Geography

Shale gas refers to natural gas that is trapped within shale formations. Shales are fine-grained sedimentary rocks that can be rich sources of petroleum and natural gas. Over the past decade, the combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has allowed access to large volumes of shale gas that were previously uneconomical to produce.  Typical components of oil shale gas are usually methane, … Read more

On 12 August 2018, after 20 years of talks, the leaders of the five littoral states to the Caspian Sea – Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan – finally signed a treaty defining its legal status. The ‘Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea’ has not resolved all the long-standing issues; in fact, … Read more

Wind is caused by the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the sun, variations in the earth’s surface, and rotation of the earth. Mountains, bodies of water, and vegetation all influence wind flow patterns. Wind turbines convert the energy in wind to electricity by rotating propeller-like blades around a rotor. The rotor turns the drive shaft, which … Read more

It is a deflecting force experienced due to rotation of earth. Because of Coriolis the air appears to turn towards its right in the northern hemisphere and towards its left in the southern hemisphere. The coriolis always acts in the perpendicular direction of the motion of air. It is zero at the equator and increases … Read more

The sub-tropical jet stream is produced by the earth’s rotation (Coriolis force) and temperature contrast between tropical and sub – tropical regions.At the equator, the rotation produces greatest velocity in the atmosphere. As a result, the rising air which spreads out northwards and southwards, moves faster than the latitudes over which it is blowing.It is deflected to the … Read more

Concept of sea floor spreading was given by Henry Hess which was crucial to establish the formation of different geological surface on the earth. The major findings were: The crust below the ocean floor was found only 7-8 km thick. The existence of mid Atlantic ridge was known, but it was found that mid oceanic … Read more

A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain. Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by different names, including hurricane, tropicalstorm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, and simply cyclone.Tropical cyclones are named to provide ease of communication between forecasters and the … Read more

The systems developing in the mid and high latitude (35° latitude and 65° latitude in both hemispheres), beyond the tropics are called Frontal Cyclones or Wave Cyclones.According to polar front theory, the warm-humid air masses from the tropics meet the dry-cold air masses from the poles and thus a polar front is formed as a surface … Read more

Continental shield, any of the large stable areas of low relief in the Earth’s crust that are composed of Precambrian crystalline rocks. The age of these rocks is in all cases greater than 540 million years, and radiometric age dating has revealed some that are as old as 2 to 3 billion years.Shield areas in general are … Read more

The Intertropical Convergence Zone, or ITCZ, is the region that circles the Earth, near the equator, where the trade winds of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres come together. The intense sun and warm water of the equator heats the air in the ITCZ, raising its humidity and making it buoyant. Aided by the convergence of … Read more