Get Physical - with some Geography! Quiz

Answer: limestone

Sedimentary rocks are formed, as their name suggests, from sediment. Over a very long period of time, rocks are broken up by natural forces and the particles are carried by rivers, streams or currents and deposited in layers. Gradually (again, over a long time) they are compacted to form 'rock strata'.

Limestone is a different type of sedimentary rock. It is formed from the compacted layers of dead marine organisms (particularly their durable shells) which accumulate on sea floors.

Granite is an igneous rock - solidified from molten materials. Slate and quartz are metamorphic rocks. Their original form has been changed either by heat or intense pressure.

Answer: True

As glaciers move slowly downhill, they carry embedded rock materials with them which, together with the ice, form tools to carve out wide, U-shaped valleys.
River valleys which have never been glaciated are referred to as V-shaped.

Answer: in sandy deserts

Barkhans are crescent-shaped dunes found in some sandy deserts. These dunes move with the wind.

Answer: The Old Man of Hoy

Many rock climbers feel challenged to climb The Old Man of Hoy, which is located just off the Orkney Isles, in Scotland. It is 137m high. (Tall, isn't it?) Like all other stacks, it is a pillar of hard rock which has resisted wave erosion and has, therefore, become detached from the land mass when the softer rocks around it eroded.

Answer: Long-shore currents must provide a constant supply of fresh (non-saline) water from river mouths.

Coral is a limestone deposit formed from the hard body parts of tiny, marine organisms. Reef-building polyps will not flourish near the mouths of rivers where the water carries various unwanted particles and is often without the required salinity.

Answer: isohyet

All these are lines drawn on maps to separate differing meteorological phenomena. Isobars relate to pressure; isohels to amounts of sunshine and isotherms to temperature.

Answer: convectional rainfall

During the earlier part of the day the air above the forests is intensely heated by the sun. This humid air rises, becomes less dense and expands until cooling and, ultimately, precipitation takes place. This is convectional rainfall

Answer: scree

Another word for scree is 'talus'. You are strongly advised never to climb or scramble about on scree. These stone surfaces are very loose, unstable and very-easily disturbed. You could have a nasty accident or cause an avalanche of stones if the talus is a high and large one - as some of them are.

Answer: Mistral

This wind usually blows during the winter and the spring, but it isn't unknown in other seasons. It blows from the north and the north-west and picks up speed as it passes southwards through the valleys of the Rhone and the Durance, cooling and drying everything in its path.

It can cause storm problems for shipping in the Mediterranean and its effects can also be felt in North African countries.

Answer: The Dead Sea

The surface of the Dead Sea ('Yam Hamelakh' - 'The Salt Sea') is 1,300 feet below sea level and has some of the most saline water on Earth. It is almost six times as salty as ocean water. Rivers and streams, bringing their dissolved minerals with them, flow into this sea but no rivers flow out. Because of this, combined with a high degree of evaporation, minerals are left dissolved in the water. Thus, with the passage of time, the Dead Sea becomes more and more salty.