World Geography and Earth Science

Soil texture determines the water retaining capacity of the soil. The larger the pore spaces in the soil, the lesser is its water retaining capacity and vice-versa.

The scientific study of rocks is called petrology; pedology is the scientific study of soils.

The spring tide occurs when the moon, the sun and the earth make an angle of 180°

Correct Answer: Mississippi River System

The Taiga (boreal forest) biome is located between the temperate grasslands to the south and the tundra to the north. This forms a natural latitudinal progression from warmer grasslands through coniferous forests to Arctic tundra. The other options pair tundra with climates not adjacent to taiga belts.

Developing a vegetational cover is the most comprehensive approach to restoring ecological balance in mined areas. Plants help stabilize soil, prevent erosion, restore nutrient cycles, and create habitat for other organisms. While preventing soil erosion is important, vegetation establishment addresses multiple ecological processes simultaneously and initiates natural succession.

Overusing fertilizers and chemical pesticides degrades soil quality, reduces fertility, and harms beneficial organisms in the ecosystem. True land conservation methods include afforestation, controlled grazing, and regulated chemical use to maintain long-term land productivity.

Mulching helps in moisture conservation. As these mulches slowly decompose, they provide organic matter which helps keep the soil loose.

It is Willie Willies.

Insolation is the radiant energy that reaches the surface of the earth from the sun.

 The stratosphere is layered in temperature because ozone (O₃) absorbs high energy UVB and UVC energy waves from the sun and are broken down into atomic oxygen (O₁D) and diatomic oxygen (O₂) at wavelengths below 1180 nm.

Shifting cultivation (also called slash-and-burn) is primarily practiced in tropical regions with fertile soil and adequate rainfall - including tropical Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Amazon basin in South America. These regions have the climate conditions that allow for forest regrowth after cultivation cycles.

Honshu is Japan's largest and main island, hosting major industrial cities like Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, and Nagoya. The Pacific coast of Honshu (Tokaido region) forms Japan's industrial heartland due to favorable coastal location for trade, flat land, and historical development patterns. Hokkaido, Shikoku, and Kyushu have less industrial concentration.

‘Estancias’ are vast cattle farms in Argentina.

Subsistence farming is most intensive in the China region (East Asia) due to high population density and favorable monsoon climate. While monsoon regions support agriculture, the specific reference to 'China region' points to the classic example of intensive subsistence rice cultivation in East Asia. Mediterranean and steppe regions are more suited for commercial agriculture.

Maitri is India's second permanent research station in Antarctica, established in 1989. It conducts scientific research in geology, glaciology, and atmospheric sciences. The other options are unrelated: HYV rice is agriculture, SAARC is a South Asian association, and the Indo-Russian Treaty is a diplomatic agreement.

Statement 1: Crossing eastward across the International Date Line means you go into the previous day (repeat a day). TRUE. Statement 2: The IDL roughly divides the Pacific Ocean into two equal parts along the 180° meridian. TRUE. Statement 3: The IDL follows the 180° meridian with deviations for political boundaries. TRUE. Statement 4: Crossing westward does NOT repeat a day - you advance to the next day. FALSE. Therefore, statements 1, 2, and 3 are correct.

The Panama Canal connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, allowing ships to bypass traveling around South America. Routes like New York to San Francisco or Sydney pass through the canal as they move from Atlantic to Pacific. However, New York to Buenos Aires is entirely within the Atlantic Ocean (both cities are on the Atlantic coast), so this route does not use the canal.

Option (3) is the correct answer. 

Red soil, black soil, and peaty soil are all associated with tropical or subtropical regions (red and black soils are typical of tropical India, peaty soils form in tropical wetlands). Brown soil, however, is typically associated with temperate regions (like brown forest soils in Europe and North America), not tropical climates.

China has the world's largest and most extensive loess deposits, particularly the Loess Plateau covering ~640,000 km². These deposits were formed from windblown silt from the Gobi Desert. Central Europe, New Zealand, and Argentina have loess, but not on China's scale.

Correc answer is (2). 

Glaciated regions are characterized by deranged drainage patterns - irregular, chaotic stream networks with no clear direction or pattern. This occurs because glacial deposition creates irregular topography with numerous kettle lakes, moraines, and other features that disrupt normal drainage. The other options describe different soil and environmental conditions (swamps, slow decomposition due to cold, acidic soils) but not glaciation specifically.

Abyssal plains are extensive, flat regions of the ocean floor that lie between the continental margins (where the ocean depth increases rapidly) and the mid-ocean ridges (where new oceanic crust is formed). They are among the flattest and smoothest regions on Earth, covered by fine-grained sediments. The other options are not standard geomorphological terms for ocean floor features.

Playas are shallow, flat-floored desert depressions formed by the deflating action of winds, which remove fine sediments and leave behind a flat, often salt-encrusted surface. They are characteristic of arid regions where wind erosion is dominant. They are not formed by glacial, river, or marine erosion processes.

A seismometer is the scientific instrument used to detect and record the intensity, direction, and duration of seismic waves from earthquakes or explosions. Barometers measure air pressure, hydrometers measure liquid density, and altimeters measure altitude.

Gondwanaland was the southern supercontinent that existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. It included present-day South America, Africa, India, Australia, and Antarctica. China was part of Laurasia, the northern supercontinent, not Gondwanaland.

Earth's mean radius is approximately 6,371 kilometers (about 3,959 miles). This value represents the average distance from Earth's center to its surface. The other options are either too small (like 1,290 km, which is closer to the Moon's radius) or don't match the accepted scientific value.

Figure: The Earth's main plates