geomorphology & earth landforms section 1 MCQ Questions & Answers Detailed Explanation

Answer: (d)

Taiga is the world’s largest land biome. It makes up 29% of the world’s forest cover. Also known as boreal forest or snow forest, it is characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces and larches. The largest areas of Taiga are located in Russia and Canada.

Answer: (d)

When a river is joined by its tributaries at almost right angles, it develops a trellis pattern. Trellis pattern develops where hard and soft rocks exist parallel to each other.

Answer: (c)

Granite is high in quartz, a mineral very resistant to weathering. Similarly, quartzite is harder than steel. So, they are not easily worn down and give rise to upstanding mountains and hills (Environmental Biology by P.D. Sharma, p. 37).

However, they are subject to differential weathering: a rock that is resistant in a climate dominated by chemical weathering may be weak where the physical weathering process dominates, and vice versa. So quartzite, though hard and chemically inert, can be fractured by physical weathering.

Similarly, granite outcrops in arid or semi-arid region resist weathering; however, the minerals in granite are susceptible to alteration by oxidation, hydration and hydrolysis, particularly in regions with warm, humid conditions (Essentials of Physical Geography by Robert Gabler, James Petersen, L. Trapasso, p. 34).

Answer: (a)

Answer: (b)

Earthquakes are caused by faulting, a sudden lateral or vertical movement of rock along a rupture (break) surface. Earthquakes often occur in volcanic regions and are caused there, both by tectonic faults and the movement of magma in volcanoes.

Such earthquakes can serve as an early warning of volcanic eruptions, as during the Mount St. Helens eruption of 1980.

Answer: (c)

The most powerful agents of marine or coastal erosion are waves. Features associated with coastal erosion are capes and bays; cliffs and wave-cut platforms; cave, arch, stack and stump; goes and gloups.