Environmental Geography Questions and Answers

Q: Consider the following statements regarding the Saharan dust.1. The Saharan dust : fertilize the Amazon rainforest.2. It provides mineral nutrients for phytoplankton in the Atlantic Ocean.3. It helped to build beaches across the Caribbean after being deposited for thousands of years.4. The Saharan dust : do not play any role in determining the intensity of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean.Which of the statements listed above are true?

Statements 1, 2 and 3 are true, so the answer is 1, 2 and 3 only.Dust blown from the Sahara across the Atlantic carries phosphorus and other minerals that fertilise the Amazon rainforest, where the soils are poor (1). Its iron and other minerals feed phytoplankton in the Atlantic Ocean (2). Deposited over thousands of years, the dust has also helped build the beaches and soils of the Caribbean (3).Statement 4 is false. Saharan dust does affect Atlantic hurricanes: the hot, dry, dusty air layer it travels in tends to suppress storm formation and intensification. So the option including 4 is wrong.

Q: Consider the following statements:1. One of the largest flooded areas was those adjacent to the backwaters along the coast. Areas adjoining these wetlands that are normally flood-free were flooded to a large extent.2. The outlets to the sea, (pozhis/sand banks and spillways), did not have the capacity to evacuate high flood flows from the rivers, as they occurred, into the sea and thereby aggravating the floods.3. The flood situation in the coastal areas was intensified by the perigean spring tide, during 11-15 August 2018.4. Sustained strong onshore winds, resulting in abnormally high sea levels, hampered river outflow into the sea and intensified the flood.Which among the following statements, listed above, are true with regard to the Kerala floods of August 2018?

All four statements are true, so the answer is 1, 2, 3 and 4.The studies of the August 2018 Kerala floods found the coastal belt among the worst-hit areas. The low-lying land around the backwaters, such as Kuttanad and the Vembanad wetlands, flooded heavily, and areas next to them that normally stay dry were also inundated (1).The outlets to the sea, the pozhis and spillways such as Thottappally, could not discharge the peak river flows fast enough (2). Drainage was made worse by high tides around the middle of August (3) and by strong onshore winds that raised the sea level and held back the river outflow (4).Since all four contributed, every option leaving any of them out is incomplete.

Q: Interzonal soil/s is/are ________ .A. Bog soilB. Laterite soilC. Meadow soilD. Saline soilChoose the correct answer from the options given below :

The answer is A, C and D: bog, meadow and saline soils.In the zonal classification, zonal soils reflect the climate and vegetation of a region, while intrazonal soils (the paper's 'interzonal') are formed where a local factor, such as poor drainage, waterlogging or excess salts, overrides climate. Bog soils, meadow soils and saline soils are typical intrazonal soils.Laterite soil is a zonal soil, formed by intense leaching under hot, wet tropical conditions, so the options including B are wrong.

Q: Construction of dams, levees and other channel improvement structures used for flood control are categorized as :

They are a Structural approach to flood control.Flood management is divided into structural measures, which physically change the river or hold back water (dams, reservoirs, levees and embankments, channel improvement, diversions), and non-structural measures, which reduce damage without building works (flood plain zoning, forecasting and warning, insurance, land use control).Dams and levees are physical structures, so the approach is structural, not non-structural. 'Curvilinear' and 'staggened' are not recognised categories of flood management.

Q: Which of the following pairs is incorrect ?Resources : Types

The incorrect pair is Coal : Inorganic.Coal formed from the remains of plants buried in swamps and altered by heat and pressure over millions of years. Because it comes from living matter, it is classed as an organic (biotic) resource, like petroleum, even though it is mined like a mineral. It is non-renewable, but not inorganic.The other pairs follow the standard classifications. By ownership, forests within a country's boundaries are national resources. Tides depend on the pull of the moon and the sun and will not run out with use, so they are inexhaustible. Wild animals reproduce and can be replenished if they are not overexploited, so they are renewable resources.

Q: ............... is not observed in equatorial rainforest.

The key's answer is bamboo.Textbook descriptions of the equatorial rainforest list its valuable hardwoods: ebony, mahogany and rosewood, along with greenheart and rubber, growing in a dense, multi-layered evergreen forest.Bamboo is presented instead as typical of the tropical monsoon (deciduous) forests, with their dry season, as in India and Southeast Asia. Bamboos do occur in some rainforests, but in the textbook classification of forest types they belong to the monsoon forests, and that is the reading the key follows.

Q: Which one of the following factors is responsible for variations in the flora and fauna in different parts of the earth.

The responsible factor is changes in physical environment.The distribution of plants and animals over the earth depends above all on physical conditions: climate (temperature, rainfall, light), relief and altitude, soil, and water. These vary from place to place, producing distinct biomes from tropical rainforest to tundra, each with its own flora and fauna.Social, cultural and technological change can modify vegetation and wildlife locally, through clearing, farming and introductions, but they do not account for the broad global variation in flora and fauna. So the options naming them, and the combined option (B) and (C), are wrong.

Q: ................... are vascular plants.

The vascular plants are the Pteridophyta.Pteridophytes, the ferns, horsetails and club mosses, are the first group of plants with true vascular tissue: xylem to carry water and phloem to carry food, together with true roots, stems and leaves. That is why they are called the vascular cryptogams.Algae are simple, largely aquatic organisms with no vascular tissue. Fungi are not plants at all; they are heterotrophs with walls of chitin. Lichens are partnerships between a fungus and an alga or cyanobacterium, again without vascular tissue.

Q: The concept of 'deep ecology' is associated with whom of the following ?

Deep ecology is associated with Arne Naess.The Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess coined the term in 1973, contrasting 'shallow' environmentalism, concerned with pollution and resources for human benefit, with a 'deep' ecology that holds that all living beings have value in themselves, independent of their usefulness to people.James Lovelock proposed the Gaia hypothesis of the earth as a self-regulating system, which is related but different. D. Hughes and J. Emel are writers on environmental history and resource geography, not the originators of deep ecology.

31.

Which district has least % of Geographical area under forest in Jharkhand ?

A.Jamtara
B.Deoghar
C.Pakur
D.Giridih

Exam Year(s)

JPSC Civil Services - 2021,

Answer: A

The district with the least share of its area under forest is Jamtara.

In the India State of Forest Report 2023, Jamtara's forest cover is 107.49 square km of 1,811 square km, which is 5.94 percent, the lowest of the districts in that table. Deoghar (8.30 percent) and Pakur (15.80 percent) are higher. The 2019 report that the 2021 paper would have used was not available to check, but the ranking is not likely to differ.

The key gives Jamtara, in agreement with the later report.

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32.

Consider the following statements regarding the Saharan dust.

1. The Saharan dust : fertilize the Amazon rainforest.
2. It provides mineral nutrients for phytoplankton in the Atlantic Ocean.
3. It helped to build beaches across the Caribbean after being deposited for thousands of years.
4. The Saharan dust : do not play any role in determining the intensity of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean.

Which of the statements listed above are true?

A.1 and 2 only
B.2 and 3 only
C.1, 2 and 4 only
D.1, 2 and 3 only

Exam Year(s)

Kerala PSC KAS - 2020,

Answer: D

Statements 1, 2 and 3 are true, so the answer is 1, 2 and 3 only.

Dust blown from the Sahara across the Atlantic carries phosphorus and other minerals that fertilise the Amazon rainforest, where the soils are poor (1). Its iron and other minerals feed phytoplankton in the Atlantic Ocean (2). Deposited over thousands of years, the dust has also helped build the beaches and soils of the Caribbean (3).

Statement 4 is false. Saharan dust does affect Atlantic hurricanes: the hot, dry, dusty air layer it travels in tends to suppress storm formation and intensification. So the option including 4 is wrong.

Discuss in Forum

33.

Consider the following statements:

1. One of the largest flooded areas was those adjacent to the backwaters along the coast. Areas adjoining these wetlands that are normally flood-free were flooded to a large extent.
2. The outlets to the sea, (pozhis/sand banks and spillways), did not have the capacity to evacuate high flood flows from the rivers, as they occurred, into the sea and thereby aggravating the floods.
3. The flood situation in the coastal areas was intensified by the perigean spring tide, during 11-15 August 2018.
4. Sustained strong onshore winds, resulting in abnormally high sea levels, hampered river outflow into the sea and intensified the flood.

Which among the following statements, listed above, are true with regard to the Kerala floods of August 2018?

A.1, 2, 3 and 4
B.1 and 4 only
C.1, 2 and 4 only
D.2 and 3 only

Exam Year(s)

Kerala PSC KAS - 2020,

Answer: A

All four statements are true, so the answer is 1, 2, 3 and 4.

The studies of the August 2018 Kerala floods found the coastal belt among the worst-hit areas. The low-lying land around the backwaters, such as Kuttanad and the Vembanad wetlands, flooded heavily, and areas next to them that normally stay dry were also inundated (1).

The outlets to the sea, the pozhis and spillways such as Thottappally, could not discharge the peak river flows fast enough (2). Drainage was made worse by high tides around the middle of August (3) and by strong onshore winds that raised the sea level and held back the river outflow (4).

Since all four contributed, every option leaving any of them out is incomplete.

Discuss in Forum

34.

Interzonal soil/s is/are ________ .

A. Bog soil
B. Laterite soil
C. Meadow soil
D. Saline soil

Choose the correct answer from the options given below :

A.A only
B.B and C only
C.A, C and D
D.A and C only

Exam Year(s)

KPSC KAS - 2020,

Answer: C

The answer is A, C and D: bog, meadow and saline soils.

In the zonal classification, zonal soils reflect the climate and vegetation of a region, while intrazonal soils (the paper's 'interzonal') are formed where a local factor, such as poor drainage, waterlogging or excess salts, overrides climate. Bog soils, meadow soils and saline soils are typical intrazonal soils.

Laterite soil is a zonal soil, formed by intense leaching under hot, wet tropical conditions, so the options including B are wrong.

Discuss in Forum

35.

Construction of dams, levees and other channel improvement structures used for flood control are categorized as :

A.Non-structural approach
B.Structural approach
C.Curvilinear approach
D.Staggened approach

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2018, SET Exam - 2018,

Answer: B

They are a Structural approach to flood control.

Flood management is divided into structural measures, which physically change the river or hold back water (dams, reservoirs, levees and embankments, channel improvement, diversions), and non-structural measures, which reduce damage without building works (flood plain zoning, forecasting and warning, insurance, land use control).

Dams and levees are physical structures, so the approach is structural, not non-structural. 'Curvilinear' and 'staggened' are not recognised categories of flood management.

Discuss in Forum

36.

Which of the following pairs is incorrect ?

Resources : Types

A.Forest : National resource
B.Tides : Inexhaustible
C.Coal : Inorganic
D.Wild animal : Renewable

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2018, SET Exam - 2018,

Answer: C

The incorrect pair is Coal : Inorganic.

Coal formed from the remains of plants buried in swamps and altered by heat and pressure over millions of years. Because it comes from living matter, it is classed as an organic (biotic) resource, like petroleum, even though it is mined like a mineral. It is non-renewable, but not inorganic.

The other pairs follow the standard classifications. By ownership, forests within a country's boundaries are national resources. Tides depend on the pull of the moon and the sun and will not run out with use, so they are inexhaustible. Wild animals reproduce and can be replenished if they are not overexploited, so they are renewable resources.

Discuss in Forum

37.

............... is not observed in equatorial rainforest.

A.Ebony
B.Mahogany
C.Bamboo
D.Rosewood

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2018, SET Exam - 2018,

Answer: C

The key's answer is bamboo.

Textbook descriptions of the equatorial rainforest list its valuable hardwoods: ebony, mahogany and rosewood, along with greenheart and rubber, growing in a dense, multi-layered evergreen forest.

Bamboo is presented instead as typical of the tropical monsoon (deciduous) forests, with their dry season, as in India and Southeast Asia. Bamboos do occur in some rainforests, but in the textbook classification of forest types they belong to the monsoon forests, and that is the reading the key follows.

Discuss in Forum

38.

Which one of the following factors is responsible for variations in the flora and fauna in different parts of the earth.

A.Changes in physical environment
B.Changes in social and cultural environment
C.Changes in technology
D.Both (B) and (C)

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2018, SET Exam - 2018,

Answer: A

The responsible factor is changes in physical environment.

The distribution of plants and animals over the earth depends above all on physical conditions: climate (temperature, rainfall, light), relief and altitude, soil, and water. These vary from place to place, producing distinct biomes from tropical rainforest to tundra, each with its own flora and fauna.

Social, cultural and technological change can modify vegetation and wildlife locally, through clearing, farming and introductions, but they do not account for the broad global variation in flora and fauna. So the options naming them, and the combined option (B) and (C), are wrong.

Discuss in Forum

39.

................... are vascular plants.

A.Algae
B.Fungi
C.Pteridophyta
D.Lichens

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2018, SET Exam - 2018,

Answer: C

The vascular plants are the Pteridophyta.

Pteridophytes, the ferns, horsetails and club mosses, are the first group of plants with true vascular tissue: xylem to carry water and phloem to carry food, together with true roots, stems and leaves. That is why they are called the vascular cryptogams.

Algae are simple, largely aquatic organisms with no vascular tissue. Fungi are not plants at all; they are heterotrophs with walls of chitin. Lichens are partnerships between a fungus and an alga or cyanobacterium, again without vascular tissue.

Discuss in Forum

40.

The concept of 'deep ecology' is associated with whom of the following ?

A.James Lovelock
B.Arne Naess
C.D. Hughes
D.J. Emel

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2018, SET Exam - 2018,

Answer: B

Deep ecology is associated with Arne Naess.

The Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess coined the term in 1973, contrasting 'shallow' environmentalism, concerned with pollution and resources for human benefit, with a 'deep' ecology that holds that all living beings have value in themselves, independent of their usefulness to people.

James Lovelock proposed the Gaia hypothesis of the earth as a self-regulating system, which is related but different. D. Hughes and J. Emel are writers on environmental history and resource geography, not the originators of deep ecology.

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