Simple explanations to CSEC Geography 2013 multiple choice This is the answer sheet for CSEC Geography multiple choice plus explanations

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Simple explanations to CSEC Geography 2013 Multiple Choice
1) The grid reference for the trigonometrical station at Gunhill is 312572. Answer is A
2) The distance between the trigonometrical station at Gunhill and the road junction at Rock is 3 ½
miles. Answer is B
3) The direction of the trigonometrical station at Gunhill from the junction at Rock is west south
west. Answer is D
4) A scale of 1:10 000 on a map would indicate that 1 unit on the map represents 10 000 units on
the ground. The units must be the same on either side, for e.g. one cm on the map presents
10000 cm on ground. Answer B
5) Northings horizontal lines that increase in value northwards. Answer is D
6) Q and R is steepest. The contour lines are closest together when compared to the other pairs of
points. Answer is C
7) Q and S are intervisible. Intervisible means you can stay from one point and see another. Q and
S are both at the summit of two hills. Therefore both places are intervisible as you can stay from
one peak and see the next. Answer is B
8) Houston is at 320
N and 950
W. Latitude first the longitude. Answer is C
9) The direction of the prime meridian from Houston is east. Answer is A
10) Because both places are in different hemisphere you’re going to add them first. 77+5 = 820
.
Then we divide the answer by 15 to get the difference in time between the two places. 82/15= 5
hours and remainder 5 or 20 mins. Because Lagos in Nigeria is to the east of Jamaica we going to
add. They will be ahead of time. If the time is 10:00pm Monday night then it will be 3:00am
Tuesday morning in Lagos. Answer is C
11) The landform at Y is a ridge. This is a narrow part of a high area. Answer is A
12) The contour interval is 10m. This is the difference between two contour lines. Answer is A
13) The bearing of point x from point A is 315o
. The direction is northwest and the corresponding
bearing is 315o
. Answer is D
14) The formula for calculating gradient is 1: run/ rise. The run is the horizontal distance between
the two points and the rise is the vertical difference in height between the two points. The run is
1.5km (distance from x to y). The formula will read 1: 1.5km/ 1250m- 700m. The next step will
read 1: 1.5km/ 550m. Both numerator and denominator must be the same unit. We will now
convert the 1.5km to m and the result is 1500. Final step is 1: 1500m/550m. The answer is 1:
2.72. We can round it off to 3. The answer will be 1:3 or in in 3. Answer is C
15) The shaded area on the map is the tropics. The tropics is between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of
Capricorn. Answer is A
16) The population density decreases outward from the area I. Answer is D
17) III has the smallest population. The population density is between 0-99 and that is the lowest
population density. Answer is C
18) Every 150
is equivalent to one hour or 60 mins. 60mins/15= 4.
mins. Every 10
is equivalent to 4
mins. Answer is C
19) The part of a river’s course which is wide and shallow and has bars and island flowing around
which the river flow is a braided stream. After certain events such as low precipitation a river
may deposit its own load on the river bed. Vegetation can also develop on the deposited
sediments. After some period of rain the river will split into multiple channels as it flows around
its own deposit. This is a braided channel. Answer is A

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20) The feature marked N is the floodplain. This is an area of low-lying land next to the river and
that is subjected to flooding after heavy rains. Answer is C
21) The annual temperature range is 120
C. The maximum temperature is around 230
C and the
minimum temperature is 110
C. Remember the range is the difference between the maximum
and the minimum temperature. Answer is B
22) The hottest months of the year are the also the driest. A climograph usually shows rainfall and
temperature. The line graph represents the temperature and the bar graph represents rainfall.
By looking at the graphs the first three months of the year have the highest temperatures. The
bars that represent rainfall for these three months are the lowest out of all the months of the
year. Answer is A
23) In 2000 the population would be approximately 3 000 000. It is about 2, 800, 000 but if we
round it off it will be 3,000 000. Answer is D
24) The population was constant during the period 1850-1900. Constant means no movement or no
growth. The line is flat from 1850-1900. Answer is A
25) Lines of latitude represent angular distance north and south of the equator. Answer is D
26) The plate labelled Y is the cocos plate. Answer is A
27) When magma reaches emerges on the surface it may lead to the formation of lava flows. All the
other features are intrusive features. Answer is D
28) Fold Mountains are form when plates move towards each other. When two continental plates
collide they are forced up to form Fold Mountains. They’re the same density so there is no
subduction. Answer is B
29) As one climbs a mountain temperature decreases. The higher you go the cooler it gets. Answer
is A
30) Vegetation contributes to the development of soils by producing humus or organic matter.
When vegetation such as leaves fall to the ground it gets decomposed by microorganisms. The
decomposed vegetation is brown and dark coloured in nature and is also called humus. It is rich
in minerals as and it increases the fertility of the soil. Organic matter and humus can be used
interchangeably. Answer is C
31) The landform at x is a spit and is a usually formed as a result of coastal deposition and longshore
drift. Erosion is out of the picture as if the coastal area is erosive then it would prevent the
formation of the spit. Spits are coastal depositional features. Answer is A
32) The temperatures are high in the Caribbean due to our location or latitude. Places nearer to the
equator usually experience higher temperatures. Closer to the equator the sun’s rays is
concentrated over a small area and it has smaller distance of atmosphere to travel through.
Answer is B
33) Rural to urban migration is the most important contributor to the growth of cities in the
Caribbean. There is a significant difference between rural areas and urban areas. Urban areas
have more job opportunities as well as more services. This is lacking in rural areas. This usually
encourage movement from rural areas to urban areas. Answer is B
34) The reasons why some area in the Caribbean is sparsely populated is due to all three factors. A
hilly and forested area would be sparsely populated. The steep terrain would make it difficult to
construct houses and communication. If areas are inaccessible due to poor transport links then
it would repel settlement development and hence it would be sparsely populated. Where
minerals are located it is possible to have development of industries to exploit the mineral

3. Prepared by Oral Johnson
resource. This will result in job opportunities. People will start to gravitate towards the area. As
people start to earn other services start to develop and over time a large settlement can
develop due to the presence of mineral resources. If no mineral resources are present then this
can cause an area to be sparsely populated. Answer is D
35) Linear settlements will most likely develop along a main road. The houses will be located on
either side of the road and usually it looks like a line. Answer is A
36) Large scale commercial farming is usually characterized by intensive mechanization. Because the
fields are usually large they use machines, a good example is the combine harvester that is used
to reap sugar cane. The labour force that is there only operates the machines. The Canadian
wheat fields are very large. They also use intensive mechanization. Answer is D
37) Availability of capital will facilitate industrial development in the Caribbean. Lack of capital is
one of our main issues in the Caribbean. We rely on external investment to start up industries.
The raw materials can be there but without any capital it cannot be exploited. Answer is B
38) The setting up of factories in the Caribbean have resulted increased employment opportunities.
Once a factory is developed it will need workers. So people will be employed. There may also be
a particular demand for the goods that is being produce. This may come from different
countries. Therefore setting up factories may result in increased external markets and not a
decreased external markets. There is no reduction in the cost of living or price of goods due to
development of factories. There will be a decreased in the importation not an increase. We
usually import what we don’t produce. So if we are producing it we will import none or less of it.
Answer is A
39) Sewage discharge can result in eutrophication. When this happens the algae deplete the marine
organisms of oxygen. Eutrophication usually prevent sunlight from reaching the corals and this
can hinder their growth. Answer is B
40) Rapid urbanization in Caribbean countries usually results in housing shortages (inadequate
housing) in the cities. Most urban areas or cities are usually overpopulated. There is far more
people than housing opportunities in the cities. This results in housing shortages. Kingston is
very diverse in terms of land use but it currently has little or no space for lateral developments.
Therefore developments are taking place outside the city to facilitate the population. Answer is
A
41) The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation in permeable rock. The soil can be
separated into two zones, zone of aeration where the poor spaces are not filled with water and
a zone of saturation where all the pore spaces are filled with water. The water table separates
both zones. The rocks in the saturated zone would have to be permeable or porous for it to be
filled or saturated with water. Therefore, the water table is the upper surface of the zone of
saturation in permeable rock. Answer is B
42) Raw materials are very important when considering the location of primary industries. A good
example is Bauxite industries in the Caribbean. Bauxite factories are usually located close to the
bauxite deposits. This is because of the bulkiness of this raw material. Transportation cost also
increase with bulkiness and also with distance. So factories usually locate close to the raw
materials in order to reduce the cost of transportation. Answer is D
43) Harvesting of coral formations for souvenirs and discharging sewage and industrial waste along
the shore may harm the environment in the Caribbean. Sewage can result in eutrophication.
When this happens the algae deplete the marine organisms of oxygen. Eutrophication usually

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prevent sunlight from reaching the corals and this can hinder their growth. Tourists damage the
environment when they take the coral reefs for souvenir. Zoning of marine activities is good.
This may come in the form of protected areas and marine parks. Fishing and other activities
cannot be done in these areas. Answer is C
44) Lack of capital and soil erosion is a challenge facing peasant farmers. The farm size is small and
therefore the output is low. Sometimes farmers practice poor cultivation techniques. Peasant
farmers may cut down trees to develop their farms. This can accelerate surface runoff and
erosion. Farmers are encourage to practice Agroforestry. Lack of crop variety is not a challenge.
Answer is B
45) The Caribbean government usually provide tax incentives and the necessary infrastructure to
influence the location of settlements. The government has control over where they want
development to take place. Sometimes they build the infrastructure in a particular location. This
is sometimes industrial zones or just an area that they want development to take place.
Potential investors would not have to build any infrastructure as it is already provided by the
government. Answer is B
46) I would be the best location for commercial farming. Commercial farming usually takes place on
gently sloping land where it is easy to use machines and build infrastructure. Answer is A
47) The area best to locate a factory would be at II. This is without thinking that we have to cut
down the trees to facilitate the factory. Trees are great absorbers of gases. Gases that can be
emitted from factories can be absorbed by these trees. Trees store carbon in their leaves. They
also help with reducing pollution by trapping and removing dust and particulate matter that
may come from factories. They also absorb harmful gases such as ammonia, nitrogen oxide, and
sulphur dioxide. Locating the factory there would help minimize pollution. Answer is B
48) V would be the most likely area to develop a resort. Most of the hotels in the Caribbean are on
the coastline where there is easy access to the beach. Our tourism product is san, sea and sun.
Therefore a coastal location at V would be ideal. Answer is D
49) Exhaust fumes from motor vehicles contribute most to the pollution of the environment of
capital cities in CARICOM. A large number of vehicle passes through Kingston every day and
furthermore these cars are run by oil, gasoline or petroleum. A byproduct is the emission of
harmful gases and this will come from the exhaust fumes. Answer is B
50) The problem of household waste may be reduced by burying and covering with soil. This is
especially true of organic waste. Things such as banana skin, remains or orange can be buried.
These are called biodegradable materials. They can be decomposed by microorganisms in the
soil and they will eventually form humus and become a part of the soil. Answer is C
51) The greatest influence on tourism in the Caribbean is climate. Our peak tourism period coincides
with the cold winters in the temperate countries. People usually want to escape the cold
temperatures in the winter to experience the warm and sunny climate in the Caribbean. Even
when it is winter in the Caribbean the temperatures are high enough. Answer is B
52) Dumping of waste poses the most serious threat to rivers in the Caribbean. This can be
household waste that is dumped into nearby rivers. This can be solid waste or liquid waste.
Answer is A
53) Mulching is not expected to pollute the underground water. Mulching is any material that is
spread or laid over the surface of the soil as a covering. It is used to retain moisture in the soil,

5. Prepared by Oral Johnson
suppress weeds and reducing soil temperatures (keep the soil cool). Pesticides and fertilizers can
infiltrate in ground water source and contaminate it. Answer is C
54) Muddy water may cause damage to coral reefs. The muddy water will prevent sunlight from
reaching the reefs. The algae (zooxanthelae) needs sunlight to carry out photosynthesis. Answer
is D
55) Water pollution is most likely a problem at Y. There is a town nearby and improper disposal of
waste into the river will be transported to the coastline. This can be solid or liquid waste.
Answer is C
56) The improper disposal of waste will more likely result in water pollution on the coast. There is a
town nearby and improper disposal of waste into the river will be transported to the coastline.
This can be solid or liquid waste Answer is C
57) X represents percolation. Percolation is the downward movement of water in the soil. Answer is
A
58) Poor transportation is a problem associated with small farming in the Caribbean. Some small
scale farmers are located in areas where there are no roads or the conditions of the roads are
poor. Sometimes they have to use Donkeys to transport their crops. This is a serious challenge
to farmers. Answer is B
59) All methods have been used by Caribbean governments to improve farming in the region.
Government provides equipment or farm tools to farmers. Some banking institutions provide
loans to farmers form them to purchase machinery and fertilizers. Caribbean governments also
expose the farmers to improved methods of farming, a good example is greenhouse farming.
They usually train the farmers as well. RADA helps with this through its extension offices.
Answer is D
60) Infiltration is reduced when trees are cut down. Deforestation will result in less infiltration and
more surface runoff. The trees are not there to protect the soil and runoff results. Soil erosion
will then follow. Answer is B