Geography : One-Liners for Quick Revision [ Part II ]

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY – ONE LINERS

• Satpura Range is a block mountain.
• Black Forest is located in Germany.
• Salt Range is located in Pakistan.
• Satluj River originates from Rakshas Tal (near Mansarovar).
• Jhelum River originates from a spring at Verinag (J&K).
• Hirakud Dam is located in Sambalpur district, Odisha.
• Kallanai Dam (Tamil Nadu) is the oldest dam in India.
• “Dams are the temples of modern India” was said by Jawaharlal Nehru.
• The largest mid-oceanic ridge is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
• Loktak Lake (Manipur) is famous for floating islands called Phumdis.
• El Niño leads to weakening of trade winds.
• La Niña leads to strengthening of trade winds.
• CO₂ is a transparent gas.
• The air- and moisture-filled portion of soil is called pore space.
• Abraham Ortelius (1596) first proposed continental drift.

AGRICULTURE & CROPS – TABLES

Major Crops and Leading States

Cropping Seasons in India

FARMING SYSTEMS – COMPARATIVE TABLE

🪨 MINERALS & RESOURCES – ONE LINERS

• Bailadila Mines are located in Chhattisgarh.
• Vyasanakere, Iyli Gurunath, Pathikonda, Alampara mines are in Karnataka.
• Barbil is a major iron ore area in Odisha.
• Kerala has the largest monazite reserves (ore of thorium).
• Maharashtra has the largest number of sugar mills in India.
• Cotton is the most important cash crop of India.
• India is the 2nd largest producer and largest consumer of cotton globally.
• Zawar Mines (Udaipur) are operated by Hindustan Zinc Limited.

 PASSES & LANDFORMS – ONE LINERS

• Debsa La Pass connects Kullu and Spiti districts (HP).
• Bomdi La Pass is located in Arunachal Pradesh.

SOILS – QUICK REVISION

Soil Characteristics

Crops and Soils

CLIMATE & OCEANOGRAPHY

• Ocean salinity is highest near the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
• El Niño causes warming of equatorial Pacific waters, disrupting monsoon circulation.
• La Niña enhances normal monsoon conditions.

 IRRIGATION & AGRICULTURE PRACTICES

• Fertigation is the injection of fertilizers and nutrients into an irrigation system.
• Excess irrigation leads to nitrate formation and soil acidity.

Mediterranean Vegetation:

• Mediterranean bushes and shrubs are called Chaparral in California.

Seismology / Earthquakes:

• P Waves (Primary / Pressure Waves) travel at greatest velocity; travel in solid, liquid, and gas; air (330 m/s), granite (5000 m/s); first waves recorded in seismograph; particles vibrate to and fro in direction of wave propagation.
• S Waves (Secondary / Shear Waves) are slower than P waves; transverse waves; particle motion perpendicular to wave propagation; recorded after P waves.
• Surface Waves / L Waves.

Chemical Weathering:

• Caused by rainwater reacting with mineral grains to form clays and soluble salts.
• Suitable in high temperature, humid areas.
• Karst Region and Vindhyan Region mostly affected.
• Types: Solution, Hydrolysis, Oxidation, Carbonation, Hydration.
• Chemical weathering decomposes rocks/soil by altering their composition.

Boiling Point:

• Water at high elevations boils at lower temperature.

Rocks / Minerals:

• Sedimentary rocks contain coal and petroleum.
• Tungsten (Wolfram) ores: Wolframite, Scheelite.
• Thar Desert abundant in Feldspar, Kaolin, Phosphorite, Gypsum.

Crops:

• Jwar, Bajra & Ragi – Not commercial crops.
• Thar Desert – Highest producer of cotton wool in India and world.

National Parks / Biomes:

• Balphakran National Park – Meghalaya.
• Tropical Deciduous Biome – Drought tolerant.

Radio / Atmosphere:

• Radio waves scattered back from ionosphere.

Lithosphere / Oceans:

• Maximum depth of lithosphere – Mariana Trench, Pacific Ocean.

Natural Gas Types:

• Sweet Gas – Coal Bed Gas.
• Dry Gas – Natural Gas without crude oil.
• Sour Gas – Natural Gas with Hydrogen Sulphide.
• Wet Gas – Natural Gas with crude oil.

Industry / Companies:

• KABIL : NALCO: HCL: MECL = 40:30:30.

Mountains / Rocks:

• US Mountains: Sierra Nevada, Mount McKinley, Mount Whitney – mainly granite.
• Quartz Mountain – Greer County, Oklahoma; Smoky Quartz – Pikes Peak, Colorado.

Drainage / Rivers:

• Superimposed drainage: Damodar, Subarnarekha, Chambal, Banas, rivers of Rewa Plateau.

Igneous Intrusions:

• Phacolith – Lens-shaped.
• Lopolith – Saucer-shaped.

Winds:

• Roaring Fifties & Furious Fifties – Westerly winds.

Global Locations:

• Black Forest – Germany.
• Salt Range – Pakistan.

Seismology / Earthquakes:

• Surface waves are most destructive, similar to water waves, travel just under the earth surface, slower than S waves, much larger in amplitude.
• Two kinds of surface waves:
  • Rayleigh waves – called ground roll.
  • Love waves – horizontal shearing of the ground.

Atmosphere / Meteorology:

• Meteors burn in Mesosphere.
• Furious Fifties or Roaring Forties – Westerlies or Anti-trade winds.
• Causes for monsoon delay in India: El Nino, cyclonic formation, westerlies disturbances, Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO).
• MJO – moving low-pressure disturbances of clouds intensifying over Eastern Indian Ocean, south of Maritime Continent.
• Ideal conditions for temperature inversion:
  - long winter nights, 
  - cloudless and clear sky, 
  - dry air near ground, 
  - slow air movement, 
  - snow-covered ground.

“Earth’s Geological and Atmospheric Evolution   
   - Evolution of lithosphere
- Moon formation 

  - Formation of crust , mantle , core and inner core 
  - Evolution of atmosphere and hydrosphere
  -Loss of Primordial atmosphere because of solar wind 
  - Process of degassing 
  - Continuous volcanic eruption 
  - Water vapour released and getting condensed 
  -Evolution of hydrosphere
 - Last phase of evolution is the origin of life 
- Photosynthesis

Geology / Lithosphere:

• Seafloor spreading – tectonic plates split apart.

Forests / Vegetation:

• Mahogany – tropical rainforest & tropical moist deciduous forest (Central America, Mexico, South America).
• Chaparral – broad-leaved evergreen shrubs/bushes < 2.5 m (Mediterranean).
• Lichens – conspicuous, colorful component of Alaska vegetation.
• Moist deciduous forest rainfall – 100–200 cm; species include Teak, Sal, Shisham, Hurra, Mahua, Amla, Semul, Kusum, Sandalwood.
• National Forest Policy 1988 – 33% area forest in India.

Rivers / Wetlands:

• Bhalangna – Major tributary of Ganga.
• Niknag (Kashmir) – Tectonic wetland.
• Rudrasagar (Tripura) – Sedimentation reservoir.
• Loktak – Oxbow wetland.
• Renuka – Smallest wetland.

Soils in India:

• Inceptisols 39.4% > Entisols 28% > Alfisols > Vertisols.

Forest / Forest Acts:

• 1855 – By Dalhousie, forest conservation rules.
• 1894 – 1st National Forest Act by Elgin.
• 1952 – National Forest Act (1988 amended).
• Aim – 33% forest cover.

Mountains / Passes:

• Khurdung La pass – highest height.

Latitude / Tropics:

• Tropic of Cancer – shortest in Gujarat, longest in MP, passes through 8 states of India; 17 countries, 3 continents, 6 water bodies.

Countries / Geography:

• Chile – world’s longest country north to south, 2,647 miles, spreads through 38° latitude.

Agriculture / Crops:

• Largest producer of saffron – Iran > India.

Winds / Oceanography:

• Belt of calm – Doldrums.
• Deflecting force – Coriolis.
• Roaring Forties – Westerlies.
• Harmattan – Doctor wind.

Gorges / Rivers:

• Gandikota Gorge is located on the Pennar River in Andhra Pradesh and is known as the Grand Canyon of India.

Desert Adaptations (Inhibit Water Loss):

• Hard and waxy leaves.
• Tiny leaves.
• Thorns instead of leaves.
• Leaf modification helps reduce transpiration.

Lakes / Water Bodies:

• Kodaikanal (Tamil Nadu) has an artificial lake.
• Rann of Kutch is a seasonal marshy land.
• Hokera Wetland – Jammu & Kashmir.

Mining / Environment:

• Heavy sand mining leads to the imminent risk of saline water intrusion into freshwater.
• Heavy sand mining increases salinity.

Volcanoes:

• Barren Island volcano last erupted in 2017.

Coral Reefs:

• Most coral reefs are found in tropical waters.
• Over one-third of global coral reefs are in Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
• Coral reefs host more animal phyla than tropical rainforests.

Climate / Environment Initiatives:

• UNFCCC launched the Climate Neutral Now initiative in 2015.

Wildlife Sanctuaries / National Parks:

• Pakhui (Pakke) Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas in Arunachal Pradesh.
• Askot Wildlife Sanctuary – Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand.
• Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary is part of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve.
• Gangotri National Park – Uttarkashi.

Soils / Agriculture:

• Black cotton soil in India is formed from weathering of fissure volcanic rocks.
• Leaching reduces soil fertility; caused by excessive irrigation and floods; drip irrigation reduces leaching.
• Fertigation is the application of pesticides dissolved through drip irrigation.
• Sugarcane is the least water-efficient crop.
• Water-efficient crops require less water.
• Biochar is a carbon-rich product of biomass pyrolysis that improves soil and helps carbon sequestration.

Farming Practices:

• Permaculture is opposite of chemical (conventional) farming and uses cow dung or no fertilizers/pesticides.

Vegetation / Crops:

• Palm trees are majorly found in Western Africa.
• Oil palm grows best in humid tropics within 10° north and south of the equator.

Fauna:

• Asiatic lion is naturally found only in India.
• Indian squirrels are omnivorous.
• Male leopards mark territory using urine, feces, and scent gland secretions.
• Orangutans are great apes native to Indonesia and Malaysia, now found only in Borneo and Sumatra.

Atmosphere / Climate Phenomena:

• Infrared waves are largely absorbed by water vapour in the lower atmosphere.
• Cold ocean currents contribute to desert formation on west coasts of tropical and subtropical continents.
• Jet aircraft fly smoothly in the lower stratosphere due to absence of clouds, water vapour, and vertical winds.

El Niño / La Niña:

• La Niña involves unusually cold ocean temperatures, while El Niño involves unusually warm ocean temperatures.
• La Niña causes drought in Peru and Ecuador, floods in Australia, high temperatures in Western Pacific and Indian Ocean, and good monsoon in India.

Oceanography / Monsoon:

• The 26°C isotherm (Ocean Mean Temperature) lies at a depth of 50–100 m.
• OMT data from January–March helps assess monsoon rainfall deviation.

Energy / Resources:

• West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is a benchmark crude oil.

Political / Geography:

• Russia does not share a boundary with the North Sea.
• North Sea borders: UK,Norway, Scotland, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark. [ No Russia No Sweden ]

UPSC-Type Statements (Conceptual):

• Rainfall causes weathering because rainwater contains dissolved carbon dioxide and atmospheric oxygen.
• El Niño Modoki differs from normal El Niño in location and hurricane impact.
• Pepper grows in hot, humid regions with high rainfall and moderate altitude.