Previous Year Question
Consider the following mountains and arrange them in correct order from West to East by their location:
Karakoram
Pontic
Hindu Kush
Zagros
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
2, 4, 3, 1
2, 3, 4, 1
4, 2, 3, 1
4, 1, 2, 3
Correct Answer: A
Detailed Solution
The correct west-to-east sequence is—Pontic → Zagros → Hindu Kush → Karakoram.
The Pontic Mountains are the westernmost among the four and lie in northern Turkey, running roughly parallel to the southern coast of the Black Sea. They form an important part of the Anatolian mountain system.
Further east, the Zagros Mountains extend mainly across western and south-western Iran, with part of the range continuing into north-eastern Iraq. The Zagros form a major fold-and-thrust mountain belt produced by convergence between the Arabian and Eurasian plates.
Further east lies the Hindu Kush, situated mainly in Afghanistan and north-western Pakistan. This mountain system forms part of the great high-mountain region linking Central Asia with South Asia.
The easternmost of the four is the Karakoram Range, extending across northern Pakistan towards India and China. K2 (8,611 m) lies in this mountain system and is the second-highest peak in the world.
Thus, moving west to east on the map, the progression is—
Turkey → Iran/Iraq → Afghanistan/Pakistan → Karakoram region