13 UPSC CSE practice questions on World Physical Geography, part of Geography. Below are 12 of them in full, each with the answer and a written explanation.
Answer: (b) Typhoon
A tropical cyclone is called a typhoon in the Western Pacific, a hurricane in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific, and simply a cyclone in the Indian Ocean and around Australia. A tornado is a small, intense land-based whirlwind, and a tsunami is a seismic sea wave.
Answer: (c) Both 1 and 2
Both statements are correct. Tropical cyclones form over warm ocean waters generally above about 26-27 degrees Celsius, and India's east coast along the Bay of Bengal is highly prone to cyclones owing to warm sea-surface temperatures and favourable conditions.
Answer: (b) Sumatra (Indonesia)
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was triggered by a massive undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, on 26 December 2004. It killed over two hundred thousand people across countries including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.
Answer: (b) Undersea earthquakes displacing seawater
Tsunamis are most commonly caused by undersea earthquakes that suddenly displace large volumes of seawater, generating fast, long waves. They are geophysical events, unlike cyclones, which are atmospheric storms driven by warm seas and winds.
Answer: (b) Liquid outer core
The Earth's magnetic field is generated mainly by the movement of molten iron in the liquid outer core (the geodynamo effect). The inner core is solid, the crust is the outer solid shell, and the stratosphere is an atmospheric layer.
Answer: (b) Equatorial climate - dense tropical rainforest
The hot, wet equatorial climate supports dense tropical rainforests, such as the Amazon and Congo basins. Tundra mosses occur in polar regions, hot deserts have sparse scrub, and polar regions cannot support tropical rainforest.
Answer: (b) Divergent boundary
At a divergent plate boundary, plates move apart and magma rises to form new oceanic crust along mid-ocean ridges. Convergent boundaries involve collision, and transform boundaries involve plates sliding past each other.
Answer: (b) Tibetan Plateau
The Tibetan Plateau, often called the 'Roof of the World', is the highest and largest plateau in the world, formed by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates. The Deccan Plateau is a volcanic plateau in India.
Answer: (b) Warm ocean currents
The Gulf Stream and the North Atlantic Drift are warm ocean currents that carry heat from the equatorial regions toward the poles, notably keeping Western Europe's climate mild despite its high latitude.
Answer: (b) Indian and Eurasian plates
The Himalayas are fold mountains formed by the convergence and collision of the Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate, a process that continues to raise the mountains and cause earthquakes in the region.
Answer: (b) Subtropical high-pressure belt
Hot deserts such as the Sahara are located mainly under the subtropical high-pressure belts (around 30 degrees latitude), where descending dry air suppresses rainfall, producing arid conditions.
Answer: (b) Stratosphere
The ozone layer is located in the stratosphere, the second atmospheric layer, where it absorbs most of the Sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation. The troposphere below is where weather occurs.
This page shows 12 of 13 questions on this topic. The full set, with progress tracking and five agent perspectives per question, is in the JupiteX app — browse the exam catalogue or browse the Learn library.