Explore essential Hydrosphere and Oceanography GK questions to boost your knowledge on marine science. Dive into key concepts and fascinating facts, perfect for students and quiz enthusiasts alike. Start your oceanic adventure today!
1. What is the interval between a high tide and neaptide at a given place ?
Correct Answer:-B ( 12 hours 26 minutes )
Description:- Tide clocks are popular clocks used amongst surfers, sailors, and anyone else who is concerned with the tidal cycle. They run on a 12 hour and 25 or 26 minute cycle, which is the time it takes for the high tide to ebb and flow back to high tide again.
2. The sea bed sloping gradually and bordering the continent is known as :
Correct Answer:-B ( Continental Shelf. )
Description:- The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain. Much of the shelf was exposed during glacial periods, but is now submerged under relatively shallow seas (known as shelf seas) and gulfs, and was almost similarly submerged during other interglacial periods. The continental margin, between the continental shelf and the abyssal plain, comprises a steep continental slope followed by the flatter continental rise. Sediment from the continent above cascades down the slope and accumulates as a pile of sediment at the base of the slope, called the continental rise. Though the continental shelf is treated as a physiographic province of the ocean, it is not part of the deep ocean basin proper, but the flooded margins of the continent.
3. A special type of well in which water rises automatically under the pressure of a column of water to the ground surface through a hole is known as
Correct Answer:-A ( Artisian well )
Description:- An artesian well is a pumpless water source that uses pipes to allow underground water that is under pressure to rise to the surface. This type of well seems to defy gravity because the pressure that builds up between layers of rock gets relieved when the water finds a path to the open air. In addition, the water has been naturally filtered because it passes through porous rock as it seeps into the Earth to reach the aquifer, which is the underground water source. For centuries, people have drilled artesian wells to drink filtered water that doesn’t need to be manually or mechanically hauled up from the depths.
4. Which of the following oceans has the shape of the English alphabet S ?
Correct Answer:-C ( Atlantic Ocean )
Description:- Atlantic Ocean has the shape of an English alphabet S. Indian Ocean has ‘M’ Shape. The Arctic Ocean has ‘U’ shape, while the Pacific Ocean is triangular in shape.
5. Which from the following, is a landlocked sea ?
Correct Answer:-D ( Aral Sea )
Description:- Aral sea is a land locked sea. The Aral Sea has been steadily shrinking since the 1960s after the rivers that fed it were diverted by Soviet Union irrigation projects. It lies between Kazakhstan in the north and Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region of Uzbekistan, in the south. Its area is of 68,000 square kilometres The landlocked seas are Aral Sea, Caspian Sea, Dead Sea, Great Salt Lake, Salton Sea and Sea of Galilee. Landlocked seas may are also considered lakes as the definition of a lake is “a large body of freshwater surrounded by land”.
6. A place where there is constant intermingling of salt water and fresh water is ____
Correct Answer:-A ( Estuary )
Description:- Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and ocean environments and are subject to both marine influences, such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water; and riverine influences, such as flows of fresh water and sediment. The inflow of both seawater and freshwater provide high levels of nutrients in both the water column and sediment, making estuaries among the most productive natural habitats in the world.
7. The deepest ocean of the world is
Correct Answer:-D ( Pacific Ocean )
Description:- The equator subdivides it into the North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean, with two exceptions: the Galápagos and Gilbert Islands, while straddling the equator, are deemed wholly within the South Pacific. The Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres (35,797 ft).
8. Tides in the sea have stored in them :
Correct Answer:-C ( Gravitational potential energy )
Description:- Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun and the rotation of the Earth. Tidal barrages make use of the potential energy in the difference in height (or head) between high and low tides. When using tidal barrages to generate power, the potential energy from a tide is seized through strategic placement of specialized dams. When the sea level rises and the tide begins to come in, the temporary increase in tidal power is channeled into a large basin behind the dam, holding a large amount of potential energy. With the receding tide, this energy is then converted into mechanical energy as the water is released through large turbines that create electrical power though the use of generators
9. The deepest surface depression on the earth is
Correct Answer:-B ( Mariana Trench )
Description:- The Mariana Trench or Marianas Trench is the deepest part of the world’s oceans. It is located in the western Pacific Ocean, to the east of the Mariana Islands. The trench is about 2,550 kilometres long but has an average width of only 69 kilometres. It reaches a maximum-known depth of 10.994 km at the Challenger Deep.
10. Echo sounding is the tech-nique applied to—
Correct Answer:-A ( measure the depth of the sea )
Description:- Echo sounding is the technique of using sound pulses to find the depth of water. The interval from the emission of a pulse to reception of its echo is recorded, and the depth calculated from the known speed of propagation of sound through water. This information is then typically used for navigation purposes or in order to obtain depths for charting purposes.
11. El Nino is
Correct Answer:-A ( a warm ocean current )
Description:- El Nino (Spanish name for the male child), initially referred to a weak, warm current appearing annually around Christmas time along the coast of Ecuador and Peru and lasting only a few weeks to a month or more. Every three to seven years, an El Niño event may last for many months, having significant economic and atmospheric consequences worldwide.
12. The narrow stretch of water connecting two Seas is called
Correct Answer:-D ( Strait )
Description:- A strait or straits is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not navigable, for example because it is too shallow, or because it contains an un-navigable reef or archipelago.
13. The largest ocean is
Correct Answer:-D ( Pacific Ocean )
Description:- The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth’s oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east. This largest division of the World Ocean – and, in turn, the hydrosphere – covers about 46%’ of the Earth’s water surface and about one-third of its total surface area, making it larger than all of the Earth’s land area combined..
14. Which current is responsible for increase in the temperature of the western Europe ?
Correct Answer:-D ( North Equatorial current )
Description:- North Equatorial Current is a significant Pacific and Atlantic Ocean current that flows east-to-west between about 10° north and 20° north. It is the southern side of a clockwise subtropical gyre. Despite its name, the North Equatorial Current is not connected to the equator. In both oceans, it is separated from the equatorial circulation by the Equatorial Countercurrent (also known as the North Equatorial Countercurrent), which flows eastward.
15. Tsunamis are cuased by
Correct Answer:-B ( earthquakes )
Description:- Most tsunamis are caused by earthquakes generated in a subduction zone, an area where an oceanic plate is being forced down into the mantle by plate tectonic forces. The friction between the subducting plate and the overriding plate is enormous. This friction prevents a slow and steady rate of subduction and instead the two plates become “stuck”.
16. Seismic sea waves which approach the coasts at greater force are known as
Correct Answer:-B ( Tsunami )
Description:- A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions (including detonations of underwater nuclear devices), landslides, glacier calvings, meteorite impacts and other disturbances above or below water all have the potential to generate a tsunami. Tsunami waves do not resemble normal sea waves, because their wavelength is far longer. Rather than appearing as a breaking wave, a tsunami may instead initially resemble a rapidly rising tide, and for this reason they are often referred to as tidal waves..
17. Which of the following is a cold ocean current ?
Correct Answer:-A ( Humboldt current )
Description:- The Humboldt Current , also known as the Peru Current, is a cold, low-salinity ocean current that flows north-westward along the west coast of South America from the southern tip of Chile to northern Peru. It is an eastern boundary current flowing in the direction of the equator, and can extend 1,000 kilometers offshore. The Humboldt Current Large Marine Ecosystem (LME), named after the Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, is one of the major upwelling systems of the world, supporting an extraordinary abundance of marine life. Upwelling occurs off Peru year-round but off Chile only during the spring and summer, because of the displacement of the subtropical center of high pressure during the summer.
18. Sea breeze is formed during
Correct Answer:-A ( Day time )
Description:- Sea breezes and all other winds blow from more atmospheric pressure to less atmospheric pressure. Water heats up and cools down slower than land. During the day, the land is heated up and is less dense than the water while at night, the water is less dense than the land. The more denser it is, the more the atmospheric pressure there is. Therefore, sea breezes occur during the day but not at night.
19. The coral reefs are the marine counterparts of
Correct Answer:-B ( Tropical rain forests )
Description:- The term “coral reef” generally refers to a marine ecosystem in which the main organisms are corals that house algal symbionts within their tissues. These ecosystems require: 1) fully marine waters; 2) warm temperatures; and 3) ample sunlight. They are therefore restricted to shallow waters of tropical and subtropical regions.
20. The deepest ocean is-
Correct Answer:-B ( Pacific )
Description:- The Mariana Trench or Marianas Trench is the deepest part of the world’s oceans. It is located in the western Pacific Ocean, to the east of the Mariana Islands. It reaches a maximum-known depth of 10.911 km at the Challenger Deep.
21. Two seas or water-bodies connected by a narrow stretch of water is known as a
Correct Answer:-B ( Strait )
Description:- A strait is a narrow, typically navigable channel of water that connects two larger, navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not navigable, for example because it is too shallow, or because it contains an unnavigable reef or archipelago.
22. Waves approaching the shore is known as
Correct Answer:-B ( Tsunami )
Description:- Tsunamis have a small amplitude (wave height) offshore, and a very long wavelength (often hundreds of kilometers long, whereas normal ocean waves have a wavelength of only 30 or 40 metres), which is why they generally pass unnoticed at sea, forming only a slight swell usually about 300 millimetres above the normal sea surface. They grow in height when they reach shallower water or the coast.
23. Atoll is a kind of
Correct Answer:-D ( inland sea )
Description:- Atoll is a coral island (or islands) that encircle a lagoon partially or completely. It is formed when the island sinks below the sea, and the barrier reef becomes an atoll enclosing an open lagoon. So in a way it is a kind of inland sea which is a shallow sea that covers central areas of continents during periods of high sea level.
24. The coastal part of water bodies of the oceans which is structurally part of the mainland of the continents is called the
Correct Answer:-C ( Continental shelf )
Description:- The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain. The shelf usually ends at a point of increasing slope (called the shelf break). The sea floor below the break is the continental slope. Below the slope is the continental rise, which finally merges into the deep ocean floor, the abyssal plain.
25. Which one of the following is not a cold ocean current?
Correct Answer:-C ( Kuroshio )
Description:- The Kuroshio is a north-flowing warm ocean current on the west side of the North Pacific Ocean. It is similar to the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic, transporting warm, tropical water northward towards the polar region and is part of the North Pacific ocean gyre.
26. The term territorial water means
Correct Answer:-D ( Water of the sea located close to the coast of a country )
Description:- Territorial waters, or a territorial sea, as defined by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is a belt of coastal waters extending at most 12 nautical miles (22 km) from the baseline (usually the mean low-water mark) of a coastal state. The territorial sea is regarded as the sovereign territory of the state, although foreign ships (both military and civilian) are allowed innocent passage through it.
27. The ocean which touches the Asian and American shores is
Correct Answer:-D ( Pacific )
Description:- The Pacific Ocean extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east. This largest division of the World Ocean – and, in turn, the hydrosphere – covers about 46%’ of the Earth’s water surface and about one-third of its total surface area, making it larger than all of the Earth’s land area combined.
28. Which from the following can cause a tsunami ?
Correct Answer:-D ( Earthquake )
Description:- Most tsunamis are caused by earthquakes generated in a subduction zone, an area where an oceanic plate is being forced down into the mantle by plate tectonic forces. The friction between the subducting plate and the overriding plate is enormous.
29. The coastal part of water bodies of the oceans which is structurally part of the mainland of the continents is called
Correct Answer:-C ( continental shelf )
Description:- The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain. The shelf usually ends at a point of increasing slope (called the shelf break). The sea floor below the break is the continental slope.
30. Mariana Trench is found in
Correct Answer:-B ( Pacific Ocean )
Description:- The Mariana Trench is the deepest part of the world’s oceans. It is located in the western Pacific Ocean, to the east of the Mariana Islands.
