Geography ยท General Awareness

Geology and Earth Structure

1,268 Questions

Geology and Earth Structure explores the physical composition of the planet, including its layers, tectonic plates, and seismic activity. This topic is a core component of geography and general science sections in various competitive exams. Reviewing these concepts builds a solid foundation for answering questions related to natural phenomena.

Layers of the EarthTectonic PlatesEarthquakes and VolcanoesGeomagnetism ApplicationsGeophysical MethodsLandform Formation

Geology and Earth Structure Questions

Multiple choice

Which of the following is the incorrect statement about the Crust?

  1. The Crust is the outermost solid part of the earth.

  2. It is brittle in nature.

  3. The thickness of the crust varies under the oceanic and continental areas.

  4. Oceanic crust is thicker as compared to the continental crust.

  5. The type of rock found in the oceanic crust is basalt.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Oceanic crust is thinner as compared to the continental crust. This is the correct answer, as this statement is incorrect.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is/are incorrect? a. Tsunami is an oceanic earthquake. b. The effect of tsunami would occur only if the epicentre of the tremor is below oceanic waters and the magnitude is sufficiently high. c. The effects of an earthquake are devastating provided the magnitude of the quake is more than 5 on the Richter scale.

  1. Only a

  2. Only b

  3. Only c

  4. Only b and c

  5. All of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Tsunamis are waves generated by the tremors and not an earthquake in itself.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is the correctly matched?

  1. Shield volcanoes - Largest in the world

  2. Tectonic earthquakes - Explosion of chemical or nuclear devices

  3. The Crust - 70 km thick in theHimalayan region.

  4. The mantle - Referred to as the nife layer

  5. Lacoliths - Formed by lava solidified almost perpendicular to the ground
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The continental crust is thicker in the areas of major mountain systems. It is as much as 70 km thick in the Himalayan region.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is/are not the divisions in which the ocean floor can be segmented? a. continental margins b. deep-sea basins c. mid-ocean ridges d. fractionated plateau

  1. Only a

  2. Only b

  3. Only c

  4. Only d

  5. None of them
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The mid ocean ridge is characterised by a central rift system at the crest, a fractionated plateau and flank zone all along its length. Thus, we cannot say that the fractionated plateau is a separate segement as it is a part of the mid ocean ridge segment. This is the correct answer as this segment is incorrect.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is incorrect?

  1. A map produced using a computer programme to find the best fit of the Atlantic margin was presented by Bullard in 1964.

  2. The belt of ancient rocks of 2,000 million years from Brazil coast matches with those from western Africa.

  3. Tillite is the sedimentary rock formed out of deposits of glaciers.

  4. Alfred Wegener was a Dutch map maker who first proposed the possibility of a big landmass as early as 1596.

  5. The continental drift theory suggested that the movement responsible for the drifting of the continents was caused by pole-fleeing force and tidal force.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

This statement is incorrect. .Abraham Ortelius was a Dutch map maker who first proposed such a possibility as early as 1596. Alfred Wegener was a German meteorologist who put forth a comprehensive argument in the form of the continental drift theory in 1912.

Multiple choice

Which of the pairs of the tectonic plate sand and their locations is correct?

  1. Cocos plate: Antarctica and the surrounding oceanic plate

  2. Nazca plate: South American (with western Atlantic floor separated from the North American plate along the Caribbean islands) plate

  3. Caroline plate: North American (with western Atlantic floor separated from the South American plate along the Caribbean islands) plate

  4. Arabian plate: Saudi Arabia with the Eurasia and the adjacent oceanic plate

  5. Philippine plate: Between the Asiatic and Pacific plate
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

Philippine plate lies between the Asiatic and Pacific plate. This is paired correctly with its location.

Multiple choice

The mapping of the ocean floor and palaeomagnetic studies of rocks from oceanic regions revealed some facts. Which of the following is incorrect about these studies?

  1. All along the mid oceanic ridges, volcanic eruptions are common and they bring huge amounts of lava to the surface.

  2. Rocks closer to the mid-oceanic ridges have normal polarity and are the youngest.

  3. The ocean crust rocks are much older than the continental rocks.

  4. The sediments on the ocean floor are unexpectedly very thin.

  5. The deep trenches have deep seated earthquake occurrences and the mid oceanic ridges have shallow depths of earthquakes.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

This statement is incorrect. The ocean crust rocks are much younger than the continental rocks. The age of rocks in the oceanic crust is nowhere more than 200 million years old. Some of the continental rock formations are as old as 3,200 million years.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is correct about the concept of the sea floor spreading?

  1. Hess argued that constant eruptions at the crest of oceanic ridges causes the rupture of the oceanic crust and the new lava wedges into it, pushing the oceanic crust on either side.

  2. The ocean floor that gets pushed due to volcanic eruptions at the crest, sinks down at the oceanic trenches and gets consumed.

  3. The younger age of the oceanic crust and the spreading of one ocean causes the shrinking of the other.

  4. Options 1 and 2

  5. All of the above options
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The statements given in option 1 and 2 are correct about the concept of sea floor spreading as argued by Hess. Thus, this is the correct answer.

Multiple choice

The northern plate boundary of the Indian plate along the Himalayas is a

  1. divergent boundary

  2. transform boundary

  3. continent - continent convergent boundary

  4. oceanic - oceanic convergent boundary

  5. oceanic - continent convergent boundarry
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The subduction zone along the Himalayas forms the northern plate boundary of the Indian plate in the form of continent - continent convergence.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is correct?

  1. Both the surface of the earth and the interior are not static and motionless but are dynamic.

  2. The mobile rock beneath the rigid plates is believed to be moving in a circular manner.

  3. Heat within the earth comes from two main sources: radioactive decay and residual heat.

  4. All of the above are correct.

  5. Statements in option 1 and 2 are correct.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

This is the correct answer as all these statements are correct.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is incorrect?

  1. The Indian plate includes Peninsular India and the Australian continental portions.

  2. The boundary between India and the Antarctic plate is marked by oceanic ridge (divergent boundary) running in roughly W-E direction and merging into the spreading site, a little south of New Zealand.

  3. The Tethys Sea separated the Indian island from the Asian continent till about 225 million years ago.

  4. During the movement of the Indian plate towards the Asiatic plate, a major event that occurred was the outpouring of lava and formation of the Deccan Traps.

  5. The Indian and the Asiatic plates were separated by the Tethys Sea and the Australian block was closer to the Asiatic landmass.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

This is incorrect. India was a large island situated off the Australian coast, in a vast ocean. The Tethys Sea separated India from the Asian continent. The Indian and the Asiatic plates were separated by the Tethys Sea and the Tibetian block was closer to the Asiatic landmass.