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Prelims · Geography · 16 questions

Oceans

Every UPSC Prelims question on this topic, 2016–2026, newest first. Tap an option to check yourself; the answer and explanation open below it.

Oceans questions per year: 2016: 0, 2017: 0, 2018: 1, 2019: 0, 2020: 1, 2021: 3, 2022: 1, 2023: 0, 2024: 1, 2025: 0, 2026: 1 Asked in 6 of 11 years · most in 2021 (3)

UPSC syllabus: “Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.” See the full syllabus →

Prelims 2017 · Q19

Easy

At one of the places in India, if you stand on the seashore and watch the sea, you will find that the sea water recedes from the shore line a few kilometres and comes back to the shore, twice a day, and you can actually walk on the sea floor when the water recedes. This unique phenomenon is seen at

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) Chandipur

Chandipur, on the Bay of Bengal coast in Balasore district of Odisha, has a very gently sloping shore: at low tide the sea pulls back up to about 5 km, so visitors can walk on the exposed sea bed, and the water returns with the high tide.

  • ✓ (c) Odisha Tourism calls Chandipur a 'hide and seek' beach: at each low tide it recedes up to about 5 km, exposing the sea bed, and the sea comes back at high tide (tides come roughly twice a day).
  • ✗ (a) Bhavnagar is a port city on the Gulf of Khambhat in Gujarat; it is not the beach known for this walk-on-the-sea-floor phenomenon.
  • ✗ (b) Bheemunipatnam is a coastal town near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh with an ordinary beach, not a receding one.

Remember · Chandipur (Balasore, Odisha) = the 'vanishing sea' beach: at low tide the sea recedes up to about 5 km and you can walk on the sea bed.

Sources

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2017 · Q66

Medium

With reference to ‘Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)’ sometimes mentioned in the news while forecasting Indian monsoon, which of the following statements is/are correct?

  1. 1.IOD phenomenon is characterised by a difference in sea surface temperature between tropical Western Indian Ocean and tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean.
  2. 2.An IOD phenomenon can influence an El Nino’s impact on the monsoon.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) 2 only

The Indian Ocean Dipole is a sea-surface temperature difference between the western and the south-eastern tropical Indian Ocean, not the Eastern Pacific, so statement 1 is wrong. A positive or negative IOD can strengthen or weaken the effect of an El Nino on the Indian monsoon, so statement 2 is correct.

  • ✗ 1. The IOD is measured as the temperature difference between the tropical western Indian Ocean and the tropical south-eastern Indian Ocean. The Eastern Pacific is the region watched for El Nino and La Nina, which is a different phenomenon.
  • ✓ 2. The El Nino-induced circulation over India can be countered or supported by the circulation the IOD sets up, depending on the phase and strength of each. This is why a positive IOD can soften an El Nino's damage to the monsoon.

Remember · IOD = west-minus-east sea-surface temperature contrast inside the Indian Ocean. It can counter or reinforce El Nino's effect on the Indian monsoon.

Sources

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

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