CSIR-UGC-NET Placement Paper

                                             CSIR Model Question Paper

Earth Sciences Model Question Paper:

1. Albedo of a surface is defined by the ratio of outgoing to incoming solar radiation. Keeping this in view, which of the following surface will have the highest albedo? 
1. Water 
2. Sand 
3. Snow 
4. Forest 

2. Geostrophic wind is a balance between the pressure gradient force and the Coriolis force. In non-geostrophic wind, flow will become circulatory because of 
1. pressure difference term 
2. momentum term 
3. temperature difference term 
4. shear term 

3. In valley-mountain system, cold air is heavier than warm air, and thus flows down hill as a katabatic wind. In the case of an anabatic wind, 
1. wind rises vertically in the valley 
2. wind forms updraft and downdraft motion 
3. wind will flow along the slope 
4. wind will have cross mountain flow 

4. Cyclones or hurricanes do not develop within about 50 N and S of the equator because the
1. pressure gradient is weak 
2. trade winds converge 
3. ocean surface temperature is high 
4. Coriolis force is very weak 

5. When statically stable air flown over a hill or ridge, it is set into oscillation. These waves are known as
1. Rossby waves 
2. Kelvin waves 
3. gravity waves 
4. mountain waves 

6. A ceaseless movement of wind and ocean currents results in global circulation because of
1. unequal distribution of oceanic and continental mass 
2. radiative forcing due to Sun-Earth interaction 
3. tilt of Earth's axis 
4. revolution / rotation of Earth 

7. The organism that can take N₂ directly from sea water is 
1. foraminifera 
2. cocolithophore 
3. cyanobacteria 
4. dinoflagellates 

8. Which is the major limiting element in marine primary production? 
1. sodium 
2. nitrogen 
3. carbon 
4. argon 

9. If the sea surface temperature is increased in Antarctic Ocean due to global warming, the dissolved oxygen in its deep water will 
1. increase 
2. initially increase and then decrease 
3. decrease 
4. not change 

10. Hydrogenous sediment in the oceans is 
1. derived from skeletal debris 
2. precipitated by chemical or biochemical reactions 
3. produced by weathering of rocks on land 
4. ejected by volcanoes 

11. Sea surface temperature (SST) is an important and variable parameter of oceans.In the Indian Ocean, SST variability has the largest amplitude on the timescale of 
1. century 
2. decadal 
3. interannual 
4. seasonal 

12. The speed of current in the wind-driven Ekman layer 
1. increases with depth 
2. decreases with depth 
3. remains constant 
4. first decreases and then increases 

13. Which one of the following is not true in case of the Arabian Sea? 
1. seasonal high biological productivity 
2. mid-depth oxygen minimum zone 
3. net annual evaporation 
4. net annual precipitation 

14. Silicon limitation in the upper ocean will hamper the growth of 
1. cocolithophos 
2. foraminifera 
3. diatam 
4. corals 

15. Which one of the following rock suites represents the oceanic lithosphere? 
1. turbidite 
2. ophiolite 
3. seismite 
4. granulite 

16. Which one of the following is defined by shear strain? 
1. change in length 
2. change in angle 
3. change in volume 
4. change in area 

17. Which one of the following is a measure of compressibility of a material? 
1. elasticity (E) Young's modulus 
2. rigidity (G) shear modulus 
3. Poisson's ratio (γ) 
4. viscosity (η) 

18. A light beam is incident on a mirror at an angle q with the normal to the mirror. If the mirror is rotated in the direction of incident beam by an angle r, what will be the rotation angle of the reflected beam with respect to its previous position? 
1. r 
2. r + q 
3. r - q 
4. 2r

19. Coesite, a high pressure polymorph of quartz is found in rocks exposed on Earth's surface because, coesite 
1. is stable at low temperature 
2. is a high density mineral 
3. is not kinetically favoured for decomposition 
4. has the lowest free energy at the Earth's surface 

20. In Al₂SiO₅, the Al₂O₃ content (in wt %) is close to
1. 80
2. 60
3. 40
4. 20

21. A region with nearly flat topography and large negative gravity anomaly suggests 
1. a root in the mantle 
2. thin crust with low density material underplating 
3. thick crust with high density material underplating 
4. thin crust

22. Generation of nuclear energy requires availability of minerals containing U and Th. Which one of the following rocks is known to have high concentrations of nuclear minerals? 
1. basalt 
2. diorite 
3. granodiorite 
4. pegmatite 

23. Which one of the following minerals will have no useful nutrient elements for plant life?
1. plagioclase feldspar 
2. quartz 
3. olivine 
4. biotite 

24. The atmosphere of Venus has about 97% CO2. If so, the planet should have 
1. an abundance of photosynthesizing bacteria 
2. an abundance of water 
3. no life at all as the surface should be very hot 
4. an abundance of fossil fuel deposits 

25. Which one of the following drainage patterns is typically associated with fold mountain belts?
1. parallel 
2. rectangular 
3. trellis 
4. dendritic 

26. If the wave front is exactly parallel to the coast, which one of the following will still occur along the coast? 
1. beach drift 
2. longshore drift 
3. longshore current 
4. wave refraction 

27. A river will braid irrespective of the fact that it is gravel-bed, sand-bed or silt-bed if
1. sediment supply = sediment transport 
2. sediment supply < sediment transport 
3. sediment supply > sediment transport 
4. sediment supply >> sediment transport 

28. If R is the ratio of the Earth‟s gravity field to its magnetic field at the equator, the ratio of these fields at the poles would be approximately 
1. R/4 
2. R/2 
3. R 
4. 2R

29. On the geoidal surface, the Earth‟s gravity field
1. is everywhere zero 
2. is a constant and is normal to the surface 
3. varies along the surface, but is normal to it 
4. varies in magnitude and direction along the surface 

30. An isostatically compensated elevated landmass is characterized by 
1. strong negative Bouguer and free-air anomalies 
2. strong negative Bouguer and little or no free-air anomalies 
3. strong positive Bouguer and little or no free-air anomalies 
4. strong positive Bouguer and free-air anomalies 

31. The remnant magnetism in a rock solidified in the Earth‟s magnetic field at alatitude of 30°, dips 
1. at 30° 
2. between 30°and 45° 
3. between 45° and 60° 
4. at an angle greater than 60° 

32. The shadow zone is the region bounded by the disappearance of P and S waves,and the onset of P waves
1. reflected at the Earth‟s surface 
2. refracted through the fluid core 
3. reflected at the mantle-core boundary 
4. refracted through the fluid and solid cores 

33. Statement I: Ferromagnetic minerals exhibit properties of paramagnetic minerals beyond Curie temperatures.
Statement II: Mantle rocks are less magnetic than those of the upper crust. 
1. statements I and II are true; I explains II 
2. statements I and II are true, but I does not explain II 
3. statement I is true, but II is false 
4. statement I is false, but II is true 

34. An example of intraplate volcanic activity is 
1. the Himalaya 
2. island arcs 
3. the Alps 
4. the Hawaiian islands