When we prepare notes of ClearIAS – we always keep one important thing in mind. Our study materials should help our readers learn faster! (See Major Ocean Currents: How to learn faster?) Now, after a break, we have come up with another easy-to-understand article from Geography – about Clouds. In this article, we …
In the previous articles in the Geography section, we have discussed in detail about the composition and structure of the earth’s atmosphere, how and from where the earth receives its energy, how the earth maintains its temperature, methods through which the heat energy gets transferred in the atmosphere (insolation and …
In the previous article, we have discussed the composition and structure of the earth’s atmosphere. The atmosphere is essential for the survival of plant and animal life. They also require the optimum temperature to keep themselves warm and grow. In this article, we are going to discuss in details about …
ClearIAS Team has been receiving a lot of support and encouragement from our loving readers for our easy-to-understand articles on Geography. (See Major Ocean Currents: How to learn faster?) Having covered most of the important concepts in Lithosphere and Hydrosphere, in this article, we are going to discuss the composition and …
In our geography notes on the hydrosphere, we have seen the major movements of the ocean water. They are – waves, tides and ocean currents. Having covered the fundamentals, we shall see in this post, a super-fast way to learn the details of ocean currents. Names, direction, nature….and what not! Well, you might …
Our Geography notes continue. Having covered the most important concepts in land, we are now dealing with the water (hydrosphere). In the last article, we have seen the ocean bottom topography. In this comprehensive post, we will cover the movements of ocean water – waves, tides and ocean currents. We hope …
Geography is an interesting subject which covers land (lithosphere), water (hydrosphere) and air (atmosphere). Hope you have gone through our easy-to-learn notes covering important land features. Now let’s see how to learn fast the concepts associated with hydrosphere. Let’s start from ocean floor first. Earth – the water planet We know …
In the previous article in geography section, we have discussed in detail about the interior of the earth. We have seen different layers like crust, core, and mantle. The Crust – even though very thin – as being the outer part of the lithosphere, is very significant. In this article, we …
In this article (geography section), we discuss the interior of the earth. Understanding the basic structure of earth is very important to learn higher concepts well. Also, the origin of many phenomena like earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunami etc are linked with the structure of earth’s interior. What should you understand about the …
Forces inside and outside the earth can change the shape of earth’s surface. We have already seen the effects of geomorphic forces in our previous Geography notes. Endogenic forces and exogenic forces can create a lot of landforms. A landform is a natural feature of the solid surface of the Earth. Examples include Mountains, …
Have you heard of Aranmula Kannadi which is a unique handicraft from Kerala? You might have heard of Kanchipuram Sarees of Tamil Nadu and Madhubani Paintings of Bihar. All these are unique products from a particular location. Such products now bear an additional tag – Geographical Indication. What is a …
In the previous articles, we have been discussing various exogenic geomorphic agents like water (running water and groundwater) and glaciers. We have seen the evolution of landforms due to these agents. In this post, we discuss in detail how the wind and the waves cause the evolution of various landforms on the …
In the previous article, we were discussing the evolution of landforms due to the activities of running water and groundwater. This article deals with the evolution of landforms due to another exogenic geomorphic agent – glaciers. What is a Glacier? Glaciers are a mass of ice moving under its own …
In the previous articles, we were discussing various types of endogenic and exogenic processes. We have also seen that erosion and deposition are some of the exogenic processes. In this post, we are dealing with the geomorphic agents – running water and groundwater, which causes erosion and deposition. They form …
We have been discussing geomorphic processes in our previous notes in the Geography section. We have already seen that geomorphic processes are classified into endogenic processes and exogenic processes. As endogenic processes are already covered in detail, in this post we focus on exogenic forces and exogenic processes. What are Exogenic Forces? The forces …
Earthquakes and volcanoes are examples of sudden movements which originate from inside the earth. We have already seen the types of volcanoes. But, what is an earthquake? To put it simple, earthquake is the shaking of the earth. An earth quake can be defined as a sudden violent shaking of the ground …
A volcano is an opening in the earth’s crust through which gases, molten rocks materials (lava), ash, steam etc. are emitted outward in the course of an eruption. Such vents or openings occur in those parts of the earth’s crust where the rock strata are relatively weak. Volcanic activity is an …
We have already seen that Geomorphic processes can create land forms. We also know that endogenic forces (internal) and exogenic forces (external) are the two main types of geomorphic processes which results in earth movements. In this post, let’s study endogenic forces in detail. Endogenic Forces – Internal forces in …
It is time to know in detail about the surface of the earth on which we live. We know that the surface of the earth is not a plain platform. It is distributed unevenly with a variety of landforms like mountains, hills, plateaus, plains, ravines, cliffs etc. Why is the surface …
Even though our country is blessed with wide varieties of soils with high fertility, it is being degraded day by day by various natural and human activities. Farmers in India are complaining about low productivity because of various reasons and soil degradation is one of them. Loss of soil fertility …
This post is a continuation of our previous article on Soils of India: Classification and Characteristics. The Indian council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) set up an All India Soil Survey Committee in 1953 which divided the Indian soils into eight major groups. For ease of understanding and comparative study, this post about …
This article is part of our free online study materials in the Geography section. Like the previous articles in the History section, this post – about the classification of soils in India – highlights only the main points in an exam point of view. From the UPSC exam perspective aspirants should be …
Just like all vegetation cannot be seen all over the world, industries too are not seen every where. Industries have affinity towards particular locations. Of-course, availability of raw material is one of the major reasons, but that is not the sole determinant. This post explores the distribution of major industries across …
Factors Responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including India) is a topic mentioned in General Studies Paper 1(GS1) for UPSC Mains. Basic concepts related to Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sectors are covered in our post on Sectors of Economy: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, …
Human activities which generate income are known as economic activities. Economic activities are broadly grouped into primary, secondary, tertiary activities. Higher services under tertiary activities are again classified into quaternary and quinary activities. Let us first understand the differences between the different sectors of the economy, so that it will be easier for …
Urban Heat Islands (UHI) are significantly warmer urban areas than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities. Urban Heat Island is a major problem associated with rapid urbanisation. The temperature increase is attributed to deforestation and the construction materials adopted for city building. Usually, under the urban heat island phenomenon, …
In Geography, we study about the earth as a whole. Political Geography is a branch of geography which studies the political entities like countries, across the globe. It always helps to have a good idea about the location of different nations. List of countries of the world, classified according to …
Only when studying becomes an enjoyable experience, we start to appreciate the beauty of each subject. The same is true with Geography. Geography is a wonderful subject where we see the mountains, rivers, lakes, oceans and people across the world. One way to generate interest in Geography is to think …
Geography is a major part of General Studies Paper 1 in Civil Services Exam Prelims. This paper will include questions from Indian and World Geography – Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the world. Recommended IAS Books for Geography – Civil Services Preliminary Exam In this post let’s see the …