A Geography Mystery Sort... Trivia Quiz

Answer: Glacier left-overs

Erratics are pieces of rock up to the size of a house that have been picked up by a glacier, carried and then deposited some distance away - sometimes hundreds of miles away. They are usually a different type of rock from that on which they've been deposited, and it's not unusual for erratic rocks to be older then the bedrock on which they've come to rest.

The Norber erratics, near Austwick in the Yorkshire Dales are classic examples.

Answer: Glacier left-overs

Eskers are long, winding ridges of sand and gravel left by glaciers. It is thought that they are the traces of streams that flowed underneath glaciers, They can be very long: the Eiscir Riada in Ireland runs for 120 miles from Dublin to Galway, while other eskers in Sweden are nearly 200 miles long.

The first time I saw one, in County Mayo in Ireland, I thought it was a railway embankment!

Answer: Glacier left-overs

A kettle is a small depression in the outwash plain left by a retreating glacier. Blocks of ice are left behind, covered with sediment, and when these melt a depression is left. These often fill with water, forming kettle hole lakes. The Prairie Pothole Region of thousands of kettle hole lakes stretches from Alberta in Canada to Iowa in the U.S.

Answer: Glacier left-overs

Drumlins are small hills of earth left behind by glaciers, resembling half-buried eggs. They're typically between 250 and 1,000 metres long and between 120 and 300 metres wide. They often occur in large groups called swarms; where I used to live in County Down in Northern Ireland there were large numbers of drumlins side-by-side, resulting in what's called "basket of eggs" scenery. Clusters of thousands of drumlins are found in Northern Canada.

Answer: Snow

Sastrugi are pointed ridges of hard snow formed by wind erosion on snow fields, a bit like sand dunes. They make travelling in polar regions very difficult.

Answer: Snow

Graupel, sometimes known as snow pellets or soft hail, is precipitation formed when super-cooled water droplets coagulate around falling snowflakes, forming small balls of soft rime. It is distinct from hail and ice pellets. Because of its low viscosity, its presence on ski slopes increases the probability of avalanches.

Answer: Snow

Finger drifts are narrow snow drifts, about 30 cm to 1 metre in width, that are often seen on the surfaces of roads. A succession of finger drifts can resemble the fingers of a hand.

Answer: Snow

Wind slab snow is a shelf of stiff, hard snow formed by wind-blown snow collecting on the leeward side of a ridge. If they form on top of freshly-fallen powder snow they can create an avalanche hazard on steeper slopes.

Answer: Rivers of Eden

The Pishon irrigates Eden and encircles the land of Havilah. While it has never been clearly located, it has been identified with the Nile, the Ganges, the Oxus and the Uizhun. The latter rises in northeast Mesopotamia and runs through areas where there are ancient gold and lapis lazuli mines, corresponding to those associated with descriptions of Havilah.

Answer: Rivers of Eden

Gihon is said to encircle the land of Cush, which is associated with Ethiopia. This has suggested a link between the Gihon and the Blue Nile, although this seems physically difficult.

Answer: Rivers of Eden

The Tigris is the eastern of the two great rivers that delineate Mesopotamia. It rises in the Taurus Mountains in Armenia and flows 1090 miles through Syria to the Persian Gulf.

Answer: Rivers of Eden

The Euphrates is the western of the two great rivers that delineate Mesopotamia. It rises in Turkey and flows 1730 miles through Syria and Iraq to the Persian Gulf.

Answer: Winds

The Meltemi, also known as the Etesian winds, is a strong, dry north wind that blows down the Aegean Sea during the summer months, especially in July and August. It can be very, very strong - I remember staying on Tinos in the Cyclades one July, in a beautiful little apartment on a sandy Blue Flag beach.

The only problem was the Meltemi - the blowing sand would have flayed you, and we just had to stay indoors all day because it was so strong.

Answer: Winds

The Harmattan is a dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind that blows in West Africa from late November to mid-March. It can lead to some refreshingly cold nights. However the dust carried by the wind frequently leads to flights being cancelled, and can also lead to people suffering physical ailments because of the low humidity.

Answer: Winds

The Bora is a cold northerly wind affecting the Adriatic Sea. It is a katabatic wind, carrying high-density air from the high elevations of the Croatian plateau down to the Adriatic under the force of gravity. Sometimes the wind is so cold the sea freezes.

Answer: Winds

The Berg is a katabatic wind in South Africa. It blows high-pressure air from the South African Plateau down the Great Escarpment to the coastal areas.