1.latitude
1.latitude
Points of GC
Basic Concepts
Earth is a sphere which rotates around its axis. If O Another imaginary line running perpendicular to
we draw a line passing through the center of the Earth the axis of rotation and dividing the earth into two
along its rotational axis, the line would pass through equal halves is known as the Equator. The northern
the North and South Pole. However, the Earth is not half is known as Northern Hemisphere and the
a perfect sphere, rather it is slightly flattened at the southern half as Southern Hemisphere.
poles and bulged in the middle. This shape is termed Parallels of Latitude
as geoid or spheroid. o Latitudes specify the north-south position of a
location on the globe.
LATITUDES AND LONGITUD ES
As the earth is slightly flattened at the poles the linear distance of a degree of latitude at the pole is a little longer than at the equator o They are the imaginary lines running parallel to
o Earth's surface is so vast that it beco1nes almost each other and to the equator.
impossible to locate any place on it. For this reason, o The latitude is named after the angle created by the
the imaginary lines, i.e. latitudes and longitudes, line connecting that latitude with the center of the
have been drawn on the globe. Together, they form Earth and the equator.
the Earth's geographical coordinates and represent
o Equator represents 0° latitude, while North and
the angular distance of any location from the center South Poles represent 90°N and 90°S latitudes
of the Earth. respectively.
NORTH POLE (90° N. Latitude) 1
Important • •
Latitude ; Charactenshcs
o The latitude lying 23°26'
Axis
(approx. 23½0 ) north of the
of equator is known as the Tropic
great rabbit make carrot Juice with tasty melons Earth
'-- of Cancer.
" NEW ORLEANS
(30° N. Latitude, o It marks the northern-mos t
• W. longitude)
Tropi_c of position on the globe where the
Center
of Earth Cancer sun is directly overhead once a
_/ year.
o This happens in the month of
June (Summer Solstice), during
EQUATOR o• La which the Northern Hemisphere
30• 21). is tilted towards the sun.
o Tropic of Capricorn is the
--
- ~;~~IC latitude that lies at 23°26'
-
..
OCEAN
(approx. 23½0 ) south of the
“My Brother Will Make Most Awaited New Limca Extra Spark, Upon One equator.
Iceberg By Most common things” Tropic of
Locating Points on Globe o It is the southern-most position
Capricorn
on the globe where the sun is
O The intersection of the latitude and the longitude
R.I.P To Adarniya Modi directly overhead during the
pin-points any place on the Earth's surface. For
month of December (Winter
example, Delhi is 28°38'N and 77°13'E; Paris is
Solstice). ,
48°5l'N and 2°20'E; and New York is 40°42'N and
1.~1
74°W. Contd...
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Important I o The meridian opposite to the Prime Meridian (i.e.
Latitude I Characteristics on the other side of the earth at 180° longitude)~
known as the Anti-meridian.
o Arctic Circle is the latitude that
I lies 66°34' (approx. 66½0 ) north TIME
of the equator. o Earth rotates from west to east over its axis and
Arctic Circle I o The regions aroWld this latitude makes one complete revolution of 360° in one day
experience extreme weather or 24 hours; it passes through 15° in one hour or 10
conditions along with the in every 4 minutes.
phenomena~f midnight sun. o Also, as the Earth rotates from west to east, thoSe
o Antarctic Circle is the latitude places east of Greenwich will be ahead of Greenwich
that lies 66°34' (approx. 66½0 ) time and those to the west will be behind it.
south of the equator. o In other words, the places east of Greenwich see
Antarctic o The regions arollll.d this latitude the sun earlier and gain time whereas the place
Circle also experience extreme west of Greenwich see the sun later and lose time.
weather conditions along with Standard Time Zones
the phenomena of midnight
o In order to maintain the uniformity of time as far
SWl.
as possible within the territorial limits of a country,
Meridians of Longitude the time at the central meridian of the coW1.try is
o Longitudes are the imaginary lines that run from taken as the Standard Meridian and its local time
the geographical North Pole to the geographical is taken as the standard time for the whole country.
South Pole. o Standard Meridian is selected in a manner that it
o Longitudes specify the east-west position of a is divisible by 15° or 7°30' so that the difference
location and the distances between them are between its standard time and Greenwich Mean
measured in 'degrees of longitude'. Time (GMT) may be expressed as multiples of an
l'rinh~ \1t'rid1.H1
hour or half an hour.
o Therefore, the whole world has been divided into
24 Standard Time Zones, each of which differs from
the next by 15 degrees (or 1 hour) in terms of
longitudes.
o The countries with large east-west span like Russia,
r,1u.,1ur O'
Canada and USA have chosen more than one
standard meridian to get more than one time zone.
r,ork ,'ii C.1pri~ Of fl
:!1 ~,,·s o Indian Standard Time (IST) is calculated from
82°3O'E meridian passing through Mirzapur.
Therefore, IST is plus 05:30 hours from GMT (82°30'
x 4 = 330 minutes or 5 hours 30 minutes).
- -------
.\nl.1n Ill L·irdt•
(,h 1,•~
Local Time
lmporta11t Latit"des a11d Lo11git"des
o The rate of the time at which the sun traverses over
O Since, there is no obvious central longitude, the certain degrees of longitudes is used to determine
meridian line passing through Greenwich, England the local time of an area with respect to the time at
is taken as the reference point for longitudes. This the Prime Meridian (0° longitude).
longitude is also known as the Prime Meridian. It o In order to find the local time of a place, let us take
is set as 0° longitude and it divides the Earth into an example of Thimpu, the capital of Bhutan, which
two equal halves, the Eastern and Western is located at 9O°E longitude. Let us suppose the
Hemispheres. time at Greenwich (0° longitude) is 12:00 noon-
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Now, in order to find the time difference between o It is located halfway around the world from the
Greenwich and Thimpu, we multiply longitudinal prime meridian (0° longitude) or about 180° East
difference between the two places, i.e. 90°, with 4 (or West) of Greenwich.
minutes, which gives 360 minutes (i.e. 90 x 4= 360)
o For example, A person moving westward on
or 6 hours. Thus, the local time of Thimpu is 6 pm.
Tuesday wiU -count the day as Monday once the
INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE IDL is crossed. Similarly, another person starting
o International Date Line (IDL) is an imaginary line his journey on the same day, but moving eastward
on Earth's surface defining the boundary between will count the day as Wednesday after crossing _the
one day and the next. line.
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Standard Time Zones Across the World
MOTIONS OF THE EARTH Vertical Line from the Earth's Orbital Plane
9o~
Rotation
O Rotation is the movement of the Earth on its axis.
from west to east once in every 24 hours causing
day and night.
O The axis of the earth makes an angle of 66½0 with Plane of the
its orbital plane, i.e. the plane formed by the orbit. Earth's Orbit
PRACTICE QUESTIONS
1. Consider the following statements regarding 3. Latitudes specify the east-west position of a
latitudes: location.
1. Equator represents 0° latitude while the Which of the statement(s) given above is/are not
North and South Poles represent 90°North correct?
and 90°South latitudes respectively. (a) 1 only
2. Latitudes are the imaginary lines that run (b) 2 and 3 only
from North Pole to the South Pole, intersecting (c) 1 and 3 only
the Equator. (d) 1, 2 and 3
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2. It lies at 23°26' south of the equator. It is the 4. What would happen if a traveller crosses the
southernmost point which gets direct sun rays International Date Line from west towards the
during December, also known as winter solstice. east?
Which of the following is described in the above (a) He gains a day.
given statements? (b) He loses a day.
(a) Equinox (c) He gains 12 hours.
(b) Tropic of Cancer (d) No change takes place.
(c) Antarctic Circle 5. Which of the following statements is not correct
(d) Tropic of Capricorn about equinox?
(a) On 23rd September, Northern hemisphere
3. Consider the following statements regarding
experiences autumn season while Southern
Standard Time Meridian:
hemisphere experiences spring season.
1. Standard Meridian is selected in such a (b) Earth experiences equal days and equal
manner so that it is divisible by 15 . nights. '
2. The whole world has been divided into 24 (c) Neither of the poles is tilted towards the sun.
Standard Time Zones. (d) On 21s t May, Northern hemisphere
Which of the statement(s) given above is/ are experiences spring while Southern
correct? hemisphere experiences autumn.
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 1. (b) 2. (d) 3. (c) 4. (a) 5. (d)
L
Location & Geological
11° divid lakshdweep in half N-S
History
(6°8’N )
n1ately 2.41/o of world s Strait and Gulf of Mannar. India also shares some
0
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tsTypefor text .
d accoun ded by sea on three sides extent of land border with Afghanistan.
afl India is surroun
face area. f h A . b hi h .
st1r eparated from rest o t e sia y g mounta in Important International Boundaries
d5 n, Bangla desh, Nepal,
afl • Aon 1 g with Pakista. . o Radclif fe Line: India and Pakista n/India and
chain- d Sri Lanka, India forms a well-de fmed Bangladesh
Bhutan anSouth Asian landma ss referre d as In 1an d'
f o McMah on Line: India and China
realm o
st1bcontinent. o Durand Line: India and Afghanistan/Pakistan
and Afghanistan
LOCATION OF INDIA
d
orniaa
. lone covers about three fourths of the area . SIZE AND EXTENT
of Indian subcontinent and has a commo n frontier o In size, India covers an area of 3.287 million km
2
with each one of them. The north-c entral part of and measur es about 3,214 km from north to south
India is broad while the southe rn part tapers down and about 2,933 km from east to west.
towards the Indian ocean in the south. o India lies entirely in the Northe rn and Eastern
0 India's deep peninsu
lar configu ration places India hemisp here and extends between 8°4'N to 37°6'N
in a commanding positio n in the Indian ocean. It latitud e and 68°7'E to 97°25'E longitude. The
is the only ocean named after a country. southe rn tip of the penins ula just misses the
oThe western part of the northe rn Indian ocean ~s equato r only by a few degrees.
called the Arabian sea while the eastern part 1s I N DI A
Statm and Union Ta,ltortls
called the Bay of Bengal. The total length of the
coastline of India, includi ng the island groups is
about 7,516.6 km. CHICA
(l1IET)
Land Borders of India PAKISTAN
3,488 km
- China
- Pakistan 3,323 km ... h
-- Nepal 1,751 km bl!Ut
MADHYA P1AD6tt
-- r~
00l9IA • ~ 'o":
Myanmar 1,643 km IUIGH
El
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Geograpliy
__ of India
__ & Wo.rd
1
o The Tropic of Cancer (23.5°N) passes through the outpouring of lava and formation of the D~
middle of the country. Thus, half of the country to Traps. This started around 60 million years ago
the south of the Tropic of Cancer is situated in the continued for a long period of time. an
tropical region and the other half lying north of the o Peninsular India was part of the ancient landn-.
Tropic of Cancer falls in the subtropical region. ••1ass
of Gondwanaland. The collision led to the upheaval
o Tropic of Cancer passes through 8 Indian States of the Himalayas in three different phases. The
(west to east), viz., Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya north Indian plains resulted due to infilling of the
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, fore-deep formed in the later phases of Himalayas
Tripura and Mizoram. formation.
o The longitudinal extent of India is around 29°,
hence the time difference in India between its
eastern and western extremities is roughly about EURASIAN
two hours. India has chosen the standard meridian PLATE EURAstAN
PLATE
of 82°30'E for Indian Standard Time.
Standard Meridian of India INOIAN
PLATE
o Standard meridian of any country is generally
selected in multiples of 7°30' of longitude. INDIA
o Earlier, the meridian was considered passing
through Allahabad at 82.5°E longitude. However,
a team of astronomers, searching around INDIAN
PLATE
Mirzapur for longitude 82.5°E against which the Sri Lanka
Indian Standard Trme is set, found Ghamapur
village as the exact location. IND/AN
OCEAN
o The longitude difference between Ghamapur
and the UK's Royal Observatory at Greenwich
translates to an exact time difference of 5 hours
30 minutes.
Origin of India
o A major event that occurred during the movement O Rocks of different geological periods are found ill
of the Indian plate towards the Eurasian plate was different regions of the country.
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atiott & =.:.....::..-- ------------- ---------~-
ioc ·t own geological eras and periods that (245-570 million years old), Mesozoic (65-245
. has 1 s .
oJrtd1a ds to the standard geological eras of Pre- million years old) and Cenozoic (65 million years
corres~on ( ver 570 million years old), Paleozoic old to the present).
cambrian o
Indian Rock Classification & Corresponding Standard Time Period
• These are the oldest rocks to be formed on the • These formations, named after Cuddapah
Earth's surface. They form the 'Basement district in Andhra Pradesh, are sedimentary
Complex' and often underlie the strata formed metamorphic formations. These are
subsequently. unfossiliferous clay, slate, quartzites, sandstones
• Gne1sses
• and limestones deposited in the great synclinal
cover about two third parts of the
basin.
Dharwar Sedimentary peninsula, including central and southern part.
0 • It is most extensive in Cuddapah and Kurnool
Dharwar Sedimentary
districts of Andhra Pradesh. It is also found in
• These are the most ancient metamorphosed the southern part of Chhattisgarh and along the
sedimentary rock system of India and were main axis of the Aravalli range. It has rich
for~ed due to weathering of the Archaean deposits of iron, manganese, copper, cobalt,
gne1Sses and schists. nickel, etc. These also contain large deposits of
• It.18
Well developed in Dharwad-Bellary-Mysore cement grade limestones.
Vindhyan System
belt of Karnataka. Due to the deposits of valuable o Vindhyan System
nun
. erals, these rocks are economically the most • This system comprises mostly unfossiliferous
ltnportant rocks. ancient sedimentary rocks superimposed on the
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l, Consider the following pairs: 4. Consider the following statements with reference
Indian Rock System Standard Time Period to Tropic of Cancer:
1. Dravidian Palaeozoic l. It passes through Gujarat, Maharashtra and
z. Aryan Cenozoic Manipur.
3. Archaean Pre-Cambrian 2. It passes through 8 Indian states.
Which of the pairs given above are correctly Which of the statement(s) given above is/ are
correct?
matched?
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only
(a) 1 and 3 only
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
(b) 1, 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 2 only 5. Consider the following statements:
(d) 2 and 3 only 1. Around 225 million years ago, Indian plate
was to the north of the equator and the Tethys
z. Which of the following system is 11ot categorised Sea separated it from Australian plate.
as Aryan Rock System?
2. Peninsular India was part of the
(a) Quaternary Period Gondwanaland.
(b) Vindhyan System 3. Pangea was an ancient landmass consisting
(c) Gondwana System of the southern part of the supercontinent of
(d) Tertiary System Gondwanaland.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/ are not
3. Which of the following states does not share land
correct?
boundary with Nepal?
(a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 only
(a) West Bengal
(c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
(b) Sikkim
(c) Himachal Pradesh -.rtitii~
(d) Uttarakhand ~3.(c)~
I
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