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
Correct — B, statements 1 and 4 only. The Mediterranean type of climate occupies the lower middle latitudes, roughly 30 to 45 degrees on either side of the equator, and it sits on the western margins of continents — the Mediterranean basin itself, central California, central Chile, the Cape region of South Africa and southern and south-western Australia. Its defining rhythm comes from the seasonal migration of the pressure belts. In summer the subtropical high-pressure cell moves poleward and sits over these coasts, giving clear, dry, sinking air. In winter the high retreats towards the equator and the belt of westerlies takes its place, bringing travelling frontal depressions and with them the region's rain. So the westerlies are indeed the rain-bearing agent, which makes statement 4 correct, and the latitude range in statement 1 is right as well.
- (a)1, 2 and 4 — Keeps both true statements but adds statement 2. Mediterranean temperatures are not extreme — the regions lie near large water bodies, so the annual range is comparatively small, winters rarely fall below freezing and summers are warm to hot rather than searing. The climate is famous for being equable, which is precisely why it is prized.
- (c)1, 2 and 3 — Wrong twice over. Besides the temperature claim, it asserts summer rain, and the whole identity of this climate is that the rain comes in winter while the summer is dry. Any option containing statement 3 can be eliminated at once.
- (d)3 and 4 — Internally inconsistent as well as wrong. Statement 3 puts the rain in summer while statement 4 credits it to the westerlies, but the westerlies reach these latitudes only in winter — the two cannot both be true, and it also drops the correct latitude range.
The Mediterranean climate, classified as Cs in the Koppen system, is the only major climate type with a dry summer and a wet winter. That reversal of the usual pattern comes from the annual north-south swing of the global pressure belts. Sitting between the subtropical high on the equatorward side and the westerly belt on the poleward side, these coasts fall under the descending, stable air of the high in summer and under the mid-latitude storm track in winter. The natural vegetation is sclerophyllous — hard-leaved, drought-resistant evergreen scrub and trees such as evergreen oak, olive, cork oak and various aromatic shrubs, known as maquis around the Mediterranean and chaparral in California.
Two of the four statements test the same underlying idea from opposite sides, and the fastest route through the item is to settle the season of rainfall first. Once you are sure the rain falls in winter, statement 3 dies and options (c) and (d) go with it, leaving a choice between (a) and (b) that turns entirely on whether the temperatures are extreme. They are not: proximity to the sea keeps the annual range modest, and a small annual range is the standard textbook descriptor for this climate. That leaves 1 and 4. It is also worth holding on to the human geography that follows from the climate, because examiners like it — this is the world's citrus, olive, grape and wine belt, and it is often called the region of Mediterranean agriculture or, in older textbooks, the land of winter rain and summer drought.
- Mediterranean climate occurs roughly between 30 and 45 degrees latitude in both hemispheres, on the western margins of continents.
- Rainfall is concentrated in winter and is brought by the westerlies and their frontal depressions; summers are dry under the subtropical high.
- Temperatures are moderate with a small annual range, because these regions lie close to large water bodies.
- The main regions are the Mediterranean basin, central California, central Chile, the Cape region of South Africa and southern and south-western Australia.
- Reading the Mediterranean summer as a rainy season; the dry summer is the whole point of the type.
- Calling the climate extreme because summers are hot — the annual range is small, which is what 'extreme' would deny.
World climatic regions come up as statement sets like this one or as Koppen code matching, so learn each type as a package of latitude, continental margin, rainfall season and typical vegetation.
A geographic region has the following distinct characteristics: 1. Warm and dry climate 2. Mild and wet winter 3. Evergreen oak trees. The above features are the distinct characteristics of which one of the following regions?
- (a) Mediterranean
- (b) Eastern China
- (c) Central Asia
- (d) Atlantic coast of North America
Answer(a) Mediterranean
The same climate identified from its symptoms rather than its statements — dry warm summer, mild wet winter and evergreen oak, which is the sclerophyllous vegetation that goes with the Cs type.
Match List–I with List–II and select the correct answer using the code given below the Lists : List–I (Koppen's Climatic Type) A. Tropical wet B. Mid-latitude desert C. Mediterranean D. Humid continental List–II (Letter Code) 1. Af 2. Cs 3. Df 4. BWk Code : A B C D
- (a) 1 4 2 3
- (b) 1 2 4 3
- (c) 3 2 4 1
- (d) 3 4 2 1
Answer(a) 1 4 2 3
Places the same climate in the Koppen scheme — Mediterranean is Cs, where the small s stands for the dry summer, which is the single fact that makes statement 3 of this item false.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The rainfall of the Mediterranean climatic region is chiefly brought by
- (a)the trade winds in summer
- (b)the westerlies in winter
- (c)the monsoon winds
- (d)convectional thunderstorms in summer
Answer(b) the westerlies in winter — the subtropical high shifts equatorward in winter and the westerly storm track moves in over these coasts.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following regions does NOT have a Mediterranean type of climate?
- (a)Central Chile
- (b)The Cape region of South Africa
- (c)Central California
- (d)The Gangetic plain of India
Answer(d) The Gangetic plain of India — it has a monsoon climate with summer rainfall, not a winter-rain Mediterranean regime.