[Mission 2022] QUIZ – 2022: INSIGHTS STATIC QUIZ, 15 November 2021 – Geography – INSIGHTSIAS

Solution: d)

The ranges of the Western Himalayas are more continuous compared to Eastern Himalayas.

The Himachal and Uttarakhand Himalayas lies approximately between the Ravi in the west and the Kali (a tributary of Ghaghara) in the east.

Solution: a)

At Devprayag, the Bhagirathi meets the Alaknanda; hereafter, it is known as the Ganga. The Alaknanda has its source in the Satopanth glacier above Badrinath.

The Ghaghara originates in the glaciers of Mapchachungo.

Solution: b)

Himalayas are oriented east-west and their southern slopes are in direct sunshine for a larger part of the year so the snowline on the southern slopes of the ridges is higher than the northern slopes.

Also, volume of precipitation decreases from the south towards the north, therefore southern ranges in eastern Himalayas have lower snowline than the northern ranges because they receive more rainfall allowing for snow to form at lower altitudes.

The Eastern Ghats and Deccan Plateau are drier than Western Ghats and consequently have less diverse vegetation because eastern ghats are in the rainshadow zone of Monsoon winds, and Western Ghats receives more rainfall than both Deccan plateau and eastern ghats.

Solution: c)

In our country, debris avalanche and landslides occur very frequently in the Himalayas. There are many reasons for this. One, the Himalayas are tectonically active. They are mostly made up of sedimentary rocks and unconsolidated and semi-consolidated deposits. The slopes are very steep.

Compared to the Himalayas, the Nilgiris bordering Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and the Western Ghats along the west coast are relatively tectonically stable and are mostly made up of very hard rocks; but, still, debris avalanches and landslides occur though not as frequently as in the Himalayas, in these hills due to very heavy rainfall.

Solution: a)

The folds of the Great Himalayas are asymmetrical in nature.

The longitudinal valley lying between lesser Himalaya and the Shiwaliks are known as Duns.  Ex Chandigarh-Kalka dun, Nalagarh dun, Dehra Dun, Harike dun and the Kota dun, etc. Dehra Dun is the largest of all the duns with an approximate length of 35-45 km and a width of 22-25 km.