Daily Static Quiz Prelims Practice 2027
The Humboldt (Peru) Current is a cold current flowing northward along the coasts of Chile and Peru, and its upwelling supports one of the world's richest fisheries. The Gulf Stream is a warm current in the North Atlantic, the Kuroshio is a warm current off Japan, and the Brazil Current is a warm current along the east coast of South America.
- In low and middle latitudes, warm ocean currents generally flow along the eastern coasts of continents.
- The Canary Current is a warm current flowing along the west coast of North Africa.
Statement 1 is correct — warm currents (Gulf Stream, Kuroshio, Brazil, Agulhas, East Australian) flow along eastern coasts, while cold currents (California, Humboldt, Canary, Benguela, West Australian) flow along western coasts. Statement 2 is incorrect — the Canary Current is a cold current along northwest Africa, and it contributes to the aridity of the Sahara's Atlantic coast.
Option (b) is incorrect — the Agulhas Current is a warm current flowing southward along Africa's east coast in the Indian Ocean. Options (a), (c) and (d) are correct — the Benguela is cold and helps explain the Namib Desert, the Kuroshio is warm, and the Oyashio is cold, and where it meets the Kuroshio off Japan, rich fishing grounds form.
- Assertion (A): The Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on Earth.
- Reason (R): The Atacama Desert lies along the path of the warm Brazil Current.
Assertion A is correct — the Atacama in northern Chile is among the driest non-polar deserts on Earth. Reason R is incorrect — the Atacama lies along the Pacific coast, beside the cold Humboldt (Peru) Current, which cools the air above it and creates stable conditions that suppress rainfall, whereas the Brazil Current flows along South America's Atlantic (east) coast.
- In the Northern Hemisphere, ocean currents are generally deflected to the right by the Coriolis force.
- The Sargasso Sea is bounded by ocean currents rather than by land.
- El Niño is associated with an unusual warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific.
- The Gulf Stream originates in the Gulf of Mexico region and flows towards the North Atlantic.
Statement 1 is correct — the Coriolis force deflects moving water to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere, producing clockwise and anticlockwise gyres. Statement 2 is correct — the Sargasso Sea is enclosed by the Gulf Stream, North Atlantic Drift, Canary Current and North Equatorial Current, and it is the only sea without a land boundary. Statement 3 is correct — El Niño is the warm phase of ENSO and is generally associated with a weaker Indian monsoon. Statement 4 is correct — the Gulf Stream emerges from the Gulf of Mexico, flows along the US east coast and continues as the North Atlantic Drift towards Europe.
