Natural Resources Questions and Answers

Q: Which states have conflict related to Almatti Dam ?

The states are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.The Almatti dam is on the Krishna river in Karnataka. Downstream Andhra Pradesh (and now Telangana) has objected to raising its height because it would reduce flows, and upstream Maharashtra has complained that its backwater worsens floods in Sangli and Kolhapur. The dispute has been part of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal proceedings.Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are parties to the Narmada dispute, and the northern Himalayan states and Odisha are not on the Krishna.

Q: Most abundant soil in India are :

The most abundant soil in India is alluvial soil.Alluvial soils cover about 40% of India's land area. They were laid down by rivers, especially across the Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra plains, and also in the deltas of the east coast rivers. They are fertile and support most of the country's agriculture.Red and yellow soils are second, developed on crystalline rocks of the Deccan and the eastern peninsula. Laterite soils form under heavy rainfall with alternating wet and dry seasons, mainly in the Western Ghats, the Eastern Ghats and the north-east. Desert soils are confined largely to western Rajasthan.

Q: Coefficient of permeability is also referred to as ..............

The coefficient of permeability is also called hydraulic conductivity.In Darcy's law, \(Q = KiA\), the constant K, with units of velocity, measures how easily water moves through a soil or rock under a hydraulic gradient. Engineers call it the coefficient of permeability and hydrogeologists call it hydraulic conductivity.Effective porosity is the fraction of interconnected pore space available for flow. Field capacity is the water a soil holds after free drainage. Specific yield is the volume of water an unconfined aquifer releases by gravity drainage per unit volume. These are storage properties, not a rate of flow.

Q: Peat is a type of ..............

Peat is a Histosol.Histosols are organic soils, formed where plant material accumulates faster than it decomposes, usually because waterlogging keeps the soil short of oxygen. Peat bogs and fens are the typical Histosols, with a thick layer of partly decomposed organic matter.The other names are mineral soils in the FAO/WRB classification. Ferralsols are deeply weathered red and yellow tropical soils rich in iron and aluminium oxides. Gleysols are waterlogged mineral soils with grey and mottled colours from reduced iron. Podzols are acidic soils of cool, humid coniferous regions with a bleached, leached layer.

Q: The boundary between the SIAL and SIMA is called ...........

The boundary between SIAL and SIMA is the Conrad discontinuity.SIAL (silica and aluminium) is the lighter, granitic upper continental crust; SIMA (silica and magnesium) is the denser, basaltic lower crust. The Conrad discontinuity, where seismic velocities increase within the continental crust, separates the two.The Mohorovicic discontinuity is the base of the crust, between crust and mantle. The Gutenberg discontinuity, at about 2,900 km, separates mantle from outer core. The Lehmann discontinuity, at about 5,150 km, separates outer from inner core. All three lie deeper than the SIAL-SIMA boundary.

Q: Solid-Solid diffusion, phase transition and chemical reactions are characteristic of ...............

These processes are characteristic of metamorphic rocks.Metamorphism changes rocks in the solid state under heat and pressure. Atoms migrate through the solid (solid-solid diffusion), minerals change to forms stable under the new conditions (phase transitions), and minerals react with each other to form new ones, all without melting.Igneous rocks form by cooling and crystallisation from molten magma, not by solid-state change. Sedimentary rocks form by deposition, compaction and cementation of sediments at low temperature. Metasomatic rocks form when fluids add or remove chemical components; they are a special case of metamorphism, and the general answer the key wants is metamorphic rocks.

Q: Which one of the following is essentially present in the fossil fuels along with carbon ?

Along with carbon, fossil fuels essentially contain hydrogen.Coal, petroleum and natural gas are made up of hydrocarbons and related compounds, formed from the remains of ancient organisms. Their energy comes mainly from burning carbon and hydrogen to carbon dioxide and water. Methane, the main component of natural gas, is CH4; petroleum is a mixture of hydrocarbons; even coal contains several per cent hydrogen.Nitrogen, sulphur and oxygen do occur in fossil fuels, but only in variable, often small amounts as impurities, and some fuels have very little of them. Sulphur in particular is a pollutant source, not an essential part of a fuel.

Q: Most common gas linked with gas hydrates is :

The gas most commonly linked with gas hydrates is CH4, methane.Gas hydrates are ice-like solids in which gas molecules are trapped in cages of water molecules. They form at high pressure and low temperature, in seafloor sediments of continental margins and in permafrost. Almost all natural gas hydrate is methane hydrate, which is why it is studied both as a future energy resource and as a climate risk if it melts.CO2 can form hydrates, and this is studied for carbon storage, but it is not the common natural one. SO2 and dimethyl sulphide (DMS) are not significant hydrate-forming gases in nature.

Q: Which of the following is the main cause of desertification ?

The key's answer is overgrazing.Desertification is land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas caused by climatic variation and human activities. Overgrazing by livestock removes the plant cover that holds soil in place; the bare soil is then compacted by hooves and eroded by wind and water. In India's dry regions such as western Rajasthan and Kutch it is regarded as the leading human cause.Badly managed irrigation can cause salinisation and waterlogging, and mining degrades land locally, but neither is the main cause across dry lands. Plantation (afforestation and shelter belts) is a remedy for desertification, not a cause.

Q: From a human usage perspective, and as long as the rate of replenishment or recovery exceeds the rate of consumption such resource is termed as :

Such a resource is a renewable resource.A renewable resource is replaced by natural processes, such as forests, fish stocks, groundwater and soil, and remains available as long as it is used no faster than it is replenished. Overuse beyond that rate can still exhaust it.A non-renewable resource, such as coal or petroleum, forms over geological time and is effectively not replenished at all. 'Limited' and 'short-term' resources are not the standard terms for a resource defined by replenishment exceeding consumption.

31.

Which states have conflict related to Almatti Dam ?

A.Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh
B.Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra
C.Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Odisha
D.Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu Kashmir

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2024, SET Exam - 2024,

Answer: B

The states are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

The Almatti dam is on the Krishna river in Karnataka. Downstream Andhra Pradesh (and now Telangana) has objected to raising its height because it would reduce flows, and upstream Maharashtra has complained that its backwater worsens floods in Sangli and Kolhapur. The dispute has been part of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal proceedings.

Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are parties to the Narmada dispute, and the northern Himalayan states and Odisha are not on the Krishna.

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32.

Most abundant soil in India are :

A.Desert
B.Laterite
C.Red
D.Alluvial

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2025, SET Exam - 2025,

Answer: D

The most abundant soil in India is alluvial soil.

Alluvial soils cover about 40% of India's land area. They were laid down by rivers, especially across the Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra plains, and also in the deltas of the east coast rivers. They are fertile and support most of the country's agriculture.

Red and yellow soils are second, developed on crystalline rocks of the Deccan and the eastern peninsula. Laterite soils form under heavy rainfall with alternating wet and dry seasons, mainly in the Western Ghats, the Eastern Ghats and the north-east. Desert soils are confined largely to western Rajasthan.

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33.

Coefficient of permeability is also referred to as ..............

A.Effective porosity
B.Field capacity
C.Specific yield
D.Hydraulic conductivity

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2025, SET Exam - 2025,

Answer: D

The coefficient of permeability is also called hydraulic conductivity.

In Darcy's law, \(Q = KiA\), the constant K, with units of velocity, measures how easily water moves through a soil or rock under a hydraulic gradient. Engineers call it the coefficient of permeability and hydrogeologists call it hydraulic conductivity.

Effective porosity is the fraction of interconnected pore space available for flow. Field capacity is the water a soil holds after free drainage. Specific yield is the volume of water an unconfined aquifer releases by gravity drainage per unit volume. These are storage properties, not a rate of flow.

Discuss in Forum

34.

Peat is a type of ..............

A.Ferralsol
B.Histosol
C.Gleysol
D.Podsol

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2025, SET Exam - 2025,

Answer: B

Peat is a Histosol.

Histosols are organic soils, formed where plant material accumulates faster than it decomposes, usually because waterlogging keeps the soil short of oxygen. Peat bogs and fens are the typical Histosols, with a thick layer of partly decomposed organic matter.

The other names are mineral soils in the FAO/WRB classification. Ferralsols are deeply weathered red and yellow tropical soils rich in iron and aluminium oxides. Gleysols are waterlogged mineral soils with grey and mottled colours from reduced iron. Podzols are acidic soils of cool, humid coniferous regions with a bleached, leached layer.

Discuss in Forum

35.

The boundary between the SIAL and SIMA is called ...........

A.Mohorovicic discontinuity
B.Conrad discontinuity
C.Gutenberg discontinuity
D.Lehman discontinuity

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2025, SET Exam - 2025,

Answer: B

The boundary between SIAL and SIMA is the Conrad discontinuity.

SIAL (silica and aluminium) is the lighter, granitic upper continental crust; SIMA (silica and magnesium) is the denser, basaltic lower crust. The Conrad discontinuity, where seismic velocities increase within the continental crust, separates the two.

The Mohorovicic discontinuity is the base of the crust, between crust and mantle. The Gutenberg discontinuity, at about 2,900 km, separates mantle from outer core. The Lehmann discontinuity, at about 5,150 km, separates outer from inner core. All three lie deeper than the SIAL-SIMA boundary.

Discuss in Forum

36.

Solid-Solid diffusion, phase transition and chemical reactions are characteristic of ...............

A.Igneous rocks
B.Metamorphic rocks
C.Metasomatic rocks
D.Sedimentary rocks

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2025, SET Exam - 2025,

Answer: B

These processes are characteristic of metamorphic rocks.

Metamorphism changes rocks in the solid state under heat and pressure. Atoms migrate through the solid (solid-solid diffusion), minerals change to forms stable under the new conditions (phase transitions), and minerals react with each other to form new ones, all without melting.

Igneous rocks form by cooling and crystallisation from molten magma, not by solid-state change. Sedimentary rocks form by deposition, compaction and cementation of sediments at low temperature. Metasomatic rocks form when fluids add or remove chemical components; they are a special case of metamorphism, and the general answer the key wants is metamorphic rocks.

Discuss in Forum

37.

Which one of the following is essentially present in the fossil fuels along with carbon ?

A.Nitrogen
B.Hydrogen
C.Sulphur
D.Oxygen

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2025, SET Exam - 2025,

Answer: B

Along with carbon, fossil fuels essentially contain hydrogen.

Coal, petroleum and natural gas are made up of hydrocarbons and related compounds, formed from the remains of ancient organisms. Their energy comes mainly from burning carbon and hydrogen to carbon dioxide and water. Methane, the main component of natural gas, is CH₄; petroleum is a mixture of hydrocarbons; even coal contains several per cent hydrogen.

Nitrogen, sulphur and oxygen do occur in fossil fuels, but only in variable, often small amounts as impurities, and some fuels have very little of them. Sulphur in particular is a pollutant source, not an essential part of a fuel.

Discuss in Forum

38.

Most common gas linked with gas hydrates is :

A.CO\(_{2}\)
B.CH\(_{4}\)
C.SO\(_{2}\)
D.DMS

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2025, SET Exam - 2025,

Answer: B

The gas most commonly linked with gas hydrates is CH₄, methane.

Gas hydrates are ice-like solids in which gas molecules are trapped in cages of water molecules. They form at high pressure and low temperature, in seafloor sediments of continental margins and in permafrost. Almost all natural gas hydrate is methane hydrate, which is why it is studied both as a future energy resource and as a climate risk if it melts.

CO₂ can form hydrates, and this is studied for carbon storage, but it is not the common natural one. SO₂ and dimethyl sulphide (DMS) are not significant hydrate-forming gases in nature.

Discuss in Forum

39.

Which of the following is the main cause of desertification ?

A.Irrigation
B.Mining
C.Plantation
D.Overgrazing

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2025, SET Exam - 2025,

Answer: D

The key's answer is overgrazing.

Desertification is land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas caused by climatic variation and human activities. Overgrazing by livestock removes the plant cover that holds soil in place; the bare soil is then compacted by hooves and eroded by wind and water. In India's dry regions such as western Rajasthan and Kutch it is regarded as the leading human cause.

Badly managed irrigation can cause salinisation and waterlogging, and mining degrades land locally, but neither is the main cause across dry lands. Plantation (afforestation and shelter belts) is a remedy for desertification, not a cause.

Discuss in Forum

40.

From a human usage perspective, and as long as the rate of replenishment or recovery exceeds the rate of consumption such resource is termed as :

A.Non-renewable resource
B.Limited resource
C.Renewable resource
D.Short-term resource

Exam Year(s)

MH SET - 2025, SET Exam - 2025,

Answer: C

Such a resource is a renewable resource.

A renewable resource is replaced by natural processes, such as forests, fish stocks, groundwater and soil, and remains available as long as it is used no faster than it is replenished. Overuse beyond that rate can still exhaust it.

A non-renewable resource, such as coal or petroleum, forms over geological time and is effectively not replenished at all. 'Limited' and 'short-term' resources are not the standard terms for a resource defined by replenishment exceeding consumption.

Discuss in Forum

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