Geography – The Fundas

Monsoon

1. XXXX is a seasonal shift in the prevailing wind direction,that usually brings with it a different kind of weather. Thepersistent wind flow is driven by a warm air mass with lowpressure at the surface that forms over the continent as it

is warmed by the sun. Air from the relatively higherpressure air mass over the ocean flows toward the low

pressure over land.

2. What are El Nino and La Nina commonlyassociated with, besides natural disasters?

El Nino is associated with warming of surface waters inEastern Pacific and La Nina is associated with cooling of

surface waters in Eastern Pacific.

3. What are Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn?

The tropics are the two imaginary lines where the sun is directlyoverhead at noon on the two solstices - near June and December 21.

The sun is directly overhead at noon on the Tropic of Cancer on June 21(the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and the

beginning of winter in the Southern Hemisphere) and the sun is directlyoverhead at noon on the Tropic of Capricorn on December 21 (the

beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning ofsummer in the Southern Hemisphere).

4. What is a peninsula?

A peninsula is a land mass that juts out into the sea, or issurrounded by water on three sides.

5. This soil is formed from the deposition of silt carried byrivers and is found e.g., in the Great Northern plains from

Punjab to the Assam valley. Name the soil.

Alluvial Soil

6. What is an Isthmus?

An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two largerland areas.

The Isthmus of Panama connects the continents of Northand South America (the Americas), and the Isthmus of Suez

in Egypt connects Africa and Asia (or Eurasia).

7. What are Trade Winds?

The trade winds (also called trades) are the prevailing pattern of easterly surface windsfound in the tropics, within the lower portion of the Earth's atmosphere, in the lower

section of the troposphere near the Earth's equator.The trade winds blow predominantly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphereand from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere, strengthening during the winterand when the Arctic oscillation is in its warm phase. Historically, the trade winds havebeen used by captains of sailing ships to cross the world's oceans for centuries; andenabled European empire expansion into the Americas, and trade routes to become

established across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Geography – India

8. India is supposed to have been formed afterseparation from which prehistoric super continent?

India is entirely contained on the Indian Plate, a majortectonic plate that was formed when it split off from the

ancient continent Gondwanaland.

9. Deccan plateau is typically made of which rock?

Igneous rock – Basalt / Granite

10. How is the southernmost point in the Indianmain land, Kanyakumari , also known as?

Cape Comorin, Tamil Nadu, 8.06890°N 77.55230°E

11. Which is the highest fully contained mountain inIndia?

Nanda Devi, 7816 m, Uttaranchal

12. Which river is known as Yarlung Zangbo too?

Brahmaputra

13. Which imaginary line passes through India?Tropic of Cancer or Tropic of Capricorn.

Tropic of Cancer

14. Which part of India is known as the CoromandelCoast?

The Coromandel Coast is thename given to the

southeastern coast of theIndian peninsula.

15. Which is largest river island in India?

Majuli Island in Assam is the largest river Island in India.Majuli is in the Brahmaputra River, and is about 200

kilometres east from Guwahati, the capital of Assam. Majuliwas formed due to course changes by the river Brahmaputra

and its tributaries, mainly the Lohit. The total area of theisland was 1250 sq.km but due to erosion its present area is

557 sq km.

16. What is Chilka lake?

Chilka Lake (Chilika Lake) is a brackish water lagoon, spread over the Puri,Khurda and Ganjam districts of Orissa state on the east coast of India, at the

mouth of the Daya River, flowing into the Bay of Bengal. It is the largest coastallagoon in India and the second largest lagoon in the World.

A lagoon is a body of comparatively shallow salt or brackish water separatedfrom the deeper sea by a shallow or exposed barrier beach, sandbank of

marine origin, coral reef, or similar feature.

17. Which river is called the Sorrow of Bihar?

Kosi

18. What connects Bay of Bengal to Gulf of Mannar?

The Palk Strait is a 40-85 mi (64-137 km) wide strait thatlies between India's Tamil Nadu state and the island

nation of Sri Lanka. It connects the Bay of Bengal to thenortheast with the Gulf of Mannar to the south. Thestrait receives several rivers, most notably the Vaigai

River of Tamil Nadu.

Geography – The World

19. Which world famous trees are these?

20. Which is the highest mountain in SouthAmerica?

Aconcagua, 6962 m, Argentina

21. Which ocean has the deepest place on earth,Challenger Deep - Mariana Trench at 10,923 m?

Pacific Ocean

22. Which is the world's highest volcano?

Ojos del Salado, 6893 m, Catamarca, Argentina -Atacama, Chile

23. Which is the largest land locked country in theworld?

Kazakhstan, 2727300 sq km

24. Which is the largest inland sea / lake in theworld?

Caspian Sea, 371000 sq km

25. Which is the largest sea in the world?

South China Sea, 2974600 sq km

26. Which is the world's largest peninsula?

Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, UnitedArab Emirates, Oman and Yemen and is surrounded bythe Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman and the

Persian Gulf

27. Which is the longest line of latitude on theearth?

Equator

28. Which world famous geographical feature isthis?

29. Which is the world's largest glacier outside polarand sub polar regions?

Siachen Glacier has the distinction of being the largestglacier outside the polar and the sub-polar regions. It isalso the largest glacier in India. Siachen glacier is 75.6

km long and 2.8 km wide.

30. What world famous geographical feature is this?

Tropic of Cancer

Extra

31. What is an estuary?

An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers orstreams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea.

Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and oceanenvironments and are subject to both marine influences, such as tides, waves,

and the influx of saline water; and riverine influences, such as flows of freshwater and sediment. The inflow of both seawater and freshwater provide highlevels of nutrients in both the water column and sediment, making estuaries

among the most productive natural habitats in the world