World & Physical Geography MCQs
World Geography Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) Quiz for State and UPSC Civil Services Examinations. Objective Questions on Physical Geography and World Geography for competitive examinations.
1. Which elements are found mostly in Lithosphere?
[A] Aluminium & Silicon
[B] Aluminium & Iron
[C] Magnesium and Silicon
[D] Silicon & Iron
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Aluminium & Silicon]
Notes:
Oxygen, aluminum, calcium, iron, and silicon are the most abundant elements in Earth’s lithosphere.
2. If earth stops rotating, the impact on weight of a body will be minimum on which among the following places?
[A] Equator
[B] North pole
[C] Tropic of cancer
[D] Tropic of Capricorn
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [North pole]
Notes:
If the earth stops rotating, then the impact of weight of a body will be minimum on the Poles. The maximum weight will be a t equator. If the earth stops rotating then there would be no centrifugal force whose direction is away from the core. Thus the force due to gravity is not minimised at all and this in turn increases an object’s weight at the equator.
3. What is the difference of time on either side of the International Time Line?
[A] 0 Hours
[B] 12 Hours
[C] 20 Hours
[D] 24 Hours
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D [24 Hours]
Notes:
International Date Line runs from the North Pole to the South Pole across the Pacific Ocean, roughly following the 180° line of longitude. It demarcates the change of one calendar day to the next. The time difference on either side of the International Date Line is 24 hours.
4. Which country’s highest peak is Mount Ararat?
[A] China
[B] Turkey
[C] Iran
[D] Japan
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B [Turkey]
Notes:
Mount Ararat is a snow-capped and dormant compound volcano in the extreme east of Turkey. It consists of two major volcanic cones- Greater Ararat and Little Ararat. Greater Ararat is the highest peak in Turkey and the Armenian plateau with an elevation of 5,137 m; while, Little Ararat’s elevation is 3,896 m.
5. ‘Norwesters’ are thunder storms which are prominent in which of the following countries?
[A] India and Bangladesh
[B] Bangladesh and Myanmar
[C] Bhutan and Nepal
[D] India and Bhutan
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [India and Bangladesh]
Notes:
Norwesters or the Kalbaishakhi is a local rain fall and thunder storm which occurs in India and Bangladesh. Kalbaishakhi occurs, with increasing frequency, from March till monsoon establishes over North-East India.
6. From which of the following Pumice is derived? (UPSC Prelims 1986)
[A] Volcanic rock
[B] Sedimentary rock
[C] Igneous rock
[D] Acid lava
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A [Volcanic rock]
Notes:
The vesicles are actually gas bubbles that were trapped in the rock during the rapid cooling of a gas-rich frothy magma. The material cools so quickly that atoms in the melt are not able to arrange themselves into a crystalline structure. Thus, pumice is an amorphous volcanic glass known as a “mineraloid.”
7. Neap tides are produced in the first and third quarters of the Moon. Which of the following is the situation for Neap tides to occur? (UPSC Prelims 1991)
[A] The Moon and the Sun are in conjunction with the other planets
[B] The Moon and the Sun are in opposition with each other
[C] The attractions of the Sun and the Moon are at right angles to each other
[D] The Moon and the Sun are in quadrant position to each other
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [The attractions of the Sun and the Moon are at right angles to each other]
Notes:
A tide in which the difference between high and low tide is the least. Neap tides occur twice a month when the Sun and Moon are at right angles to the Earth. When this is the case, their total gravitational pull on the Earth’s water is weakened because it comes from two different directions. Compare spring tide.
8. On a half-moon night, what is the angle between the moon and the sun when measured from earth? (UPSC Prelims 1991)
[A] 45°
[B] 60°
[C] 90°
[D] 180°
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [90°]
Notes:
At 90° angular separation from the Sun, you on the Earth see half of the Moon’s illuminated side and half of its night side. The phase is called a quarter phase because you can see a quarter of the Moon’s entire surface (and 90 degrees is one-quarter of 360 degrees).
9. How many times large would our sun have to be to supernova?
[A] 100 solar masses
[B] 2 solar masses
[C] 8 solar masses
[D] 20 solar masses
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [8 solar masses]
Notes:
It takes a star at least 8 solar masses to be massive enough to Supernova. Therefore our Sun has to be at least 8 times as large than it is now
10. What are comets popularly described as?
[A] Planetoids
[B] quasi-planet
[C] Dirty snowballs
[D] meteoroids
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C [Dirty snowballs]
Notes:
All the comets visited so far, primarily consist of ice. Hence they are popularly referred as Dirty snowballs.