Places in News Current Affairs MCQs

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Recently, UNESCO placed the Varkala Cliff in Kerala on its tentative list of World Heritage Sites. It is located in Varkala town, Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala. The cliff exposes the Warkalli Formation of the Mio-Pliocene age, dating from 13 lakh to 2.5 crore years ago. It is locally known as Sivagiri Thuruthu. The cliff has laterite and sedimentary layers with fossils and traces of ancient climates. It serves as a crucial aquifer, supports biodiversity, underwater reefs, and coastal fishing. It is India’s 27th national geological monument and the second in Kerala after Angadipuram Laterite.

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Recently, environmentalists raised concerns over unchecked tourism and construction in the Mahendragiri Hills of Odisha, despite its Biodiversity Heritage Site status since 2022. It is located in Gajapati district at 1,501 meters elevation. It is part of the Eastern Ghats. The hills host 1,348 plant species and 388 animal species, including many endemic and threatened ones. Culturally, they are linked to the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and believed to be the site of Lord Parashurama’s penance.

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A collaborative research team led by University of Tasmania scientists completed a 54-day voyage on CSIRO research vessel (RV) Investigator to study the 2022 Hunga Volcano eruption in Tonga. It is a submarine stratovolcano in the Tongan archipelago, southern Pacific Ocean. The volcano has erupted regularly over past decades. On January 15, 2022, it had an explosive eruption, one of the largest of the 21st century. The eruption sent volcanic plume into the stratosphere, triggered shock waves, and caused tsunami waves across ocean basins. The voyage collected data to understand volcanic impacts, seafloor changes, and tsunami risks, aiding Pacific disaster preparedness.

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India’s only mud volcano at Baratang, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, has recently erupted. It is located in the North and Middle Andaman district, about 150 km from Port Blair. Previous eruption occurred in 2005 due to oceanic seismic shifts. Mud volcanoes in Baratang are the only known volcanoes in the Indian subcontinent. The eruption is significant for geological study and tourism in the region.

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An artificial intelligence (AI) model has revealed new geological structures at Campi Flegrei volcano, located in Italy. A clear “ring fault” was detected, which could trigger magnitude 5 earthquakes. Campi Flegrei, also called the Phlegraean Fields, is an active volcanic region in the densely populated Bay of Naples, Italy. It is a volcanic system, not a single volcano, spread across a large caldera. It is the largest active volcanic caldera in Europe, bigger and more active than Mount Vesuvius.

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The Taftan Volcano in Iran is showing signs of reawakening after 700,000 years. It is a 12,927-foot or 3,940-metre-high semi-active stratovolcano. It lies in southeastern Iran, about 56 kilometres from the Pakistan border. It is the only active volcano in the Makran continental volcanic arc. The volcano formed due to the subduction of the Arabian Ocean crust beneath the Eurasian continent. It has two summits named Narkuh and Matherkuh. Taftan has an active hydrothermal system with sulfur-emitting vents called fumaroles. It has not erupted in recorded human history.

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Recently, the Taal Volcano in the Philippines reportedly erupted three times. It is located in Batangas province, about 70 km south of Manila, Philippines. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) classifies it as a complex volcano. Taal is an active volcano within a large caldera, having 38 eruptions in the past 450 years. The caldera formed through prehistoric eruptions between 140,000 and 5,380 BCE. It is a stratovolcano with a crater lake on a 5-km-wide volcanic island. It consists of multiple cones, hills, and craters instead of a single dome, making it geologically unique.

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A 5.8 magnitude earthquake recently struck Negros Island, Philippines. Negros Island is part of the Visayan Islands in central Philippines. It is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the country. The island is boot-shaped, measuring 217 km long and 35–79 km wide. It is separated from Panay Island by the Guimaras Strait and from Cebu Island by the Tanon Strait. The Visayan Sea borders it to the north and the Sulu Sea to the south. A central mountain range runs through the island, containing Mount Canlaon (2,465 m) — an active volcano and the highest peak on Negros.

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Recently, Google announced plans to set up a large Artificial Intelligence (AI) data centre on Christmas Island, located in the Indian Ocean. The project follows a cloud partnership signed earlier this year with the Australian Department of Defence. Christmas Island lies about 360 km south of Java and 1,400 km northwest of mainland Australia. It is an external territory of Australia. The island forms the summit of an oceanic mountain, with Murray Hill (361 metres) as its highest point. Its main settlement and port is Flying Fish Cove, situated on the northeastern coast.

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A recent study mapped Bolivia’s Uturuncu Volcano and found its unusual ground movement is caused by hot fluids and gases, not rising magma indicating an eruption. Uturuncu is a dormant stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains of southwestern Bolivia. It is 6,008 metres above sea level and is the tallest peak in southern Bolivia. It last erupted 2,50,000 years ago but remains seismically active with hundreds of small quakes each year. It sits above the Altiplano-Puna Magma Body, a 200-kilometre-wide active magma reservoir. Its “zombie” behaviour is due to underground liquid and gas movement with low eruption risk.