60 Days Plan: UPSC IAS Prelims 2019 – Geography and Current Affairs (Day 3)

Earth has three layers based on chemical composition – Outermost crust, middle mantle and innermost core.

Crust is the outer thin layer with thickness between 30-50 km and it varies in thickness under the oceanic and continental areas.

Oceanic crust is thinner (5-30 km thick) as compared to the continental crust (50-70 km thick).The continental crust is thicker in the areas of major mountain systems. It is as much as 70 -100 km thick in the Himalayan region. Mohorovicic discontinuity forms the boundary between crust and asthenosphere (which is a part of mantle). The continents are composed of lighter silicates—silica + aluminium  while the oceans have the heavier silicates—silica + magnesium.

The mantle extends from Moho’s discontinuity (35 km) to a depth of 2,900 km. The lower mantle extends beyond the asthenosphere. It is in solid state and composed of solid rock and magma.

Core lies between 2900 km and 6400 km below the earth’s surface. Core has the heaviest mineral materials of highest density. It is composed of nickel and iron. The outer core is liquid while the inner core is solid.

Mohorovicic Discontinuity (Moho) – separates the crust from the mantle. A soft asthenosphere (highly viscous, mechanically weak and ductile). It’s a part of mantle.
Gutenberg Discontinuity – lies between the mantle and the outer core.

Explanation:

Some of the strongest evidence in support of the theory of seafloor spreading and plate tectonics comes from studying the magnetic fields surrounding oceanic ridges.
Rocks formed from this underwater volcanic activity were mainly basalt, which is low silica, iron-rich, volcanic rock that makes up most of the ocean floor.
Basalt contains magnetic minerals and as the rock is solidifying, these minerals align themselves in the direction of the magnetic field. This basically locks in a record of which way the magnetic field was positioned at the time that part of the ocean floor was created.
Paleomagnetist took a look at the ocean floor going out away from either oceanic ridges and found magnetic stripes that were flipped so that one stripe would be normal polarity and the next reversed. These oceanic ridges were actually boundaries with tectonic plates pulling apart.
The movement of the plates allowed the magma to rise up and harden into new rock.
As the new rock was formed near the ridge, older rock, which formed millions of years ago when the magnetic field was reversed, got pushed farther away, resulting in this magnetic striping.
Rising magma assumes the polarity of Earth’s geomagnetic field before it solidifies into oceanic crust. When Earth’s geomagnetic field undergoes a reversal, the change in polarity is recorded in the magma, which contributes to the alternating pattern of magnetic striping on the seafloor.

Explanation:

135 km northeast of Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, lies Barren Island, which is home to South Asia and India’s only active volcano. This active volcano along Sumatra to Myanmar is renowned as a Submarine surfacing volcano, just above the subduction zone of India and Burmese plate.

The other volcanic island in Indian territory is Narcondam, about 150 km north-east of Barren Island; it is probably extinct. Its crater wall has been completely destroyed.

Explanation:

Lake Toba, Indonesia, the largest volcanic crater lake in the world.

A caldera is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms following the evacuation of a magma chamber/reservoir. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the crust above the magma chamber is lost. The ground surface then collapses downward into the partially emptied magma chamber, leaving a massive depression at the surface (from one to dozens of kilometers in diameter).

Explanation:

Diastrophism is the general term applied to slow bending, folding, warping and fracturing. All processes that move, elevate or build up portions of the earth’s crust come under diastrophism.

They include:

• Orogenic processes involving mountain building through severe folding and affecting long and narrow belts of the earth’s crust;
• Epeirogenic processes involving uplift or warping of large parts of the earth’s crust;
• Plate tectonics involving horizontal movements of crustal plates.

In the process of orogeny, the crust is severely deformed into folds. Due to epeirogeny, there may be simple deformation. Orogeny is a mountain building process whereas epeirogeny is continental building process.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved survey project to acquire 48,243 Line Kilometer 2D seismic data for appraising those Indian sedimentary basin where availability of data is limited.

Sedimentary basin is a low area of tectonic origin in earth’s crust, where sediments accumulate. It can range from as small as hundreds of metre to a large part of ocean basin.
India has total 26 sedimentary basins that covers area of 3.14 Million Sq Km spread over onland, shallow water and deep water. 48% of total sedimentary basin area does not have adequate geo scientific data.  

The project will be implemented by Oil India Limited (OIL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). Under it, survey work will be carried out in 24 states.  
OIL will conduct survey in North-Eastern States, while ONGC will cover remaining area. The entire project is likely to be completed by 2019-20.

After appraisal of these sedimentary basins, blocks will be offered for further exploration and production activities thus helping to increase the investments in domestic production of oil and gas and generate direct and indirect employment.

The appraisal of all unapprised areas is considered an important task to launch future Exploration and Production (E&P) activities. It will help in
providing insight into basins thus providing help in planning future E&P activities.
It will also be useful in deciding focus areas of exploration activities in country and on basis of this primary data, E&P companies will be able take up further explorations in areas allocated to them.

Explanation:

Sinkholes are funnel-shaped depressions not triangular shaped and they are having an average depth of three to nine metres.

These holes are developed by enlargement of the cracks found in such rocks, as a result of continuous solvent action of the rainwater not river water.

The surface streams which sink disappear underground through swallow holes.

Hebbagodi Lake has now made it to the Limca Book of Records for having India’s largest floating island. The 12,000-sqft island has strips of vegetation that crisscross the waterbody. It comprises rafts that allow plants to grow hydroponically (without soil, and through mineral nutrient solutions) and act as cleaning agents. The floating rafts are built with reused PVC pipes.

The 12,000-sqft island has strips of vegetation that crisscross the waterbody. It comprises rafts that allow plants to grow hydroponically (without soil, and through mineral nutrient solutions) and act as cleaning agents. The floating rafts are built with reused PVC pipes.

Explanation:

In Ocean – Ocean Convergence, a denser oceanic plate subducts below a less denser oceanic plate forming a trench along the boundary. As the ocean floor crust (oceanic plate) loaded with sediments subducts into the softer asthenosphere, the rocks on the continental side in the subduction zone become metamorphosed under high pressure and temperature.
After reaching a depth of about 100 km, plates melt. Magma has lower density and is at high pressure. It rises upwards due to the buoyant force offered by surrounding denser medium. The magma flows out, sometimes violently to the surface. A continuous upward movement of magma creates constant volcanic eruptions at the ocean floor.
Constant volcanism above the subduction zone creates layers of rocks. As this process continues for millions of years, a volcanic landform is created which in some cases rises above the ocean waters.

Such volcanic landforms all along the boundary form a chain of volcanic islands which are collectively called as Island Arcs (Indonesian Island Arc or Indonesian Archipelago, Philippine Island Arc, Japanese Island Arc etc.).

Explanation:  

India had launched massive humanitarian operation Samudra Maitri to provide assistance to earthquake and tsunami victims in Indonesia.

Background:

A shallow earthquake of magnitude 7.5 (richter scale) had struck in neck of Minahasa Peninsula, Indonesia on 28 September 2018 with its epicentre located in mountainous Donggala Regency, Central Sulawesi. The earthquake was located 77 km away from provincial capital Palu. This event was preceded by sequence of foreshocks, largest of which was a magnitude 6.1 tremor and followed by localised tsunami which had struck Palu, sweeping shore-lying houses and buildings on its way. It was deadliest earthquake to strike Indonesia since 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake, as well as deadliest earthquake worldwide so far in 2018.The earthquake also had caused major soil liquefaction in areas in and around Palu.

Explanation:

Earthquake waves are basically of two types — body waves and surface waves.

Body waves are generated due to the release of energy at the focus and move in all directions travelling through the body of the earth. Hence, the name body waves.

The body waves interact with the surface rocks and generate new set of waves called surface waves. These waves move along the surface. There are two types of body waves. They are called P and S-waves.

1. Primary Waves (P waves):

• Also called as the longitudinal or compressional waves.
• They are Analogous to sound waves.
• Particles of the medium vibrate along the direction of propagation of the wave.
• P – waves move faster and are the first to arrive at the surface.
• These waves are of high frequency.
• They can travel in all mediums.
• Velocity of P waves in Solids > Liquids > Gases.
• Their velocity depends on shear strength or elasticity of the material.

Secondary Waves (S waves):

• Also called as transverse or distortional waves.
• Analogous to water ripples or light waves.
• S – waves arrive at the surface with some time lag.
• A secondary wave cannot pass through liquids or gases.
• These waves are of high frequency waves.
• Travel at varying velocities (proportional to shear strength) through the solid part of the Earth’s crust, mantle.

Surface Waves (L waves):

• Also called as long period waves.
• They are low frequency, long wavelength, and transverse vibration.
• Generally affect the surface of the Earth only and die out at smaller depth.
• Develop in the immediate neighborhood of the epicenter.
• They cause displacement of rocks, and hence, the collapse of structures occurs.
• These waves are the most destructive.
• Recorded last on the seismograph.

Continental drift refers to the movement of the continents relative to each other. According to Wegener’s Continental Drift Theory, there existed one big landmass which he called Pangaea which was covered by one big ocean called Panthalassa. A sea called Tethys divided the Pangaea into two huge landmasses: Laurentia (Laurasia) to the north and Gondwanaland to the south of Tethys. Drift started around 200 million years ago (Mesozoic Era), and the continents began to break up and drift away from one another.

Criticism about this theory includes:

Coastlines are a temporary feature and are liable to change.
Several other combinations of fitting in of landforms could be attempted.
Continental Drift Theory shifts India’s position too much to the south, distorting its relation with the Mediterranean Sea and the Alps. The mountains do not always exhibit geological affinity.

Fold mountains are formed when sedimentary rock strata in geosynclines are subjected to compressive forces not tangential forces .They are the loftiest mountains and they are generally concentrated along continental margins. The Aravali Range in India is the oldest fold mountain systems in India.

When waves from opposite directions strike a narrow wall of rock, differential erosion of the rock leaves a bridge like structure called Sea arch. When a portion of the sea arch collapses, the remaining column-like structure is called a stack, skary or chimney rock.

If the fluvial erosion of a stream at the shore doesn’t match the retreat of the sea, the rivers appear to be hanging over the sea. These river valleys are called hanging valleys.
The burst of water through a small hole (called as Blow Holes or Spouting Horns)on a sea cave due to the compression of air in the cave by strong waves. They make a peculiar noise

In hillslope geomorphology, a rill is a narrow and shallow channel cut into soil by the erosive action of flowing water. A gully is a landform created by running water. Gullies resemble large ditches or small valleys, which are few metres to tens of metres in depth and width. A ravine is a landform narrower than a canyon and is often the product of stream cutting erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys.

Sometimes, the molten matter is not able to reach the surface and instead cools down very slowly at great depths, such rocks are called as Plutonic Rocks or intrusive rocks. Slow cooling allows big-sized crystals to be formed. Granite is a typical example. These rocks appear on the surface only after being uplifted and denuded.

While in case of lava or extrusive rock, these rocks are formed by rapid cooling of the lava thrown out during volcanic eruptions. Rapid cooling prevents crystallization, as a result such rocks are fine-grained. Basalt is a typical example. The Deccan traps in the peninsular region is of basaltic origin. Basic rocks contain a greater proportion of basic oxides, e.g. of iron, aluminium or magnesium, and are thus denser and darker in colour.

A meander is defined as a pronounced curve or loop in the course of a river channel. Loop in a meander is characterized by intensive erosion and vertical cliffs and is called the cliff-slope side not slip off side. This side has a concave slope. The inner side of the loop is characterized by deposition, a gentle convex slope, and is called the slip-off side not cliff slope side. Morphologically, the meanders may be wavy, horse-shoe type or ox-bow/ bracelet type.

Doko La (Doklam) is a strategically located tri-junction of India, Bhutan and China. Doklam is recognised as a Bhutanese territory by India and Bhutan. But, China claims some parts of the Doklam Plateau as part of its “ancient” frontier.

India and China were engaged in standoff at Doklam since June 16, 2017. The reason behind the stand-off was the Chinese attempt to build a road in the strategically located Doklam. On June 16, China attempted to build a road construction by bringing in earthmovers and construction machines in the Doklam area of Bhutan. The Royal Bhutan Army objected to these construction activities in its territory but was outnumbered and pushed back to its post by the China’s PLA following which Bhutan called for the help of Indian Army. India and Bhutan have a Friendship Treaty according to which, India serves as a virtual security guarantor of Bhutan. Indian Army and Bhutan Army do joint patrolling at the tri-junction. The Indian Army had asked the PLA to stop the road construction activity that has resulted in a stand-off.

Note: It was in current Affairs last year. However, UPSC picks up such topics which were there in news for some days and then became obscure.

Note: Incorrect options have been asked.

The glacial depositional landforms includes the following

Outwash Plain – When the glacier reaches its lowest point and melts, it leaves behind a stratified deposition material, consisting of rock debris, clay, sand, gravel etc. This layered surface is called till plain or an outwash plain.

Esker – Winding ridge of un-assorted depositions of rock, gravel, clay etc. running along a glacier in a till plain. The eskers resemble the features of an embankment and are often used for making roads.

Kame Terraces – Broken ridges or un-assorted depositions looking like hump in a till plain.
Drumlin – Inverted boat-shaped deposition in a till plain caused by deposition.
Kettle Holes – Formed when the deposited material in a till plain gets depressed locally and forms a basin.

Moraine – General term applied to rock fragments, gravel, sand, etc. carried by a glacier. Depending on its position, the moraine can be ground moraine and end moraine.

Batholiths are large rock masses formed due to cooling down and solidification of hot magma inside the earth. They appear on the surface only after the denudation processes remove the overlying materials. Batholiths form the core of huge mountains and may be exposed on surface after erosion. These are granitic.

Other intrusive volcanic landforms includes

Laccoliths: These are large dome-shaped intrusive bodies connected by a pipe-like conduit from below.
Lapolith: As and when the lava moves upwards, a portion of the same may tend to move in a horizontal direction wherever it finds a weak plane. It may get rested in different forms. In case it develops into a saucer shape, concave to the sky body, it is called Lapolith.

Phacolith: Phacolith is a wavy mass of intrusive rocks, at times, is found at the base of synclines or at the top of anticline in folded igneous country. Such wavy materials have a definite conduit to source beneath in the form of magma chambers (subsequently developed as batholiths). These are called the Phacoliths.

Sills: Sills are solidified horizontal lava layers inside the earth.
The near horizontal bodies of the intrusive igneous rocks are called sill or sheet, depending on the thickness of the material. The thinner ones are called sheets while the thick horizontal deposits are called sills.

Dykes: When the lava makes its way through cracks and the fissures developed in the land, it solidifies almost perpendicular to the ground. It gets cooled in the same position to develop a wall-like structure. Such structures are called dykes.

Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) or Ecologically Fragile Areas (EFAs) are areas notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India around Protected Areas, National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries. The purpose of declaring ESZs is to create some kind of “shock absorbers” to the protected areas by regulating and managing the activities around such areas. They also act as a transition zone from areas of high protection to areas involving lesser protection.

The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 does not mention the word “Eco-Sensitive Zones”. However, Section 3(2)(v) of the Act, says that Central Government can restrict areas in which any industries, operations or processes or class of industries, operations or processes shall not be carried out or shall be carried out subject to certain safeguards.

It doesn’t talk about prohibiting all kinds of human activities.

Atal Bhujal Yojana has been formulated by the Ministry of Water Resources to address the criticality of ground water resources in a major part of the country. The scheme aims to improve ground water management in priority areas in the country through community participation.  The priority areas identified under the scheme fall in the states of Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. These States represent about 25% of the total number of over-exploited, critical and semi-critical blocks in terms of ground water in India.  They also cover two major types of groundwater systems found in India – alluvial and hard rock aquifers- and have varying degrees of institutional readiness and experience in groundwater management.

Funds under the scheme will be provided to the states for strengthening the institutions responsible for ground water governance, as well as for encouraging community involvement for improving ground water management to foster behavioural changes that promote conservation and efficient use of water. The scheme will also facilitate convergence of ongoing Government schemes in the states by incentivizing their focussed implementation in identified priority areas. Implementation of the scheme is expected to benefit nearly 8350 Gram Panchayats in 78 districts in these states. Funds under the scheme will be made available to the participating states as Grants.

The scheme envisages active participation of the communities in various activities such as formation of Water User Associations, monitoring and disseminating ground water data, water budgeting, preparation and implementation of Gram-Panchayat wise water security plans and IEC activities related to sustainable ground water management.

Source: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=179796

Some of the most common applications of lithium-ion batteries are:

• Power backups/UPS
• Mobile, Laptops, and other commonly used consumer electronic goods
• Electric mobility
• Energy Storage Systems

IDA

• It was set up on June 01, 2017 for the holistic development of islands.
• Holistic development of islands include key infrastructure projects, digital connectivity, green energy, desalination plants, waste management, promotion of fisheries, and tourism-based projects.
• It is chaired by the Union Home Minister

This Abhiyan is being undertaken for reaching out to poor households, spreading awareness about government welfare schemes and other people centric initiatives.

The objective of the campaign is to promote social harmony, spread awareness about pro-poor initiatives of government, and reach out to poor households to enroll them as also to obtain their feedback on various welfare programmes

Cyclonic Storm Sagar was the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall in Somalia in recorded history, and the first named cyclone of the 2018 North Indian Ocean cyclone season.

Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Mekunu was the strongest storm to strike Oman’s Dhofar Governorate since 1959. The second named storm of the 2018 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, Mekunu developed out of a low pressure area in 2018.

Cyclone Mekunu made landfall on the Arabian Peninsula early May, causing flash floods and other damage. It earlier hit Socotra in the Arabian Sea.

The cyclone packed maximum sustained winds of 170-180 kilometres (105-111 miles) per hour with gusts of up to 200 kph (124 mph).

Source: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/bay-to-erupt-soon-with-a-strong-low-say-global-weather-models/article24076612.ece

The High-Luminosity LHC will make it possible to study the fundamental building blocks of matter in more detail than ever before.

• CERN, the organisation that operates the LHC, held a ground-breaking ceremony on Friday to mark the beginning of civil engineering works.
• The vast LHC is housed beneath the French-Swiss border, near Geneva.
• The upgrade will boost the accelerator’s potential for new discoveries in physics, starting in 2026.
• The High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) is an upgrade of the LHC to achieve instantaneous luminosities a factor of five larger than the LHC nominal value, thereby enabling the experiments to enlarge their data sample by one order of magnitude compared with the LHC baseline programme.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-44484062

The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed the decade 2018-2028 as the International Decade for Action ‘Water for Sustainable Development’. It will begin on World Water Day 22 March 2018 and end on World Water Day, 22 March 2028.

Sustainable development and integrated water resources management to implement SDG 6 through a lens of conflict prevention. We need safe, clean and readily available water to have a decent life. However, 844 million people today are missing this basic element of a decent life.

We need sanitation for our good health and wellbeing. Nevertheless, more than a quarter of the world’s population does not have access to basic toilet and sanitation facilities.

When water and sanitation are lacking, we all suffer because we are forced to compromise our health and human dignity. However, the disproportion of women’s suffering is even greater, as they are also exposed to sexual violence.

World Water Day is an annual UN observance day (always on 22 March) that highlights the importance of freshwater.

The day is used to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources

The theme for World Water Day 2019 is ‘Leaving no one behind,’ which is the central promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: as sustainable development progresses, everyone must benefit.

Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) aims to ensure availability and sustainable management of water for all by 2030. By definition, this means leaving no one behind.

Source: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=180066

It was launched by the HRD Ministry.

This National Digital Library of India (NDLI) is a project of the Ministry of Human Resource Development under the aegis of National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT). It is an open platform.

• • The objective of NDL is to make digital educational resources available to all citizens of the country to empower, inspire and encourage learning.
• National Digital Library of India is developed by IIT Kharagpur.
• NDL is the Single Window Platform that collects and collates metadata from premier learning institutions in India and abroad, as well as other relevant sources.
• It is a digital repository containing textbooks, articles, videos, audio books, lectures, simulations, fiction and all other kinds of learning media.
• National Digital Library is a 24×7 ubiquitous knowledge resource that is accessible to anyone with internet access and it is built to enable the rise of Digital India.
• Anyone can access the digital library anytime and anywhere absolutely free of cost and will contribute greatly to the Government’s commitment towards “Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat”.

Source: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=180048

• • Nuclear DNA consists of 46 chromosomes while mitochondrial DNA consists of only one chromosome.
  • The nuclear DNA contains 20,000 to 25,000 genes while mitochondrial DNA contains only thirty seven genes.

• The chromosomes in nuclear DNA are responsible genetic make-up of a human being while the chromosome of the mitochondrial DNA is responsible for the metabolic activities.

• Nuclear DNA is found inside the nucleus of the cell while mitochondrial DNA is found only in the mitochondria of the cell.
• Nuclear DNA is linear in shape while mitochondrial DNA is circular in shape.
• Nuclear DNA is longer as compared to the mitochondrial DNA which is shorter.
• Nuclear DNA is inherited from the mother and father both whereas on the other hand the mitochondrial DNA is inherited from the mother only.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/22-000-year-old-fossil-from-china-reveals-long-lost-panda-lineage/story-hw2W84ibYosykLSwe5TozM.html