QUESTION 1 / 20 · PLATE TECTONICSEasy
The 'Ring of Fire', a belt of volcanoes and earthquakes, surrounds which ocean?
MYSTERY PLACE 1 OF 6 · 0 RIGHT
Name the climate from its chart
Geographers read climates from two lines: monthly temperature and monthly rainfall. Look at the shape across the year, then pick the climate type.
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE (°C)RAINFALL (MM)
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240160180160170140150150140160250290
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What this physical geography quiz covers, in short
Twenty multiple-choice questions on the natural systems that shape the planet, four in each of five areas: plate tectonics, weather and climate, water and ice, landforms, and ecosystems.
The climate charts use rounded long-term averages for real cities, which are named after you answer. The quiz is our own and not normed, so treat your score as a snapshot.
By What's Your IQ · Reviewed 4 Oct 2026- Format
- 20 multiple-choice questions, 4 options each
- Systems
- Plates, climate, water and ice, landforms, ecosystems
- Bonus
- 6 climate charts to identify
- Level
- Roughly secondary-school geography
50 yearsfrom "absurd" to acceptedAlfred Wegener proposed drifting continents in 1912 and was widely dismissed. Seafloor evidence in the 1960s proved the plates move.1,2
1884Climates classified. Wladimir Köppen grouped climates by temperature and rainfall patterns tied to vegetation, the basis of the charts above.3
1912Continental drift. Wegener pointed to matching coastlines and fossils across oceans, but couldn't explain what moved the continents.1
1958The Keeling curve. Charles Keeling began measuring atmospheric CO₂ on Mauna Loa, recording its steady rise ever since.
1962Seafloor spreading. Harry Hess proposed new crust forms at mid-ocean ridges, supplying the mechanism Wegener lacked.2
- Wegener, A. (1915). Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane. Vieweg.
- Hess, H. H. (1962). History of ocean basins. In Petrologic studies (pp. 599–620). Geological Society of America.
- Kottek, M., Grieser, J., Beck, C., Rudolf, B., & Rubel, F. (2006). World map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification updated. Meteorologische Zeitschrift, 15(3), 259–263.