🔆 Ellsworth Mountains in Antarctica

✅ Location:
• The Ellsworth Mountains are situated in West Antarctica.

✅ Key Feature:
• These mountains include Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica, standing at 4,892 meters.

#EllsworthMountains #MountVinson #Antarctica #Geography

🔆 Hydrology of the Brahmaputra: Key Insights

📍 Origin & Flow
The Brahmaputra originates as Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet, enters India as Siang in Arunachal, and flows as Brahmaputra in Assam before becoming Jamuna in Bangladesh.

📍 Rainfall Dependency
Arunachal contributes 42.57% of India’s Brahmaputra basin rainfall; Tibet contributes <20% of water yield in India.

📍 Chinese Projects
China’s upstream dams, including the massive Medog dam and South-North Water Diversion Project, pose concerns but lie upstream of Arunachal, limiting major impact.

📍 Indian Strategy
India must prepare a long-term river strategy focusing on real-time data, resilience, and multilateral diplomacy to counter upstream threats.

🔆 Post: Jammu–Srinagar Rail Link & Chenab Bridge Highlights

📍 Project Overview
✅ 272 km rail line from Udhampur to Baramulla
✅ Divided into 4 sections with 943 bridges and 36 tunnels
✅ Includes the Chenab Bridge & Anji Khad Bridge

📍 Chenab Bridge
✅ Tallest railway bridge in the world: 359m above riverbed
✅ Length: 1.315 km, Arch span: 467m, 17 spans
✅ Cost: ₹1,486 crore, Steel used: 28,660 MT
✅ Built to withstand Zone V earthquakes & wind speeds up to 266 km/h
✅ Design life: 120 years

📍 Anji Khad Bridge
✅ India’s first cable-stayed railway bridge

📍 Operations
✅ Vande Bharat Express to run 6 days/week
✅ Expected full Delhi–Srinagar service by Sept 2024

🔆 Mineral Belts of India – Areas & Potentials

📍 The North Eastern Peninsular Belt
✅ Area/Region: Extends from the Aravalli range in Rajasthan in the west to the Chotanagpur Plateau in Jharkhand and Odisha in the east.
✅ Potentials: Rich deposits of coal, iron ore, copper, lead, and zinc.

📍 The South Western Belt
✅ Area/Region: Located in the states of Karnataka, Goa, and parts of Maharashtra.
✅ Potentials: Abundant reserves of iron ore, manganese, limestone, and bauxite.

📍 The North Western Belt
✅ Area/Region: Spread across Rajasthan and Gujarat.
✅ Potentials: Deposits of limestone, marble, gypsum, rock phosphate, lignite, and bentonite.

📍 The Central Belt
✅ Area/Region: Located in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
✅ Potentials:
• Coal: Substantial reserves, key for India’s energy needs.
• Iron Ore: Supports the iron and steel industry.
• Bauxite, Limestone, and Dolomite: Crucial for aluminium production, cement manufacturing, and construction materials.

📍 The Southern Belt
✅ Area/Region: Located in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka.
✅ Potentials: Rich deposits of iron ore, bauxite, and limestone.

📍 The Eastern Belt
✅ Area/Region: Extends through Odisha, West Bengal, and parts of Jharkhand.
✅ Potentials: Vast reserves of iron ore, coal, manganese, and chromite.

📍 The Western Belt
✅ Area/Region: Located in Maharashtra and Gujarat.
✅ Potentials: Deposits of manganese, bauxite, limestone, and gypsum.

🔆 Modern Methods of Water Management

✅ Rainwater Harvesting: Collecting rainwater is a very efficient way to replenish the groundwater table and save natural water.

✅ Pressure Reducing Valves: In a hydraulic system, a pressure-reducing valve essentially regulates the amount of pressure. These valves guarantee that the water level to be used is predetermined.

✅ Water metering: Installing water metres to track water usage in both residential and business buildings is another effective technique to reduce water waste. It can aid in leak detection.

✅ Greywater recycling: It is a technique for reusing used and wastewater from showers, washing machines, and kitchen sinks for things like flushing toilets and watering plants.

✅ Water-efficient Accessories: New developments are pushing the limits of water saving without compromising usage patterns, such as altered spray patterns in taps and showers and enhanced flush pressure in toilets.

✅ Fog Harvesting: Exploring fog harvesting technologies in hilly regions. Specialized mesh structures capture moisture droplets from fog, providing a valuable water source in areas with limited rainfall. That have been implemented in countries like Chile, Morocco, and Peru.

#gs1 #Geography #mains

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Chenab bridge

🔆 Pollution Dome

📍 Definition
✅ Formed when unfavorable atmospheric conditions trap pollutants in urban areas, causing smog buildup.

📍 Contributing Factors
✅ Stagnant Air: Calm winds trap pollutants.
✅ Temperature Inversions: Warm air traps cooler air, preventing vertical dispersion.
✅ Geographic Bottlenecks: Mountains/valleys restrict air movement, trapping pollutants.

📍 Additional Factors
✅ Industrial Activity: Emissions from factories, power plants, and vehicles worsen pollution in stagnant air.
✅ Unfavorable Weather Patterns: Systems like anticyclones limit atmospheric mixing, trapping pollutants closer to the ground.

#Geography
#environment

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🔆 Oil Pollution

📍 Examples
✅ Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (2010): Largest marine oil spill in Gulf of Mexico.
✅ Ennore Oil Spill (2017): Collision off Chennai coast, impacting marine life and fishermen.
✅ MV Wakashio Spill (2020): Ship ran aground off Mauritius, spilling oil in a biodiversity-rich area.

📍 Causes
✅ Oil spills from tankers, offshore rigs.
✅ Leakages from drilling, transportation.
✅ Ballast water discharge, pipeline ruptures.

📍 Consequences
✅ Environmental: Marine life death, long-term damage to ecosystems.
✅ Economic: Livelihood loss, high cleanup costs.
✅ Health Hazards: Skin disorders, respiratory issues, contamination of seafood.

📍 Steps Taken
✅ International: MARPOL Convention, OPRC, IMO standards.
✅ India: NOS-DCP, INCOIS oil spill trajectory model.

📍 Way Forward
✅ Enforce safety regulations, improve warning systems, develop response capacity, promote bioremediation techniques.

#environment #mains


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🔆 Key Glaciers of Antarctica: Features & Significance

✅ Lambert Glacier (East Antarctica):
• World’s largest glacier by volume and length (over 400 km long).
• Flows into the Amery Ice Shelf.
• Vital for studying ice dynamics and climate change.
• Major drainage outlet for the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.

✅ Pine Island Glacier (West Antarctica):
• Rapidly thinning and retreating glacier.
• Part of the Amundsen Sea Embayment.
• Key contributor to global sea-level rise.
• Monitored closely for ice sheet instability.

✅ Thwaites Glacier (West Antarctica):
• Known as the “Doomsday Glacier” for its potential to cause sea-level rise.
• Melting rapidly due to warm ocean currents.
• Critical for understanding future sea-level changes.
• Subject of extensive international research collaborations.

#Glaciers #Antarctica #ClimateChange #SeaLevelRise

🔆 Rain-Bearing Systems

📍 Arabian Sea Branch
✅ Divides into three streams:
• Western Coast: Heavy rainfall (250 cm) due to orographic effect.
• Narmada-Tapi troughs: Narrow valley system in central India.
• Aravalli Range: Minimal rainfall impact.

📍 Bay of Bengal Branch
✅ Splits into two streams:
• Ganga-Brahmaputra delta: Heavy rainfall, Cherrapunji (1,221 cm) holds record.
• Himalayan foothills: Deflected by mountains, widespread rainfall to Ganges Plain.

📍 Monsoon Break
✅ Dry spells during monsoon, known as break in monsoon, common after a few days of rain.

📍 Retreat in Monsoon
✅ Withdrawal of monsoon winds, known as retreating monsoon, occurs in October-November.

#Geography

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🔆 Global Distribution of Earthquakes

📍 Major Seismic Belts
✅ The circum-Pacific seismic belt found along the rim of the Pacific Ocean is the world’s greatest earthquake belt. Around 81% of the world’s largest earthquakes occur here. Known as the “Ring of Fire”.

✅ The Alpide earthquake belt spreads from Java to Sumatra, through the Himalayas, the Mediterranean, and into the Atlantic. It causes about 17% of the world’s earthquakes.

✅ The third belt is the mid-Atlantic Ridge, a submerged divergent plate boundary where tectonic plates are spreading apart.

🔆 Seismic Mapping of India

📍 Seismic Zonation Insights
✅ About 59% of India’s land area is prone to earthquakes.

✅ The seismic map classifies India into 4 seismic zones based on intensity.

✅ Zone V is the most active (Very High Risk), while Zone II is the least active.

➤ Approx. 10.79% in Zone V, 17.49% in Zone IV, 30.79% in Zone III, and 40.93% in Zone II.

#Geography
#disaster_management

🔆 India Unlikely to Ratify ‘High Seas Treaty’ (BBNJ)

📍 Key Update
✅ India signed the BBNJ (High Seas Treaty) in 2024, but ratification is pending.
✅ Delay due to legal amendments (e.g. Biological Diversity Act).

📍 Global Status
✅ 49 countries have ratified it (as of June 10); 60 required for legal enforcement.

📍 Contentious Issues
✅ Treaty covers resources beyond EEZ, not under any country’s jurisdiction.
✅ India seeks clarity on equitable economic benefit sharing before ratifying.