THE OCEANS AND THE SEAS - 5 - ANSWERS

1. C. Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea, an arm of the North Atlantic Ocean, extends northward from the latitude of southern Denmark almost to the Arctic Circle and separates the Scandinavian Peninsula from the rest of continental Europe. The many names for the sea attest to its strategic position as a meeting place of many countries. Proceeding clockwise from the west, the countries bounding the Baltic are Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Germany. The people of Sweden call it the "East Sea" while people of Estonia call it as "West Sea".

The Baltic Sea is connected by artificial waterways to the White Sea via the White Sea–Baltic Canal and to the German Bight of the North Sea via the Kiel Canal, one of the world's busiest artificial waterways.

2. B. 200

An "Exclusive Economic Zone" (EEZ) is a sea zone prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) over which a sovereign state has special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind. It stretches from the baseline out to 200 nautical miles (nmi) from its coast. 

(The World's exclusive economic zones, shown in dark blue)

In colloquial usage, the term may include the continental shelf. The term does not include either the territorial sea or the continental shelf beyond the 200 nmi limit. The difference between the territorial sea (As per the UNCLOS, the territorial sea is a belt of coastal waters that extends from the baseline to 12 nautical miles) and the exclusive economic zone is that the first confers full sovereignty over the waters, whereas the second is merely a "sovereign right" which refers to the coastal state's rights below the surface of the sea.

3. B. Rodriguez Point

The "Rodrigues Triple Junction" (RTJ), also known as the "Central Indian [Ocean] Triple Junction" (CITJ) is a geologic triple junction in the southern Indian Ocean where three tectonic plates meet: "the African Plate", "the Indo-Australian Plate", and "the Antarctic Plate". The triple junction is named for the island of "Rodrigues" which lies 1,000 km (620 mi) north-west of it.

The boundaries of the three plates which meet at the "Rodrigues Triple Junction" are all oceanic spreading centers, making it an R-R-R (Ridge-Ridge-Ridge) type triple junction. They are: the "Central Indian Ridge" (CIR, between the African and Indo-Australian plates) with a spreading rate of 50 mm/yr; the "Southwest Indian Ridg"e (SWIR, between the African and Antarctic plates) 16 mm/yr; and the "Southeast Indian Ridge" (SEIR, between the Indo-Australian and Antarctic plates) 60 mm/yr.

4. A. Canada

Canada, the second-largest country in the world with a total area of 9,984,670 km2, has the longest coastline of all the countries in the world - a staggering 202,080 kilometres. The Canadian Arctic Archipelago, which consists of 36,563 islands, contributes to the total length of the coastline of Canada.

Indonesia, with a coastline measuring 54,716 kilometres has the second longest coastline in the world.

5. B. Drake Passage

"Drake Passage", deep waterway, 1,000 km wide, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans between Cape Horn (the southernmost point of South America) and the South Shetland Islands, situated about 160 km north of the Antarctic Peninsula. The Drake Passage defines the zone of climatic transition separating the cool, humid, subpolar conditions of Tierra del Fuego (the southernmost tip of the South American mainland) and the frigid, polar regions of Antarctica.

Though bearing the name of the famous English seaman and global circumnavigator "Sir Francis Drake", the passage was first traversed in 1616 by a Flemish expedition led by "Willem Schouten". The Drake Passage played an important part in the trade of the 19th and early 20th centuries before the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914.

THE OCEANS AND THE SEAS - 5

Q1. The people of Sweden call it the "East Sea" while people of Estonia call it as "West Sea". How do we know this water body?

A. Black Sea

B. Adriatic Sea

C. Baltic Sea

Q2. As prescribed by the “1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea”, the “Exclusive Economic Zone” (EEZ) over which a state has special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind, stretches from the baseline out to ___________ nautical miles (nmi) from its coast.

A. 100

B. 200

C. 500

Q3. The sea-bed of the Indian Ocean is home to the area where African, Indo-Australian and Antarctic Continental Plates meet. What is the point of meeting of these Plates known as?

A. Pygmalion Point

B. Rodriguez Point

C. Gondwana Point

Q4. Which country has the longest coastline in the world?

A. Canada

B. Indonesia

C. Russia

Q5. Name this water body (red marked in the map below) which connects the southwestern part of the Atlantic Ocean with the southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean and extends into the Southern Ocean up to the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica.

A. Serpent's Mouth

B. Drake Passage

C. Cook Strait

THE OCEANS AND THE SEAS - 4 - ANSWERS

1. B. Spain and Morocco

The Strait of Gibraltar connects the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, is about 60 kilometres long and between 14 and 44 kilometres broad. The Strait of Gibraltar is the only natural link between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea and is one of the busiest waterways in the world. Approximately 300 ships cross the Strait every day, about one ship every 5 minutes.

On the northern side of the Strait are Spain and Gibraltar (a British overseas territory in the Iberian Peninsula), while on the southern side are Morocco and Ceuta (a Spanish autonomous city in northern Africa). Its boundaries were known in antiquity as the Pillars of Hercules. The narrowest point of the Strait is just off Tarifa (in Spain), the southernmost city of mainland Europe, it is only 14 kilometres to Mount Jbel Musa in Morocco, Africa. The Spanish side of the Strait is protected under El Estrecho Natural Park.

2. A. 60 Degree (South)

The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean or the Austral Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. As such, it is regarded as the second-smallest of the five principal oceanic divisions: smaller than the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans but larger than the Arctic Ocean.

The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) included the ocean and its definition as the waters south of the 60th parallel south in its 2002 revisions, but this has not been formally adopted, due to continuing impasses about some of the content, such as the naming dispute over the Sea of Japan.

3. B. Mekong

The Zambezi, the fourth-longest river in Africa is the largest river flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Rising in the black marshlands of Zambia, the river flows through eastern Angola, along the north-eastern border of Namibia and the northern border of Botswana then along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe to Mozambique, where it crosses the country to empty into the Indian Ocean. The Victoria Falls is the most notable feature of the river.

The Murray River is Australia's longest river (2,508 kilometres in length)  which rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and then meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between the states of New South Wales and Victoria as it flows to the northwest into South Australia. It turns south at Morgan for its final 315 kms reaching the Indian Ocean at Lake Alexandrina.

Mekong River, the longest river in Southeast Asia, is a trans-boundary river having an estimated length of 4,350 km. From the Tibetan Plateau the river runs through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam where it empties into the South China Sea, a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean.

4. C. Labrador Current

The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a series of underwater plateaus (these areas are relatively shallow, ranging from 15 to 91 metres in depth) south-east of the island of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. The cold Labrador Current mixes with the warm waters of the Gulf Stream here, often causing extreme foggy conditions. The mixing of these waters and the shape of the ocean bottom lifts nutrients to the surface. These conditions helped to create one of the richest fishing grounds in the world supporting fish species including Atlantic cod, swordfish, haddock, capelin, shellfish and lobster. The area also supports large colonies of seabirds such as northern gannets, shear waters and sea ducks and various sea mammals such as seals, dolphins and whales.

Overfishing in the late 20th century caused the collapse of several species, particularly cod, leading to the closure of the Canadian Grand Banks fishery in 1992.

5. A. Iran

(Satellite image of the Caspian Sea)

Caspian Sea, world’s largest inland body of water is variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. It lies to the east of the Caucasus Mountains and to the west of the vast steppe of Central Asia. The sea’s name derives from the ancient Kaspi peoples, who once lived in Transcaucasia to the west.

It has a salinity of approximately 1.2% (12 g/l), about a third of the salinity of most seawater. The wide and endorheic Caspian Sea has a north–south orientation and its main freshwater inflow, the Volga River, enters at the shallow north end.

(A mosque in Baku, Azerbaijan, near the shore of the Caspian Sea)

It is bounded by Kazakhstan to the northeast, Russia to the northwest, Azerbaijan to the west, Iran to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southeast.

THE OCEANS AND THE SEAS - 4

Q1. The Strait of Gibraltar which connects Atlantic Ocean with Mediterranean Sea, separates which two Countries?

A. France and Algeria

B. Spain and Morocco

C. Italy and Tunisia

Q2. _____________ latitude, which has no land interruptions, is considered as the northern limit of the Southern Ocean by the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) in its 2002 draft delineation.

A. 60 Degree (South)

B. 35 Degree (South)

C. 50 Degree (South)

Q3. Which one among the following rivers does not flow into the Indian Ocean?

A. Zambezi

B. Mekong

C. Murray

Q4. Which south-flowing cold current meets the warm Gulf Stream at the Grand Banks (southeast of Newfoundland) producing heavy fogs and creating one of the richest fishing grounds in the world?

A. Canary Current

B. Falkland Current

C. Labrador Current

Q5. The coastlines of the Caspian Sea, the world's largest inland body of water, are shared by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and ____________ .

A. Iran

B. Turkey

C. Uzbekistan