Consider the following statements regarding the shape of the Earth:

1.The Earth is best described as an oblate spheroid, flattened at the poles and bulging at the Equator.
2.This shape arises mainly from the Earth's rotation, which creates a centrifugal effect strongest at the Equator.
3.Because of this shape, the equatorial radius of the Earth is smaller than its polar radius.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Assertion (A): The Pole Star (Polaris) will not always appear to mark 'true north' as it does today.

Reason (R): The Earth's axis undergoes a slow conical motion called precession, completing one cycle in about 26,000 years, which gradually changes the star that aligns with the celestial pole.

Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above Assertion (A) and Reason (R)?

Consider the following statements regarding the classification of planets in the Solar System:

1.Terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) are smaller, denser, and rocky compared to Jovian planets.
2.The asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter is generally regarded as the boundary separating terrestrial and Jovian planets.
3.Jovian planets have a larger number of natural satellites, on average, than terrestrial planets.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Arrange the following planets in the increasing order of their orbital period (time taken to complete one revolution around the Sun):

1.Earth
2.Mars
3.Mercury
4.Jupiter

Select the correct sequence using the code below

Consider the following statements regarding a sidereal day and a solar day:

1.A sidereal day (about 23 hours 56 minutes) is measured with reference to a fixed star, while a solar day (24 hours) is measured with reference to the Sun.
2.A solar day is longer than a sidereal day because the Earth must rotate slightly more than 360° to bring the Sun back to the same meridian, owing to the Earth's simultaneous revolution.
3.The difference between the two accumulates over a year to approximately one extra sidereal day compared to the number of solar days.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Consider the following statements regarding discontinuities in the Earth's interior:

1.The Mohorovicic Discontinuity (Moho) separates the crust from the mantle.
2.The Gutenberg Discontinuity marks the boundary between the mantle and the outer core.
3.The Lehmann Discontinuity separates the inner core from the outer core.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

The existence of the 'S-wave shadow zone' during earthquakes is used by seismologists to infer which of the following about the Earth's interior?

Consider the following pieces of evidence cited by Alfred Wegener in support of the Continental Drift Theory:

1.The jigsaw-puzzle fit of the coastlines of South America and Africa.
2.Distribution of the fossil fern Glossopteris across now widely separated continents.
3.Symmetrical patterns of magnetic striping on either side of mid-oceanic ridges.

Which of the statements given above was/were used by Wegener as evidence?

Assertion (A): The discovery of sea-floor spreading strengthened the Continental Drift Theory into the modern Plate Tectonic Theory.

Reason (R): Symmetrical magnetic striping found on either side of mid-oceanic ridges, corresponding to periodic reversals of Earth's magnetic field, confirmed that new oceanic crust is continuously being formed and moving outward from the ridge.

Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above Assertion (A) and Reason (R)?

Consider the following pairs of plate boundary type and an associated landform/phenomenon:

1.Convergent (continent–continent) — Fold mountains, e.g., the Himalayas
2.Divergent (oceanic) — Mid-oceanic ridge, e.g., the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
3.Transform — Deep-sea trench, e.g., the Mariana Trench

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?