Free World Geography MCQs with Answers

• A. A ridge of debris along the side of a valley glacier
• B. Debris at the glacier's snout
• C. A crack across the glacier
• D. A meltwater channel

Explanation: Lateral moraines are debris ridges piled along valley glacier edges.

• A. A glacier that flows uphill
• B. A boulder carried by ice and deposited far from its source rock
• C. A melting ice shelf
• D. A sudden glacier surge

Explanation: Erratics are boulders plucked and dropped by glaciers far from their origin.

• A. A volcanic crater
• B. A glacier's meltwater waterfall
• C. A crack in sea ice
• D. An armchair-shaped hollow at a mountain's head carved by a glacier

Explanation: Cirques are bowl-shaped hollows gouged by glaciers at valley heads.

• A. A small lake that forms in a cirque
• B. A type of crevasse
• C. A moraine ridge
• D. A glacier's tributary

Explanation: Tarns are small mountain lakes occupying glacier-carved cirques.

• A. A glacier's snout
• B. A sharp, knife-edged ridge between two cirques or glaciated valleys
• C. A hanging valley
• D. A U-shaped valley

Explanation: Arêtes are narrow ridges left between adjacent glacial valleys.

• A. A type of iceberg
• B. A glacier's meltwater horn
• C. A pyramid-shaped peak formed by several cirques, such as the Matterhorn
• D. A curved moraine

Explanation: Glacial horns like the Matterhorn are sharp peaks carved by cirques on several sides.

• A. V-shaped
• B. Flat
• C. Circular
• D. U-shaped

Explanation: Glaciers gouge broad U-shaped valleys, unlike rivers' V-shaped ones.

• A. A tributary glacial valley that ends high above the main valley floor
• B. A valley between dunes
• C. A valley under a glacier
• D. A valley filled with water

Explanation: Hanging valleys are left perched when the main glacier deepens its valley faster.

• A. A sandbar
• B. A deep, narrow sea inlet formed by a glacier-carved valley flooded by the sea
• C. A glacier's meltwater river
• D. A volcanic island

Explanation: Fjords are drowned glacial valleys, deep and steep-sided.

• A. Sweden
• B. Iceland
• C. Finland
• D. Norway

Explanation: Norway's west coast is famed for its spectacular fjords.

• A. A smooth, oval hill made of glacial deposits (till)
• B. A winding gravel ridge
• C. A crack in a glacier
• D. A deep glacial lake

Explanation: Drumlins are streamlined hills shaped by moving ice.

• A. A type of moraine
• B. A long, winding ridge of sand and gravel deposited by meltwater streams under a glacier
• C. A glacier's snout
• D. A deep crack in ice

Explanation: Eskers are sinuous ridges left by subglacial meltwater streams.

• A. The freezing of seawater
• B. The melting of a glacier
• C. The breaking off of ice chunks from a glacier's edge into water
• D. The formation of a crevasse

Explanation: Calving is how glaciers shed icebergs into lakes or the sea.

• A. About 10%
• B. About 50%
• C. About 70%
• D. About 90%

Explanation: Because ice is only slightly less dense than seawater, about nine-tenths of an iceberg is submerged.

• A. The Lambert Glacier in Antarctica
• B. The Fedchenko Glacier
• C. The Hubbard Glacier
• D. The Siachen Glacier

Explanation: Antarctica's Lambert Glacier is the world's largest glacier.

• A. Shishapangma
• B. Makalu
• C. Manaslu
• D. Cho Oyu

Explanation: Shishapangma in Tibet is the only eight-thousander wholly inside China.

• A. Dhaulagiri
• B. Kangchenjunga
• C. Nanga Parbat
• D. Annapurna

Explanation: Kangchenjunga on the India–Nepal border is the easternmost eight-thousander.

• A. The Zagros Mountains
• B. The Caucasus Mountains
• C. The Ural Mountains
• D. The Altai Mountains

Explanation: The Urals in Russia conventionally divide Europe from Asia.

• A. The Pontic Mountains
• B. The Elburz Mountains
• C. The Taurus Mountains
• D. The Caucasus Mountains

Explanation: The Caucasus range runs between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.

• A. Mount Elbrus
• B. Mount Ararat
• C. Mont Blanc
• D. Dufourspitze

Explanation: Mount Elbrus (5,642 m) is Europe's highest peak by the Caucasus definition.