General Studies For Civil Services Preliminary Examination Vol III Paper I Geography and Environmental Ecology Edgar Thorpe

General Studies for Civil Services
Preliminary Examination Vol III Paper I

Geography and Environmental Ecology
Edgar Thorpe
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GENERAL STUDIES
Paper-I
For the Civil Services Preliminary Examination
Geography and
Environmental Ecology
(Volume III)
Edgar Thorpe
Showick Thorpe
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Contents
GEOGRAPHY Volcanism 3.85

Physiography of the Earth’s Terrestrial Surface 3.86
1 GENERAL GEOGRAPHY 3.3 Multiple-Choice Questions 3.88
Introduction 3.3 Original UPSC-Civil Services Questions 3.102
Branches of Geography 3.3
Methods of Studying Geography 3.4 2 WORLD GEOGRAPHY 3.105
Basic Knowledge About The Earth 3.4 Countries 3.105
Spheres of the Earth’s Surface 3.4 Continents 3.105
Shape of the Earth 3.5 Important Cities of the World 3.112
Structure of the Earth 3.5 Important Cities Situated on the Banks
Composition of the Earth 3.8 of Rivers 3.114
Geological History of the Earth 3.8 Changed Names of Some Cities, States,
Earth’s Movements 3.10 and Countries 3.115
Eclipses and Phases of the Moon 3.13 Distinctive Names of Countries/Towns—
Understanding the Globe 3.15 Geographical Epithets 3.115
Earth and Moon 3.17 Major Natural Resources 3.116
Time 3.18 Industrial Towns 3.118
Atmosphere 3.19 Regional Grouping of Countries
of the World 3.118
Introduction 3.19
Economic Classification of Countries
Structure of the Atmosphere 3.20
of the World 3.120
Planetary and Celestial Atmosphere 3.23
People of the World 3.126
Important Phenomena of Atmosphere 3.23
Temperature 3.26 Multiple-Choice Questions 3.128
Air Pressure 3.33
Winds 3.35 Map- Book 3.131
Humidity and Precipitation 3.40 Original UPSC-Civil Services Questions 3.163
Air Masses and Fronts 3.46
Cyclones and Anticyclones 3.48 3 INDIAN GEOGRAPHY 3.165
Weather and Climate 3.51
Introduction 3.165
Principal Climates of the World 3.53
Location, Dimensions, and Frontiers 3.165
Hydrosphere 3.58 Geological Structure of India 3.168
Introduction 3.58
Interception, Stemflow, Canopy Drip, Physical Features 3.172
and Throughfall 3.59 Geological Regions 3.172
Oceanography 3.63 Classification of The Himalayan System 3.178
Ocean Tides 3.67 Regional Division of the Himalayas 3.179
Shipping Canals 3.68 The Purvanchal (or the Eastern Hills) 3.180
The Peninsula 3.180
Lithosphere 3.69 Peninsular Plateaus 3.182
Introduction 3.69 Physiographic Sub-Units 3.186
The Earth’s Crust 3.69 The Drainage Systems of India 3.188
Plate Tectonics 3.70 Lakes 3.192
Igneous Activity and the Continents 3.72 Climate 3.192
Oceanic Crust 3.72 Climatic Regions of India 3.199
Rocks 3.72
Mountains 3.78 Soils in India 3.202
Earthquakes 3.82 Alluvial Soil 3.202

iv Contents
Black Soil 3.202 2 CLIMATE CHANGE AND

Red and Yellow Soil 3.202 RELATED ISSUES 3.270
Laterite Soil 3.203
Saline and Alkaline Soils 3.203 Global Warming and Sustainability 3.270
Peat and Marshy Soil 3.203 Speculative Impacts of Climate Change 3.270
Arid Soil (Desert Soil) 3.203 Recent High Temperatures 3.270
Forest Soil 3.203 The Phenomenon of Global Warming 3.271
Rising Sea Levels 3.271
Agriculture 3.203
Carbon Trading and Offsetting 3.271
Performance of Agriculture 3.204 Carbon Taxation 3.272
Crop Patterns 3.204 Carbon Sequestration 3.272
Performance of Foodgrain Crops 3.205 The Hague and Marrakesh Conferences 3.273
Performance of Commercial Crops 3.207 The Copenhagen Conference 3.273
Performance of Plantation Crops 3.208 The Global Perspective 3.274
Fertilizers 3.208 El Nino 3.275
Energy Scenario in India 3.209 The World Summit in Johannesburg 3.275
Power 3.209 The Stern Report 3.275
Multi-Purpose Projects in India 3.213 World Water Resources 3.276
Coal 3.214 The Background 3.276
Petroleum and Natural Gases 3.214 Man’s Need for Water 3.276
Renewable Energy Sources and The Exhaustion of Current Supplies 3.276
Technologies3.216 Consequences of Water Shortages 3.276
Atomic Energy 3.216 International Water Disputes 3.277
Mineral Resources of India 3.217 Impacts of Climate Change 3.277
Distribution of Minerals 3.217 Climate Change: Background
Other Minerals 3.218 and Approach 3.277
Greenhouse Gases, Radiative Forcing
Miscellaneous 3.219 and Global Warming 3.278
Important Lines and Boundaries 3.219 IPCC—AR4 3.278
IPCC – AR5 3.278
Multiple-Choice Questions 3.222 Global Cooperation to Reduce GHG
Original UPSC-Civil Services Questions 3.231 Emissions3.279
Miscellaneous Exercises 3.235 Global Warming Potential
(100-year Time Horizon) 3.279
Carbon Footprint of Countries 3.280
Environmental Ecology Low-Carbon Inclusive Growth 3.280
National Mission for a Green India 3.280
1 Ecology and Environment 3.249 Sequestration and Emission
Ecosystem and Biosphere 3.249 Neutralisation3.280
Mission Objectives 3.281
Community and Ecosystem Dynamics 3.249
Mission Targets (Outputs) 3.281
The Biosphere 3.251
Key Elements Of Mission Strategy 3.281
Important Phenomena in Biosphere 3.252
Ecosystems as Environmental Support Multiple-Choice Questions 3.282
Systems3.254 Original UPSC-Civil Services Questions 3.285
Pollution 3.254
Air, Water, Soil and Noise Pollution 3.255 3 Biodiversity 3.286
Important Environmental Standards
in India 3.257 Introduction 3.286
Understanding Biodiversity 3.286
Multiple-Choice Questions 3.260 Estimates of Biodiversity 3.286
Original UPSC-Civil Services Questions 3.269 Biodiversity and Agrobiodiversity 3.288

Contents v
Endangered Species 3.288 Protected Areas Network 3.306

Vulnerable Species 3.288 Threats to Indian Biodiversity 3.308
Causes of Extinction 3.289 Multiple-Choice Questions 3.309
Habitat Loss, Degradation or Alteration 3.289 Original UPSC-Civil Services Questions 3.309
Overexploitation 3.289
The Endangered Species 5 OTHER CURRENT
Convention (Cites) 3.289
The Options for Rare Species
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 3.311
Conservation3.290 Trends in World Population 3.311
Ex situ Conservations 3.290 Concerns Over Population Growth 3.311
In Situ Conservation 3.290 Unsustainable Natural Resources 3.311
Welfare Problems in Captivity 3.290 Disease and Poor Health 3.311
Habitats in Danger 3.291 EU Population Projections 3.312
Agents of Population Growth 3.312
Why are Habitats different? 3.291
The Trend to Urbanization 3.313
Threats to Habitats 3.291
Global Ocean Resources 3.313
Short Notes on India’s Biodiversity 3.293
Introduction 3.313
India and Like-Minded Mega Diverse
Marine Fisheries and Aquaculture 3.313
Countries (LMMCs)3.294
Maximum Sustainable Yield 3.314
India and Convention On Biological
Exploitation and Over-Exploitation 3.314
Diversity (CBD) 3.294
Aquaculture 3.314
National Policy and Macro-Level Action
Marine Biodiversity 3.314
Strategy on Biodiversity 3.294
Marine Habitats 3.315
The National Environment
Marine Mineral Wealth 3.315
Policy (NEP), 2006 3.294
Power from the Oceans 3.315
The National Forest Policy, 1988 3.294
Thermal Power 3.316
Formulation of National Biodiversity
Wind Power 3.316
Action Plan (NBAP) 3.294
Tidal Power 3.316
Environmental Protection in India 3.295
Ministry of Environment, Forest and The Hungry Planet 3.316
Climate Change (MoEFCC)3.295 The Background 3.316
National Biodiversity Strategy and Action The Paradox 3.316
Plan (NBSAP) 3.295 The Distribution of Hunger 3.317
Institutional Framework and Capacity the political aspect: the example of Africa 3.317
Building3.295 The Colonial Inheritance 3.317
Biodiversity Conservation 3.296 Charges and Counter-Charges 3.317
Habitat Destruction—Main Threat to Africa’s Poorest Nations 3.318
Biodiversity3.296 Global Hunger Index 3.318
Conservation of Medicinal Plants in India 3.296 Statistics on Hunger 3.320
Unsustainable Exploitation of Biodiversity Life-Expectancy Rates 3.320
Resources3.297 Problems in Zimbabwe and South Africa 3.320
The Underground Biodiversity 3.297 Searching for Solutions 3.320
Economic Valuation and Natural Resource Africa and the Developed World 3.321
Accounting3.297 Current Developments 3.321
Future Aid Requirements 3.321
Multiple-Choice Questions 3.298
Millennium Development Goals 3.321
Original UPSC-Civil Services Questions 3.300
Food Price Volatility 3.322
Changes in EU Agriculture 3.322
4 India’s Natural Vegetation The Bio Fuel Factor 3.323
and Biodiversity 3.301 Global Food Riots 3.323
The Uncertain Future 3.323
Natural Vegetation and Biodiversity 3.301
Forests 3.301 Global Human Migration 3.323
Marine Environments 3.303 Introduction 3.323
India’s Biodiversity 3.303 The Origins of Man 3.323

vi Contents
Tracking Migration 3.324 National Missions 3.350

Physiology and Ethnicity 3.324 Environment Pollution (Prevention
Waves of Invaders 3.324 Control) Authority for the National
The Causes of Migration: Economic Capital Region 3.350
and Social 3.324 Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) 3.350
Migration and the Land 3.325 National Water Quality Monitoring
Migration and Military Strength 3.325 (NWQM)3.351
Contemporary Migration 3.325 National River Conservation
Sustainable Development Goals Plan (NRCP) 3.352
and Targets-2015 3.326 Genetic Engineering Approval
Committee3.352
Multiple-Choice Questions 3.333
National Air Quality Monitoring
Original UPSC-Civil Service Questions 3.335
Programme (NAMP) 3.352
ECOMARK Scheme 3.352
6 AGROBIODIVERSITY 3.336
Agrobiodiversity in India 3.336 National Wetland Conservation
and Management Programme
Indigenous Crops 3.336 (NWCMP) 3.353
Crops Introduced and Naturalised 3.337
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 3.353
Diversity in Crops 3.337
Genetic Engineering Clearances 3.354
Diversity in Other Economic Plants 3.337
Water Pollution Rules and Regulations 3.354
Sustainable Use of Agrobiodiveristy 3.338
Air Pollution Rules and Regulations 3.354
Concern for Loss of Agro-biodiversity 3.338
Public Liability Insurance 3.354
Conservation and Management of National Environment Appellate
AGRO Biodiversity/Plant Genetic Authority (NEAA) 3.354
Resource (PGR) 3.339 National Environment Tribunal 3.354
Conservation Approaches 3.339 National Green Tribunal (NGT) 3.354
Ex Situ Conservation3.339 Animal Welfare 3.355
In Situ on Farm Conservation 3.341 Wildlife 3.355
Community Recognition and Reward 3.342 Forest Conservation 3.355
The Indian National Gene Bank3.342 Biodiversity 3.355
National Bureau of Plant Genetic The Municipal Solid Wastes (Management
Resources (NBPGR) 3.343 and Handling) Rules, 2000 3.355
National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBAP) 3.356
Multiple-Choice Questions 3.344 Forest Certification 3.356
Original UPSC-Civil Service Questions 3.344 Carbon Neutrality 3.357
Ex-ante Versus Ex-post Credits 3.357
7 INDIA’S ENVIRONMENTAL Gold Standard (GS) 3.357
EFFORTS3.345 Voluntary Carbon Standard 2007 (VCS) 3.357
Ministry of Environment, Forest and The Climate, Community and Biodiversity
Climate Change (MoEFCC) 3.345 Standards (CCBS) 3.357
Social Carbon 3.358
Role of the Ministry 3.345
National Food Security Mission 3.358
Allocation of Business—MoEF 3.345
ISO 14000 3.358
National Environment Policy, 2006 3.346
Plastic Waste 3.358
Objectives of the National Environment
Recycled Plastics Manufacture and
Policy3.347
Usage Rules, 1999 (as amended, 2003) 3.359
Governing Principles for National
E-Waste 3.359
Environmental Policy 3.347
Governing Principles for National Original UPSC-Civil Services Questions 3.360
Environmental Policy 3.348
Appendix A – Data Tables3.361
Short Notes on Other Environmental
Authorities and Related Programmes 3.349 Appendix B – Short Notes3.376
National Action Plan on Climate
Change (NAPCC) 3.349 Miscellaneous Exercises 3.394

Geography
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1 generaL geography
introduCtion
Geography is a science that deals with all the elements to deal with a large amount of data and a large number of
found on the surface of the Earth. It also studies the variables objectively. Geographers, occasionally, gather data
distribution and arrangements of such elements. The term and propound a theory to explain what they have observed.
geography was first used by the Greek scholar Eratosthenes They apply quantitative methods to verify their theories. The
theories may be expressed as mathematical statements known
in the second century BC. The word means ‘Earth
as models. However, in geography, we do not expect theories
description’. Topics such as the environment of the Earth’s to be universally applicable.
surface and the relationship of humans to this environment
are included in the realm of geographic study. These may
include both physical and cultural geographic features. Systematic Geography
Physical Geography
Below given fields are included in the scope of physical
Geographic Features geography:
Geomorphology: It studies the form and structure of the
The climate of the Earth, land and water, and plant and animal surface of the Earth.
life are included under the physical geographical features.
Therefore, geography deals with the Earth’s surface features and
Climatology: It makes use of meteorology and deals with
their relationship with one another and forms meaningful spatial or climatic conditions.
regional patterns. It also considers those factors and the processes, Biogeography: It makes use of biology and is associated
which bring changes into these features, and their spatial patterns. with the distribution of plant and animal life.
Moreover, it deals with the implications of these changes for Soils geography: It deals with the distribution of soil.
human beings and on the activities that they go through. Hydrography: It deals with the distribution of seas, lakes,
rivers, and streams, and with their uses.
Oceanography: It studies the waves, tides, and currents of
BranChes of geography oceans and the ocean floor.
We can divide geography into two main branches, i.e. Cartography: It is the art of map making using graphic
systematic geography and regional geography. Systematic representation and measurement of the earth’s surface.
geography deals with the Earth’s individual physical and
Cultural Geography
cultural elements, while regional geography is associated
with different areas of the Earth, especially the distinctive It is also known as human geography because it involves
combinations of physical and cultural features that each human social life in relation to the physical Earth. One
region has and which differentiate one region from another. aspect of cultural geography is concerned with the industrial
Both the branches of geography are applied together and are use of the geographic environment, and is known as
interdependent on each other as the division is merely based economic geography. We study natural resources like
on approach. We further divide each branch into different mineral and oil deposits, forests, grazing lands and
fields that specialise in specific geographical aspect. farmlands, in relation to their position, productivity and
potential uses. Geographic studies help the manufacturing
sector by providing information regarding raw materials,
Analysing Geographic Information sources of labour, distribution of goods, etc. Marketing
studies involve plant locations and the sales potentials also
When mathematics or statistics are used in techniques to analyse rely on geographic studies. Moreover, the creation of
data, the techniques applied are referred to as quantitative transportation facilities, trade routes and resort areas also
methods. The quantitative methods facilitate geographers depend heavily on geographic studies.
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3.4 Geography
Cultural geography also makes use of political record the results of geographic studies and examine the
geography, an application of political science. Political information to achieve his aim. Geographers use different
geography is concerned with human social activities in techniques and tools to achieve these objectives.
relation to the locations and boundaries of cities, nations and
groups of nations. Military geography facilitates military Collecting Data
commanders by providing information regarding areas of
Geographers can gather data in the field or from some other
their operations. Ethnography, historical geography, urban
sources, such as censuses, statistical surveys, maps, etc.
geography, demography and linguistic geography are some
Much advancement has been made in the field of aerial
other areas of cultural geography.
photography since the end of the Second World War. The
Regional Geography use of special films and techniques for getting 3D views of
the landscape aerially has helped geographers in performing
Regional geography deals with the differences and similarities more comprehensive studies of the Earth. Geographers also
among the different areas of the Earth. This subdivision of use radar, artificial satellites, underwater craft called
geography looks for factors for the variety among places by bathyspheres, and deep drilling into the Earth’s crust. These
examining the distinct combination of factors that differentiate instruments help them in getting information about the
these regions. Regional geographers also apply micro features of the Earth.
geography to study the development of a small area such as a
city. They can also concentrate on regions, known as macro-
divisions, such as the Polar region, or an entire continent. Mapping
Regional geographers distinguish between macro-divisions The map is a vital tool of geography which may be used to
depending on their cultural characteristics. Regional record both simple data and a complicated geographic
geographers may divide macro-divisions into many smaller study. Apart from providing rich factual information, the
areas that share specific characteristics. For instance they may map allows visual comparison between areas as it may be
take into account the language, the kind of agriculture or designed to show the location as well as the characteristics
economy, its population practices, terrain, etc. of geographic features of a region. A standard pattern of
map symbols has been developed by the geographers.
These symbols are helpful in identifying cultural features,
Methods of Studying Geography such as homes, factories, and churches; dams, bridges, and
The main objective of a geographer is to explain the human tunnels; railways, highways, and travel routes; and mines,
environment on Earth. He has to gather geographical data, farms, and grazing lands.
BASIC KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE EARTH
The Earth is one of the planets of the solar system. It is in ocean floors. The term lithosphere is derived from Greek
the third position from the sun and the fifth largest planet in and means ‘rock layer’. The lithosphere is approximately
the solar system. The mean distance of the Earth from the 70–100 km (44–62 mi) thick and lies above the layer
sun is 149.6 million. An oxygen-rich and protective known as the asthenosphere, which consists of softer, less
atmosphere, moderate temperatures, abundant water, and rigid, rocky material. Geologists regard the lithosphere
varied chemical composition allow Earth to support life; as the relatively cool, outermost layer of the planet and
it is the only planet to do so. The slightly oblate planet is view it as a rigid shell. Although the rock compositions
composed of rock and metal, which are present in molten of the crust and the upper mantle differ, geologists prefer
form beneath its surface. It is the only planet known to to view the two parts as a single unit because both are
brittle and they behave as a single mass in the motion of
support life, although some of the other planets have
the rocky plates that make up the Earth’s surface layer.
atmospheres and contain water.
(b) H ydrosphere The water surface, which includes
oceans, seas, rivers, and lakes, the hydrosphere is the
Spheres of the Earth’s Surface region of water at or near the Earth’s surface. It is dis-
The surface of the Earth has four distinct spheres, they are tinguished from the lithosphere (rocks), the biosphere
(a) L
ithosphere The top crust consists of the crust and the (living things), and the atmosphere (air). The total vol-
upper mantle, and it includes the land surface and the ume of water in the hydrosphere is approximately 1.5
billion kilometres (350 million mi), 99 per cent of which

General Geography 3.5
is contained in the continuous waters of the oceans and elements, such as silicon, aluminium, calcium, potassium,
seas. The remaining part is divided among groundwater, sodium, and oxygen, comprise the outer crust. The layers
glaciers and ice sheets, freshwater lakes, water vapour, are (i) the crust, (ii) the upper mantle, (iii) the lower mantle,
and rivers and streams. The Earth’s water circulates and (iv) the outer core, and (v) the inner core. There is the
interacts in the hydrologic cycle, whereby the water falling Mohorovicic discontinuity between the crust and the upper
as rain runs off as rivers into the oceans and evaporates mantle; the transition zone between the upper mantle and
back into the atmosphere. the lower mantle; and the Gutenberg discontinuity between
(c) Atmosphere The cover of air that envelopes the Earth’s the lower mantle and the outer core. Each layer has its own
surface, the atmosphere, is nearly the transparent envelope characteristics and chemical composition.
of gases and suspended particles that surrounds the Earth.
It profoundly influences the environmental conditions on
the planet’s surface. Without chemical processes involving Internal Heat Flow
several of the atmospheric gases, life could not exist. The
physical processes that operate in the atmosphere are also Intense heat from the inner core is continually radiated outward,
of vital importance because they are responsible for the through the several concentric shells that form the solid portion
Earth’s varied climates. of the planet. The source of this heat is thought to be energy
(d) Biosphere The sphere where life exists, and is spread released by the radioactive decay of uranium and other
over all the above three spheres, the Earth’s biosphere, the radioactive elements. Convection currents within the mantle
zone capable of supporting and sustaining life, is a thin transfer most of this heat energy from deep within the Earth to
envelope extending 8–10 km above the planet’s surface the surface and are the driving force behind continental drift.
Convective flow supplies hot, molten rock to the worldwide
and, in general, a few metres below it into the soil. (In
system of mid-ocean ridges and feeds the lava that erupts from
fact, micro-organism have been found to exist at depths volcanoes on land.
of several hundred metres beyond this, in sedimentary
materials, but scientists have now only begun to study this
strange ecosystem in detail.) All the Earth’s organisms
eventually owe their existence to the Sun’s energy and
its interactions with the elements and compounds of the
Earth’s Magnetic Field
biosphere. The Earth’s average air temperature permits
Earth’s core is the source of the planet’s magnetic field. Most
reactions essential for life to take place. The patterns of
scientists believe that the motion of several convection cells
growth in various areas of the Earth are determined by (large blobs moved by energy, such as heat and gravity) in
such things as water, light, altitude and soil composition. the molten, iron-rich material of the outer core generates and
Different patterns form large units called biomes. maintains the Earth’s magnetism. These convection cells are also
affected by the Earth’s rotation on its axis. As the iron moves
in the convection cells, it interacts with the magnetic field. This
shape of the earth interaction results in an electric current, which generates its own
magnetic field. The magnetic field round the Earth proves that
The diameter of the Earth, measured around the equator, is
the interior of the Earth should be composed of the magnetic
about 12,742 km. The Earth is an oblate spheroid (ball material like Iron and Nickel.
flattened at the poles), that is, almost spherical, flattened a
little at the poles with a slight bulge at the centre (equator).
Hence, it is flat at the poles. Because of this flattening, the
diameter of the Earth measured around the north pole and
The Crust
the south pole is about 12,713–43 km less than the The crust is the outermost layer of the Earth. It is solid and
equatorial diameter. relatively thin layer, and it lies below both landmasses and
oceans. The average thickness of the solid crust of the Earth
varies as beneath the ocean, the crust has an average
struCture of the earth thickness of only 8 km, whereas beneath the continents the
The Earth is made up of a number of concentric layers of thickness average is more than 3 times as much the oceans.
material as in the bulb of an onion. These series of layers The dry land of Earth’s surface is called the continental
were formed early in the planet’s history, as heavier material crust. It is about 30–50 km thick. The oceanic crust is
gravitated towards the centre and lighter material floated to thinner than the continental crust. Its average thickness is
the surface. The dense, solid, inner core of iron is surrounded 5–10 km. The crust is very thin in relation to the rest of the
by a liquid, iron-rich metallic alloy outer core. The lower Earth. If a trip to the centre of the Earth at 100 km/h were
mantle consists of molten rock, partially molten rock in the possible, it would take 64 h, of which only the first 15–45
asthenosphere and solid rock in the upper mantle and crust. min would be in the crust.
There are chemical or structural changes that form Altogether, the crust makes up less than 1 per cent of the
discontinuities between crust, mantle and core. Lighter Earth’s volume and about 0.4 per cent of the Earth’s weight.

3.6 Geography
Discontinuities in Earth’s Structure contained in the asthenosphere are partially molten. And it
is on this part that the top crust of the Earth carrying the
There are sudden changes of the physical properties of continents and oceans rests. Large scale deformation of the
various layers of the Earth, and the physical properties of mantle results in plate tectonics at the surface and the
various layers do not change imperceptibly. The sudden related phenomenon of earthquakes and volcanoes.
change of physical properties between the layers of the
Earth is known as discontinuity. Some of the well-known
discontinuities are:
Transition Zone
Conard discontinuity lies between the outer and the inner The zone at a depth of about from 400 to 670 km is known as
crusts. the transition zone. In the transition zone, the minerals that
Mohorovicic Discontinuity lies between the crust and the make up the upper mantle undergo a process called phase
mantle. transition, in which they change in structure and form other
Repetti Discontinuity lies between the outer mantle and atomic arrangements. The pressures at these depths compress
the inner mantle. the minerals into more compact forms. For example, olivine
Gutenbern-Wiechert (or simply the Gutenberg) is compressed into the mineral spinel, in which the atoms are
Discontunity lies between the mantle and the core of the packed closer together. By the bottom of the transition zone,
Earth. the spinel has undergone another phase transition to the
Transition Discontinuity lies between the outer and inner mineral perovskite. With each phase transition, the rock
core. becomes denser and seismic waves travel through it faster.
This transition at 670 km also corresponds to the lowest
Mohorovicic Discontinuity depths at which earthquakes have been recorded.
The crust has a definite boundary. This boundary, called the
Inner core
Mohorovicic discontinuity, or simply the Moho, after the Outer core
Gutenberg
Croatian geologist Andrija Mohorovicic, separates the crust Discontinuity
Lithosphere
from the underlying upper mantle. Mohorovicic discovered Lower mantle
Asthenosphere
Transition zone
the boundary in 1909, when he observed that earthquake Upper mantle Transition Zone
Mohorovicic
waves do not pass through the Earth’s interior in a straight Discontinuity
line but change course at a certain depth below the surface. Crust
He believed that the point at which these waves change

course marked the boundary between the crust and the
mantle. He deduced that earthquake was centred in an outer
layer of the Earth’s crust and that the fast waves had travelled
through an inner layer, the mantle.
FIG. 1.1(A) An Outline of the Internal Structure of the Earth
Gutenberg Discontinuity
The mantle is separated from the crust by the Mohorovicic
discontinuity and from the core by another sharp boundary
Lower Mantle
known as the Gutenberg discontinuity. This boundary is The mantle below 670 km is called the lower mantle. The
named after the German-born American seismologist Beno lower mantle may consist of magnesium, silicon and iron.
Gutenberg. The Gutenberg discontinuity lies at a depth of Unlike the upper mantle, this region does not change much
about 2,900 km. Both boundaries were discovered by using in composition or phase as it gets deeper. It is more dense
the fact that when an earthquake or seismic wave reaches a than the upper mantle because of the increase in pressure.
sharp boundary between two materials with different Knowledge of the mantle remains partial, but much has
densities or elastic properties, some of the wave’s energy been learned from overthrust fragments of oceanic crust in
bounces, or reflects, off the surface. In addition, seismic the mountains around the Pacific margin, for example, the
waves may bend, or refract, as they cross a boundary. Coast Ranges of California. It is the single largest uniform
region of the interior.
Upper Mantle
Below the crust is the mantle, composed of several layers, The Inner and Outer Core
which is about 2,900 km in thickness. It is a shell of red-hot The core is the innermost part of the Earth. It extends from
rocks composed of silicate materials, rich in magnesium beneath the mantle to the very centre of the planet. The
and iron. The mantle is partly fluid. The Earth’s inner core radius of the core is approximately 3,500 km (2,200 mi).
is believed to be solid and is of a depth of about 1,370 km. This radius is larger than the radius of the planet Mars. The
It is made up of iron and nickel, which accounts for the core forms approximately one-third of the Earth’s total
Earth’s magnetism. The upper part of the mantle is called mass and about one-sixth of its volume. At the earliest
the asthenosphere, which is about 250 km thick. The rocks stages of its formation, the Earth was basically a mixture of

km/ml
Deepest part in the ocean : Challenger Deep (Pacific
Ocean) in the ‘Mariana’s
phere
20/12 crust
40/25 upper mantle
100/60 asthenosphere Trench’, east of the
Lithos
250/155 upper mantle Philippines, 10,900 m
km/ml
40/25
crust below sea level
Asth
eno
700/435 sphe
re
Upper
mantle
Scientists have learned about the core by measuring
seismic waves. Seismic waves originate in earthquakes.
Lower mantle The way these waves travel through the interior of the Earth
e
reveals the nature of materials inside the planet, including in

0
urfac
/180
the core. The principle behind using seismic waves to study

om s
2900
Gutenberg
discontinuity
the internal structure of the Earth is similar to using X-rays
nce fr
to study the human body. A detailed view of the human

Dista
Outer Core
(molten) body can be obtained using modern CAT (computerised
axial tomography) scanning machines, which transmit
5200/3200 X-rays while rotating around the body. A CAT scan, thus,
Inner core yields a three-dimensional image of the inside of a person’s
(Solid) body. Geologists use a similar approach in obtaining images
of the interior of the Earth using seismic tomography.
FIG. 1.1(B) Internal Structure of the Earth
Scientists collect data from thousands of recording stations
gas and dust. Over millions of years, the planet took shape that are sensitive to earthquakes. The recorded seismic
and solidified. At some point, as more material accumulated, data is analysed and combined by a computer to produce
the whole planet reached extremely high temperatures and images of the Earth’s interior. This technology has provided
changed into a liquid. Geologists believe that at this time scientists with a picture of the Earth’s interior. Seismic
the different elements in the planet separated. In the process studies indicate that the core consists of two parts: a solid
of separation, the heavier elements (such as iron and nickel) inner core and a molten outer core. The outer core extends
sank to the centre, and the lighter elements (such silicon from about 2,900 to 5,200 km below the surface. The inner
and aluminium) rose to the surface. core extends from about 5,200 km to the centre of the Earth,
at a depth of about 6,400 km. The Earth’s core experiences
pressures that are millions of times greater and temperatures
that are thousands of degrees higher than those at the
Important Data About The Earth
surface. Core temperatures range from 4,000°C to 5,000°C.
Scientists cannot retrieve samples from the core because
Diameter : At the equator (12,755 km)
the temperatures and pressures are so high. However,
At the poles (12,712 km)
scientists believe that the core consists primarily of heavy
Mean diameter : 12,734 km
elements such as iron and nickel. This composition of the
Circumference : At the equator (40,075 km)
At the poles—Meridianal
core is believed to be similar to that of stony meteorites,
(40,024 km) which geologists think may have provided the material
Equatorial radius : 6,377 km for the Earth’s core. Scientists estimate that the core is
Total surface area : 51,01,00,500 km
extremely dense—about 13.5 times as dense as water. A
Total land area (29.08%) : 14,89,50,800 km2
high concentration of iron in the core is believed to account
for the high density and magnetism of the Earth.
Total water area (70.92%) : 36,11,49,700 km
The core and the mantle are about equal in thickness,
Total mass of the Earth : 5,880 × 1021 tonnes
the core actually forms only 15 per cent of the Earth’s
Total volume of the Earth : 10,83,20,88,40,000 km3
volume, whereas the mantle occupies 84 per cent. The crust
Mean depth of hydrosphere : 3,554 m
makes up remaining 1 per cent of the Earth’s volume.
Mean distance from the Sun : 14,94,07,000 km
Approximate age of the Earth : 4,600 million years
Time of rotation on its own axis : 23 h 56 min and 4.09 s Nife, Sima and Sial
Period of revolution : 365 days 6 h 9 min and
round the Sun 9.54 s Based on the relative density of rocks the geographers divide
Highest point : Mt Everest (8,848 m above the Earth into three main layers:
mean sea level)
(i) Core: The central region of the Earth, has rocks that are
Lowest point : Shores of Dead Sea
composed of Nickle and Iron (or Ferrous) known as Nife, and
(on the Earth’s surface) (Israel, Jordan) 396 m below
the relative densities of these rocks are the highest.
sea level

3.8 Geography
(ii) Middle Layer: It is all around the core and has rocks economics and economic geology, minerals may be
that are made of Silicon and Magnesium known as practically anything of value extracted from the Earth,
Sima, and has a lower density (between 2.90 and including petroleum and natural gas (which are not minerals
4.75). Basalt is an example of Sima. according to the above geological definition, being neither
(iii) Outer Layer: It surrounds the middle layer, and rocks inorganic nor solid). Minerals comprise the vast majority of
in this layer are made of Silicon and Aluminium, known
the material of the solid Earth. Aside from air, water and
as Sial, and have a relative density between 2.75 and
2.90 only). Granite is an example of Sial. organic matter, practically the only non-minerals in Earth,
as a whole, are molten rocks (magmas) and their solid
glassy equivalents. Crystalline rocks themselves, and even
CoMposition of the earth soils for the most part, consist of aggregates of minerals.
Almost all inorganic substances that are used by or of value
The rocks of the lithosphere have an average density of
to humans are derived from minerals. Over 4900 [(with
2.7 g/cm3 and are mainly made up of 11 elements, which
about 4660) these approved by the International Mineral
together account for about 99.5 per cent of its mass. Titanium,
Organization(IMO)] minerals are currently known, and
hydrogen, and phosphorus (totalling less than 1 per cent) are
about 50 new ones are discovered each year. Most gems are
the other three elements. In addition, 11 other elements are
minerals, though some, such as opal, are mineraloids.
present in trace amounts of 0.1–0.02 per cent. These elements,
in order of abundance, are carbon, manganese, sulphur,
barium, chlorine, chromium, fluorine, zirconium, nickel, geoLogiCaL history
strontium and vanadium. The elements are present in the of the earth
lithosphere almost entirely in the form of compounds rather
than in their free state. These compounds exist almost entirely Geological Time
in the crystalline state, so they are, by definition, minerals. One of the most important discoveries of modern science
has been the age of the Earth and the vast length of time
encompassed by its history. Geological history of the Earth
Earth’s Crust Composition refers to the evolutionary sequence in which the geological
events occurred since the evolution of planet Earth. Long
This pie chart shows percentages of the most abundant elements before geologists could date rocks, they were able to make
in the Earth’s crust. a time-scale of the Earth’s history in which they divided
(a) Oxygen—46.6% (f) Sodium—2.83% time periods into various years, periods and epochs. The
(b) Silicon—27.72% (g) Potassium—2.59% scale of this history, in the millions and billions of years, is
(c) Aluminium—8.13% (h) Magnesium—2.09% recognised as geologic time. The largest division of
(d) Iron—5.0% (i) Other elements—1.41% geologic time is called an eon. Eons are divided into eras,
(e) Calcium—3.63% which are divided into periods. An epoch, the next division,
is further divided into stages. Earlier, the timings of main
geological events in the Earth’s evolution could only be
guessed, but now many events can be assigned dates
obtained by studying radioactivity. The Earth is believed to
have originated some 4.54 billion years ago.
Epochs of the Tertiary Period
(a) The Paleocene Epoch is the lowermost and oldest

epoch of the Tertiary Period of geologic time. It began
Minerals 65 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous
Period and the Mesozoic era and ended 54.8 million
A mineral is a natural, homogeneous, inorganic solid with years ago at the beginning of the Eocene Epoch, lasting
a crystalline atomic structure. Crystallinity implies that a a total of 10.2 million years.
mineral has a definite and limited range of composition, (b) The Eocene Epoch is the second oldest division of the
and that the composition is expressible as a chemical Tertiary Period. It is the middle period of the Paleogene
formula. Some substances that do not satisfy all these Period, a term used by some geologists for the lower of
conditions, such as metallic liquid mercury, are commonly two subdivisions of the Tertiary Period. The Eocene Epoch
began 54.8 million years ago and ended 33.7 million
considered in the realm of minerals but should more
years ago, lasting 21.1 million years; it was the longest
properly be designated as mineraloids. The word ‘mineral’ epoch of the tertiary. In India, the Kutch, Rajasthan,
may have different meanings in non-mineralogical sciences. eastern Puducherry, and Gujarat show some deposits of
In nutrition, it may mean any non-organic element. In the Eocene Epoch.

(c) The Oligocene Epoch is the middle epoch of -000

the geologic time in the Tertiary Period. It is also the
uppermost epoch of the Paleogene Period. It began 33.7
million years ago, at the end of the Eocene Epoch, and
ended 23.8 million years ago at the beginning of the
Miocene Epoch, lasting for a total of 9.9 million years. Pre-Cambrian
5’3
570
(d) The Miocene Epoch is the second-youngest epoch
Cambrian
of the geologic time in the Tertiary Period. It is also the 600
lowermost epoch of the Neogene Period. It began 23.8 Ordovican
Paleozoicera
430
million years ago, at the end of the Oligocene Epoch, Silurian
Time in million years

353
and ended 5.3 million years ago, at the beginning of the Devonian
Pliocene Epoch, thus, lasting for about 18.5 million years. Carboniferous
(e) The Pliocene Epoch is the uppermost subdivision 280
Permian
of the Tertiary Period of geologic time. It is also the 220
Mesozoicera
Triassic Period
uppermost epoch of the Neogene Period. It began
100
5.3 million years ago, at the end of the Miocene Epoch, Jurassic Period
and ended 1.8 million years ago, at the beginning of 135
Cretaceous Period
the Pleistocene Epoch of the Quaternary Period, lasting 65
a total of 3.5 million years. The Pliocene encompasses a Paleocene
63
relatively short interval of time, but as it is more recent, it Eocene
37
provides a more complete record of events than do more
a
Oligocene
icer
ancient periods or epochs. Tertiary 26
ozo
period Miocene
12
Cen
Pliocene
1
Relative Time Scale Quarternary
period
Pleistocene
0.5
The relative time scale comprises four major intervals, Holocene (Recent)
U
called eras. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries, scientists, in an attempt to determine the Earth’s FIG. 1.2 Geological History of Earth (4,600 million years ago)
age, measured the present rates of physical processes and
tried to extrapolate these rates to the past. Estimates based The Paleozoic era contains six time-periods: (i) Cambrian
on the yearly addition of salt to the oceans yielded ages of period, (ii) Ordovician period, (iii) Silurian period, (iv)
about 90 million years, whereas others based on the rate of Devonian period, (v) Carboniferous period, and (vi) Permian
accumulation of sedimentary rock ranged from 3 to 500 period. The geological events of importance are life comes
million years. These methods were fraught with ashore, Caledonian mountains rise, Appalachians and Central
uncertainties and unproved assumptions. Thus, the English European mountains come up, etc.
physicist Lord Kelvin resurrected Buffon’s methods and, MesoZoiC era This era started about 225 million years ago
using better data, calculated that the Earth had existed for and concluded about 65 million years ago. This includes three
25–100 million years. Kelvin also reasoned that the Earth main periods: (i) Triassic period, (ii) Jurassic period and (iii)
and the sun had been formed at the same time, and that, Cretaceous period. The main events can be listed as Urals rise
given conventional energy sources, the Sun could have up, Pangaea starts to break up (200–180 million years ago)
emitted energy at its present rate for only about 40 million and North Atlantic starts to open up, South Atlantic starts to
years. Geologists and biologists familiar with the geologic open up (140–135 million years ago) and India splits from
and fossil records regarded these figures as being far too Antarctica (100 million years ago).
low, but they lacked the quantitative data necessary to
refute Kelvin. Since then, the timings of the main geological CenoZoiC era This era is the last in the classification and
events in the Earth’s history can be categorised as follows: it starts its assigned date about 65 million years ago, after the
Mesozoic era. Geologists are most concerned with the epochs
pre-CaMBrian era This era marks the origin of the Earth of the Cenozoic era, which is the most recent era. Earlier
some 4,600 million years ago and ends 570 million years ago, geologic eras often include epochs, but only the epochs of
as shown in the Figure 1.2. The various events that occurred the Cenozoic era provide enough evidence to separate them
in this era include formation of crust, continents and oceans; from each other distinctly. This era is made up of two periods:
birth of the oldest known rock (3,900 million years old); (i) the Tertiary Period and (ii) the Quaternary Period. In this era,
origin of life (about 3,300 million years ago); and formation the periods were further divided into epochs of significance.
of the present day atmosphere. This is the longest era in the
(a) The Tertiary Period contains the following five epochs: (i)
classification of the history of the Earth.
Paleocene, (ii) Eocene, (iii) Oligocence, (iv) Miocence,
paLeoZoiC era Pre-Cambrian era ends around 570 million and (v) Pliocene.
years ago and from there starts Paleozoic era. This era lasts (b) The Quaternary period can be divided into two epochs:
till 225 million years time-mark (as shown in the Fig. 1.2). (i) Pleistocene and (ii) Holocene.

3.10 Geography
The current time can be put into the Cenozoic era, earth’s MoveMents
Quaternary Period and Holocene Epoch. The main
developments in this era are formation of the Rockies; The planet Earth exhibits a number of different motions.
Australia splits away from Antarctica; India collides with The most familiar of these are its rotation, or spinning on an
Asia and formation of the Himalayas; and the Alps. axis, and its revolution, or passage around the sun. The
Earth’s rotation is a daily motion, whereas revolution is an
(a) The Tertiary Period is the older of two periods in the
Cenozoic era of geologic time. The period began 65
annual motion, that is, the Earth takes 1 day to turn once on
million years ago, at the close of the Cretaceous Period its axis and 1 year to complete one orbit around the sun.
of the Mesozoic era. It ended 1.8 million years ago,
with the beginning of the Pleistocene Epoch of the Rotation
Quaternary Period. Because of their relative youth,
fewer tertiary rocks have been eroded away than rocks The Earth spins on its own imaginary axis from west to east
of other periods. Thus, tertiary rocks cover one-third of once in 24 h (in precisely 23 h 56 min and 40.91 s). It is also
the Earth’s surface presently occupied by Phanerozoic called diurnal or daily motion. The axis is an imaginary line
sedimentary rocks, more than the rocks of any other that runs from north to south and passes through the centre
system. They make up 20.2 per cent of the total volume of the Earth. It always remains inclined at an angle of 66½°
of sedimentary rocks, twice as great as the volume of to the plane of the Earth’s orbit.
sedimentary rocks of any other geological period in
the Phanerozoic era. one day A day is a period of 24 h. The length of the hours
(b) The Quaternary is the current period of geologic time. is determined by the length of the day, and the length of the
This period began approximately 1.7 million years ago day is defined in astronomical terms. That is, the time interval
and is still on. As originally defined (1829) by Jules Pierre from when the Sun or a given star passes directly overhead to
Francois, the term embraced a heterogeneous assemblage when it next passes directly overhead, is defined as one solar
of rocks and essentially corresponded to the Miocene, day or one sidereal day, respectively. Because of the Earth’s
Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Recent epochs of the modern orbital motion, the sun appears to move eastward nearly 1°
era. The Quaternary subsequently came to connote deposits (about 0.986°) each day, on an average, with respect to the
of the most recent ice ages, but this definition has been stars. This means that the apparent solar day averages about
shown to be superfluous, as most glacial deposits date 3 min 56 s longer than the sidereal day. Apparent solar days
well back into the preceding Tertiary Period, at least on the are not of equal length on the Earth, however, because of
continent of Antarctica. The Quaternary is now customar- the tilt of the Earth’s axis and its variable orbital speed. Two
ily subdivided into a Pleistocene Epoch and a postglacial successive apparent solar days can vary by as much as 30 s.
Holocene or Recent Epoch; the boundary between these For that reason, when clocks and watches came into general
two epochs lies at approximately 10,000 (radiocarbon) use, mean solar time was introduced for civil purposes. A
years ago. During the Quaternary Period, the Earth has mean solar day has the average length of all the apparent
experienced numerous glacial-interglacial cycles and solar days that make up a year. The difference between
witnessed the evolution of modern Homo sapiens from apparent and mean solar time, known as the equation of
protohuman hominid ancestors, as well as the relatively time, reaches a maximum of about 16.3 min on or about
recent extinction of a large number of mammal species. November 1. In common usage, day, as distinct from night,
is the period of natural light between dawn and dusk. The
period of daylight, most nearly constant near the equator,
Epochs of the Quarternary Period varies with the latitude and the season, reaching a maximum
of 24 h in the polar zones in summer, a phenomenon known
(a) The Pleistocene Epoch which began about 1.7 mil- as the midnight sun.
lion years ago, and the Recent Epoch together comprise
the Quaternary Period. The boundary between these ep- Vertical
ochs lies about 10,000 years ago, at the beginning of the Axis
interval of warming after the last Pleistocene glaciation. 23½°
(b) The Recent Epoch comprises events that have taken
place in the recent past, and thus the materials that have Equator
½°
been deposited during the past 10,000 years. It is the 66
23½°
uppermost epoch of the Quaternary Period in the Tertiary

Period and immediately follows the end of the Pleistocene Plane of Ecliptic
Epoch. The beginning of the Recent Epoch was estab-
lished in 1969 as 10,000 years ago in radiocarbon years
by the International Association for Quaternary Research.
This is now usually taken to mean 10,000 years before
the present, with the ‘present’ defined as year 1950. Most
geologists now accept this boundary.
FIG. 1.3 Inclination of Earth’s Axis

effeCts of rotation (i) Formation of day and night; (ii) effeCts of revoLution The Earth’s revolution causes a
the position of a place on the Earth can be fixed; (iii) change in change in seasons. Seasons are one of the four divisions of the
the direction of wind and ocean currents. year, defined by the position of the Earth in its orbit around
Longest Day and Night the sun. The seasons—winter, spring, summer, and autumn or
■ Longest day (shortest night) June 21 (northern hemisphere), fall—are characterised by differences in average temperature
December 22 (southern hemisphere) and in the amount of timethat the sun is in the sky each day.
■ Shortest day (longest night) December 21 (northern Causes of Change in seasons (i) Revolution of the
hemisphere), June 21 (southern hemisphere) Earth around the sun; (ii) A fixed inclination (tilt) of the
Earth’s axis at 66½° to the plane of its orbit.
Revolution
While rotating on its axis, the Earth also revolves around Equal Days and Nights
the sun along an almost circular path (elliptical) called its
orbit. This journey of the Earth around the sun is called a Days and nights are equal at the equator throughout the year,
revolution. It is also called annual motion or yearly motion because the circle of illumination always divides the equator into
because it takes one solar year to complete the journey, that two equal parts.
Days and Nights in India Longer days and shorter nights
is, 365¼ days or 365 days 6 h 49 min and 9.54 s.
in June; shorter days and longer nights in December.
one year A year is a division of time defined basically by the
The Four Seasons The annual motion of the Earth together
with its inclined axis, therefore, causes the four seasons of
period of revolution by the Earth about the sun. Various kinds
spring, summer, autumn and winter.
of astronomical years and calendar years have been defined.
(a) Spring On March 21, the sun is directly overhead
The astronomical year of chief importance is the tropical year,
the equator. This is the season of spring in the north
which is the time interval between successive occurrences of temperate zone.
the spring equinox. Its length is now about 365.2422 mean
(b) Summer On June 21, the sun is directly overhead
solar or civil days, the number decreasing very slowly as a the Tropic of Cancer. Thus, the north temperate zone
result of small, progressive changes in the Earth’s rotational experiences summer.
speed and its orbit about the sun. The seasons repeat, on the (c) Autumn On September 23, the sun returns to the
average, in this interval. The sidereal year, determined by the equator, and the north temperate zone experiences the
Earth’s position with respect to the stars, is 365.25636 mean season of autumn.
solar days. It is longer than the tropical year because it is not (d) Winter On December 21, the sun is at the Tropic of
subject to the shortening effects of precession. The Gregorian Capricorn, and the north temperate zone experiences winter.
solar calendar contains 365 days in a common year and 366 In the south temperate zone, the seasons are the reverse of
in a leap year; the average is 365.2425. Attempts to establish those mentioned above, at the same time of the year.
a better leap-year rule than the Gregorian are of little value
because of uncertain changes in the Earth’s speed of rotation.
The number of days in a year in a religious calendar may vary How Seasons Change?
widely. The Jewish lunar-solar calendar has days from 353 to
The Earth’s axis is inclined at an angle of 66½° to the plane
355 in a common year and 383 to 385 in a leap year, in a
of its orbit. As a result of this, the Earth is in different
19-year cycle. The Islamic lunar calendar, which does not have
positions while revolving round the sun. During the first
leap years, has either 354 or 355 days in a year. About 33.5
Islamic years equals 32.5 Gregorian years.
half of the year the northern hemisphere tilts towards the
sun, resulting in longer days and the season of summer in
N the region. During this period the southern hemisphere
Part of the Earth experiences winter. During the second half of the year the
facing the Sun
southern hemisphere tilts towards the sun, and thus
Summer in
the Northern December 22
experiences summer and the northern hemisphere
Hemisphere N March 21 experiences winter during this period. If the Earth’s axis
S Winter Solstice
Spring Equinox N
orvernal
was not tilted, each night and day everywhere on the Earth
would always be 12 h long and there would be no seasons.
S The axis of the planet Mars is also tilted with respect to the
S plane of Mars’s orbit around the sun, so Mars experiences
June 21 N S Winter in the seasons much like those of the Earth.
Summer Northern
Solstice Hemisphere
Part of the Earth
Equinoxes and Solstices
September 23
autumnal Equinox turned away from eQuinoXes Equinoxes are the two points of intersection
S the Sun between the ecliptic (the sun’s apparent annual path) and
FIG. 1.4 Revolution: Seasons in the Northern Hemisphere the celestial equator (the equator of the celestial sphere). The

3.12 Geography
two moments in the year when the sun is exactly over Summer Solstice Winter So
the equator, and day and night are, hence, of equal length, N
are the times of these equinoxes. In the northern hemisphere, Arc
Day
=2
4h Arc
tic C r
the vernal, or spring, equinox occurs about March 21, and the ircle
Day
>N
igh
autumnal equinox occurs about September 23. In the southern t
Day = Night Tro Day Tro

hemisphere, the seasons are reversed. Day
pi c of
Can
>N
igh
Day
=N
ight
p ic o
fC
cer t
<N
igh
t
Equ Day Day

Equ
NP NP ator =N <N a tor
ight igh
t
Sun Over Head Tro
Tr o pic o
pic Day fC
Anta of Cap <N Anta ap
rctic ric igh Sun Over Head rctic ricorn
Circ orn t
Da Circle
S Nig
ht = le y=
24 24h
hr r
S S
SP SP
Summer Solstice Winter Solstice
N N
FIG. 1.5 Northern Summer and SouthernDaSummer
y=
2
Nig
ht =
Arc 4 hr Arc 2
tic C Day tic C 4hr
ircle >N ircle
SOLSTICE The time of the year when the difference igh
t
between the lengthDay =of days and the

Night Tro length of
pic
of C
Day nights is the
>N D ay =
Tro
pic
an igh Nig of C
Day
largest is referred to as solstice. < NDuringcerthese days, the
igh
t ht anc
er
t
sun shines vertically over a tropic. On or around June 21, Equ
E
the north pole tilts towards the sunquand ator it Dshines
ay =
Nig
ht
directly Day
<N
igh
ato
r
t Day = Night
over the Tropic of Cancer. This Tr o is called summer solstice.
pic Day
Sun Over Head T r o pic
of
of C Anta Capri
On or around December 22, the A n t arct Eartha p
ic C ricorn
is atighthe
<N
t
opposite Sun Over Head rctic c orn
Nig ircle Da Circle
end of its orbit. The south pole ht =tilts
24 towards the sun and y=
24h
r
h
the north pole away from it. This S is rcalled winter solstice. S
In the northern hemisphere, days are longer and nights are
shorter during the summer solstice, and alternately the days FIG. 1.7 Earth at the Solstices
are shorter and nights are longer during the winter solstice,
whereas it is reverse in the case of the southern hemisphere.
The hemisphere, most tilted towards the sun on the solstice, Length of Day and Temperature
experiences its longest day of sunlight and its shortest night. The changes in temperature and in the length of daylight
The other hemisphere experiences its shortest day of sunlight that accompany the seasons differ greatly at different
and its longest night. The seasons have an unequal number latitudes. At the poles, summer is 3 months of daylight and
of days because the Earth’s orbit is slightly elliptical, or winter is 3 months of darkness. Near the equator, however,
oval shaped, and the sun is not exactly at the centre of the days and nights remain about 12 h long throughout the
orbit. The Earth moves slightly faster when it is close to the year. The Arctic and Antarctic circles, at latitude 66½° N
sun than when it is farther away, so the seasons that occur and 66½° S, respectively, mark the farthest points from the
when the Earth is close to the sun pass more quickly. The
poles at which there can be 24 h of daylight or 24 h of
Earth is closest to the sun in January and farthest away in
darkness. Midway between the poles and the equator, the
July, so the summer is longer than the winter in the northern
length of daylight varies from about 8 h in winter to about
hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere, the winter is longer
16 h in summer. The days when the sun is near the summer
than the summer.
solstice are not the hottest days of the year, even though the
hemisphere experiencing summer receives the greatest
amount of radiation from the sun then. The temperature
depends not only on the amount of heat that the atmosphere
receives, but also on the amount of heat that the atmosphere
loses through absorption by water and ground or through
reflection.
The Celestial Sphere

It is an imaginary sphere surrounding the Earth, on which
the stars seem to be placed and which seems to rotate from
east to west. Ancient astronomers believed this to be the
FIG. 1.6 Earth at the Equinoxes case, with the stars as crystal studs, or distant holes through

which fire is observed. The distance to the celestial sphere said to be in the gibbous phase. This phase comes when
is immaterial, although it is convenient to think of it as very three quarters of the moon appears illuminated, about
great. Usually, the Earth is put at its centre forming the 111/4 days after the new moon. The moon is said to be
so-called geocentric celestial sphere, the basis for the waning when it progresses from full to new, and to be
standard coordinate system in astronomy and astrophysics. waxing as it proceeds again to full. During the remaining
The axis of rotation of the Earth extends to meet this sphere 29 days synodic month, the same phases of the moon are
in the north and south celestial poles. The celestial equator repeated. Temperatures on the surface of the moon are
(or equinoctial) is the great circle midway between the extreme, ranging from a maximum of 127°C at lunar
poles. The yearly path of the sun across the celestial sphere noon to a minimum of −173°C just before lunar dawn.
is a great circle called the ecliptic. The points in the ecliptic
farthest north and south of the celestial equator are called
the summer and winter solstices. The points where the sun
Eclipses and Phases
crosses the equator, moving north or south, are called the of the Moon
vernal or autumnal equinoxes. Because of the Earth’s
rotation, the celestial sphere appears to rotate once every
Eclipses
sidereal day. This is about 4 min shorter than the mean solar Eclipse is defined as the obscuring of one celestial body by
day, because of the sun’s motion. another, particularly that of the sun or a planetary satellite.
When the light of the sun or the moon is obscured by
North Celestial Pole another body, the sun or the moon is said to be in eclipse.
Two kinds of eclipses involve the Earth: those of the moon,
North Ecliptic or lunar eclipses; and those of the sun, or solar eclipses.
Pole
Summer
Autumnal Solstice LUNAR ECLIPSE The moon is said to be in eclipse when
Equinox the Earth comes between the moon and the sun, and this is
Ecliptic called a lunar eclipse. The shadow cast by the Earth on the
moon is called an eclipse. Lunar eclipse occurs only on a full
moon day. However, it does not occur on every full moon day
because the moon is not in the same position in relation to the
Y 235° Earth and the sun on every full moon day.
Celestial
Vernal Equator SOLAR ECLIPSE The sun is said to be in eclipse when the
Equinox
Winter moon comes between the sun and the Earth. This is called
Solstice South Ecliptic solar eclipse. There is either a partial or total obstruction of the
Pole sun’s light when viewed from the Earth. A solar eclipse occurs
South Celestial Pole on a new moon day when the moon is in line with the sun.
FIG. 1.8 The Celestial Sphere However, owing to the inclination of the moon’s orbit, a solar
eclipse does not occur on every new moon day.
Movement of the Moon Along Its Orbit PARTIAL AND TOTAL ECLIPSE A partial solar eclipse can
Around the Earth be seen when part of the Earth is within the penumbra, or the
The moon shows progressively different phases as it
Umbra Penumbra
moves along its orbit around Earth. Half the moon is Moon
always in sunlight, just as half of the Earth has day, No Solar Eclipse
whereas the other half has night. The phases of the moon
depend on how much of the sunlit half can be seen at any
one time. In the phase called the new moon, the face is Sun
completely in shadow. It is followed by the crescent Earth
moon, for about 3¼ days 6 h, when a thin crescent is
visible. About a week later (7 days 12 h), the moon is in
No Lunar Eclipse Penumbra
first quarter, resembling a luminous half-circle; another Umbra
week later (after 14 days 8 h), the full moon shows its
fully lighted surface; a week afterward, in its last quarter, Sun
the moon appears again as a half-circle. The entire cycle
is repeated each lunar month. The moon is full when it is
farther away from the sun than the Earth; it is new when
it is closer. When it is more than half illuminated, it is FIG. 1.9 No Eclipse

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wools crossed with Scotch—are on the Moor, and we'll ride out Sunday and
have a look at 'em. I'm buying pigs next week at a sale over to Holne. The
cows are a very fine lot indeed. We sell our milk to Ashburton and Totnes."
He proceeded amiably until the cows were lowing at the farmyard gate.
Then Maynard departed with Neddy Tutt to the milking, and Palk, who
would begin to plough the stubble on the following day, started alone to
walk round the yard and inspect the horses and machinery.
"A quiet couple of men," said Joe to his daughter, when they had gone;
"but I like the quiet ones. They save their wind for their work, which is
where it ought to be."
"Mr. Maynard don't look particular strong," she said.
"Don't he? To my eye he's the wiry sort, that wear as well and better
than the mighty men. Don't you go axing him after his health whatever you
do. It often puts wrong ideas in their heads. We take health for granted. I'm
the only person in this house where health comes in I should hope."
"You'd best turn 'em on to the fern so soon as you can," answered Susan.
"Landlord was round again, when you were up over, seeing hounds meet at
eight o'clock last week."
"What an early man he is!"
"Yes, and he said he'd hoped to see the work begun, because it frets him
a lot that any land of his should go to rack. And he said that he'd have
thought one like you, with a name for high farming, would have hated it as
much as him."
"That's his cunning. The Honourable Childe's a very clever man, and I
respect him for it. He knows me and I know him. The field will be as clean
as a new pin before Christmas, I shouldn't wonder."
"You won't get your regular box of cigars from the man if it ain't, I
expect."
"Oh yes, I shall. He's large-minded. He knows his luck. I like him very
well, for he sees the amusing side of things."
"He weren't much amused last week."
Her father showed a trace of annoyance.
"What a damper you are, Soosie-Toosie! Was ever the like? You always
take the dark view and be grim as a ghost under the ups and downs of life.
If you'd only copy me there. But 'tis your poor mother in you. A luckier
woman never walked you might say; yet she was never hopeful—always on
the look out for the rainy day that never came."
"I'm hopeful enough to-day anyhow. I think the new men be the sort to
suit you."
"Nobody's easier to suit than me," he answered. "Let a labourer but do

his duty, or even get in sight of his duty, and I'm his friend."
Susan reminded her father that a kinsman was coming in the evening.
"You know Johnny promised to look in on his way home from

Ashburton and take supper along with us."
"So he did. The man's affairs hang fire by the look of it. When's he
going to be married I wonder?"
"Might ask him," answered Susan. "Not that he knows I reckon. It's up
to her."
When night came John Bamsey duly arrived and shared the last meal of
the day.
His father and Mr. Stockman were cousins, or declared themselves to be

so, and John always called Joseph "Cousin Joe."
He was one of the water-bailiffs on the river—a position he had held for
six months. But he had already given a good account of himself, and his
peculiarities of character were such that they made him a promising keeper.
He was keen and resolute, with the merciless qualities of youth that knows
itself in the right. He was also swift of foot and strong. A poacher, once
seen, never escaped him. John entertained a cheerful conceit of himself, and
his career was unsullied. He echoed his mother's temperament and was
religious-minded, but he had a light heart. He had fallen in love with a girl
two years older than himself, and she had accepted him. And now, at
twenty-two, John's only trouble was that Dinah Waycott would not name
the day.
He was a fair, tall man, with a solid, broad face, small grey eyes and an
expression that did not change. He wore an old-fashioned pair of small
whiskers and a tawny moustache in which he took some pride.
He greeted the newcomers in friendship and talked about his work on

the river. He was frank and hearty, a great chatterbox without much self-
consciousness.
"And when's the wedding going to be?" asked Mr. Stockman. "Don't
know; but it's about time I did; and I mean to know inside this month.
Dinah must make up her mind, Cousin Joe. Wouldn't you say that was fair?"
"Certainly she should. Orphan Dinah took you very near a year ago, and
the marriage ought to be next spring in my opinion."
"No doubt it will be," answered John; "but I will have something
definite. Love-making is all right, but I want to be married and take the
lodge at Holne Chase."
"The lodge Neddy Tutt's parents keep?" said Susan.
"Yes; and by the same token, Neddy, your mother expects you Sunday."
"I be coming," said Neddy Tutt, and John continued. "I'm lodging with
'em, but they're very wishful to be off, and they will be so soon as ever I'm
spliced. The Honourable Childe wants me at the lodge and I want to be
there."
Susan, who had a mind so sensitive that she often suspected uneasiness
in other minds where none existed, was reflecting now, dimly, that the
newcomers would not find this subject very interesting. They sat stolidly
and quietly listening and eating their supper. Occasionally Maynard spoke
to Susan; Palk had not made a remark since he came to the meal.
Now, however, Joe relieved his daughter's care. He enjoyed exposition

and, for the benefit of his new men, he explained a relationship somewhat
complicated.
"We be talking in the air no doubt for your ears," he said "But I hope
you'll feel yourselves interested in my family before long, just as I shall be
in your families, if you've got relations that you like to talk about. Me and
this young man's father are cousins in a general way of speaking, and his
father, by name Benjamin Bamsey, was married twice. First time he married
the widow of Patrick Waycott, who was a footman at the Honourable
Childe's, lord of Holne Manor, and she come to my cousin Benjamin with
one baby daughter, Dinah by name. So the girl, now up home twenty-three,
is just 'Orphan Dinah,' because her mother died of consumption a year after
she married Mr. Bamsey. Then Benjamin wedded again—a maiden by the
name of Faith West; and she's the present Mrs. Ben Bamsey, and this chap
is her son, and Jane Bamsey is her daughter. And now Johnny here be
tokened to his foster sister, 'Orphan Dinah,' who, of course, ain't no relation
of his. I hope I make myself clear."
"Nothing could be clearer," said Lawrence Maynard.
"What did the footman die of?" asked Palk slowly.
"Consumption, same as his wife. In fact the seeds was in the poor girl
when Ben took her. But she done very well with him as long as she lived,
and he's terrible fond of Dinah."
Palk abstracted himself. One could almost appreciate outward signs of

the mental retreat into his shell. He became oblivious with a frowning
forehead, committing this family situation to a memory, where it would
remain graven for ever.
John took up the talk.
"Father's too fond of Dinah for my peace in a way. You know father—
how he dashes at a thing. The moment he heard from mother, who'd found
out, that I was gone on Dinah, he swore as nothing would please him better.
And he was on my side from the first. In fact if Dinah hadn't wanted me for
myself, I believe father would have driven her to take me, for she'd do
anything for him. She couldn't love a real father better. She doats upon
him."
"He can't spoil her, however. Nothing would spoil Dinah," said Susan.
"And now," continued John, "now that the time's in sight and changes
have got to come, father begins to sing small at the thought of losing her.
He seemed to have a sort of notion I'd live on at home for ever, and Dinah
too. He's like that. He dashes at a thing and forgets how it will touch him
when it happens. He don't look all round a subject."
Maynard spoke.
"I hope the young woman is strong," he said. "'Tis rather serious for
both parents to have died so young."
"A very natural and thoughtful thing to say," declared Joe. "It shows
you've got intellects, Maynard. But, thank God, the girl is sound every way;
in fact, out of the common hearty and nice-looking too—at least Johnny
reckons she is."
"A very bowerly maid," said Susan.
"That's right, Soosie-Toosie," chuckled John.
"If she's got a fault, she's too plain-spoken," said Mr. Stockman. "I'm all
for direct speech myself and there's nothing like making your meaning
clear. It saves time better than any invention. But Dinah—how can you put
it? She's got such a naked way of talking. I don't say that the gift of
language was given us to conceal our thoughts, because that's a very hard
saying, though I know what it means; but I do say it was given us so as we
should present our thoughts to our fellow creatures in a decent shape. She's
a bit startling at times, Dinah is."
"That's because plain speech be so rare it's always startling," answered

John. "We're so used to her, we never think of it at home."
"It ain't she says anything to shock you, when you come to think over
it," argued Susan. "It's just plain thinking and going to the root of the
matter, which ain't common with most people."
Maynard ventured a sentiment.
"If the young woman says just what she means, it's a very rare thing,"
he said.
"So it is then," admitted Mr. Stockman. "Few do so—either because

they don't want to, or else because they haven't got the words to fit their
feelings. There's lots feel more than they're educated to put into speech. But
though Dinah haven't got any more words than any other young, ignorant
creature, yet she's so inclined by nature to say what she means, that she
generally manages to do it."
"Can make herself bitter clear sometimes,'" Johnny assured them. He

spoke apparently from experience and memory, and his cheerful face
clouded a little.
"No lovers' quarrels I hope," murmured Susan.
"Of course there are," chaffed Joe. "You that have missed the state,
Soosie-Toosie, and don't know no more about love than a caterpillar, no
doubt think that a lovers' quarrel be a very parlous thing. But it's no more
parlous than the east wind in March—is it, Johnny? A frosty breeze may be
very healthy and kill a lot of grubs and destroyers, if the ground be properly
worked over and the frost can get into it. And so with lovers' quarrels, they
do good, if both sides take 'em in a proper spirit."
Maynard laughed.
"I reckon that's true, Mr. Stockman," he said.
"What might you think, Mr. Palk?" asked Susan. She felt the heavy
silence of Thomas and knew not, as yet, that he often clothed himself in
silence for his own comfort. But he had listened with attention and she
thought he must probably have experience.
He declared the reverse, however.
"Couldn't offer an opinion, miss," he replied. "I be of the bachelor

persuasion and never felt no feeling to be otherwise. What you might call
complete in myself, so far as a man can be."
"You're a loser and a gainer, Thomas," said his new master genially.
"You may lose the blessing of a good son, or daughter, and a valuable wife;
and you gain also, because you might not have had those fine things, but
found yourself in a very different position. You might have had what's
better than freedom; but on the other hand you might have had what's a long
sight worse."
"And freedom's a very fine thing," added Maynard.
Mr. Stockman loved these questions. He proceeded to examine marriage

in all its aspects and left a general impression on the mind of the attentive
Mr. Palk that the ideal of achievement was to have loved and lost, and be
left with a faithful, home-staying daughter: in fact, Mr. Stockman's own
situation. He appeared to hold a brief for the widowed state as both
dignified and convenient.
"All the same, father reckons you're the sort will marry again, Cousin
Joe," Johnny told him. "He says that such a good-looking man as you, and
so popular with the ladies, will surely take another some day, when you'm
tired of sporting."
Mr. Stockman shook his head.
"That's like Benjamin—to judge by the outside and never sound the
depths. He thinks that his own pattern of mind be the pattern of all. And not
a word against him, for a finer pattern of mind and one fuller of the milk of
human kindness don't live; but let nobody hope, or fear, any such adventure
for me. Me and Soosie-Toosie will go our way, all in all to each other; and
the less we have to trouble about ourselves, the more time and thought we
can give to our neighbours."
Susan displayed her wan smile at these sentiments. She was in stark fact
her father's slave and John well knew it; but he made no comment. Mr.
Stockman seldom said a word that was open to comment on any subject. He
gave his views and opinions for what they were worth, but quarrelled with
none who might differ from him. Indeed, he never quarrelled with anybody.
It was his genius invariably to give the soft answer; and this he did from no
particular moral conviction, but as a matter of policy. Life had taught him
that friction was seldom worth the trouble; and he had an art to get his way
rather by geniality of manner than force of character. He achieved his
purpose, and that frequently a hard and selfish purpose, as often as a more
strenuous man; but, such was his hearty humanity of approach, that people
for the most part found themselves conceding his wishes. He did not,
however, hoodwink everybody. A bad bargain is a bad bargain, no matter
how charming may be the man with whom it is made; and there were
neighbours who did not hesitate to say that Joe was a humbug always
playing for his own hand, and better able so to do than many far less
gracious and genial.
John Bamsey departed presently, and after he had gone the master of
Falcon Farm praised him generously.
"A four-square, fine chap that," he said. "An example to the young
fellows. A proper glutton for work. He'll be down on the river for hours to-
night, to keep off they baggering salmon poachers. And he goes to church
Sundays with his parents and always keeps his temper well in hand. For that
matter a water-watcher ought to have a temper, so as the doubtful characters
shall know he's not to be trifled with. A forceful chap—a little narrow in his
opinions I dare say; but that don't matter when his opinions are sound and
on the side of morals and good order. He gets 'em from both parents. And
the larger charity will come in time. That's a question of mellowing and
years. I can see you men are charitable minded, for I'm a student of
character and read people pretty clever, owing to my large experience. Have
a spot out of my bottle to-night for luck. Then, I dare say, you won't be
sorry to turn in. We're early birds by night and early birds in the morning. I
always say the hours before breakfast lay the foundation of the day and
break the back of it."
Maynard took no liquor, but drank a cup of tea with Susan, whose
solitary dissipation was much tea taken at all possible times. Thomas Palk
accepted a glass of whisky and water.
Soon after ten all went to bed.
"Soosie-Toosie will call you at half after five," said Joseph, "and I like,
in a general way, to hear Ned start with the milk cart to Ashburton before
seven for the milk train. It's always a pain to me not to stir myself till
breakfast. I lie awake and hunger for the hour; but lifelong rules have often
got to be broke for failing health's sake in sight of seventy, as you'll find in
your turn no doubt. Life, as I always say, be all cakes and cream to youth;
but it's little more than physic when you be nearing the allotted span. Well, I
wish you good night, and if there's anything you lack, tell my daughter to-
morrow. I hope we shall be good friends and a lot more than master and
man pretty soon."
He shook hands with them both, and while Palk contented himself by
saying, "Good night, master," Maynard, who was clearly moved by such
comfortable words, echoed them and thanked Mr. Stockman for the manner
of his reception.
CHAPTER IV
AT BUCKLAND-IN-THE-MOOR
Like beehives cluster the thatched roofs of Buckland, for the cottages
are dwarfed by the lofty trees which soar above them. Oak and ash, pine
and beech heave up hugely to their canopies upon the hill slope, and the
grey roofs and whitewashed walls of the hamlet seem little more than a
lodge of pygmies sequestered in the forest. The very undergrowth of laurel
has assumed giant proportions and flings many a ponderous bough across
the highway, where winds a road with mossy walls through the forest and
the village. Here and there green meadows break the woods and lay broad,
bright tracts between the masses of the trees; then glimpses of the Vale
beneath are visible through woodland rifts.
The cottage coverings were old and sombre of tone; but on this
September day, before the great fall of the leaf, destined presently to sweep
like a storm from tree top to earth, sunshine soaked through the interlacing
boughs and brought light to the low-browed windows, to the fuchsias and
purple daisies in the gardens. It flashed a ruby on the rays of Virginian
creepers that sometimes clothed a wall and brightened the white faces of the
little dwellings to pale gold. All was very silent about the hour of noon. For
a few moments no human form appeared; only a brook poured down from
the hills, foamed through its dark, hidden ways, rested at a granite drinking
trough beside the road, then trickled on again. A robin sang, and far distant
throbbed the note of a woodman's axe.
Midway between the squat-towered church, that stood at the limits of

the village to the north-west, and the congeries of cots within the border of
the woods, a second rivulet leapt in a waterfall from the hedge at the root of
a mighty ash that shook out its serrated foliage a hundred feet above and
made the lane a place of shade. The road bent here and the dingle was
broken with great stones heavily clad in moss. Above stretched the woods,
legion upon legion, their receding intricacies of branch and bough broken
by many thousand trunks. Beneath, again the woods receded over steep
acclivities to the river valley.
Though the houses were few and small, great distinction marked them.
They held themselves as though conscious of their setting, and worthy of it.
They fitted into the large and elaborate moulding of the hillside and by their
human significance completed a vision that had been less without them.
There was a quality of massive permanence in the scene, imparted by the
gigantic slope of the hill whereon it was set. It fell with no addition of
abrupt edge or precipice, but evenly, serenely from its crown on the naked
Beacon above, by passages of heath and fern, by the great forests and
sweeps of farmland and water meadows that broke them, down and down
past the habitations, assembled like an ants' nest on its side to the uttermost
depths of the river valley and the cincture of silver Dart winding through
the midst of it.
At a point where the road fell and climbed again through the scattered
dwellings there stood two cottages under the trees together. They adjoined,
and one was fair to see—well-kept and prosperous, with a tidy scrap of
garden before it and a little cabbage patch behind. The straw of the roof was
trimly cut and looped heavily over the dormer windows, while above, on a
brick stack, four slates were set instead of a chimney pot. But the neighbour
cottage presented a forlorn appearance. It was empty; its thatch was
scabbed and crusted with weeds and blobs of moss; at one place it had
fallen in and the wooden ribs of the roof protruded. A mat of neglected ivy
covered the face of the cot and thrust through broken windows into the little
chambers. Damp and decay marked all, and its evil fame seemed reflected
in its gloomy exterior. For the house was haunted, and since Mrs. Benjamin
Bamsey had seen a "wishtness" peering through the parlour window on two
successive evenings after the death of the last tenant, none could be found
to occupy this house, though dwellings in Buckland-in-the-Moor were far to
seek.
Now a man appeared in the road from the direction of the church. He
was of an aspect somewhat remarkable and he came from Lower Town, a
hamlet sunk in the Vale to the west. Arthur Chaffe combined many trades,
as a carpenter in a small village is apt to do. He attended to the needs of a
scattered community and worked in wood, as the smith, in iron. He boasted
that what could be made in wood, from a coffin to a cider cask, lay in his
power. And beyond the varied and ceaseless needs of his occupation, he
found time for thought, and indeed claimed to be a man above the average
of intelligence. His philosophy was based on religious principle and
practice; but he was not ungenial for an old bachelor. He smiled upon
innocent pleasure, though the lines that he drew round human conduct were
hard and fast.
He was eight and fifty, and so spare that the bones of his face gave it
expression. Upon them a dull, yellowish skin was tightly drawn. He was
growing bald and shaved his upper lip and cheeks, but wore a thin, grey
beard. His teeth were few and his mouth had fallen in. His cheeks puffed
out when he ate and spoke, but sank to nothing under the cheek bones when
he sucked his pipe. He had a flat nose, and his long legs suggested an
aquatic bird, while his countenance resembled a goat and his large and pale
brown eyes added to the likeness. His expression was both amiable and
animated, and he could laugh heartily. Mr. Chaffe's activities were
centripetal and his orbit limited. It embraced Lower Town and Buckland,
and occasionally curved to Holne and outlying farms; but he was a
primitive, and had seldom stirred out of a ten-mile radius in his life. Had he
gone much beyond Ashburton, he had found himself in a strange land. He
employed three men, and himself worked from morning to night. His
highest flights embraced elementary cabinet-making, and when he did make
a piece of furniture on rare occasions, none denied that it was an enduring
masterpiece.
He left the high road now, approached the pair of cottages and knocked
at the door of the respectable dwelling.
Melinda Honeysett it was who appeared and expressed pleasure.
"So you've come then, Mr. Chaffe. What a man of your word you are!"
"I hope so, Mrs. Honeysett. And very pleased to do anything for you
and your father."
"Come in and sit down for five minutes. 'Tis a climb from Lower Town.
But people say you can fly so easy as you can walk, and a hill's nought to
you."
"We thin blades have the pull of the beefy ones in this country. I
sometimes think I'll start a pony; but I like to use my legs and ban't often
too tired."
"Will you have a drink and a piece of my seedy cake?"
"I will then and gladly. Milk for choice. How's the Governor?"
"Pretty middling for him. You must see him afore you go. You're one of
his pets."
"I'm none so sure of that. But 'tis a longful time since we met. I've been
busier than ever this summer. I surprise myself sometimes what I get into
twenty-four hours."
"I dare say you do."
Melinda brought the wayfarer refreshment. They sat in a pleasant

kitchen, whose walls were washed a pale ochre, making harmony with
various brass and copper articles upon the mantel shelf and dresser. The
floor was of stone, and in the alcove of the window some scarlet geraniums
throve. They spoke of neighbours, and Mr. Chaffe asked a question.
"I hear from Ben Bamsey that his cousin have got two new men at
Falcon Farm, and foreigners both."
"So they are. One's youngish, t'other's middle-aged; and Joe says they
promise to be treasures. He's much pleased about them."
"Then they're gluttons for work without a doubt."
"So they are seemingly."
"How soft that chap do always fall," mused the carpenter.
"Because he's got the wit to choose where he will fall," answered Mrs.
Honeysett. "Joe Stockman has gifts. He's a master of the soft answer."
"Because he knows it pays."
"Well, a very good reason."

"His cleverness and charity come out of his head, not his heart, Mrs.
Honeysett. He's the sort may cast his crumbs on the waters, but never unless
he sees the promise of a loaf returning."
"You don't like him."
"I wouldn't say I didn't like him. As a man of intellects myself I value
brains. He's a clever man."
"He's spoilt a bit. He gets round one you know. There's a great power in
him to say the word to a woman he always knows will please her. I properly
like him some days; then other days he drives me frantic."
The gruff voice of Mrs. Honeysett's father intruded upon them. It came
from a little chamber which opened out of the kitchen and had been
converted into his bedroom. His lower limbs were paralysed, but he had a
vehicle which he moved by handles, and could thus steer himself about the
ground floor of his home.
"I hear Arthur Chaffe," rumbled the voice. "I'll see you, Arthur, afore
you go, and larn if you've got more sense than when you was here last."
A gurgle of laughter followed this remark and the visitor echoed it.
"Ah! You bad old blid! No more of your sense, I promise you. We know
where your sense comes from!"
"Don't you charge too much for my new gate then—sense, or no sense."
"Whoever heard tell of me charging too much for anything, Enoch?"
"Widow Snow did, when you buried her husband."
Again the slow, heavy laughter followed; but Mr. Chaffe did not laugh.
He shook his head.
"Past praying for," he said.

Then he rose and suggested inspecting the old gate and making
measurements for the new one.
That matter settled and the price determined, Arthur Chaffe returned to
the cottage and found that Mr. Withycombe had travelled in upon his little
trolley and lifted himself into a large, dog-eared chair beside the hearth.
He was a heavy man with a big, fresh face that had been exceedingly
handsome in his prime, but was now a little bloated and discoloured, since
fate had ended for the old sportsman his hard and active existence. He had
hunted the Dart Vale Foxhounds for thirty years; then, maimed in the back
by a fall, for five years he had occupied the position of indoor servant to a
master who was deeply attached to him. Finally had come a stroke, as the
result of the old injury, and Enoch was forced to retire. He had now reached
the age of sixty-six and was a widower with two sons and one daughter.
One boy was in the Royal Navy, the other lived at home and worked in the
woods.
Mr. Withycombe had grey eyes, a Roman nose and cheeks of a ruddy
complexion. He wore whiskers, but shaved his mouth and chin. He was a
laughing philosopher, admired for his patience and unfailing good temper,
but distrusted, because he permitted himself opinions that did not conform
to the community in which he dwelt. These were suspected to be the result
of his physical misfortunes; in reality they were but the effect of his
environment. An admiration amounting to passion existed in the large heart
of Mr. Withycombe for his former master, and during those years when he
worked under his roof, the old fox-hunter had learned educated views on
various subjects and modified his own to match them. The Honourable
Ernest Childe, of Holne Chase, a lord of three manors, could neither do nor
think wrong in Enoch's opinion. He was the paragon, and the more nearly
did his fellow creatures take their colour from such a man and such a mind,
the better it must be for all—so Mr. Withycombe declared. Others, however,
did not agree with him. They followed parson rather than squire, and while
admitting that the latter's sterling practice left little to be desired, yet
suspected his principles and regretted that his pew in church was invariably
empty. They puzzled at the discrepancy and regretted it, because it appeared
a danger to the rising generation.
Mr. Chaffe shook the heavy and soft hand that Enoch extended to him.
"And how's yourself?" he asked.
"Half dead, half alive, Arthur. But, thanks be, the half that matters most
is alive."
"And it be wise enough to feel patience for the weaker members."
"Now it do," admitted Enoch. "But I won't pretend. When this blow first
fell upon me and I knew that my legs would be less use in the world than
rotten wood, which at least be good for burning, then I cursed God to hell.
However, that's past. I've got my wits and now, along of these spectacles, I
can read comfortable again."
He pointed to a little shelf within reach of his hand where stood various
works.
"I could wish you'd read some books of mine, Enoch," said Arthur
Chaffe.
"So I will then—didn't know you'd got any books."
"Oh yes I have—Sunday reading."
"You chaps that limit yourselves to 'Sunday reading' get narrow-

minded," declared Withycombe. "For why? You only see one side of life. I
don't blame you, because you've got to do your work on weekdays; but
you'd find there's a lot of very fine books just so good on Sunday as
Monday. 'The Rights of Man,' for example. There's a proper book, and it
don't interfere with the rights of God for a moment."
"Mr. Chaffe be going to ax seventeen and six for the gate and five
shillings for the hinges and lachet," said Melinda.
"A very fair price and I shan't quarrel with it."
He handed his tobacco pouch to the visitor. It was covered with otter
skin now grown shabby.
Arthur filled his pipe.
"We stand for different things, you and me," he said, "yet, thank God,
agree in the virtues. Duty's duty, and a man that's honest with himself can't
miss it."
"Oh yes he can, Arthur. There's plenty that be honest enough and don't
want to shirk, yet miss the road."
"Because they won't read the sign-posts."
"Now stop!" commanded Melinda. "Talk about something interesting.

How's 'Orphan Dinah'? Haven't seen her for a month."
"She's very well. Passed the time of day yesterday. Been helping in the
harvest. Ben Bamsey have had the best wheat he remembers. 'Tis harvest
thanksgiving with us Sunday week. And something out of the common to
thank for this year."
"When's the wedding? You'll know if anybody does—Ben's right hand

as you be."
"No, no; his wife's his right hand. But we'm like brothers I grant. In fact,
few brothers neighbour so close I dare say. No news of the wedding; and
that don't worry Ben. You know what Dinah is to him."
"Nearer than his own I reckon."
"Mustn't say that; but—well, now that the date is only waiting for
Dinah, Ben begins to feel what her going will be. No doubt we shall hear
soon. Faith Bamsey's at Dinah about it. She reckons it's not fair to Johnny to
keep him on the hooks longer."
"More it is."
"Well, I dare say you're right, Mrs. Honeysett. Dinah's the sort that loves
liberty; but the maids have got to come to it, and she's a good girl and will
go into matrimony fearless."
"Fearless enough," said Enoch. "If she'd been born in a different station
of life, how that creature would have rode to hounds!"
"She's more interesting than most young things in my opinion, because

there's rather more to her," explained Mr. Chaffe. "With most of them, from
the point of our experience, they are pretty easy to be read, and they do
what you expect from their characters oftener than not. But she'll surprise
you more than many grown-ups for that matter."
"It's something that a man who knows human nature so well as you
should be surprised, Arthur," said the old hunter.
The other laughed at a recollection.
"You're pulling my leg I reckon—same as that sly publican, Andrew

Gaunter, at the Seven Stars. 'Ah!' he said to me, 'you're a marvel, Chaffe;
you get every man and woman's measure to an inch!' I told him I wasn't so
clever as all that, because none but God knows all there is to know; but he
swore he was right—and proved it by reminding me I'm an undertaker!"
Enoch laughed.
"One for him sure enough. Funny word, 'undertaker.' A good chap is
Andrew Gaunter. Many a flip of sloe-gin I've had at his door when hounds
met that way. He'd bring it out himself, just for the pleasure of 'good
morning.'"
"You often hear the horn from here?"
"I heard it yesterday, and I finger my own now and again."
He looked up to where his hunting horn hung from a nail above the
mantel shelf.
"There's no music like it as I always say, though not a sportsman."
"Is it true old Sparrow be gone to the workhouse?" asked Melinda, who
loved facts concerning fellow creatures and reduced conversation to
personalities when she could.
"It is true," answered Chaffe.
"A sparrow as fell to the ground uncounted then," said Enoch, but the
carpenter denied it.
"You mustn't think that. What be the workhouse but a sign of the
everlasting mercy put in our minds by a higher power?"
"A bleak fashion of mercy, Mr. Chaffe," answered Melinda.
"Many never know happiness till they get there. Human life have
always been a hand to mouth business for most of us. It's meant to be, and I
don't believe myself that Providence likes us to look much farther than the
points of our noses."
"The great man is him that can, however," argued Mr. Withycombe.
"Him as looks a few yards deeper into the mirk of the future than we can
soon rises to be famous. He knows there can be no security against nature;
but, outside that, he sees there did ought to be security between man and
man, since we are reasoning creatures. And he thinks reasoning creatures
did ought to be reasonable and he tries to help 'em to be—man and man and
nation and nation."
"Good, Enoch. If everybody would fight to be friends as hard as they

fight for other things, peace would set in, no doubt."
"To do it, you must come with clean hands, Arthur; but all the nations'
hands are dirty. They look back into each other's histories and can't trust.
Man's a brigand by nature. It's the sporting instinct as much as anything,
and the best sporting nations are the best fighting nations. That's why we're
up top."
"Are we?"
"The Honourable Childe always says so. He has chapter and verse for
all his opinions."
"He'll drop in on the way home and tell you about a run now and again,
same as he did last year, I shouldn't wonder."
"No doubt he will, Melinda."
"A puzzling gentleman," declared Chaffe. "Righteousness and goodwill

made alive you may say; and yet don't go to church."
His daughter headed off her father's reply.
"What's this a little bird has whispered to me about Jane Bamsey?" she
asked.
"Can't say till I know the particulars."
"That my brother, Jerry, be after her."
"Haven't heard nothing. But you ought to know."
"I've guessed it. Jerry's moonstruck and always looking that way."
"I hope it ain't true," said Enoch. "I don't much care for that maiden.
She's spoiled, and she's shifty. She came to see us with her mother. Hard
hearted."
"She's no more than a kitten yet, father."
"Yes; but the sort of kitten that grows into a cat devilish quick. I
wouldn't wish it for Jerry's sake. He's a man likely to be under the thumb of
his wife, so I'd hope a different sort for him."
"Jane's too young for Jerry," declared Melinda. "He's over thirty and
she's but eighteen or so. Besides, when Dinah marries John and goes, then
Jane will have to turn to and be more to her mother. She's terrible lazy."
Mr. Chaffe shook his head.
"They don't know what it will mean to that house when Dinah leaves
it."

General Studies For Civil Services Preliminary Examination Vol III Paper I Geography and Environmental Ecology Edgar Thorpe

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General Studies For Civil Services Preliminary Examination Vol III Paper I Geography and Environmental Ecology Edgar Thorpe

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General Studies for Civil Services

Preliminary Examination Vol III Paper I

Volume-III_FM.indd 1 11/18/2015 2:28:31 PM

B.Sc._(Nursing)_Entrance_Examination-3e.indd 1 10/5/2015 3:49:03 PM

Volume-III_Copy right page.indd 2 11/24/2015 11:36:14 AM

GEOGRAPHY Volcanism 3.85

Volume-III_FM.indd 3 11/18/2015 2:28:31 PM

Black Soil 3.202 2 CLIMATE CHANGE AND

Volume-III_FM.indd 4 11/18/2015 2:28:31 PM

Endangered Species 3.288 Protected Areas Network 3.306

Volume-III_FM.indd 5 11/18/2015 2:28:31 PM

Tracking Migration 3.324 National Missions 3.350

Volume-III_FM.indd 6 11/18/2015 2:28:31 PM

Vol3_Geo_CO-page_Ch1.indd 1 11/18/2015 1:01:06 PM

Detailed prelims.indd 8 11/18/2015 12:49:38 PM

Vol3_General Geography_ch1.indd 3 11/18/2015 12:59:28 PM

BASIC KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE EARTH

Vol3_General Geography_ch1.indd 4 11/18/2015 12:59:28 PM

Vol3_General Geography_ch1.indd 5 11/18/2015 12:59:28 PM

He believed that the point at which these waves change

Vol3_General Geography_ch1.indd 6 11/18/2015 12:59:29 PM

reveals the nature of materials inside the planet, including in

the core. The principle behind using seismic waves to study

to study the human body. A detailed view of the human

Vol3_General Geography_ch1.indd 7 11/18/2015 12:59:30 PM

Epochs of the Tertiary Period

(a) The Paleocene Epoch is the lowermost and oldest

Vol3_General Geography_ch1.indd 8 11/18/2015 12:59:31 PM

(c) The Oligocene Epoch is the middle epoch of -000

Time in million years

Vol3_General Geography_ch1.indd 9 11/18/2015 12:59:31 PM

uppermost epoch of the Quaternary Period in the Tertiary

Vol3_General Geography_ch1.indd 10 11/18/2015 12:59:32 PM

Vol3_General Geography_ch1.indd 11 11/18/2015 12:59:33 PM

Day = Night Tro Day Tro

Equ Day Day

between the lengthDay =of days and the

The Celestial Sphere

Vol3_General Geography_ch1.indd 12 11/18/2015 12:59:34 PM

Vol3_General Geography_ch1.indd 13 11/18/2015 12:59:35 PM

"Mr. Maynard don't look particular strong," she said.

"What an early man he is!"

"He weren't much amused last week."

Her father showed a trace of annoyance.

"Nobody's easier to suit than me," he answered. "Let a labourer but do

"You know Johnny promised to look in on his way home from

His father and Mr. Stockman were cousins, or declared themselves to be

He greeted the newcomers in friendship and talked about his work on

"The lodge Neddy Tutt's parents keep?" said Susan.

Now, however, Joe relieved his daughter's care. He enjoyed exposition

"Nothing could be clearer," said Lawrence Maynard.

"What did the footman die of?" asked Palk slowly.

Palk abstracted himself. One could almost appreciate outward signs of

"A very bowerly maid," said Susan.

"That's right, Soosie-Toosie," chuckled John.

"That's because plain speech be so rare it's always startling," answered

Maynard ventured a sentiment.

"So it is then," admitted Mr. Stockman. "Few do so—either because

"Can make herself bitter clear sometimes,'" Johnny assured them. He

"No lovers' quarrels I hope," murmured Susan.

He declared the reverse, however.

"Couldn't offer an opinion, miss," he replied. "I be of the bachelor

"And freedom's a very fine thing," added Maynard.

GEOGRAPHY Volcanism 3.85

Black Soil 3.202 2 CLIMATE CHANGE AND

Endangered Species 3.288 Protected Areas Network 3.306

Tracking Migration 3.324 National Missions 3.350