geomorphology & earth landforms section 7 Practice Questions Answers Test with Solutions & More Shortcuts

Answer: (c)

The Kalahari desert is a large semi-arid sandy Savanna in South Africa extending 900000 sq km (35000 sq mi), covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa.

As a semi-desert, with huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains, the Kalahari supports more animals and plants than a true desert, such as the Namib desert to the West. There are small amounts of rainfall and the summer temperature is very high.

It usually receives 3-7.5 inches (76-190 mm) of rain per year. The surrounding Kalahari Basin covers over 2500000 sq km (970000 sq mile) extending farther into Botswana, Namibia and South Africa and encroaching into parts of Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Answer: (d)

Answer: (a)

• Block Mountain – Black forest
• Old Fold Mountain – Appalachian
• Young Fold Mountain – Rocky
• Volcanic Mountain – Vesuvious
• Relict Mountain – Scottish Highlands

Answer: (a)

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth’s crust that creates seismic waves. The world’s earthquakes are not randomly distributed over the Earth’s surface.

.They tend to be concentrated in narrow zones. An explanation is to be found in plate tectonics, a concept that has revolutionized thinking in the Earth’s sciences. Plate tectonics tells us that the Earth’s rigid outer shell (lithosphere) is broken into a mosaic of oceanic and continental plates which can slide over the plastic asthenosphere, which is the uppermost layer of the mantle.

The plates are in constant motion. Where they interact, along their margins, important geological processes take places, such as the formation of mountain belts, earthquakes, and volcanoes.

Answer: (d)

The schists constitute a group of medium-grade metamorphic rocks, chiefly notable for the preponderance of lamellar minerals such as micas, chlorite, talc, hornblende, graphite, and others. Gneissic rocks are usually medium- to coarse-foliated and largely recrystallized but do not carry large quantities of micas, chlorite or other platy minerals.

Mica minerals make some rocks sparkle! They are often found in igneous rocks such as granite and metamorphic rocks such as schist. Most schists are mica schists, but graphite and chlorite schists are also common.

Schist is a crystalline metamorphic rock, mostly composed of more than 50% tabular and elongated minerals.