UPSC Physical Geography – Chapter 4: Continental Drift, Sea-floor Spreading and Plate Tectonics (21 MCQs)

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UPSC Physical Geography – Chapter 4: Continental Drift, Sea-floor Spreading and Plate Tectonics (21 MCQs) – 21 questions, subject: Geography. Every question has the correct answer with a one-line explanation; tap "Show Answer". Free practice for TNPSC, UPSC, SSC, Bank and RRB exams – Shanmugam IAS Academy, Coimbatore.

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1.  

The single mega-ocean that surrounded Pangaea was called:

Correct Answer: D [Panthalassa]

Explanation:

Wegener named the single mega-ocean surrounding the super-continent Pangaea as Panthalassa, meaning 'all sea'.

2.  

The theory of continental drift was put forward in 1912 by:

Correct Answer: C [Alfred Wegener]

Explanation:

Alfred Wegener, a German meteorologist, put forward the full theory of continental drift in 1912.

3.  

Wegener explained the movement of continents by:

Correct Answer: B [the polar-fleeing force and the tidal force]

Explanation:

Wegener proposed the polar-fleeing force, linked to the Earth's rotation, and the tidal force of the Moon and the Sun.

4.  

Fossils of Mesosaurus, a small reptile of shallow brackish water, are found only in:

Correct Answer: B [South Africa and Brazil]

Explanation:

Mesosaurus, a small reptile of shallow brackish water, is found only in South Africa and Brazil, now separated by the Atlantic.

5.  

The idea of convection currents in the mantle as a force for drift was given by:

Correct Answer: D [Arthur Holmes]

Explanation:

1930s.

6.  

The youngest rocks of the ocean floor are found:

Correct Answer: A [at the mid-oceanic ridges]

Explanation:

New crust forms where magma erupts along the ridge crest, so rocks are youngest at the ridge and older away from it.

7.  

A divergent plate boundary is also called a:

Correct Answer: D [constructive boundary]

Explanation:

new crust is made.

8.  

At a transform boundary:

Correct Answer: D [crust is neither created nor destroyed]

Explanation:

At transform boundaries plates slide horizontally past each other, so crust is neither created nor destroyed.

9.  

According to NCERT, the fastest rate of plate movement is found along the:

Correct Answer: B [East Pacific Rise]

Explanation:

more than 15 cm a year.

10.  

Consider the following statements:

1. Rocks of the ocean floor are nowhere older than about 200 million years.
2. Sediments on the ocean floor are thinner near the mid-oceanic ridges.
3. Continental rocks are generally younger than ocean-floor rocks.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Correct Answer: B [1 and 2 only]

Explanation:

Ocean crust is nowhere older than about 200 million years and its sediments are thinnest near the ridges.

11.  

Assertion (A): The Himalaya is still rising.

Reason (R): The Indian plate continues to move northwards against the Eurasian plate.

Correct Answer: A [Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A]

Explanation:

The Indian plate still pushes northwards into the Eurasian plate, and this continuing collision keeps raising the Himalaya.

12.  

Which one of the following is NOT one of the seven major plates listed by NCERT?

Correct Answer: C [Nazca plate]

Explanation:

a minor plate.

13.  

The Mariana Trench is formed at a:

Correct Answer: C [convergent boundary where oceanic crust subducts]

Explanation:

The Mariana Trench forms where the Pacific plate's oceanic crust subducts beneath the Philippine plate, an ocean–ocean convergence.

14.  

The eastern margin of the Indian plate is a subduction zone running through the:

Correct Answer: D [Rakinyoma (Arakan Yoma) mountains of Myanmar]

Explanation:

NCERT places the eastern margin of the Indian plate along a subduction zone through the Rakinyoma (Arakan Yoma) mountains to the Java Trench.

15.  

The Deccan Traps were formed about:

Correct Answer: A [60 million years ago]

Explanation:

(a) Correct (NCERT).

16.  

The concept of sea-floor spreading was proposed by:

Correct Answer: D [Harry Hess]

Explanation:

1961.

17.  

Arrange the following in chronological order:

1. Sea-floor spreading proposed by Hess
2. Continental drift proposed by Wegener
3. Plate tectonics put forward by McKenzie and Parker
4. Convection-current theory of Holmes

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Correct Answer: C [2-4-1-3]

Explanation:

1912, 1930s, 1961, 1967.

18.  

The hypothetical land called "Lemuria" was proposed to explain:

Correct Answer: B [lemur fossils in India, Madagascar and Africa]

Explanation:

Lemuria was imagined as a sunken land linking India, Madagascar and Africa to explain lemur fossils; drift explains them better.

19.  

The San Andreas Fault of California is an example of a:

Correct Answer: C [transform boundary]

Explanation:

Along the San Andreas Fault the Pacific and North American plates slide horizontally past each other.

20.  

Tillite, used as evidence of continental drift, is a sedimentary rock formed from:

Correct Answer: A [glacial deposits]

Explanation:

Tillite is lithified glacial till; thick tillite at the base of the Gondwana system shows prolonged glaciation.

21.  
UPSC Prelims 2025

Which of the following are the evidences of the phenomenon of continental drift?

I. The belt of ancient rocks from Brazil coast matches with those from Western Africa.

II. The gold deposits of Ghana are derived from the Brazil plateau when the two continents lay side by side.

III. The Gondwana system of sediments from India is known to have its counterparts in six different landmasses of the Southern Hemisphere.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

Correct Answer: C [I, II and III]

Explanation:

all three are NCERT evidences of drift.

➤ Full notes, maps, tables, a reason for every option and Mains PYQs – U08 · Physical Geography (UPSC book, ₹249): www.shanmugamiasacademy.in/study-materials/upsc-physical-geography

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