Q.3 Statements:

1. Golden langur is the world monkey found in a small region of Western Assam.

2. Desert Cat and Hoolock Gibbon are endangered species.

Which statement is correct?

A) 1 only

B) 2 only

C) Both are correct

D) Both are incorrect

Ans. C

Q.4 Statements

1. Steppes is the temperate grassland found in Eurasia

2. The rivers of south India have Trellis type of drainage pattern.

 Which statement is correct?

A) 1 only

B) 2 only

C) Both are correct

D) Both are incorrect

Ans. A

Q.5 Which among the following are correct?

1. Birhor : Jharkhand

2. Bhutiya: Sikkim

3. Toda: Andaman & Nicobar Island

4. Sentinelese: Tamil Nadu

Codes:

A) 1 & 3

B) 2 & 4

C) 1 & 2

D) 2 & 3

Ans. C

Toda: Tamil Nadu

Sentinelese: Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Q.6 Statements:

1. The sun reaches its maximum angular distance from the equator at the zenith

2. The difference in the duration of day & night increases as one move from equator to poles.

Which statement is correct?

A) 1 only

B) 2 only

C) Both are correct

D) Both are incorrect

Ans. C

Q.7 In which of the following environments are green algae are found?

1. Salt water

2. Fresh water

3. Moist areas on land

4. Dry areas on land

Codes:

A) 1,2,3

B) 1,2,3,4

C) 1,2,4

D) 1,4

Ans. A

Q.8 Of the following locations, you would most likely find mosses growing in-

A) Shaded ground water near a small pond

B) Sandy soil near a beach

C) Hot, dry mineral-poor soil

D) Exposed ground with direct sun

Ans . A

Q.9 Mangroves are found in

I. Sunderbans (West Bengal)

II. Gulf of Khambat (Gujarat)

III. Vembanad (Kerela)

Codes:

A)  I & II

B) II & III

C) I & III

D) All are correct

Ans. D

Q.10 Which of the following biospheres has UNESCO recognition?

1. Manas

2. Kanchenjunga

3. Seshachalam Hills

4. Greater Nicobar

Codes:

A) 1,2,3

B) 1,2,3,4

C) 1 & 2

D) 4 only

Ans. D

Q.11 Which among the following plays an important role in formation of tides ?

1) Rotation of earth

2) Gravitation of Sun

3) Gravitation of Earth

4) Revolution of earth

Codes:

A) 1,3,4

B) 2,3,4

C) 1,2,3

D) 1,2,3,4

Ans. C

Q.12 Which of the following are the basis on which natural region of the earth is divided ?

1) Temperature

2) Rainfall

3) Vegetation

4) Latitude

5) Longitude

6) Atmospheric pressure

Codes:

A) 1,2,3

B) 4,5,6

C) 1,2,3,4

D) All are correct

Ans. A

Q. 13 What are the potential applications of Coal gasification technology?

A) Exploitation of deep coal deposits that cannot be mined using conventional means

B) In-situ capture of carbon

C) Both A and B

D) Neither A nor B

Ans. C

Coal gasification offers one of the most versatile and clean ways to convert coal into electricity, hydrogen, and other valuable energy products.

Coal gasification electric power plants are now operating commercially in the United States and in other nations, and many experts predict that coal gasification will be at the heart of future generations of clean coal technology plants. 

Rather than burning coal directly, gasification (a thermo-chemical process) breaks down coal – or virtually any carbon-based feedstock – into its basic chemical constituents. In a modern gasifier, coal is typically exposed to steam and carefully controlled amounts of air or oxygen under high temperatures and pressures. Under these conditions, molecules in coal break apart, initiating chemical reactions that typically produce a mixture of carbon monoxide, hydrogen and other gaseous compounds.

Gasification, in fact, may be one of the most flexible technologies to produce clean-burning hydrogen for tomorrow’s automobiles and power-generating fuel cells. Hydrogen and other coal gases can also be used to fuel power-generating turbines, or as the chemical “building blocks” for a wide range of commercial products. (Read more about hydrogen production)

The Energy Department’s Office of Fossil Energy is working on coal gasifier advances that enhance efficiency, environmental performance, and reliability as well as expand the gasifier’s flexibility to process a variety of coals and other feedstocks (including biomass and municipal/industrial wastes).

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS

The environmental benefits of gasification stem from the capability to achieve extremely low SOx, NOx and particulate emissions from burning coal-derived gases. Sulfur in coal, for example, is converted to hydrogen sulfide and can be captured by processes presently used in the chemical industry. In some methods, the sulfur can be extracted in either a liquid or solid form that can be sold commercially.  In an Integrated Gasification Combined-Cycle (IGCC) plant, the syngas produced is virtually free of fuel-bound nitrogen.  NOx from the gas turbine is limited to thermal NOx. Diluting the syngas allows for NOx emissions as low as 15 parts per million. Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) can be used to reach levels comparable to firing with natural gas if required to meet more stringent emission levels. Other advanced emission control processes are being developed that could reduce NOx from hydrogen fired turbines to as low as 2 parts per million.

The Office of Fossil Energy is also exploring advanced syngas cleaning and conditioning processes that are even more effective in eliminating emissions from coal gasifiers. Multi-contaminant control processes are being developed that reduce pollutants to parts-per-billion levels and will be effective in cleaning mercury and other trace metals in addition to other impurities.

Coal gasification may offer a further environmental advantage in addressing concerns over the atmospheric buildup of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide. If oxygen is used in a coal gasifier instead of air, carbon dioxide is emitted as a concentrated gas stream in syngas at high pressure. In this form, it can be captured and sequestered more easily and at lower costs. By contrast, when coal burns or is reacted in air, 79 percent of which is nitrogen, the resulting carbon dioxide is diluted and more costly to separate.

EFFICIENCY BENEFITS

Efficiency gains are another benefit of coal gasification. In a typical coal combustion-based power plant, heat from burning coal is used to boil water, making steam that drives a steam turbine-generator. In some coal combustion-based power plants, only a third of the energy value of coal is actually converted into electricity.

A coal gasification power plant, however, typically gets dual duty from the gases it produces. First, the coal gases, cleaned of impurities, are fired in a gas turbine – much like natural gas – to generate one source of electricity. The hot exhaust of the gas turbine, and some of the heat generated in the gasification process, are then used to generate steam for use in a steam turbine-generator. This dual source of electric power, called a “combined cycle,” is much more efficient in converting coal’s energy into usable electricity. The fuel efficiency of a coal gasification power plant in this type of combined cycle can potentially be boosted to 50 percent or more.

Future concepts that incorporate a fuel cell or a fuel cell-gas turbine hybrid could achieve  efficiencies nearly twice today’s typical coal combustion plants. If any of the remaining heat can be channeled into process steam or heat, perhaps for nearby factories or district heating plants, the overall fuel use efficiency of future gasification plants could reach 70 to 80 percent.

Higher efficiencies translate into more economical electric power and potential savings for ratepayers. A more efficient plant also uses less fuel to generate power, meaning that less carbon dioxide is produced. In fact, coal gasification power processes under development by the Energy Department could cut the formation of carbon dioxide by 40 percent or more, per unit of output, compared to today’s conventional coal-burning plant.

The capability to produce electricity, hydrogen, chemicals, or various combinations while  eliminating nearly all air pollutants and potentially greenhouse gas emissions makes coal gasification one of the most promising technologies for energy plants of the future.

Q.14 Which of the following is/are Ozone depleting substances ?

1) Halon

2) Methyl chloroform

3) Methyl bromide

Which among the above are correct ?

A) Only 1

B) Only 1 and 2

C) Only 1 and 3

D) All of them

Ans. D

Q.15 Consider following statements about Mangroves :

1) They can survive in Aerobic soil but not in Anaerobic soil

2) They form a commensalist link between terrestrial and marine ecosystem.

3) In India, maximum mangrove cover is found in West Bengal, followed by Gujarat and Andaman-Nicobar.

Codes :

A) Only 1 and 2

B) Only 2 and 3

C) Only 1 and 3

D) Only 3

Ans. D

Salient features of mangroves:

1.Mangroves are practically evergreen with thick leathery leaves designed to minimize transpiration.

2.Root system is adapted to the peculiar conditions found in the mangrove forests such as still root in Rhizophora and knee roots in Bruguiera. Pneumatophores (breathing roots) are sent in profusion in Sonneratia and Avicennia.

3.Viviparous germination where the seed germinates while still on the tree and falls down in the germinating condition with a long radicle- characteristic of Rhizophoraceae.

Mangrove adaptations to their environment

Mangroves have had to physically adapt their leaves, their roots and their reproductive methods in order to survive in a harsh, dynamic environment of soft, low oxygen soils and varying salinity. 

Leaf adaptations to saline conditions 

Many mangrove species, such as the Grey Mangrove and the River Mangrove (common species along the Redlands coast), have leaves with glands that excrete salt.

Some species such as the Grey Mangrove can also tolerate the storage of large amounts of salt in their leaves – which are discarded when the salt load is too high.

Mangroves can also restrict the opening of their stomata (these are small pores through which carbon dioxide and water vapour are exchanged during photosynthesis). This allows the mangrove to conserve its fresh water, an ability vital to its survival in a saline environment.

Mangroves are able to turn their leaves to reduce the surface area of the leaf exposed to the hot sun. This enables them to reduce water loss through evaporation.

Root adaptations to soft, saline, low oxygen soils

A distinctive feature of mangroves is their far-reaching, exposed roots. While these roots come in many different shapes and sizes, they all perform an important function – structural support in the soft soils.

Some species of mangroves have pneumataphores, which are above-ground roots. These are filled with spongy tissue and peppered with small holes that offer structural support and allow oxygen to be transferred to the roots trapped below ground in the anaerobic (low oxygen) soils.

The roots of many mangrove species are also adapted to stop the intake of a lot of the salt from the water before it reaches the plant.