Which one of the following climatic types is found in Central Spain?
- (a)Subarctic
- (b)Mediterranean dry hot summer
- (c)Subtropical Steppe
- (d)Humid continental warm summer
Correct — C, Subtropical Steppe. Central Spain is the Meseta Central, a plateau of about 600 to 700 metres ringed by mountains, and the ring is what makes its climate. The Cantabrians and the Sistema Central block the moist Atlantic westerlies, the Baetic ranges block the Mediterranean air from the south-east, and the interior is left dry — Madrid, at about 667 metres on the southern Meseta, is classed as cold semi-arid, Koppen BSk, which is precisely the subtropical steppe type. The interior is also more continental than the coasts: summers are hot, winters genuinely cold, and the annual temperature range far wider than any coastal Spanish station shows. Mediterranean conditions in the proper sense belong to Spain's coastal fringes, which is why option (b) is the trap. Note the honest limit at the boundary — Madrid's western side grades into a Mediterranean Csa, so the interior is a transition rather than a sharp line, and the key takes the drier steppe classification for the centre.
- (a)Subarctic — Far too cold. Subarctic climates belong to the high-latitude interiors of Eurasia and North America, with long severe winters and coniferous forest. Spain does not reach those latitudes.
- (b)Mediterranean dry hot summer — The strongest wrong answer, because it is right for Spain as a whole and wrong for its centre. The Mediterranean type sits on the coastal margins; the interior meseta, cut off from both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean by mountains, is drier than a Mediterranean station and swings much further between summer and winter.
- (d)Humid continental warm summer — Wrong on moisture. A humid continental climate has adequate rainfall spread through the year and is found in eastern North America, eastern Europe and north-east Asia. The meseta's defining feature is its dryness.
The Koppen system divides climates by temperature and precipitation thresholds. The B group covers dry climates, split into BW deserts and BS steppes, and each is further divided into hot (h) and cold (k) varieties by mean annual temperature. BSk is therefore a cold semi-arid or mid-latitude steppe climate. Spain carries an unusual range for a single country: Atlantic oceanic in the north-west, Mediterranean along the east and south, semi-arid across the interior, and genuinely arid in the south-east around Almeria.
The item is really about the difference between a country and its interior. Most candidates hold the label Mediterranean for Spain and stop there, and the paper is testing whether that label survives contact with the map. Two facts break it. First, altitude — the Meseta stands at 600 to 700 metres, which cools it and sharpens its seasonal range. Second, the mountain rings, which take the moisture out of the air on every approach. What survives is a dry, continental, steppe interior. A good cross-check is to recall that the driest parts of Europe are in south-eastern Spain, where the Tabernas country is classified as a true desert; if a corner of Spain can be desert, the centre being steppe is unsurprising.
- Madrid, at about 667 metres on the southern Meseta Central, has a cold semi-arid climate, Koppen BSk.
- The Meseta is enclosed by the Cantabrian, Central and Baetic ranges, which cut off moisture from both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
- In the Koppen system, BS denotes steppe and the suffix k denotes the cold or mid-latitude variety.
- Mediterranean conditions in Spain are found chiefly on the coastal fringes; Madrid's western side grades towards Csa.
- Spain's south-east, around Almeria, includes the driest country in Europe.
- Applying a country-level climate label to its interior; Spain is Mediterranean at the edges and dry in the middle.
- Reading steppe as a cold-latitude climate only — the BSk type occurs in mid-latitudes at altitude.
- Confusing humid continental, which is well watered, with a semi-arid interior.
As a place-to-climate-type identification, or through the mechanisms — rain shadow, continentality — that make an interior drier than its coasts.
Which of the following statements concerning Mediterranean climatic region are correct ? 1. It is found in the latitude range 30° to 45° northern and southern hemisphere 2. Mediterranean climate experiences extreme temperature conditions 3. In Mediterranean climate, rainfall occurs mainly during summer season 4. In Mediterranean climate, rainfall is mainly due to Westerlies Select the correct answer using the code given below :
- (a) 1, 2 and 4
- (b) 1 and 4 only
- (c) 1, 2 and 3
- (d) 3 and 4
Answer(b) 1 and 4 only
The climate this question's trap option names, described precisely. A Mediterranean regime takes its rain from the westerlies in winter and does not run to temperature extremes — which is exactly why the enclosed, sharply seasonal meseta of central Spain is classified as steppe instead.
- practice — not a real PYQ
In the Koppen classification, the code BSk denotes which one of the following?
- (a)Hot desert climate
- (b)Cold semi-arid or steppe climate
- (c)Humid subtropical climate
- (d)Tundra climate
Answer(b) Cold semi-arid or steppe climate — B for dry, S for steppe, k for the cold or mid-latitude variety.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The interior of the Iberian peninsula is drier than its coasts chiefly because
- (a)it lies within the polar front zone
- (b)it is enclosed by mountain ranges that cut off moist air
- (c)it is at a lower elevation than the coast
- (d)cold ocean currents flow along its shores
Answer(b) it is enclosed by mountain ranges that cut off moist air — the Cantabrians, the Sistema Central and the Baetic ranges leave the Meseta in rain shadow.