UPSC World Geography – Chapter 19: Changing Water Bodies and Ice Caps (22 MCQs)

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UPSC World Geography – Chapter 19: Changing Water Bodies and Ice Caps (22 MCQs) – 22 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 Aral Sea shrank mainly because:

Correct Answer: C [its feeder rivers were diverted for irrigation]

Explanation:

the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, for cotton.

2.  

Lake Faguibine, which has largely dried up, is in:

Correct Answer: A [Mali]

Explanation:

Lake Faguibine lies near Timbuktu in Mali and, fed by Niger floods, has largely dried up since the 1970s droughts.

3.  

The level of the Dead Sea is falling mainly because of:

Correct Answer: D [diversion of the Jordan River]

Explanation:

The Jordan River, the Dead Sea's main feeder, is largely diverted upstream, so the level falls about a metre a year.

4.  

The Kokaral Dam was built to revive the:

Correct Answer: B [North Aral Sea]

Explanation:

The Kokaral Dam (2005) in Kazakhstan separated the North Aral and held back Syr Darya water, partly reviving it.

5.  

A glacial lake outburst flood struck the Teesta valley in October 2023 from:

Correct Answer: D [South Lhonak lake]

Explanation:

The South Lhonak glacial lake in north Sikkim burst in October 2023, and the flood destroyed the Chungthang dam on the Teesta.

6.  

The Larsen B ice shelf, which collapsed in 2002, lay off the:

Correct Answer: D [Antarctic Peninsula]

Explanation:

Larsen B was a floating ice shelf on the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula; it broke up rapidly in 2002.

7.  

Lake Urmia, which has lost much of its water, is in:

Correct Answer: A [Iran]

Explanation:

Lake Urmia is a salt lake in north-western Iran that has lost most of its water through dams, irrigation and drought.

8.  

The Thwaites Glacier, closely watched for its contribution to sea-level rise, is in:

Correct Answer: D [West Antarctica]

Explanation:

Thwaites is a huge outlet glacier of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, draining into the Amundsen Sea.

9.  

Which one of the following adds little to sea-level rise when it melts?

Correct Answer: A [Floating Arctic sea ice]

Explanation:

floating ice already displaces its own weight of water.

10.  

Consider the following statements:

1. Thermal expansion of sea water contributes to sea-level rise.
2. Thawing permafrost can release methane.
3. Loss of sea ice increases the albedo of the Arctic.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Correct Answer: B [1 and 2 only]

Explanation:

Statements 1 and 2 are true: warming water expands, and thawing permafrost releases methane; statement 3 reverses the albedo effect.

11.  

Assertion (A): Lakes in endorheic basins are especially sensitive to changes in climate and water use.

Reason (R): Their level depends only on the balance of inflow and evaporation, as they have no outlet to the sea.

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

Explanation:

Both are true and R explains A: with no outlet, any change in inflow or evaporation shows directly in the lake level.

12.  

The region often called the "Third Pole" is the:

Correct Answer: D [Himalaya–Karakoram–Hindu Kush]

Explanation:

The Himalaya–Karakoram–Hindu Kush holds the largest store of ice outside the polar regions, hence the name Third Pole.

13.  

The Colorado River seldom reaches the:

Correct Answer: C [Gulf of California]

Explanation:

The Colorado is so heavily dammed and diverted in the USA and Mexico that it seldom reaches the Gulf of California.

14.  

The Ramsar Convention, 1971, is concerned with:

Correct Answer: D [wetlands]

Explanation:

The Ramsar Convention, signed at Ramsar in Iran in 1971, protects wetlands of international importance.

15.  

Deltas such as the Nile and the Mekong are losing land mainly because:

Correct Answer: A [dams trap silt while the sea level rises and the land subsides]

Explanation:

Dams trap the silt that builds deltas, while rising seas and subsidence from groundwater pumping drown their land.

16.  

Lake Poopó, which dried up, lies in:

Correct Answer: C [Bolivia]

Explanation:

Lake Poopó lies on the Bolivian Altiplano in Oruro department and dried up through drought and water use.

17.  

Arrange the following in chronological order:

1. Larsen B ice shelf collapses
2. Ramsar Convention signed
3. South Lhonak GLOF in Sikkim
4. IPCC set up

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

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

Explanation:

1971, 1988, 2002, 2023.

18.  

The year 2025 was declared by the UN as the International Year of:

Correct Answer: B [Glaciers' Preservation]

Explanation:

The UN General Assembly declared 2025 the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation to highlight melting glaciers.

19.  

India's high-altitude glacier research station Himansh is in:

Correct Answer: A [Himachal Pradesh]

Explanation:

Chandra basin.

20.  

Which one of the following pairs (lake : country on its shore) is NOT correctly matched?

Correct Answer: B [Lake Victoria : Cameroon]

Explanation:

Lake Victoria is in East Africa.

21.  
UPSC Prelims 2022

Which one of the following lakes of West Africa has become dry and turned into a desert ?

Correct Answer: B [Lake Faguibine]

Explanation:

Mali.

22.  
UPSC Prelims 2020

Consider the following pairs:

River : Flows into

1. Mekong : Andaman Sea
2. Thames : Irish Sea
3. Volga : Caspian Sea
4. Zambezi : Indian Ocean

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

Correct Answer: C [3 and 4 only]

Explanation:

Only pairs 3 and 4 are right: the Volga enters the Caspian Sea and the Zambezi the Indian Ocean.

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