Mixed Up Geography Trivia Quiz

Answer: desert

RESTED = DESERT

While most people think of sand and heat when they think of deserts, the defining factor of what makes a desert is how little precipitation the area receives. So the largest desert on Earth is in fact Antarctica! The temperature is too cold and the air too dry for there to be much rain.

Answer: forest

SOFTER = FOREST

One of the largest forests on the planet is the Amazon Rainforest. It supplies 20% of the Earth's oxygen. And the Amazon River Basin contains 20% of the Earth's fresh water.

Answer: lake

LEAK= LAKE

If you're measuring by volume, Lake Baikal has about 20% of the Earth's non-frozen fresh water, but it's only the seventh largest if you measure by surface area. That's because Lake Baikal is the deepest lake, reaching 5,387 feet, or 1,642 meters.

Answer: mesa

SAME = MESA

Grand Mesa in Colorado is the largest flat-topped mountain in the world. Over 300 lakes and reservoirs are at the top. The highest point is Crater Peak, which has an elevation of 11,333 feet, or 3,454 meters.

Answer: ocean

CANOE = OCEAN

While rowing across an ocean is possible, few people have done so. The first were Norwegians Frank Samuelsen and George Harbo, who crossed the Atlantic in 1896. They traveled from Manhattan to the Islands of Scilly in 55 days and 13 hours, covering 3,250 nautical miles (3,740 miles, 6,020 kilometers). However, they weren't done and kept rowing until they reached the French city of Le Havre.

Answer: range

ANGER = RANGE

The longest mountain range on Earth is actually under water! There is an almost continuous system of mid-ocean ridges going for about 25,000 miles or 40,000 kilometers. This discovery led to the acceptance of plate tectonics, and to Alfred Wegener's theory of continental drift and the former super-continent of Pangaea.

Answer: shore

HORSE = SHORE

Herds of "wild" horses live on Assateague Island, a 37-mile island that is split between Maryland and Virgina. There's actually a fence on the state line that keeps the herds separate. The horses are properly called "feral", and not technically "wild", because they are the descendants of formerly domesticated animals that have reverted to an untamed state.

Answer: dam

MAD = DAM

One of the most famous dams in the United States is the Hoover Dam, which sits on the Colorado River, on the border between Nevada and Arizona. This dam creates Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the US. The dam tapers as it rises, starting at 660 feet (200 meters) wide at the bottom and going to only 45 feet (14 meters) at the top.

Answer: woodland

DOWNLOAD = WOODLAND

The taiga (or boreal forest or snow forest) in the northern part of the planet between the tundra and temperate forest regions is the world's largest biome that is not an ocean. 29% of the Earth's forest cover are part of this woodland, which crosses through Russia, Mongolia, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, United States, Canada, and Scotland.

Answer: everglade

LEVERAGED = EVERGLADE

At over 1,500,000 acres (~2,000 square miles, ~600,000 hectares, ~6,000 square kilometers), Everglades National Park is the largest wilderness area east of the Mississippi. The Florida panther, the American crocodile, and the West Indian manatee are among the 36 threatened or protected species that live in the park.