Key to Success – Part 3 Beauties of the Earth

This part of book includes knowledge about the Mountains, Continents of the Earth, Rivers of

the World as well as India, Lakes, Oceans, Port and Harbours, Sea, Dams of India, Deserts,

Water Falls, Major Islands

By Vipin K. Bansal

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgement ..................................................................................................................... 4

Preface........................................................................................................................................ 5

Mountains .................................................................................................................................. 6

Mountains in India ................................................................................................................. 6

Himalaya Range ................................................................................................................. 6

Satpura Range .................................................................................................................... 7

Aravalli Range ................................................................................................................... 7

Purvanchal Range .............................................................................................................. 7

Vindhya Range................................................................................................................... 7

Eastern Ghat ....................................................................................................................... 7

Sahyadri Range or Western Ghats ..................................................................................... 7

More About Himalaya ........................................................................................................... 7

Rivers ......................................................................................................................................... 8

Merger of Rivers into Ocean.................................................................................................. 9

Rivers of India...................................................................................................................... 10

Ganga River - ....................................................................................................................... 10

Gomti River ......................................................................................................................... 11

Yamuna River ...................................................................................................................... 11

Godavari River ..................................................................................................................... 11

Brahmputra River................................................................................................................. 12

Tapti River ........................................................................................................................... 12

Kaveri River ......................................................................................................................... 12

Krishna River ....................................................................................................................... 12

Narmada River ..................................................................................................................... 13

Sabarmati River ................................................................................................................... 13

Chambal River ..................................................................................................................... 13

Continents ................................................................................................................................ 13

Asia ...................................................................................................................................... 13

Africa ................................................................................................................................... 13

North America ..................................................................................................................... 14

South America ..................................................................................................................... 14

Antarctica ............................................................................................................................. 14

Europe .................................................................................................................................. 14

Australia ............................................................................................................................... 14

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Lakes ........................................................................................................................................ 14

Famous Lakes ...................................................................................................................... 14

Ocean, Ports and Harbours ...................................................................................................... 15

Oceans .................................................................................................................................. 15

Ports and Harbours ............................................................................................................... 16

Seas .......................................................................................................................................... 17

Dams ........................................................................................................................................ 18

Major Dams of India ............................................................................................................ 18

Deserts...................................................................................................................................... 18

Famous and Renowned Deserts ........................................................................................... 19

Water Falls ............................................................................................................................... 19

Major Waterfalls of the World ............................................................................................. 20

Islands of the World ................................................................................................................ 21

Questions based on the above .................................................................................................. 22

Scoring System: ....................................................................................................................... 25

Answers: .................................................................................................................................. 25

Bibliography: ........................................................................................................................... 26

Thank You! ....................................................................................................................... 26

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Acknowledgement

When a book like this comes into existence, it was very hard to

name and thank all the people that helped me shape this book.

It took me more than six years to consolidate and format all the

content in a manner that may benefit the readers.

However, I always thank my wife Sumanji for her continued

patience and understanding. I would like to express my sincere

gratitude to my father Shri Bhagwan Das Bansalji, who is my

best teacher also, for their continued encouragement and

invaluable support.

I would like to thank my sons Anurag and Gaurav for the

tremendous help I receive from them to design this book.

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Preface

As I mentioned in the previous part that the idea of this book came to

my mind after watching “Kaun Banega Crorepati” episodes and

watching many people drop out without winning enough. I think

most of the time the reason was either not enough preparation or lack

of resources to enhance the knowledge required to win BIG such a

game.

That’s why I started writing this book on various subjects so that it

can offer the basic guidance to the people preparing for a game like

this. Nonetheless everyone can get benefitted with this set of books

because “Ignorance is the curse of God, Knowledge is the wing

wherewith we fly to heaven.”

The Key to Success has been written for the people trying to prepare

for “Kaun Banega Crorepati”. Therefore the scope of this book is not

to deep dive on any subject rather swim across various layers which

is what one need to qualify for winning large sum on Hot Seat.

Now the part of KBC – 6 has already started from August, 2012

onwards. I hope everyone will be benefitted with this book. This book

cannot be used to gain exhaustive knowledge on any given subject

but it provides enough information that you can easily remember and

be better prepared for the game.

At the end of the book, a multi-choice Questionnaire is given that has

only one correct answer. Try to attempt those questions on your own

and then check the correct answers from the Answer Sheet.

Good Luck !!!

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Mountains

o you know that surface of our Earth is covered with approximately 70% of Water.

Yes, it is. The remaining 30%

land is either plain land, forests or mountains. Out of this remaining land, approximately 25% of land is covered with mountains worldwide.

It is also interesting to know that about 64% of land is covered with Mountains in Asia.

North America is covered with 35% land, 25% in South America and Europe, 17% in Australia and approximately 3% in Africa. These mountains were formed millions of years back.

Mountains in India

India has 7 major Mountain ranges. The Great Himalaya Mountain is Highest mountain range in the World. Kachenjunga is the highest Mountain in India, which is the third highest mountain range. Nanda Devi is second highest mountain peak in India.

Himalaya Range The Himalaya Range is a

mountain range in Asia. It

extends from Jammu and Kashmir in the North to Arunachal Pradesh in the East.

Most of the peaks remain snowbound throughout the year. The Himalaya acts as a barrier to the coldest winds flowing down from Central Asia. Thus, North India is kept warm or only mildly cooled during winter. In summer, the same phenomenon makes India relatively hot.

It is one of the youngest mountain range in the World. Siachin Glacier is a part of this great Himalaya Range. It also includes Karakorum, Hindu Kush and Pamir Plateau.

The Himalayan mountain system is the planet's highest peaks which include Mount Everest and K2.

The countries covered with

Himalayas are India, China, Nepal, Pakistan and Bhutan.

Hindu Kush, also a part of Himalayas lies in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Pamir, also a part of Himalayas lies in Tajikistan, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Tian Shan, lies in China, Kazakhstan, India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyztan.

The height of Mount Everest is 8848 metre. K2, also called Mount Godwin is the highest mountain in India, having height of 8600 metre.

The other Mountains in India itself are Nanga Parwat, Diamir, 8125 metre, Nanda Devi 7800

metre, Mount Kamet 7756 metre, Badrinath 7140 metre and Kangiri 7670 metres.

Few major Mountains in India with border of Nepal are Kanchenjunga, Dhaulagiri, Annapurna etc.

Tirich Mir is Pakistan’s highest peak having height of 7700 metre.

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Minya Konka, 7700 metre and Muztagh Ata, 7550 metre are mountain ranges of China.

Satpura Range The Satpura range is a mountain

that passes through central part of India. It extends across Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh.

This Range is triangular in shape. The highest peak of Satpura is Dhupgarh.

Aravalli Range The Aravalli Range is the

OLDEST Mountain Range in India running across Rajasthan to Haryana. It is also known as Mewat Hills.

Aravalli Ranges are famous for Mineral resources and is surrounded by dense forests. The highest peak is Mount Abu.

Purvanchal Range Purvanchal Range is the

extension of Great Himalaya Range in North East region. It is parallel to Karakoram and Ladakh Region.

It is most densely forested area and full of flora and fauna. These Regions are also known for highest rain fall. Cherrapunji is famous for highest Annual Rainfalls.

Vindhya Range The Vindhya Range is one of the

major mountain ranges in India. It separates Northern India from Sourthern India as it runs across the Central India.

It extends in East West direction from Varanasi through Madhya Pradesh to Gujarat. It is parallel to Satpura Ranges.

Eastern Ghat These Ghats are irregular ranges

of mountains. Its ranges start from Paschim Banga to Tamil Nadu.

The Nilgiri Hills, i.e. Blue Mountains in Tamil Nadu lies at the junction of Eastern and Western Ghats.

It includes four major rivers i.e. Godavari, Mahanadi, Krishna and Kaveri.

Most of this region has largest population of elephant. The Highest peak in Eastern Ghat is Shevaroy Hills.

Sahyadri Range or Western Ghats This Range starts near the border

of Gujarat and ending at Kanya Kumari. It is mainly located in Karnataka.

More About Himalaya

The Himalaya ranges runs from West to East from Indus River Valley to Brahmputra River Valley, forming an area of 2400 Kms. Long. Shivalik Hills is an intermittent outermost range of foothills through Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bhutan.

Dehradun in India and Chitwan in Nepal are located in Inner Terai Valley of Himalaya. These are open valleys.

The Himalayas encompasses about 15000 Glaciers which have a store about 12000 cubic kms. fresh water. The 70 Km. long Siachen Glacier at India-Pakistan

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border is the Second longest Glacier in the world.

Some other Glaciers are Yamunotri and Gangotri in Uttrakhand, Nubra, Biafo, Baltoro in Karakoram Region, Zemu in Sikkim and Khumbu Glaciers in Mount Everest Region.

Badrinath Temple, dedicated to Lord Vishnu ; Kedarnath, one of

Twelve Jyotirlinga; Dev Prayag where Alaknanda and Bhagirathi merges.

Mount Kailash, based at 6638 meter high Peak and is Abode of Lord Shiva; Lake Mansarovar lies at the base of Mount Kailash and is source of Brahmputra river.

Amarnath, having natural Shivalinga of Ice for a few weeks every year.

Vaishno Devi Temple, a very famous Shrine of Goddess Durga in the form of Goddess Saraswati (left), Goddess Laxmi (Centre) and Goddess Kali (Right).

Hundreds of major lakes lie in Himalaya Region. Most lakes are found at altitude of less than 5000 metre.

A lake named Pangong Tso lake is spread across the border between India and China.

Other lakes are Yamdrok in Tibet, Gurudogmar Lake in Sikkim, Tilicho Lake in Nepal.

Zoji La lies between Kashmir and

Kargil, which is the only Western entrance to Ladakh.

Some of world’s major rivers arise in the Himalaya. These are Ganges, Indus, Brahmputra, Yangtze, Mekong, Red River, Irrawaddy, Yellow River.

The combined drainage basin of the above rivers are home to approximately 3 billion people in Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, Bangladesh, Combodia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Vietnam, Thailand, Nepal, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

Rivers

river is a natural fresh water source which is used for drinking,

food preparation, transport and for generating power in most of the cities.

Mostly big cities are on the shores of rivers. Generally, each river flows towards any Sea or Ocean. Few rivers merge into another rivers. The study of rivers is called Potamology.

The rivers which flows in India, passes in other countries after

crossing indian sub-continent are Brahmputra which flows in

Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, then crosses to Bangladesh and then to China.

Ganges river after flowing in India, passes in Bangladesh.

The Indus River flows in Ladakh enters into Pakistan.

River Kaladan flows in Mizoram and then passes in to Myanmar.

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Merger of Rivers into Ocean

Country River Length Merges Into

India

Brahmputra 2900 Bay of Bengal

Ganga 2500 Bay of Bengal

Godawari 1400 Bay of Bengal

Narmada 1300 Arabian Sea

Krishna 1300 Bay of Bengal

Sutlez 1400 Indus

Yamuna 1400 Ganga – Bay of Bengal

Chenab 1100 Indus

Kaveri 760 Bay of Bengal

Chambal 960 Yamuna River

Jhelum 800 Chenab in Pakistan

Mahanadi 860 Bay of Bengal

China

Yangtze Kiang 5500 East China Sea

Hwang Ho 4300 Bohai Sea

Salween 3000 Andaman Sea

Iraq Tigris 2000 Persian Gulf

Thailand Mekong 4400 South China Sea

Russia

Amur Argun 4400 Sea of Okhotsk

Ob Irtysh 5400 Gulf of Ob

Lena 4400 Laptev Sea

Africa

Nile 6700 Mediterranean Sea

Zaire 4700 Atlantic Ocean

Niger 4200 Gulf of Guinea

Zambezi 3500 Mozambique Channel

Orange 2100 Atlantic Ocean

North America

Missouri 6000 Gulf of Mexico

Rio Grande 3000 Gulf of Mexico

St. Lawrence 3000 Gulf of St. Lawrence

Allegheny Ohio 2100 Mississippi

Nelson 2600 Hudson Bay

Arkansas 2300 Mississippi

Churchil 1600 Hudson Bay

Colorado 2300 Gulf of California

Columbia 2200 Pacific Ocean

Yukon 3200 Bering Sea

Machenzi (Canada) 4200 Beaufort Sea

South America

Amazon 6400 Atlantic Ocean

Araguay 2500 Amazon River

Maderia 3200 Amazon River

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Australia Murray Darling 3800 Southern Ocean

France Rhine 1300 North Sea

Germany Danube 2800 Black Sea

Loire 1000 Atlantic Ocean

Europe Elbe Vitava 1200 North Sea

Rivers of India

Rivers that flow from Mountains to fields on different parts, pay a very important role to human life.

Brahmputra, Ganges, Meghna, Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri etc. combines into Bay of Bengal.

River Indus, Narmada, Tapti etc. combines into Arabian Sea.

To find the location of rivers on Indian map, it can be seen from the picture.

A detailed history of each river is given below–

Ganga River - The Ganga River is largest river

in India. It rises in the Western Himalayas in Uttrakhand, at Gangotri. It covers India and Bangladesh. It is considered Holy river of Hindus and worshipped as Goddess Ganga in Hinduism.

The route of Ganges river starts from Gangotri to Dev Prayag to Rishikesh-Haridwar to Allahabad

to Varanasi to Patna and then enters into Bangladesh.

Average depth of Ganga river is about 16 metre. The maximum depth is 30 metre. After flowing approx. 1000 Kms., it joins from South West by Yamuna River at Sangam at Allahabad.

Tributaries rivers of Ganga are Gomti, Tamsa, Koshi, Son, Gandaki, Yamuna, Ramganga, Mahananda and Ghaghra.

It covers approx. 2500 Kms. and covers Kanpur, Soron, Kannauj, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Ghazipur, Bhagalpur, Mirzapur, Ballia, Buxar, Saidpur and Chunar before merging into Bay of Bengal.

Few main streams of water are Alaknanda, Mandakini, Pindar and Bhagirathi which forms Ganges, a main stream.

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A tributary of the Ganges, the Haldi River, flows South and meets the Hooghly River at Haldia.

Damodar, another tributary of Ganges, meets the River near Howrah. Damodar River which is popularly known as Sorrow of Bengal, due to its frequent floods, is having large Hydro Electric Dam, the Damodar Valley Project.

At Pakur, the Ganga forms

Hooghly River and near the border of Bangladesh, Farakka Barrage controls the flow of Ganges.

After entering into Bangladesh, the Ganges river is known as Padma River, until it is joined by Jamuna River, the largest distributory of Brahmputra.

Ganges is further fed by Meghna River, the second largest tributary of Brahmputra and takes its name as Meghna River.

It is said that since Ganga river flows through highly populated areas, it is considered one of the dirtiest river of the world. Drinking and bathing in the water carries a high risk of infection.

There is an interesting belief according to which the River Ganges also joins Kaveri River underground once a year, during the Tula Masa, in order to wash herself free of the Pollution caused by the crowds of Sinners who bathe in her water all around the year.

Gomti River

River Gomti originates from Fulhaar Jheel, near Pilibhit,

Uttar Pradesh. It flows about 900 kms. through Uttar Pradesh and meets Ganga river near Ghazipur.

The main tributary rivers are Gaihae and Sai. Gaihae meets at Kheri District and river Sai meets it at Jaunpur before merging it into river Ganges.

Yamuna River

River Yamuna is the largest tributary river of Ganges in Northern India. It originates from Yamunotri Glacier at a height of 6400 metres on south western slopes of Bunder Poonchh.

It travels a total distance of 1376 Kms. It passes through Uttrakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh.

The tributaries rivers are Tons, Chambal, Sindh, Betwa, Ken. Chambal river meets at Etawah.

Delhi, Agra, Mathura, Etawah, Hamirpur, Baghpat, Allahabad are cities, lies on the bank of Yamuna River.

Yamuna merges into Ganges at Triveni Sangam in Allahabad. The water of Yamuna is distinguishable as Blue as

compared to silt yellow of the Ganga river.

Godavari River

Godavari is a river that runs from

Western to Southern India and is considered second largest river of India after river Ganga.

It flows a distance of 1465 Kms. It originates from Nasik (Maharashtra) and flows East across the Deccan Plateau into

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Bay of Bengal. It passes through Nasik, Kopargaon, Nanded, Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karim Nagar, Warangal etc.

The Tributaries waterflow of Godavari are Pravara, Indravati, Wainganga, Wardha, Pench, Kanhan, Penuganga. The tributaries rivers are Manjira, Bindusara and Sabari.

Brahmputra River

River Brahmputra originates from Tibet and there it is called Tsangpo.

It flows from Tibet to Himalaya and Arunachal Pradesh where it is known as Dihang. It flows South west through Asom Valley as Brahmputra and South through Bangladesh.

In Ganga Delta, it merges with Padma River before emptying into Bay of Bengal. It runs about 2900 Kms.

It is an important river for irrigation and transportation purposes. The river is prone to flood in spring when Himalaya snows melt.

The river Brahmputra are shared by China, India and Bangladesh.

Tapti River

The Tapti river is a river which

flows in central part of India. It runs a length of 725 Kms.

It is one of only three rivers in India that run from East to West. The other two rivers are Narmada and Mahi River.

It rises in the eastern Satpura range of Madhya Pradesh and

flows in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Vidarbha and South Gujarat before empting into Gulf of Cambay of Arabian Sea in Surat.

The cities lies at the bank of this river are Amravati, Akola, Jalgaon, Dhule, Nasik, Betul, Surat etc.

Kaveri River

Kaveri river originates in Western Ghats of Karnataka, flowing from South and East through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It runs about 765 Kms.

The tributaries of this river are Shimsha, Hemavati, Arkavathy, Laxman Tirath, Kabini, Bhavani, Noyyal and Amravati River.

The cities of Bengaluru, Mandya and Mysore depend almost entirely on the water of Kaveri river.

The major cities lies on the bank are Srirangpana, Tirumakudalu, Tiruchirapalli, Kumbakonam.

Krishna River

Krishna River is one of the longest river in Central Southern India. It flows about 1400 Kms.

It rises at Mahabaleshwar near Satara, Maharashtra and merges into Bay of Bengal. It flows through Karnataka, Satara, Sangli, Vijaywada etc.

During Monsoon, this river is a disastrous river of the world as it causes heavy soil erosion.

The tributaries rivers are Tungabhadra, Bhima, Koyna, Venna, Dindi, Paleru, Musi and Dudhganga.

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Narmada River

River Narmada, another name is

Rewa, is a river of Central India and 5th largest river in India. It flows westwards over a length of 1300 Kms.

It flows through Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat before merging into Gulf of Cambay (Khambat) in Arabian Sea.

The Narmada basin have five well physiographic regions i.e. Upper Hilly Area covering Shahdol, Mandla, Durg, Seoni; Upper Plains of Sagar, Damoh, Betul, Jabalpur, Sehore, Chhindwara, Hoshangabad; Middle Plains covering Dewas, Indore, Dhar; Lower Hilly area covering Jhabua, Dhulia, Vadodara; lower plains covering Bharuch and parts of Vadodara. The hilly area is well forested.

Sabarmati River

River Sabarmati is a river in Western India and one of the biggest rivers of North Gujarat. It originates from Aravalli Range of Udaipur and meets the Gulf of Cambay of Arabian Sea after travelling 371 Kms.

The main tributaries rivers are

Wakal River and Sai river.

Ahmedabad, Gandhi Nagar are major cities of Gujarat established at the bank of this river.

Chambal River

The Chambal river is a river in Central India. It originates at

Mhow near Indore.

The river flows North East through Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and then Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh.

The Chambal river is pollution free river and hosts two species of Crocodiles, mugger and gharial, eight types species of freshwater turtles, dolphins, skimmers, black bellied terns, sarus cranes and black necked storks, amongst others.

It covers a total length of 960 Kms. The tributaries rivers of Chambal are Shipra, Sivanna, Retam, Ansar, Kalisindh, Banas, Parbati, Kuwari, Kuno, Chamla, Gambhir etc. The Chambal river merges into Yamuna River near Etawah.

Continents

ur Earth is a Planet of Sun which has life support of Oxygen and Water.

The entire earth has been divided amongst Seven Continents.

Asia It has a total area of 44,000,000

sq. kms. i.e. approximately 30%

of the entire Earth. It has a population of 4200 millions.

Since the total population of the Earth is approximately 7000 millions, it shows that about 60% population live in Asian countries.

Africa The second largest Continent is

Africa which has an area of

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30,000,000 sq.kms. i.e. 20% of total earth. It has a total population about 1000 millions.

North America The third Continent is North

America which has an area of 21,500,000 sq.km. i.e. 16.5% of total Earth Area and has population of 525 millions.

South America South America is fourth

Continent and has an Area 17,600,000 sq.km., i.e. 12% of total earth area and population 400 millions.

Antarctica Fifth Continent is Antarctica has

an area of 13,600,000 sq.km., approx. 10% and have no population there.

Europe Sixth Continent is Europe, has

an area of 9,700,000 sq.km., 6.5% of total earth area and population 750 millions.

Australia The smallest continent is

Australia, have a total area of 7,700,000 sq.km., approx. 5% of total earth area and have total population 35 millions.

More than 97% of total earth’s

water is salt and hard. Less than 3% of water is fresh which is drinkable. On which 2.25% water is in the form of Iceburgs, 0.6% is stored underground and remaining 0.15% is in lakes, rivers or Reservoirs etc.

Since total area of water is approximately 70%, it has more than five lac kilometre long coastal area. Most of the people live in these coastal zones.

Today, approximately 700 million persons live on the Earth and roughly one million known animal species and half million known plant species found on the earth. They depend on Air, water and land of this beautiful planet i.e. earth.

Lakes

lake has mostly fresh water in considerable size which is fed by local surroundings. Generally the

lakes are not connected with the

oceans. Natural lakes are found in mountainous areas and rift zones.

Famous Lakes Major lakes of the Continents are-

U.S.A. -

Lake Superior, largest lake of North America, Area 82000 Sq.km. World’s largest freshwater lake by area and third largest fresh water lake by volume. The other two Fresh water lakes are Lake

Baikal in Russia and Lake Tanganyika in Africa.

Other lake is Lake Michigan

or Lake Huron, area approx. 17,600 sq.km.

Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake having area approx. 26000 Sq.km. It is fed by Niagara River and is an International boundary between United States and Canada.

The other large lakes are Ontario Lake - 19500 Sq.km. and Lake Great Bear - 31000

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Sq.km. Another lake Great Salt Lake is located in the northern U.S. state of Utah, is the largest salt water lake.

Canada -

Two Lakes are in Canada, one is Lake Great Slave - 29000 Sq.km. and Lake Winnipeg - 25000 Sq.km.

South America -

Lake Titicaca is also a lake located on the border of Peru and Bolivia. It is 3,811 m above sea level. By volume of water, it is the largest lake in South America.

The average depth of Titicaca lake is 107 m. Five major river namely Ramis, Coata, Ilave, Huancane and Suchez, feed into Lake Titicaca. The lake has 41 islands, some of which are densely populated.

Africa-

Lake Victoria is the largest lake with a surface area of 68,800 sq.km. and is world's second largest freshwater lake. It contains about 2,750 cubic kilometers of water. It has a maximum depth of 84 metres.

Another lake is Lake Tanganyika which has an

area of 33000 Sq.km. The lake is divided among Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania and Zambia.

Lake Malawi is also a large lake in Africa which has an area of 29000 Sq.km.

Asia-

Lake Baikal is World’s deepest and oldest, approx. 30 million years, and has an area of 32000 Sq.km. with an average depth of 744.4 metres.

It is located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia. The temperature vary from a minimum of −19 °C in winter to maximum of 14 °C in summer.

The other lakes are Aral Sea - 31000 Sq.km., Balkhash Lake is 18000 Sq.km.

New Zealand-

Lake Taupo is a lake situated in the North Island of New Zealand with a surface area of 616 square kilometres. It is longest lake of New Zealand.

It is estimated that approximately two lac lakes are present alone in Finland, out of which 60000 are large lakes.

Ocean, Ports and Harbours Oceans

ur Earth is covered with 70% of water in the form of Oceans, Sea and Reservoirs.

Ocean and Sea water is saline i.e.

it cannot be used for drinking

directly. Less than 3 percent of total water available on Earth is fresh water. The rest is salty and mostly in the oceans.

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Percentage composition of each component in Sea Salt is Chloride 55%, Sodium 31%, Sulphate 8%, Magnesium 3.7%, Calcium/Potassium 1.0% each and rest 0.3% are Bi-carbonates.

It has around 3.5 percent salt. It may be clearly understood that if 100 litre of the sea water is vaporized, only 3.5 kg. impure salt will be produced.

The areas where Salt is produced from Sea Water are Australia, Colombia, Greece, France, Ireland, Italy, South Korea, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Nicaragua, Philippines, Israel, Japan etc.

There are four Oceans on the earth. The total area is 361×106

sq.km. The water volume is approx.1.3 billion cu.km. The total mass of the water on earth is approximately 1.4×1018 tons which is about 0.025% of the Earth's total mass.

The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest ocean. It is spread over 16,60,00,000 sq.km. It separates Asia and Australia from America.

The Atlantic Ocean was formed

about 180 million years ago and is spread over in 8,66,00,000 sq.km. It separates America from Eurasia and Africa.

Indian Ocean separates Africa and Australia. It is spread over 7,35,00,000 sq.km. which covers approximately 20% of land area.

Southern Ocean has no

landmass and it encircles Antarctica and covers much of the Antarctic.

Arctic Ocean is spread over 95,00,000 Sq.km. Arctic Ocean is considered as a sea of the Atlantic.

The color of Oceanic Water is Blue as water has a very slight blue color that can only be seen in large volumes and it is not due to reflection of sky.

Most of the world's goods move by ship between the sea ports. Oceans are also the major supply source for the fishing industry. Fish, Crabs and Lobster are inhabitants of Oceans.

Ports and Harbours

Each Ocean is surrounded by many countries.

Indian Ocean is surrounded by Australia, Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, Oman, Mozambique, Myanmar, Pakistan, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Yemen etc.

Major Ports in India are Alang, Kozhikode, Chennai, Ennore, Dabhol, Goa, Kakinada, Kochi,

Kolkata, Krishnapatnam, Mangalore, Mumbai, Panaji, Paradeep, Pipavav, Puducherry, Port Blair, Ratnagiri, Tuticorin, Vizag, Okha, Dahej, Jakhau, Bhavnagar, Porbandar, Veraval, Navlakhi, Beypore, etc.

Pacific Ocean covers United States in Alaska, Honolulu-Hawaii, California- San Diego, San Francisco, Portland– Oregan, Washington.

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The other countries which have the ports of Pacific Ocean are Chile, New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand, Australia, Columbia, South Korea, North Korea, Peru, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Taiwan, Canada, Malaysia, Panama, Singapore, Japan, Russia etc.

Atlantic Ocean covers a large number of countries like Africa, Gabon, Mauritania, Morocco,

Nigeria, Jamaica, Hondurus, Panama, Guatemala, Cuba, Barbados, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Scotland, England.

North American countries like Canada, Mexico, New York, Texas, Georgia, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Connecticut, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, North Carolina.

South American States like

Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, French Guyana, Surinam, Uruguay, Venezuela etc.

Southern Ocean -Most Antarctic ports are operated by government research stations and, except in an emergency, remain closed to commercial or private vessels.

Arctic Ocean surrounds in North America from Alaska, Canada, Inuvik, Nunavut, Tuktoyaktuk other than Norway and Russia.

The greatest depths of Ocean is Mariana Trench in Pacific Ocean which is about 2200 Kms. in length and about 10300 metre deep. The greatest depth of Atlantic Ocean is 8.5 Km. Java Trench is deepest point of Indian Ocean which is 7.2 Kms. Deep.

Seas

Other than Oceans, our earth is matted with more than 100 Sea those merge into Oceans.

Arabian Sea having area 3,862,000 Sq.km. and Red Sea having area of 450,000 sq.km.

merges into Indian Ocean.

South China Sea 2,975,000 Sq.km., Bering Sea 2,000,000 sq.km., East Sea/Japan Sea 1,000,000 sq.km., East China Sea 665,000 sq.km., Coral Sea 4,800,000 sq.km. and Okhotsk Sea 1,600,000 sq.km.. merges into Pacific Ocean.

The sea merges into Atlantic

Ocean are Caribbean Sea 2,500,000 sq.km., Mediterranean Sea 2,500,000 sq.km., Gulf of Mexico 1,500,000 sq.km., Norwegian Sea 1,400,000 sq.km.,

Andaman Sea 565,000 sq.km. and Black Sea 508,000 sq.km.

Hudson Bay having total area of 730,000 sq.km. merges into Arctic Ocean.

The Caspian Sea having area of 370,000 Sq.km. is a Lake but is considered to be a Sea.

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Dams

dam is a barrier that stores water. It serves the primary purpose of retaining water and for

generating Hydroelectricity. Few dams are made for controlling the flood. The other work includes usage for irrigation.

Major Dams of India

Name of Dam

River State Height/ Power G

Specification Year /

Remarks Grand

Annikut Kaveri River Tamilnadu 5 metre Oldest in World 19th century

Tehri Dam Bhagirathi

River Uttrakhand

261 m ;

1000 MW 8th Highest

2006 - Highest

in India

Idukki Dam Periyar River Kerala 170 m 1st Arch Dam in

Asia 1973

Bhakra

Nangal Sutlez River

Punjab &

Himachal Pr.

225 m ;

1325 MW

Largest Dam in

India 1963

Hirakud Dam Mahanadi Orissa 61 m ; 310

MW 1957

Nagarjun Sagar Dam

Krishna River Andhra Pradesh

125 m ; 816 MW

1969

Sardar Sarovar Dam

Narmada River Gujarat 163 m ;

1450 MW

Beneficiary to Gujarat, M.P., MS and Raj.

2008

Indira Sagar Dam

Narmada River Madhya Pradesh

92 m ; 1000 MW

2005

Krishna

Rajasagar Kaveri River Karnataka

40 m ; 200 MW

Brindaban Garden attached

1932

Bisalpur Dam Banas River Rajasthan 40 m ; 172

MW 1999

Koyna Dam Koyana River Maharashtra 100 m ;

1920 MW

Bounded by Sahyadri

Mountain Range 1963

Maithon Dam Barakar River Jharkhand 50 m ; 60

MW 1957

Rihand Dam Rihand River Uttar Pradesh 90 m ; 300

MW 1962

Tungbhadra Dam

Krishna River Karnataka 50 m ; 72

MW Musical

Mountain 1953

Bhawani Sagar Dam

Bhawani River Tamil Nadu 32 m ;

1920 MW 1955

Mata Teela Dam

Betwa River Madhya Pradesh

34 m. 1958

Lalitpur district in Uttar Pradesh

is well known for its 7 dams. Govind Sagar, Jemini Dam, Mata

Teela Dam, Rajghat Dam, Rohini Dam, Saajnam Dam and Sehjaad dam, all existed in this district.

Deserts

ur Earth is covered with Deserts with almost one-third portion of total land area.

Deserts are often composed of

sand and rocky surfaces.

Antarctica is the world's largest

cold desert, composed of 98% thick ice sheets.

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The largest hot desert is Sahara Desert in northern Africa, covering approximately 9 million sq.km. and covers twelve countries.

The Deserts contain valuable minerals. Valuable minerals are metallic ores such as Copper is available in United States, Chile, Peru, and Iran.

Australian Deserts are rich in Iron, Zinc and Lead.

Gold, Silver and Uranium are deposited in United States and Australia.

A list of renowned and well known Deserts are given below with the total area and the countries covered in those deserts.

Famous and Renowned Deserts

Desert Name Country Area sq.km. Covered Countries

Sahara Africa 9100000 Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Mali,

Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia, W. Sahara

Antarctic Antarctica 13800000 Antarctica

Arctic Arctic 13700000 Alaska, Finland, Denmark, Norway,

Russia, Sweden

Arabian Middle East 2330000 Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar,

UAE, Oman, Yemen

Gobi Asia 1300000 China, Mongolia

Kalahari Africa 900000 Angola, Botswana, Namibia, S.Africa

Taklamakan China 270000 China

Thar India,

Pakistan 200000 India, Pakistan

Gibson Australia 156000 Australia

Water Falls

n our beautiful world, nature has created thousands of Water Falls which are in the form of Plunged,

Horsetail, Cataract, Tiered, Block type, Segmented, Fan and punch bowl type.

First, we will know the detailed description of these types of Water Falls.

Plunged Type Water Fall - Falling water descends vertically and loose the contact with surface.

Horsetail Type Fall - Water maintains with bedrock.

Cataract Type Fall - These falls are very powerful falls and falls freely.

Tiered Water Fall - Water drops in a series of steps.

Block type water fall - The water descends from a river.

Segmented type water fall - Flow of water separated distinctly.

Fan Type water fall - Water spreads horizontally.

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Punch Bowl type water fall - Water descends in a form and then spreads.

A detailed information about the

water falls is given below -

Major Waterfalls of the World

Name of Fall Country Height (m) Type of Fall Specification

Angel Fall Venezuela 1000 Plunged Highest in World

James Bruce Canada 840 Tiered

Jog (Gersoppa) India 250 Plunged

Niagara Fall Canada, USA 50 Cataract &

Horse Shoe type

St. Clairs Sri Lanka 81 Cascade

Takakkaw Canada 385 Horsetail

Tugela S. Africa 950 Plunged 2nd Tallest in

World

Victoria Zimbabwe 1600 Cataract Largest Fall

Virginia Canada 100 Segmented

Yosemite Hawaii, USA 740 Tiered 4th Largest

Dudhsagar India 600 Tiered

Hannoki Japan 500 Plunged

Bridal Veil N. America 200 Plunged

American Fall New York 40 Cataract Niagara Fall from

USA side

Alfred Creek S. America 700 Tiered

Bambarakanda Sri Lanka 275 Horsetail

Sutherland New Zealand 580 Plunged

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Jog Falls, Bengaluru, India, height 250 meter, the only waterfall in India which is Cataract type. Powerful fall having 150 cubic meter per second water discharge capacity.

It is on Sharavathi River. The water comes down in four distinct falls.

The Raja Fall pours half way down it is encountered by the Roarer, another fall. A third fall, Rocket shoots downwards in a series of jets, while the fourth, called the Rani, finally merges in it.

Islands of the World

n island is a piece of land that is surrounded by Ocean.

Name of Island Country Area sq.km. Location

Baffin Island Canada 476000 Atlantic Ocean

Ellesmere Canada 196000 Arctic Ocean

Greenland Australia 2176000 Atlantic Ocean

Victoria Canada 217000 Arctic Ocean

Australia Australia 7782000 Indian Ocean

Borneo Malaysia 725000 Pacific Ocean

Celebes Indonesia 190000 Indian Ocean

Madagascar Africa 230000 Indian Ocean

Sumatra Indonesia 427000 Indian Ocean

Honshu Japan 227000 Pacific Ocean

New Guinea Indonesia 793000 Pacific Ocean

Great Britain U.K. 218000 Atlantic Ocean

Java Indonesia 127000 Indian Ocean

Jamaica South America 11000 Atlantic Ocean

Hawaii U.S.A. 10500 Pacific Pcean

A

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Questions based on the above

1O. Which is the busiest ocean normally? (a) Pacific (b) Atlantic (c) Indian (d) Arctic Ocean 2G. How did ‘Atlantic’ get its name? (a) From Atlanta in U.S.A. (b) From lost Continent Atlantis (c) From word ‘Atlas’ (d) From Atlas Mountain

3L. Which State of India has the largest Forest Area? (a) Uttranchal (b) Andhra Pr. (c) Kerala (d) Assam 4L. Which of the following has the highest Wind Velocity? (a) Typhoon (b) Hurricane (c) Cyclone (d) Tornado 5N. Which river is also called ‘Yellow River’? (a) Hwang Ho (b) Brahmputra (c) Damodar (d) Mississippi 6A. Name the State where only Five Rivers passes other than Punjab? (a) Goa (b) Andhra Pr. (c) Karnataka (d) Tamil Nadu 7G. How many countries are there all over the world? (a) 82 (b) 124 (c) 171 (d) 196 8L. Out of total 30% land on earth,

what percentage of land is covered with Mountains? (a) 40% (b) 30% (c) 25% (d) 50% 9N. Which is the second largest river in the world? (a) Amazon (South America) (b) Nile (Egypt) (c) Murray Darling (Australia) (d) Ganga (India) 10L. Which water body surrounds the North Pole?

(a) Atlantic (b) Pacific (c) Indian (d) Arctic 11A. Which continent is mostly covered with mountains on its land? (a) N. America (b) S. America (c) Europe (d) Asia 12O. Which River flows near Ajmer, India? (a) Ganga (b) Luni

(c) Chambal (d) Shipra 13O. Which mountain range is oldest one? (a) Aravalli (b) Satpura (c) Himalaya (d) Sahyadri 14D. Which of the following rivers crosses the Equator twice? (a) Amazon (b) Congo (c) Nile (d) Murray Darl. 15N. Which name is not a synonym of river Ganga during its entire journey? (a) Padma (b) Meghna (c) Tsangpo (d) Hooghly 16B. Where would you find the Roof of the World? (a) Tsang-po Valley (b) Tibetan Himalaya (c) Kunlun Mountains (d) Pamir Plateau in Tibet 17B. What percentage of the Earth’s Area is covered by Antartica?

(a) 15% (b) 25% (c) 10% (d) 2% 18N. Andhra Pr. is surrounded by Bay of Bengal, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Chhatisgarh and ….? (a) Madhya Pr. (b) Orissa (c) Jharkhand (d) Kerala 19O. By how many States is Madhya Pradesh surrounded? (a) Five (b) Six (c) Seven (d) Eight

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20G. India’s Forest covered area is approximately? (a) 10% (b) 20% (c) 30% (d) 40% 21L. Out of the total land area on Earth, what percentage of area is covered by Asia Continent? (a) 16% (b) 20% (c) 33% (d) 48% 22N. Which is the main Hill Station in ‘Palani Hills’?

(a) Kotagiri (b) Coonoor (c) Munnar (d) Kodaikanal 23B. Where are Simla’s major Ski-slopes? (a) Kufri (b) Kullu (c) Manali (d) Kangra 24B. What mountain range overlooks ‘Jaipur’? (a) Vindhyas (b) Aravalli (c) Satpura (d) Mahadeo 25G. What is the time difference for every degree of Longitude? (a) 8 minutes (b) 4 minutes (c) 10 minutes (d) 12 minutes 26N. What is the total surface area of the Earth? (a) 510 millions sq.km. (b) 610 millions sq.km. (c) 710 millions sq.km. (d) 81 millions sq.km. 27B. Antarctica is surrounds by which Ocean? (a) Indian (b) Southern (c) Pacific (d) Atlantic 28B. Which States of India has the largest network of National Highways? (a) Andhra Pr. (b) Madhya Pr. (c) Uttar Pr. (d) Rajasthan 29G. Which River serves the largest cultivable area? (a) Godavari (b) Ganga (c) Krishna (d) Saryu 30N. Which one is the largest Desert?

(a) Gobi (b) Sahara (c) Thar (d) Kalahari 31N. Which is the first East States of India? (a) Assam (b) Nagaland (c) West Bengal (d) Arunachal Pr.

32O. Which river forms part of the boundary between Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh? (a) Banas (b) Mahi (c) Chambal (d) Luni

33N. Which Union Territory of India is the largest in area? (a) Delhi (b) Puduchery (c) Andaman & Nicobar (d) Chandigarh 34B. The largest Continent in the World is? (a) North America (b) South America (c) Europe (d) Asia 35O. Which of the following rivers is not one of the Sapt Sindhu Rivers? (a) Sindhu (b) Ganga (c) Saraswati (d) Jhelum 36B. Which Indian State do Bhutan and Nepal almost completely sandwich? (a) West Bengal (b) Sikkim (c) Meghalaya (d) Assam 37B. Which State of India is the largest supplier of Firewood? (a) Uttar Pradesh (b) Madhya Pradesh (c) Andhra Pradesh (d) Bihar 38B. In which Metro Cities, the Polluted Air hangs above like a Cloud? (a) Mumbai (b) Kolkata (c) Chennai (d) Delhi 39N. Where is the only Volcano in India? (a) Nagaland (b) Lakshdeep (c) Daman & Diu (d) Andaman N.

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40L. Which is the hottest place on the Earth? (a) Libya (b) Australia (c) India (d) Male 41B. Which Mountain is situated in Pakistan? (a) Dhaulagiri (b) Kanchenjunga (c) Annapurna (d) Nanga Parwat

42N. Except this mountain, all other mountains are situated on Nepal-China Border? (a) K2 (b) Makalu (c) Chooyu (d) Lhotse 43A. As per Hindu mythology, Ganga river once enters into another river before merging into Bay of Bengal during Tulaa Month, to wash herself free from pollution caused by bathing of people. Name the river? (a) Kaveri (b) Krishna (c) Mahanadi (d) Godavari 44G. By how many other States, Chhatisgarh is bordered with? (a) 3 (b) 4 (c) 5 (d) 6

45G. Name the river which originates from Bunder Poonchh? (a) Ganga (b) Yamuna (c) Brahmputra (d) Godavari 46N. How do you identify Yamuna river at Sangam, Allahabad? (a) Black water (b) White clear (c) Yellow silted (d) Blue water 47B. Which Desert is not in Asian country?

(a) Gobi (b) Thar (c) Kalahari (d) Taklamakan 48O. Which is third largest continent areawise on the earth? (a) Asia (b) S. America (c) N. America (d) Africa 49N. Lake Baikal is a lake which have its presence in? (a) N. America (b) Africa (c) S. America (d) Russia 50B. Which country is known as ‘Land of Thousand Lakes’ ? (a) Canada (b) Norway (c) Finland (d) Nepal

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Scoring System: The questions are divided into ten slabs of rating, as usual which has a

numeral value. These letters are A, B, D, E, G, H, L, N, O and S.

Answers:

1 – b 2 – b 3 – d 4 – d 5 – a 6 – a 7 – d 8 – c

9 – a 10 – d 11 – d 12 – b 13 – a 14 – a 15 – c 16 – d

17 – c 18 – b 19 – a 20 – b 21 – c 22 – d 23 – a 24 – b

25 – b 26 – a 27 – b 28 – c 29 – b 30 – b 31 – d 32 – c

33 – c 34 – d 35 – b 36 – b 37 – b 38 – d 39 – d 40 – a

41 - d 42 – a 43 – a 44 - d 45 - b 46 - d 47 - c 48 - c

49 - d 50 - c

26

Bibliography:

When I compiled this chapter, I took help of some websites related to it. The following

quotes and references were visited.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mountain_ranges

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalayas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rivers_by_length

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_dams_in_the_world

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lakes_by_area

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Ports_and_harbors_of_the_Pacific_Ocean

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ports_and_harbours_of_the_Atlantic_Ocean

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ports_and_harbours_of_the_Indian_Ocean

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deserts_by_area

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_waterfalls

CD of Manorama Guide upto the years 2011.

Thank You! Hope you enjoyed to read the book

“The Key to Success”

Part I : The Universe Part II : Oerview of Automobile

Industry”.

Now in this part of book which is based on the Beauties of Earth i.e. Mountain, River, Continent, Lake,

Ocean and Sea, Dam, Desert, Water Fall etc.

I tried to give you as much

information as possible regarding the above subject. I even know

that there is too much to write on this topic but I tried my best to provide only the most relevant

information.

Again I will request you all to share it with your friends too. You may buy the complete book with

all the issues together at a discounted rate as well from

various online services released separately.