Mountains & Plateaus — Set 1

Correct Answer: D. Ural Mountains

• **Ural Mountains** = the primary geographical boundary between Europe and Asia, running north-to-south through western Russia. • **One of the oldest surviving ranges** — the Urals are ancient fold mountains, heavily eroded over millions of years into low, rounded hills unlike the young jagged Himalayas. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Himalayas: the youngest fold mountains forming the northern border of the Indian subcontinent; Appalachians: ancient range along the eastern USA, entirely within North America; Andes: the longest continental range running along South America's western edge.

Correct Answer: C. Tibetan Plateau

• **Tibetan Plateau** = called the 'Roof of the World' due to its extreme average elevation of about 4,500 metres above sea level. • **Highest and largest plateau on Earth** — it also serves as the source of Asia's major rivers including the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Yangtze. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Columbia Plateau: a volcanic plateau in north-western USA formed by basaltic lava flows; Colorado Plateau: a high plateau in south-western USA famous for the Grand Canyon; Deccan Plateau: a large volcanic plateau in peninsular India made of basalt rock.

Correct Answer: A. Fold Mountains

• **Fold Mountains** = formed when two tectonic plates collide and compress the Earth's crust, pushing layers upward into folds. • **Himalayas and Alps are classic examples** — both were formed by plate collisions: the Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate (Himalayas) and the African Plate with the Eurasian Plate (Alps). • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Block Mountains: formed by faulting when blocks of crust are uplifted (e.g., Vosges, Vindhya); Residual Mountains: formed by erosion of ancient fold mountains leaving hard rock remnants (e.g., Aravalli); Volcanic Mountains: formed by accumulation of lava and ash from volcanic activity (e.g., Kilimanjaro).

Correct Answer: A. Andes

• **Mount Aconcagua** = the highest peak in the Andes mountain range of South America, at an elevation of 6,961 metres. • **Highest outside Asia** — it is the tallest peak in both the Western and Southern Hemispheres; the Andes are also the world's longest continental mountain range at over 7,000 km. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Alps: Europe's major mountain range containing peaks like Mont Blanc and Matterhorn; Atlas Mountains: range in north-western Africa stretching through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia; Rocky Mountains: the major mountain system of western North America, highest peak is Mount Elbert.

Correct Answer: D. Iranian Plateau

• **Iranian Plateau** = a vast highland region bounded by the Elburz Mountains in the north and the Zagros Mountains in the south-west. • **Covers most of Iran and parts of neighbours** — it spans Afghanistan and Pakistan as well, and is characterised by an arid climate with salt deserts and rocky terrain. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Bolivian Plateau (Altiplano): high plateau in South America between two Andes ranges, famous for tin deposits and Salar de Uyuni; Mexican Plateau: lies between Sierra Madre Occidental and Oriental ranges in Mexico; Anatolian Plateau: the central highland of Turkey, bordered by Pontic and Taurus mountains.

Correct Answer: C. Germany

• **Black Forest (Schwarzwald)** = a large forested block mountain range in south-west Germany, formed by geological faulting. • **Source of the Danube River** — the Black Forest is where the Danube originates; across the Rhine Valley, the Vosges Mountains in France form a paired block-mountain structure. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: France: the Vosges range across the Rhine from Black Forest is in France, not the Black Forest itself; Austria: Austria has the Eastern Alps but not the Black Forest; Switzerland: the Swiss Alps and Jura Mountains are in Switzerland, not the Black Forest.

Correct Answer: D. Mount Kilimanjaro

• **Mount Kilimanjaro** = Africa's highest mountain in Tanzania, formed entirely by volcanic activity and featuring three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. • **5,895 metres high** — it is the world's tallest free-standing volcanic mountain; despite being near the equator, its summit Kibo is permanently snow-capped. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Sierra Nevada: a fault-block mountain range in California, USA; Vindhya Range: a block mountain range in central India separating the Indo-Gangetic Plain from the Deccan Plateau; Mount Everest: the world's highest peak, a fold mountain formed by collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates.

Correct Answer: A. Turkey

• **Anatolian Plateau** = the central highland of Turkey, bordered by the Pontic Mountains to the north and the Taurus Mountains to the south. • **A bridge between civilisations** — Anatolia has been a crossroads of European and Asian civilisations for millennia; Turkey's capital Ankara is located on this plateau. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Greece: Greece has the Pindus mountain range and is not the location of the Anatolian Plateau; Egypt: Egypt is mostly desert lowland around the Nile River valley; Syria: Syria lies to the south-east of the Anatolian Plateau and has a different geological setting.

Correct Answer: C. Faulting

• **Faulting** = the process that forms Block Mountains, where large areas of Earth's crust break and are displaced vertically along fault lines. • **Horsts and grabens** — the uplifted block is called a 'horst' (e.g., Black Forest, Vosges) and the sunken block between two faults is called a 'graben' or rift valley (e.g., Rhine Valley). • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Erosion: erosion reduces existing mountains into residual hills, not creates new mountains; Subduction: subduction causes one plate to slide under another, leading to volcanic arcs and fold mountains; Sedimentation: sedimentation deposits layers of sediment forming sedimentary rocks, not mountains directly.

Correct Answer: D. Australia

• **Great Dividing Range** = Australia's most significant mountain system, running parallel to the eastern coast and acting as a major watershed. • **Third longest land-based range in the world** — it divides rivers flowing east to the Pacific Ocean from those flowing west into the interior; Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko, lies within it. • 💡 Wrong-option analysis: Africa: Africa's major ranges include the Atlas (north-west) and Drakensberg (south); North America: North America's main ranges are the Rockies (west) and Appalachians (east); Europe: Europe's major ranges include the Alps, Pyrenees, and Ural Mountains.