UPSC CDS (Combined Defence Services) General Knowledge: Geography (Paper II) Syllabus

Name the cold current and warm current systems off the western coast of South America and the eastern coast of North America.

Off western South America: the cold Humboldt (Peru) Current. Off eastern North America: the warm Gulf Stream.

What are the three main classes of rocks based on origin?

Igneous (solidified from magma/lava), Sedimentary (deposited and compacted sediments), and Metamorphic (rocks changed by heat and pressure).

Give one example each of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rock, and name the metamorphic forms of limestone and coal.

Igneous: granite/basalt. Sedimentary: sandstone/limestone. Metamorphic: marble/slate. Limestone metamorphoses into marble; coal metamorphoses into graphite (and ultimately diamond under extreme conditions).

What is the focus and the epicentre of an earthquake?

The focus (hypocentre) is the point inside the Earth where the earthquake originates; the epicentre is the point on the surface directly above the focus.

What are the three types of seismic waves, and which cannot pass through liquids?

P-waves (primary, longitudinal, fastest), S-waves (secondary, transverse), and L-waves (surface waves, most destructive). S-waves cannot pass through liquids, which is evidence that the outer core is liquid.

What is the difference between active, dormant, and extinct volcanoes?

Active volcanoes erupt frequently or recently (e.g., Barren Island, India's only active volcano). Dormant volcanoes are presently quiet but may erupt again (e.g., Vesuvius). Extinct volcanoes have no record of eruption and are unlikely to erupt (e.g., Aconcagua).

What is the 'Ring of Fire'?

A horseshoe-shaped belt of intense earthquake and volcanic activity encircling the Pacific Ocean, associated with subduction at plate boundaries; it contains about two-thirds of the world's active volcanoes.

What are the major physiographic divisions of India?

(1) The Northern (Himalayan) Mountains, (2) the Northern (Indo-Gangetic) Plains, (3) the Peninsular Plateau, (4) the Indian Desert (Thar), (5) the Coastal Plains, and (6) the Islands.

Name the three parallel ranges of the Himalayas from north to south.

The Greater Himalayas (Himadri), the Lesser Himalayas (Himachal), and the Outer Himalayas (Shivaliks).

What is the highest peak of India, and the highest peak entirely within India?

The highest peak in India is K2 (Godwin-Austen, 8611 m) in the disputed Pakistan-administered region; Kanchenjunga (8586 m) is the highest peak located entirely within India.

Differentiate the Bhabar, Tarai, Bhangar, and Khadar zones of the Northern Plains.

Bhabar: narrow porous gravel belt at the foothills where rivers disappear underground. Tarai: marshy, wet zone below the Bhabar where streams re-emerge. Bhangar: older alluvium, higher terraces, often with calcareous kankar. Khadar: newer alluvium of floodplains, renewed each year and very fertile.

What separates Himalayan (Himalayan-fed) rivers from Peninsular rivers in terms of flow and origin?

Himalayan rivers (Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra) are perennial, snow- and rain-fed, antecedent, and form large meandering courses. Peninsular rivers (Godavari, Krishna, Mahanadi, etc.) are seasonal/rain-fed, flow through shallow valleys, and have largely graded courses.

Which major peninsular rivers flow westward into the Arabian Sea, and what kind of mouths do they form?

The Narmada and the Tapi (Tapti) flow westward through rift valleys (faulted troughs) into the Arabian Sea and form estuaries rather than deltas.

List the major Himalayan river systems and their seas of discharge.

The Indus system (drains to the Arabian Sea), and the Ganga and Brahmaputra systems (which together drain to the Bay of Bengal, forming the Sundarbans delta).

What is a watershed (drainage divide) and what is a river basin?

A watershed/drainage divide is the elevated boundary separating two adjacent drainage systems. A river basin is the entire area drained by a river and its tributaries.

What type of climate does most of India have, and what is the chief controlling factor?

India has a tropical monsoon climate, controlled chiefly by the seasonal reversal of monsoon winds along with latitude, the Himalayas, and distance from the sea.

Explain the mechanism of the southwest summer monsoon.

Intense summer heating creates low pressure over northwest India; the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone shifts north. Moisture-laden southeast trade winds from the Indian Ocean cross the equator, are deflected to become southwesterlies, and bring heavy rainfall from June to September.

What is the 'burst' (onset) of the monsoon and roughly when does it reach Kerala?

The sudden, violent arrival of the rain-bearing southwest monsoon with thunder and heavy downpour is called the burst of the monsoon; it normally reaches Kerala around the 1st of June.

Why does the Tamil Nadu coast receive most of its rain in October-December rather than the southwest monsoon season?

Because it lies in the rain-shadow of the Western Ghats during the southwest monsoon, but receives rain from the retreating/northeast monsoon, when winds pick up moisture over the Bay of Bengal.

Name the major types of natural vegetation in India based on rainfall.

Tropical evergreen forests (high rainfall, over 200 cm), tropical deciduous/monsoon forests (100-200 cm), thorn forests and scrub (under 70 cm), montane (mountain) forests, and mangrove/tidal forests.

What is the most widespread and most important soil type of India, and where is it found?

Alluvial soil is the most widespread and agriculturally important; it covers the northern plains and the river deltas and coastal plains, and is rich in potash but poor in nitrogen and humus.

Which soil is ideal for cotton cultivation, what is it also called, and where is it found?

Black soil (regur soil), formed from weathered Deccan basalt lava; it is moisture-retentive and ideal for cotton, hence 'black cotton soil'. It is found mainly in the Deccan Plateau (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh).

What gives laterite soil and red soil their colours, and what are their fertility traits?

Both owe their red colour to iron oxide. Red soil forms on crystalline rocks and is generally poor in nitrogen and humus. Laterite soil forms in regions of high temperature and heavy rainfall by intense leaching; it is poor in fertility but used for tea, coffee, and cashew.

Differentiate Kharif, Rabi, and Zaid cropping seasons in India.

Kharif crops are sown with the southwest monsoon (June-July) and harvested in autumn (e.g., rice, maize, cotton, jute). Rabi crops are sown in winter (October-December) and harvested in spring (e.g., wheat, gram, mustard). Zaid is the short summer season between Rabi and Kharif (e.g., watermelon, cucumber, fodder).

State the chief geographical conditions required for rice and for wheat.

Rice needs high temperature (above 25 degrees C), high humidity, and heavy rainfall over 100 cm (or irrigation), on level land. Wheat needs moderate temperature and rainfall (50-75 cm) with bright sunshine at harvest, growing best on well-drained loamy soils.

What is the difference between subsistence and commercial agriculture, and what is plantation agriculture?

Subsistence agriculture is grown mainly for the farmer's own consumption. Commercial agriculture is grown for sale in the market. Plantation agriculture is a type of commercial farming where a single cash crop (e.g., tea, coffee, rubber) is grown on large estates for export.

Which Indian states are the leading producers of coal and which of iron ore?

Coal is mined chiefly in Jharkhand, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh (Gondwana coalfields like Jharia and Raniganj). Iron ore comes mainly from Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Karnataka.

What are the four ranks/types of coal in increasing order of carbon content and quality?

Peat (lowest carbon), Lignite (brown coal), Bituminous (most widely used), and Anthracite (highest carbon, best quality, hardest).

Distinguish conventional from non-conventional (renewable) energy sources with examples.

Conventional sources are exhaustible and traditionally used: coal, petroleum, natural gas, and hydel power. Non-conventional/renewable sources are inexhaustible and eco-friendly: solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, and biogas energy.

Why did the iron and steel industry concentrate in the Chhotanagpur Plateau region (Jharkhand-Odisha-West Bengal)?

Because of the close proximity of raw materials: coal (Damodar valley), iron ore, manganese, and limestone, along with cheap labour, water from rivers, and good transport links, which minimized the cost of assembling heavy bulky inputs.

Name the four major industrial regions of India.

The Mumbai-Pune (Maharashtra) region, the Hooghly (Kolkata) region in West Bengal, the Bengaluru-Chennai region in the south, and the Ahmedabad-Vadodara (Gujarat) region; with the Chhotanagpur Plateau as a major mineral-based industrial belt.