Day-766 | Daily MCQs | UPSC Prelims | GEOGRAPHY

Answer: A
Explanation:
Statement 1 is correct- Agriculture accounts for most of the surface and groundwater utilisation, it accounts for 89 per cent of the surface water and 92 per cent of the groundwater utilisation.
Statement 2 is incorrect- Industries use nearly 5% of ground water. The share of industrial sector in utilisation of surface water is nearly 2%.
Statement 3 is incorrect- Domestic sector uses about one-tenth of the surface water. The share of domestic sector in surface water withdrawals is 9%.

Answer. D
Explanation-
Statement 1 is incorrect- Agriculture in the Deccan Plateau and Northwestern India is not possible without adequate facilities for irrigation, especially in the dry seasons.
The large tracts of the country are deficient in rainfall and are drought prone. North-western India and Deccan plateau constitute such areas. Winter and summer seasons are more or less dry in most part of the country. Hence, it is difficult to practise agriculture without assured irrigation during dry seasons.
Statement 2 is correct- Most of the Deccan plateau suffers from high rainfall variability. The region is water scarce due to deficiency of rainfall from both the Bay of Bengal branch of monsoon as well as the Arabian sea branch of monsoon. The Deccan Plateau is characterised by continental effect wherein the monsoon-carrying winds become dry when they reach the interior of the landmass.

Answer. A
Explanation- The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in collaboration with State Pollution Control Boards has been monitoring water quality of national aquatic resources at 507 stations. The data obtained from these stations show that organic and bacterial contamination continues to be the main source of pollution in rivers. The Yamuna river is the most polluted river in the country between Delhi and Etawah.
Other severely polluted rivers are: the Sabarmati at Ahmedabad, the Gomti at Lucknow, the Kali, the Adyar, the Cooum (entire stretches), the Vaigai at Madurai and the Musi of Hyderabad and the Ganga at Kanpur and Varanasi.

Answer. D
Explanation-
Statement 1 is incorrect- When the magma from the interior of earth comes out on the surface, tremendous heat is released. This heat energy can successfully be tapped and converted to electrical energy. Apart from this, the hot water that gushes out through the geyser wells is also used in the generation of thermal energy. It is popularly known as Geothermal energy. This energy is now considered to be one of the key energy sources which can be developed as an alternate source. The hot springs and geysers are being used since medieval period.
Therefore, both the magma from volcanic eruption and hot water springs(geysers) are the sources of geothermal energy.
Statement 2 is incorrect- Tattapani in Chhattisgarh, Manikaran in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh and Puga valley in Ladakh are the sites of geothermal energy in India.

Answer. C
Explanation- In Assam, Digboi, Naharkatiya and Moran are important oil producing areas. The major oilfields of Gujarat are Ankaleshwar, Kalol, Mehsana, Nawagam, Kosamba and Lunej. Mumbai High which lies 160 km off Mumbai was discovered in 1973 and production commenced in 1976.

Answer. C
Explanation- Nuclear energy has emerged as a viable source in recent times. Important minerals used for the generation of nuclear energy are uranium and thorium.
Statement 1 is correct- Uranium deposits occur in the Dharwar rocks in the regions that constitute parts of the states like Rajasthan (Aravalli range), Chattisgrah, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh among others.
Dharwar System of rocks were formed during the period ranging between 4 billion years ago to 1 billion years ago. They are highly metamorphosed sedimentary rock-system that were formed due to metamorphosis of sediments of Archaean gneisses and schists. Hence, they are the oldest metamorphosed rocks. They are found in abundance in the Dharwar district of Karnataka.
Economically the most important rocks because they possess valuable minerals like high-grade iron-ore, manganese, copper, lead, gold, etc.
Statement 2 is correct- Geographically, uranium ores are known to occur in several locations along the Singbhum Copper belt. It is also found in Udaipur, Alwar and Jhunjhunu districts of Rajasthan, Durg district of Chhattisgarh, Bhandara district of Maharashtra and Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh.

Answer. B
Explanation-
Statement 1 is correct- Thorium is mainly obtained from monazite and ilmenite in the beach sands along the coast of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Statement 2 is correct- India has nearly 25% of the world’s total thorium reserves as compared to 2% share in the global reserves of uranium.
Statement 3 is incorrect- Kerala has the highest reserves of thorium in India. World’s richest monazite deposits occur in Palakkad and Kollam districts of Kerala, near Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Mahanadi river delta in Odisha.

Answer. A
Explanation- Coal is a one of the important minerals which is mainly used in the generation of thermal power and smelting of iron ore.
Statement 1 is correct- Coal occurs in rock sequences mainly of two geological ages, namely Gondwana and tertiary deposits.
Statement 2 is incorrect- The most important Gondwana coal fields of India are located in Damodar Valley. They lie in Jharkhand-Bengal coal belt and the important coal fields in this region are Raniganj, Jharia, Bokaro, Giridih, Karanpura. Jharia is the largest coal field followed by Raniganj.

Answer. B
Explanation- The brown coal or lignite occur in the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir.
Meghalaya and Chattisgarh do not have lignite reserves.
Tertiary coals occur in Assam, ArunachalPradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland. It is extracted from Darangiri, Cherrapunji, Mewlong and Langrin (Meghalaya); Makum, Jaipur and Nazira in upper Assam, Namchik –Namphuk (Arunachal Pradesh) and Kalakot (Jammu and Kashmir).
Gondwana coal (Bituminous) occurs in the state of Chattisgarh.

Answer. B
Explanation- Crude petroleum consists of hydrocarbons of liquid and gaseous states varying in chemical composition, colour and specific gravity.
Statement 1 is correct- Crude petroleum occurs (almost entirely) in sedimentary rocks of the tertiary period.
Statement 2 is incorrect- Oil extracted from the wells is crude oil and contains many impurities. It cannot be used directly. It needs to be refined. There are two types of refineries in India: (a) field-based and (b) market-based. Digboi is an example of field-based and Barauni is an example of market-based refinery.
Statement 3 is correct- Its numerous by-products are processed in petrochemical industries, such as fertiliser, synthetic rubber, synthetic fibre, medicines, vaseline, lubricants, wax, soap and cosmetics.

Answer. D
Explanation-
Statement 1 is incorrect but statement 2 is correct- Natural Gas is found with petroleum deposits and is released when crude oil is brought to the surface. It is obtained along with oil in all the oilfields but exclusive reserves have been discovered along the eastern coast (Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh) as well as in Tripura, Rajasthan and offshore wells in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Answer. D
Explanation- Oceanic tides can be used to generate electricity. Floodgate dams are built across inlets. During high tide water flows into the inlet and gets trapped when the gate is closed. After the tide falls outside the flood gate, the water retained by the floodgate flows back to the sea via a pipe that carries it through a power-generating turbine.
Statement 1 is incorrect- Tides are known to occur along both the western and eastern coast of India.
Statement 2 is incorrect- It is estimated that India possesses 8,000-9,000 MW of tidal energy potential. The Gulf of Khambat followed by the Gulf of Kachchh and Sunderbans are the best suited sites for the development of tidal energy in India.
State wise, Gujarat and West Bengal have the potential sites for development of tidal energy in India.

Answer. D
Explanation-
Statement 1 is incorrect- nuclear energy is not renewable in nature. Sustainable energy resources are only the renewable energy sources like solar, wind, hydro-geothermal and biomass. These energy sources are more equitably distributed and environment-friendly. The non-conventional energy sources will provide more sustained, eco-friendly cheaper energy after the initial cost is taken care of.
Statement 2 is correct- Fossil fuel sources, such as coal, petroleum, natural gas and nuclear energy use exhaustible raw materials. This explains why the nuclear energy is not a source of renewable energy. The raw materials used in production of nuclear energy such as uranium and thorium are present in limited amount in nature and thus, are not inexhaustible.

Answer. D
Explanation- Alternative energy sources refer to all such sources of energy other than the traditional fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. Thus, the cleaner energy sources which are less-polluting (produce little to no greenhouse gases like CO2) are referred to as alternative energy sources.
The alternative energy sources like solar power, wind energy, wave energy, hydropower, geothermal energy, bioenergy, are inexhaustible resource. These should be developed to replace the exhaustible resources.
Nuclear energy is also considered as an alternative form of energy but it is not renewable.

Answer. B
Explanation- Mica is a mineral made up of a series of plates or leaves. It splits easily into thin sheets. These sheets can be so thin that a thousand can be layered into a mica sheet of a few centimetres high.
Statement 1 is incorrect- Mica is a non-metallic mineral.
Statement 2 is correct- Mica deposits are found in the northern edge of the Chota Nagpur plateau. Koderma Gaya – Hazaribagh belt of Jharkhand is the leading producer. In Rajasthan, the major mica producing area is around Ajmer. Nellore mica belt of Andhra Pradesh is also an important producer in the country.
Statement 3 is correct- Mica can be clear, black, green, red, yellow or brown.

Answer. B
Explanation- Geologists define mineral as a “homogenous, naturally occurring substance with a definable internal structure.” Minerals are usually found in “ores”. The term ore is used to describe an accumulation of any mineral mixed with other elements.
Mineral ore – Mineral found
• Bauxite – Aluminium
• Limonite – Iron
• Pitchblende – Uranium

Answer. D
Explanation- Minerals generally occur in these forms:
(i) In igneous and metamorphic rocks, minerals may occur in the cracks, crevices, faults or joints. The smaller occurrences are called veins and the larger are called lodes. In most cases, they are formed when minerals in liquid/ molten and gaseous forms are forced upward through cavities towards the earth’s surface. They cool and solidify as they rise.
Major metallic minerals like tin, copper, zinc and lead etc. are obtained from veins and lodes. (Statement 1 is correct.)
(ii) In sedimentary rocks, a number of minerals occur in beds or layers. They have been formed as a result of deposition, accumulation and concentration in horizontal strata. Coal and some forms of iron ore have been concentrated as a result of long periods under great heat and pressure.
(Therefore, statement 2 is correct.)
Another group of sedimentary minerals include gypsum, potash salt and sodium salt. These are formed as a result of evaporation especially in arid regions.
(iii) Another mode of formation involves the decomposition of surface rocks, and the removal of soluble constituents, leaving a residual mass of weathered material containing ores. Bauxite is formed this way.
Therefore, bauxite is an example of a residual mineral. (Statement 3 is correct.)
(iv) Certain minerals may occur as alluvial deposits in sands of valley floors and the base of hills. These deposits are called ‘placer deposits’ and generally contain minerals, which are not corroded by water. Gold, silver, tin and platinum are most important among such minerals.
(v) The ocean waters contain vast quantities of minerals, but most of these are too widely diffused to be of economic significance. However, common salt, magnesium and bromine are largely derived from ocean waters. The ocean beds, too, are rich in manganese nodules.

Answer. C
Explanation- Ferrous minerals account for about three-fourths of the total value of the production of metallic minerals. They provide a strong base for the development of metallurgical industries. India exports substantial quantities of ferrous minerals after meeting her internal demands.
All those minerals which have iron content are ferrous such as iron ore itself and those which do not have iron content are non-ferrous such as copper, bauxite, etc.
Ferrous metallic minerals include iron ore, manganese, nickel, cobalt, etc.
Non-Ferrous Minerals: India’s reserves and production of non-ferrous minerals is not very satisfactory. However, these minerals, which include copper, bauxite, lead, zinc and gold play a vital role in a number of metallurgical, engineering and electrical industries.

Answer. C
Explanation- Minerals are generally concentrated in three broad belts in India namely the South-western plateau region, North-western region and the Himalayan belt. There may be some sporadic occurrences here and there in isolated pockets.
Statement 1 is correct- The South-western plateau belt extends over Karnataka, Goa and contiguous Tamil Nadu uplands and Kerala. This belt is rich in ferrous metals and bauxite. It also contains high grade iron ore, manganese and limestone. This belt lacks in coal deposits except Neyveli lignite.
This south-western plateau belt does not have as diversified mineral deposits as the north-eastern belt.
Most of the haematite ores(best quality of iron ore) as well as the magnetite iron ores are found in the Dharwad and Cudappah rock systems of the peninsular India.
Statement 2 is correct- The North-western mineral belt extends along Aravalli in Rajasthan and part of Gujarat and minerals are associated with Dharwar system of rocks. Copper, zinc have been major minerals.

Answer. C
Explanation-
Statement 1 is correct- India has second largest road networks in the world, aggregating to about 62.16 lakh km (2020–21). In India, roadways have preceded railways.
Statement 2 is correct- Road transport in modern sense was very limited in India before World War-II. The first serious attempt was made in 1943 when ‘Nagpur Plan’ was drawn. This plan could not be implemented due to lack of coordination among the princely states and British India. After Independence, twenty-year road plan (1961) was introduced to improve the conditions of roads in India.