Indian Geography Mixed Practice — MCQs with Answers (Set 18)

A few months after the 2004 tsunami, Barren Island’s volcano violently resumed erupting, in an active phase that lasted through 2005-07.

The Government of India declared Barren Island a Wildlife Sanctuary on 16 February 1987, protecting its surrounding coral reefs and marine life.

The correct answer is The Burmese microplate. The volcano sits on the edge of the Indo-Burmese plate boundary. This is a subduction zone, where one plate dives beneath another. Magma forms as it sinks. The other plates are not at this boundary. Memory hook: Indian plate dives under Burma.

Barren Island, in the Andaman Sea, is India’s only confirmed active volcano, and South Asia’s only one too.

IITM studies found very severe cyclones in the Arabian Sea rose by about 150% over the past four decades, linked to rising sea surface temperatures.

RSMC New Delhi names cyclones on behalf of 13 member countries under the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones.

Since September 2004, tropical cyclones over the North Indian Ocean have been formally named, with RSMC New Delhi as the responsible authority.

The Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Irrawaddy discharge warm freshwater into the Bay of Bengal, keeping its surface layer warm and less saline.

The Bay of Bengal historically produces roughly four times as many cyclones as the Arabian Sea.

The correct answer is The Mahadayi River, within the Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary and Mollem National Park. Mahadayi is another name for the Mandovi. Dudhsagar is a four-tiered fall about 310 m high. The Sharavati, Indravati and Periyar options belong to other falls and parks. Memory hook: Dudhsagar means the Mandovi in Goa.

The correct answer is Raja, Rani, Roarer, and Rocket. Jog Falls drops in one free fall that divides into four cascades. Roarer is the noisiest. Rani is calm and quiet. The compass, Greek-letter and number sets are not real names. Memory hook: four R’s, Raja to Rocket.

The correct answer is India’s widest waterfall, nicknamed the ‘Niagara Falls of India’. Chitrakote lies on the Indravati River, 38 km from Jagdalpur. It is horse-shoe shaped and looks best from July to October. The tallest, oldest and fastest-flowing options do not describe it. Victoria Falls is not its nickname. Memory hook: Chitrakoot is wide, like Niagara.

The correct answer is Nohkalikai Falls. It is the tallest plunge waterfall in India, with a drop of over 340 m. It lies in the East Khasi Hills, about 7.5 km from Sohra. Dudhsagar is a tiered fall. Jog Falls is shorter at 253 m. Chitrakoot is known for width, not height. Memory hook: Nohkalikai is the plunge near Sohra.

The correct answer is that Glossopteris is key evidence that the continents were once joined. Its fossils occur in Australia, South Africa, South America, India and Antarctica. Lystrosaurus and Mesosaurus tell the same story. It does not disprove Gondwanaland, and it is not about coal seam depth. Memory hook: same fossil, different continents.

The correct answer is H.B. Medlicott. He worked for the Geological Survey of India and suggested the name in 1872. Eduard Suess came later and wrote about the past unity of the southern continents in 1885. Alfred Wegener extended Suess’ idea to Australia and Antarctica. Charles Lyell is not linked to the name. Memory hook: Medlicott named it, Suess widened it, Wegener moved it.

The name comes from the Gond region of central India, in today’s Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

Forecasters also track the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), rather than reading El Niño alone as a guaranteed bad-monsoon signal.

The 2002 drought was especially severe, with a 19% rainfall deficit that hit about 29% of the country and cost roughly 24 million tonnes of food grain.

Since 1950, India has had 16 El Niño years, but only 7 of those saw below-normal monsoon rainfall — a mixed record, not a guaranteed link.

La Niña cooling strengthens the easterly trade winds that carry moisture toward India, generally boosting monsoon rainfall above normal.

El Niño occurs when the central and eastern Pacific, off Peru, warms up more than usual.

One theory links the Palakkad Gap to the breakup of Gondwana, when India separated from Madagascar roughly 100 million years ago.

National Highway 544 and the Coimbatore-Shoranur railway line both run through the Palakkad Gap, making it a vital transport corridor.

The Palakkad Gap is about 32 kilometres wide, at an average elevation of around 140 metres, far lower than the surrounding ranges.

The Palakkad Gap lies between the Nilgiri Hills to its north and the Anaimalai Hills to its south.