soil?
It is heavy. It has high nutrients. It is wet in winter and dry out in summer. It holds high amount of water.
181) What are the features of chalk soil and peaty soil?
Chalk soil is highly alkaline. Peaty soil retains lot of moisture. Peaty soil high organic matter.
182) What are the features of silt soil?
It is light and retains moisture. Well drained.
183) What are the features of loam soil?
It is a mixture of sand, silt and clay. They are fertile. Easy to work. Provide good drainage.