About This Section
This is a collection of important questions with complete model answers covering the whole of Chapter 5 — Minerals and Energy Resources. They are grouped by marks — 1-mark, 3-mark and 5-mark — for thorough Board preparation.
1-Mark Questions
Q1. Which is the finest iron ore with up to 70 per cent iron? Ans. Magnetite.
Q2. Which mineral is the ore of aluminium? Ans. Bauxite.
Q3. Which is the highest-quality hard coal? Ans. Anthracite.
Q4. Name the oldest oil-producing state of India. Ans. Assam.
1-Mark Questions (continued)
Q5. Which mineral is contained in monazite sand? Ans. Thorium.
Q6. In which basin have large natural-gas reserves been discovered? Ans. The Krishna-Godavari basin.
Q7. Rat-hole mining is practised in which state? Ans. Meghalaya.
Q8. Name the ore obtained from veins and lodes. Ans. Copper (also tin, zinc, lead).
3-Mark Questions
Q9. Describe the mode of occurrence of minerals in igneous and sedimentary rocks. Ans. In igneous and metamorphic rocks, minerals fill cracks and faults as veins (smaller) and lodes (larger) — e.g. copper, zinc, tin. In sedimentary rocks, minerals occur in beds and layers formed by deposition — e.g. coal and some iron ores; gypsum and salts form by evaporation.
3-Mark Questions (continued)
Q10. Why do you think that solar energy has a bright future in India? Ans. India is a tropical country with abundant sunshine throughout the year. Photovoltaic technology can convert this sunlight directly into electricity. Solar energy is clean, renewable and inexhaustible, and can bring power to remote rural areas, so it has a bright future.
Q11. Distinguish between conventional and non-conventional sources of energy. Ans. Conventional sources are in long-standing use — firewood, dung cake, coal, petroleum, natural gas and electricity (hydel and thermal). Non-conventional sources are newer and mostly renewable — solar, wind, tidal, geothermal, biogas and nuclear energy.
5-Mark Questions
Q12. Explain the major iron-ore belts of India. Ans. (1) Odisha-Jharkhand belt — Badampahar (Odisha), Gua and Noamundi (Jharkhand). (2) Durg-Bastar-Chandrapur belt — the Bailadila range (Chhattisgarh) with super-high-grade hematite exported via Vishakhapatnam. (3) Ballari-Chitradurga-Chikkamagaluru-Tumakuru belt (Karnataka) — the Kudremukh mines, a 100% export unit, ore sent as slurry to a port near Mangaluru. (4) Maharashtra-Goa belt — Goa and Ratnagiri, exported via Marmagao.
5-Mark Questions (continued)
Q13. Why should we conserve mineral resources, and how? Ans. Minerals are finite and non-renewable and take millions of years to form, while richer ores are being exhausted. Ways to conserve: use improved technology to work low-grade ores cheaply, recycle metals (reuse scrap), and use substitutes for scarce metals — while also using minerals in a planned, sustainable way.
Q14. Explain the non-conventional sources of energy available in India. Ans. Nuclear (uranium, thorium — Jharkhand, Rajasthan; thorium from Kerala's monazite sands); solar (photovoltaic, bright future in tropical India); wind (largest cluster in Tamil Nadu; Nagercoil, Jaisalmer); tidal (Gulf of Khambhat, Gulf of Kutch, Sunderbans); geothermal (Parvati valley/Manikaran, Puga valley); and biogas (gobar gas plants).