Geography · Environmental Studies

Geomorphic Processes

2,120 Questions

Geomorphic processes shape the Earth surface through physical mechanisms like weathering, erosion, and deposition. This topic covers soil formation, glacial movement, and coastal landform development. It forms a core component of physical geography in major competitive examinations.

Soil erosion controlGlacial movementCoastal landformsSedimentary rock formationWeathering processes

Geomorphic Processes Questions

Multiple choice

Which one of the following is the correct sequence of landform developed under fluvial cycle of erosion?

  1. Gorge, flood plain, piedmont plan, delta

  2. Gorge, piedmont plan, flood plain, delta

  3. Gorge, piedmont plan, delta, flood plain

  4. Piedmont plan, Gorge, flood plain, delta
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

In the fluvial cycle of erosion, a river first forms a gorge in the mountains. As it erodes downward and laterally, it creates a piedmont plain at the mountain foot. With continued deposition, a floodplain forms. Finally, at the mouth, a delta develops where sediment is deposited.

Multiple choice

The process that results in the breakdown of rocks and minerals in situ is known as

  1. attrition

  2. erosion

  3. weathering

  4. corrosion
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Weathering is the in-situ breakdown of rocks and minerals through physical and chemical processes without transport. Erosion involves removal and transport of weathered material. Attrition is the wearing down of particles during transport, and corrosion is chemical dissolution.

Multiple choice

Consider the following statements:

  1. Weathering encompasses a group of processes by which surface and subsurface rocks disintegrates
  2. Extreme dryness reduce most weathering to a minimum
  3. Physical weathering dominates in drier and cooler climates
  4. In equatorial rain-forest climate, most rocks weather slowly Which of these are correct?

  1. 1, 2. and 3

  2. 1 and 4

  3. 2, 3 and 4

  4. 1, 2, 3, and 4
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Statement 1 is correct - weathering includes all processes that break down rocks. Statement 2 is correct - extreme dryness minimizes chemical weathering. Statement 3 is correct - physical weathering dominates in dry, cool climates where freeze-thaw occurs. Statement 4 is incorrect - equatorial rainforests have rapid chemical weathering due to high temperature and moisture, not slow weathering.

Multiple choice

Which among the following options is a process by which soil is formed?

  1. Deposition

  2. Weathering

  3. Erosion

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Weathering is the process that breaks down rocks and minerals into smaller particles through physical, chemical, and biological means. These particles then combine with organic matter over long periods to form soil. Erosion and deposition are transport processes, not soil-forming processes.

Multiple choice

The process of seeping of water into the ground is called

  1. assimilation

  2. aeration

  3. infiltration

  4. channelization
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Infiltration is the process by which water enters the soil through the soil surface. Assimilation refers to nutrient absorption, aeration involves air exchange in soil, and channelization refers to creating artificial water channels. Infiltration is the correct term for water seeping into the ground.

Multiple choice

Which one of the following types of erosion, is responsible for the formation of the Chambal ravines?

  1. Splash

  2. Sheet

  3. Rill

  4. Gully
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Gully erosion is responsible for the formation of Chambal ravines. This advanced stage of soil erosion occurs when water cuts deep channels in the soil, creating steep-sided valleys. The Chambal region's soft alluvial soil, combined with deforestation and overgrazing, has made it particularly susceptible to gully erosion over centuries.

Multiple choice

Succession on sand dunes is referred to as

  1. mesosere

  2. hydrosere

  3. psammosere

  4. xerosere

  5. lithosere
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

A psammosere is a seral community, an ecological succession that began life on newly exposed coastal sand.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is incorrect?

  1. Gravity activates all downslope movements of matter and also causes stresses on the earth’s materials.

  2. Direct gravitational stresses activate wave and tide induced currents and winds.

  3. The erosion, transportation and deposition of the earth's surface is possible due to gravity and gradation.

  4. Gravity is the force that switches on the movement of all surface material on earth.

  5. Any exogenic element capable of acquiring and transporting earth materials can be called a geomorphic agent.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

This is the correct answer, as this statement is incorrect. Indirect, not direct gravitational stresses activate wave and tide induced currents and winds.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is not a chemical weathering process?

  1. Solution

  2. Carbonation

  3. Unloading and expansion

  4. Hydration

  5. Oxidation and reduction
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

These processes are involved in physical weathering process. Removal of overlying rock load because of continued erosion causes vertical pressure release with the result that the upper layers of the rock expand producing disintegration of rock masses. Exfoliation sheets resulting from expansion due to unloading and pressure release may measure hundreds or even thousands of metres in horizontal extent.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is incorrect?

  1. Movement of water-saturated clayey or silty earth materials down low-angle terraces, or hillsides is known as mud flow.

  2. Slump is slipping of one or several units of rock debris with a backward rotation on the slope over which the movement takes place.

  3. Solifluction involves slow down slope of flowing soil mass or fine grained rock debris saturated with water.

  4. The fence posts, telephone poles leaning down slope from their vertical position and in their linear alignment, is due to creep movement.

  5. Mass movements are aided by gravity and geomorphic agents, do not participate in the process of mass movements.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

This statement is incorrect. Thus, this is the correct answer choice. Movement of water-saturated clayey or silty earth materials down low-angle terraces, or hillsides is known as earth flow.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is incorrect?

  1. Erosion involves acquisition and transportation of rock debris.

  2. By abrasion the relief degrades, i.e., the landscape is worndown.

  3. The erosion agents act as aggradational or depositional agents also.

  4. Deposition is a consequence of erosion, it is not the work of any agent.

  5. Five basic factors control the formation of soils, parent material, topography, climate, biological activity, and time.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

No, the landscape is formed by erosion not abrasion. Abrasion by rock debris carried by the geomorphicagents aids greatly in erosion.