Geography and Astronomy

Notebook: Preliminary Factual Sheet Created: 1/27/2017 11:57 PM Updated: 5/28/2018 2:47 PM Author: Siya Rasik URL: http://www.insightsonindia.com/2017/04/24/insights-daily-current-affairs-24-april-2017/

2017

Drainage Patterns

The streams within a drainage basin form certain patterns, depending on the slope of land, underlying rock structure as well as the climatic conditions of the area.

These are dendritic, trellis, rectangular, and radial patterns.

Dentritic Pattern

The dendritic pattern develops where the river channel follows the slope of the terrain. The stream with its tributaries resembles the branches of a tree, thus the name dendritic.

Trellis Pattern

A river joined by its tributaries, at approximately right angles, develops a trellis pattern.

A trellis drainage pattern develops where hard and soft rocks exist parallel to each other.

Rock structures of variable resistance, Folded topography

A rectangular drainage pattern develops on a strongly jointed rocky terrain. The radial pattern develops when streams flow in different directions from a central peak or dome like structure.

A combination of several patterns may be found in the same drainage basin

The oldest oceanic crust is about 260 million years old. This sounds old, but is actually very young compared to the oldest continental rocks, which are 4 billion years old. Gyre circulation: Three forces cause the circulation of a gyre: Global wind patterns – Wind drags on the ocean surface, causing water to move in the direction the wind is blowing. Earth’s rotation – The Earth’s rotation deflects, or changes the direction of, these wind-driven currents. This deflection is a part of the Coriolis effect. Earth’s landmasses – Earth’s continents and other landmasses (such as islands) also influence the creation of ocean gyres. The massive South Pacific Gyre, for instance, includes hundreds of kilometers of open ocean. In contrast, the northern Indian Ocean Gyre is a much smaller ocean gyre. The Ocean Conveyor Belt: The movement of the world’s major ocean gyres helps drive the “ocean conveyor belt.” The ocean conveyor belt circulates ocean water around the entire planet. Also known as thermohaline circulation, the ocean conveyor belt is essential for regulating temperature, salinity and nutrient flow throughout the ocean.

Garbage Patches: Ocean gyres circle large areas of stationary, calm water. Debris drifts into these areas and, due to the region’s lack of movement, can accumulate for years. These regions are called garbage patches. The Indian Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, and North Pacific Ocean all have significant garbage patches.

Despite the decline in total fertility rates (TFR) countrywide, 12 States continue to have TFR above 2.1 children per woman, known as replacement-level fertility. However, when the TFR declines, the drop does not stop at 2.1, as seen in Kerala (1.6), Tamil Nadu (1.7) and Karnataka (1.8). This leads to faster changes in the population structure characterised by a reduction in the proportion of young people and an increase in the proportion of the elderly “Replacement level fertility” is the total fertility rate—the average number of children born per woman—at which a population replaces itself from one generation to the next, without migration.

Most of the current and future demographic potential is locked in the northern States, and largely located in Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh… The proportion of the elderly started increasing in the southern States several years ago. Now, the phenomenon has extended to the western, extreme northern and eastern States. Dam and a barrage: Both refer to impervious barriers; while water in the case of a dam is made to flow through specially designed spillways, in the case of a barrage it is allowed to overflow

What is a weir? It is an impervious barrier constructed across a river to raise the water level on the upstream side. The water is raised up to the required height and the water then flows over the weir.

What is a dam? It is a high impervious barrier constructed across a river valley to form a deep storage reservoir. The surplus water is not allowed to flow over the dam, but it flows through the spillways provided at some level built into the dam. In a weir the water overflows the weir.

What is a barrage? It is a weir that has adjustable gates installed over top of it, to allow different water surface heights at different times. The water level is adjusted by operating the adjustable gates.

Hypoxic zones are areas in the ocean of such low oxygen concentration that animal life suffocates and dies, and as a result are sometimes called “dead zones.” Hypoxic zones can occur naturally, but scientists are concerned about the areas created or enhanced by human activity. There are many physical, chemical, and biological factors that combine to create dead zones, but nutrient pollution is the primary cause of those zones created by humans.

The Changthang plateau, where the the Changpa nomads reside, is in Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir. ( High altitude cold desert)

Home to the goats with the silken coat, Changthang in Ladakh shows howpeople live in harmony withnature in a cold desert Changthangi, or pashmina goats, retreating to lower altitudes during winter

PORTS

Entre ports are collection centres where the goods are brought from different countries for export. Ports of Call are the ports which originally developed as calling points on main sea routes where ships used to anchor for refuelling, watering and taking food items. Packet stations are exclusively concerned with the transportation of passengers and mail across water bodies covering short distances. These stations occur in pairs located in such a way that they face each other across the water body.

Troposphere is the hottest part of the atmosphere because it is heated by the Earth’s surface. It is the nearest atmospheric layer of earth’s surface.

Loam is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > 63 µm), silt (particle size > 2 µm), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < 2 µm). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand-silt-clay, respectively.

Clay type soil, organic content, and soil structure influence soil water retention. The maximum amount of water that a given soil can retain is called field capacity, whereas a soil so dry that plants cannot liberate the remaining moisture from the soil particles is said to be at wilting point.

Capillary action is the ability of a liquid to flow in narrow spaces without the assistance of, or even in opposition to, external forces like gravity. Capillaries are most effective in Loam Textured soil. The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is a 1 to 5 rating based on a hurricane's sustained wind speed. This scale estimates potential property damage. Hurricanes reaching Category 3 and higher are considered major hurricanes because of their potential for significant loss of life and damage. Category 1 and 2 storms are still dangerous, however, and require preventative measures. In the western North Pacific, the term "super typhoon" is used for tropical cyclones with sustained winds exceeding 150 mph. Category Sustained Winds Types of Damage Due to Hurricane Winds Very dangerous winds will produce some damage: Well-constructed frame homes 74-95 mph could have damage to roof, shingles, vinyl siding and gutters. Large branches of trees 1 64-82 kt will snap and shallowly rooted trees may be toppled. Extensive damage to power lines 119-153 km/h and poles likely will result in power outages that could last a few to several days.

Extremely dangerous winds will cause extensive damage: Well-constructed frame 96-110 mph homes could sustain major roof and siding damage. Many shallowly rooted trees will 2 83-95 kt be snapped or uprooted and block numerous roads. Near-total power loss is expected 154-177 km/h with outages that could last from several days to weeks.

Devastating damage will occur: Well-built framed homes may incur major damage or 111-129 mph removal of roof decking and gable ends. Many trees will be snapped or uprooted, 3 96-112 kt blocking numerous roads. Electricity and water will be unavailable for several days to (major) 178-208 km/h weeks after the storm passes.

Catastrophic damage will occur: Well-built framed homes can sustain severe damage with loss of most of the roof structure and/or some exterior walls. Most trees 130-156 mph 4 will be snapped or uprooted and power poles downed. Fallen trees and power poles 113-136 kt (major) will isolate residential areas. Power outages will last weeks to possibly months. Most of 209-251 km/h the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months.

Catastrophic damage will occur: A high percentage of framed homes will be 157 mph or higher 5 destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse. Fallen trees and power poles will 137 kt or higher (major) isolate residential areas. Power outages will last for weeks to possibly months. Most of 252 km/h or higher the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months.

El - Nino phenomena adversely affext six out of ten Indian summer phenomena. El Nino cycle (usually a 3-5 year oscillation of sea surface temperatures).

TRIBES

STATE TRIBES

Andh, Sadhu Andh, Bhagata, Bhil, Chenchus (Chenchawar), Gadabas, Gond, Goundu, Jatapus, Andhra Pradesh Kammara, Kattunayakan, Kolawar, Kolam, Konda, Manna Dhora, Pardhan, Rona, Savaras, Dabba Yerukula, Nakkala, Dhulia, Thoti, Sugalis.

Apatanis, Abor, Dafla, Galong, Momba, Sherdukpen, Singpho.

Chakma, Chutiya, Dimasa, Hajong, Garos, Khasis, Gangte Garos They celebrate festival after harvest.

Asur, Baiga, Birhor, Birjia, Chero, Gond, Parhaiya, Bihar Santhals, Savar

Chhattisgarh Agariya, Bhaina, Bhattra, Biar, Khond, Mawasi, Nagasia

Goa Dhodia, Dubia, Naikda, Siddi,Varli

Gujarat

Himachal Pradesh

Jammu and Kashmir

Jharkhand Karnataka

Kerala

Madhya Pradesh

Maharashtra

Manipur Kuki, Naga,Tangkhul,

Meghalaya

Mizoram

Rengmas Tribe: Famous for making yellow dye from flowers of tree

Odisha

Rajasthan

Bhutia tribe - Migrated from Tibet ( Follows Tantric buddhism and living in rectangular shape house called Khin )

Tamil Nadu

Telangana

Tripura

Uttarakhand

Uttar Pradesh

West Bengal

Andaman and Nicobar

Little Andaman

North-East

The Chakma, Marma, , Murang and Tanchangya were acknowledged as tribes of .

Mapping

Geographical Feature Location

Bashi Channel Taiwan and Phillippines

Chumbi Valley ( Jelep La and Nathu La ) Intersection of Sikkim, Bhutan and China

Shipki La in Satluj Basin Area Pass between and China

Ranthambore Banas and Chambal meet

Khorasan province Afghanishtan

Kalimpong Kalimpong is a hill station in the Indian state of West Bengal.The town is the headquarters of the Kalimpong district. Silk route from Lhasa to Kalimpong to '' reach the Nathu La warm water port of Kolkata''

25Km south of Nathu La, at the tri-junction of south-west Tibet, East Sikkim's Chumbi Valley and west of Bhutan's Doklam Plateau

Doklam

Guam

Unincorporated and organized territory of United States in Western pacific. Guam is one of five American territories with an established civilian government. North Korea said it is planning to strike Guam.

literally "The River ; درﯾﺎﺋﮯ ﺷﯾوک :The Shyok River (Urdu of Death" in Yarkandi Uyghur) flows through Shyok River northern Ladakh in India and the Ghangche District of Gilgit–Baltistan of Pakistan spanning some 550 km (340 mi).

Tugnath Uttarakhand, World highest shiv temple

Endorheic lake at a height of about 4350m , Pangong Tso lake extends from India and China. It has Saline water.

Kurdish Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria

Catalonia Spain

Niti, Lipulekh, Passes in the eastern sector, India china boarder Thangla1 and Tsangchokla

Changu Sikkim A large clear water lake

Kalimpong West Bengal Lhasa - Kalimpong silk route

Bagdogra North, West Bengal Bagdogra Airport

Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province is linked to Nyingchi —the Chinese prefecture facing Arunachal Prades

Sulu/Sulawesi Seas Littoral

The Barak River is one of the major rivers of South Assam and is a part of the Surma-Meghna River System. It [1] rises in the hill country of State, where it is the biggest and the most important of the hill country rivers.

The methodology of the Four Waters concept revolves around the harvesting of available runoff (four waters – rain water, surface water, ground water & in-situ soil moisture) in rural areas by treatment of catchment, proper utilization of available water harvesting structures, renovation of the non-functional water harvesting structures & creation of new water harvesting structures.

Kerala’s ‘Haritha Keralam Mission’ will focus on

a) Total sanitation b) Water conservation c) Improvement of agriculture d) a, b and c

RIVER TRIBUTARIES Dam

Hemavathi (Longest), Bhavani, Kabini and Kaveri Amravati, Harangi

Brahmaputra

Meghna Barak river

Barak

Sardar Sarovar Dam, Navagam Gujarat

Halon Gravity dam Heran Time for development: Shakkar 1961-2017 Orsang Narmada 30 dams planned on Narmada Its principal tributaries are the Burhner, the Narmada Bachao Andolan, ledby social activist Halon, the Heran, the Banjar, the Dudhi, the Medha Patkar, who opposed the dam on the Shakkar, the Tawa, the Barna ,the Kolar, the ground that it displaced thousands of families in Ganjal, the Beda, the Goi, and the Orsang. Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra where thousands of hectares of forest land was submerged. Jhelum Kishanganaga

The Subarnarekha, the Baitarni, the Brahmani, the Vamsadhara, the Penner, the Palar and the Vaigai are some of the small but important rivers that flow east and drain into Bay of Bengal.

The largest river of Kerala, Periyar flows towards the arabian sea.

96.5 per cent of the total volume of world's water is estimated to exist as oceans and only 2.5 per cent as freshwater. About 68% of freshwater is locked up in ice caps and glaciers, 30% is ground water, 0.56% is surface water, 0.04 % is in the atmosphere in the form of water vapor.

Increasing order of their Albedo: Forest-Desert-Clouds-Snow cover

Ocean Currents

Warm Current Cold Current

Agulhas current

Peru current also called Humboldt current

Falkland Current

West wind drift

Canaries Current California Current

Benguela current

Oyoshio current

Labrador current

West Australian current

Anabatic Wind: Upslope wind Katabatic Wind: Downslope wind Geostrophic Wind: Wind flow parallel to the isobars due to balance between the pressure gradient force and Coriolis force

Mount Halti is the highest mountain in Finland but its highest point is in Norway. So, Norway is planning to give it to Finland in its 100th birth anniversary.

‘Lost continent’ found lurking under Mauritius

Breakup of the supercontinent, Gondwana started about 200 million years ago. Zircons are minerals that occur mainly in Granite from the continents. They are used for dating accurately. As, Zircons are found on the surface of marutious that means old continent must be below it. Mauritia collectively called undiscovered continent are spread in Indian ocean.

Electrodynamic 'tether' is made by Japan space agency to clean up 'space junk' misses the mark. Its purpose is to slow down the orbiting rubbish and bring it into lower orbit.

LAKES Lake Baikal The deepest lake in the world is Lake Baikal in Siberia. Its deepest point is 1637 meters. It holds 20% of the world's fresh surface water and is the world's largest freshwater lake by volume. LAKES LOCATION

Tsongmo Sikkim

Hussain Sagar Hyderabad, Telangana

Kolleru Andhra Pradesh Vishakhapatnam harbor is the deepest natural harbor in India

Why Earth’s inner core doesn’t melt

Shales ordinarily have insufficient permeability to allow significant fluid flow to a wellbore, most shales are not commercial sources of natural gas. Shale gas is one of a number of unconventional sources of natural gas; others include coalbed methane, tight sandstones, and methane hydrates.

Ocean floor between Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam has a canyon system (found in new study).

Indian council of Agricultural research (ICAR) has identified 3 bT cotton varieties: Developed by Punjab University:

1. PAU Bt 1 2. FA861

Developed by Rajasthan Agriculture University: 3. RS2013

All of the three varieties carry Cry1Ac gene imparting resistance against bollwarm.

Ground based radar technique is used to find the lost Chandrayan 1 which is still orbiting moon.

Coral Bleaching

Great Barrier reef (2300 Km) is facing mass coral bleaching due to heatwave for second consecutive year. There are two types of corals - Hard coral and soft coral and only hard corals make reef. Decrease in the stress tolerance due to back to back bleaching in last two years Bleaching occurs when abnormal environmental conditions such as warmer sea temperature, causes corals to expel tiny photosynthetic algae, draining them of their colour.

River Kali Ganga (or River Sharda) is a tributary of river Ghaghara which in turn is a tributary of River Ganga. River Chambal is a right-bank tributary of River Yamuna.

Longest glass bridge: The world’s highest and longest glass-bottomed bridge was recently opened in China. New eel species: Scientists have discovered a new species of eel, a snake-like fish, from the northern Bay of Bengal along the West Bengal coast. Point: Eel is a fish. Bavar 373 missile defence system: It is a domestically built long-range missile defence system by Iran.

NASA’s Curiosity rover recently captured a 360-degree view of mesas and buttes on Mars. Mesas and buttes are flat, table-like land mass with a very resistant horizontal top layer, and very steep sides.

The objective of recently established research station HIMANSH on Himalayas is: To study Himalayan glacier responses towards the climate change

Ceres: A dwarf planet ( in the race of a planet ) is the biggest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter Roche limit: The distance within which the planet's tidal forces will break apart a celestial body that is held together only by gravity

In wet climate like equatorial

Eluviation: Excess of water helps in the downward transportation of soil components through the soil Illuviation: Deposit the same down below Desilication: Removal of silica from the soil

In dry climate

Water reaches to the surface of the soil gets evaporated and only salt is left behind, it causes the formation of the Hardpans.

Polymorphs are minerals with the same chemical composition but different crystal structures.

Streak: color of fine powder of the mineral Hardness: based on Mohs hardness scale as follows:

Talc ( Most soft ) gypsum (fingernail) calcite (penny) fluorite apatite (knife blade) orthoclase (glass) quartz topaz corundum Diamond ( Hardest )

Rice grown in Samba season (Aug through Jan) is referred to as Samba rice. It is grown in South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Daya river passes through Chilka lake. NH-16 (earlier NH-5) also called East coast highway passes near it. Nalaban wildlife sanctuary is inside it, which is a largest migratory waterfowl found anywhere in the . 1st ramsar site in India.

Coriolis force is minimum (almost zero) at equator while maximum at poles. Sin(90) = 1 gives maximum values at pole as the velocity vector and the movement of earth is perpendicular. Tropic of cancer passes through Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chaatisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and .

Places in News Sukama Chhatisgarh

Katchatheevu Uninhabited Island between India and Srilanka

Assam, India's longest river bridge is set to be inaugurated Dhola and Shadia in 2017 over Lohit river

China’s first cargo spacecraft-Tianzhou-1 cargo resupply spacecraft, docked successfully with the Tiangong- 2 space lab recently, marking a major step towards Beijing’s goal of establishing a permanently manned space station by 2022.

A flood plain consists of two parts. The first is the main channel of the river itself, called the floodway. Beyond the floodway is the flood fringe. Some flood plains are extraordinarily wide. The Barotse flood plain of the Zambezi River, for example, is a vast wetland stretching thousands of kilometers through Angola, Zambia, and Botswana. Some rivers have very narrow flood plains. These rivers usually have a steep stream gradient—a very deep, fast-moving channel. There are two major processes involved in the natural development of flood plains: erosion and aggradation. The layered sediments of many flood plains can create important aquifers. Clay, sand, and gravel filter water as it seeps downward. Water purification systems often take advantage of this natural phenomenon in a process called bank filtration. The sedimentary patterns of flood plains often provide scientists with evidence of past geologic activity. Thick layers of sand may indicate flash flooding, for instance. River become saline because of the overexploitation of aquifer and sand mining on the flood plain. Isentrope

An isopleth of entropy. In meteorology it is usually identified with an isopleth of potential temperature.

Malaiha refers to Indian-origin Sri Lankans (Indian Tamils originally) who fled to Tamil Nadu as refugees.

Hajong people – and Bengal region (West Bengal, Bangladesh)

Chakma – Bangladesh, Burma and East/Northeast India

Rainbow mountain of China was formed because of the collision of Indian and Eurasian plate.

Titan, a satellite of Saturn has clear evidence of liquid water on the surface is found. Ganymede is the solar system’s largest natural satellite and is Jupiter’s

Karnatka: First state to ban microbed

Karez or Surang Bavi, the medieval era underground aqueduct

Cardamom hill is continuation of western ghat.

Eastern and Western ghat meet in Nilgiri hills.

According to world biogeographic classification, India represent two of the major realms namely, Palearctic and Malayan and three biomes.

Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project in Telangana