Q 01/05

How does the Indian Ocean rank by size among the world's five oceans?

A) Third largest

B) Smallest

C) Second largest

D) Largest

Answer · why

A) Third largest

Third largest, behind the Pacific and the Atlantic; unlike them it is landlocked to the north, so it never reaches Arctic waters.

Q 02/05

What name is given to a severe tropical storm that forms over the Indian Ocean?

A) Typhoon

B) Hurricane

C) Cyclone

D) Monsoon

Answer · why

C) Cyclone

Cyclone: the very same storm is a hurricane in the Atlantic and a typhoon in the north-west Pacific, and only the location changes the name. A British...

Q 03/05

Geologically, the Indian Ocean holds what distinction among the three major oceans?

A) The oldest

B) The deepest

C) The youngest

D) The saltiest

Answer · why

C) The youngest

The youngest: it only opened once the supercontinent Gondwana broke apart, and it grew in India's wake as that landmass drifted north-east.

Q 04/05

Which traditional lateen-sailed vessel carried trade between Arabia, East Africa and India for centuries?

A) Junk

B) Dhow

C) Felucca

D) Sampan

Answer · why

B) Dhow

Dhow: for some two thousand years its crews rode the monsoon, sailing south to East Africa on the winter winds and home to Arabia once they reversed.

Q 05/05

Ancient Greek sailors knew the Indian Ocean and its gulfs by which name, from their word for red?

A) Erythraean Sea

B) Tyrrhenian Sea

C) Hyrcanian Sea

D) Euxine Sea

Answer · why

A) Erythraean Sea

Erythraean Sea: the label once covered the whole ocean, which is why a first-century Greek sailing manual bearing that name lists ports as far away as...