CSIR-UGC NET — Earth, Atmospheric, Ocean and Planetary Sciences · India · National Testing Agency for CSIR
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersThe earth as a system: its origin, rocks and minerals, weathering, landforms, plate processes, geochemical cycles and natural hazards. UGC NET gives it a whole unit; it underlies soil, water and hazard subjects.
In the exams: UGC NET Environmental Sciences Unit 4 (environmental geosciences); CSIR NET Earth Sciences; GATE ES Section 4 (aquifer formations)
CSIR-UGC NET Earth, Atmospheric, Ocean and Planetary Sciences
In-depth geology and geophysics: mineralogy, petrology, structural geology, seismology, geochemistry, geomorphology, oceanography and paleoclimate, with numerical problems.
How our questions for CSIR-UGC NET spread across the units of Earth Systems & Environmental Geoscience. Difficulty: 0 easy, 7 medium, 8 hard.
| Origin and evolution of the earth and its spheres | 2 | |
| Minerals and rocks: igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic | 2 | |
| Geomorphic processes and landforms | 2 | |
| Paleoclimate records: ice cores, sediments, tree rings | 2 | |
| Earth's interior, plate tectonics and earthquakes | 1 | |
| Weathering and soil formation from parent material | 1 | |
| Geochemical cycles and the residence time concept | 1 | |
| Mineral resources and the environmental impact of extraction | 1 | |
| Groundwater geology and aquifer formations | 1 | |
| Coastal processes, sea-level change and coastal hazards | 1 | |
| Natural hazards: volcanoes, landslides, tsunamis | 1 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
The oldest known terrestrial minerals, about 4.4 billion years old, are zircons from:
C. Jack Hills, Western Australia
They suggest early crust and perhaps water. The Deccan Traps, Grand Canyon rocks and Everest summit rocks are far younger.
Which process best explains the formation of the Moon?
B. A giant impact of a Mars-sized body with the proto-earth
The giant-impact hypothesis best fits isotopic and dynamical evidence.
Which element is most abundant in the earth's crust by mass?
A. Oxygen
About 46.6% O, 27.7% Si, 8.1% Al. Silicon is second, not first.
In Bowen's reaction series, which mineral crystallises last as magma cools?
B. Quartz
High-temperature minerals crystallise first. Olivine and calcium plagioclase crystallise first at high temperature.
A first-order and a second-order stream join. What is the Strahler order downstream?
C. Second order
Joining a lower-order stream does not increase the order.
Why are sodium and chloride well mixed in the oceans while iron is not?
A. They have long residence times compared with ocean mixing
Short-residence elements vary spatially. Radioactivity and absence from seawater are not the reasons.
India's District Mineral Foundations, created by a 2015 amendment to mining law, aim to:
D. Use mining revenues for communities affected by mining
They fund welfare and infrastructure in mining districts.
Secondary porosity in rocks arises from:
A. Fractures and dissolution after formation
Primary porosity is intergranular from deposition.
Why does a tsunami's height increase as it approaches the coast?
B. Speed falls in shallow water, compressing the wave so energy concentrates in height
Shoaling increases amplitude. Wind, tides and water density are not the cause.
During the Last Glacial Maximum (~21,000 years ago), sea level was about:
B. 120 m lower than today
Water was locked in ice sheets. Sea level was much lower, not higher or unchanged.
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