RAS question
Aakal Wood Fossil Park is near which city?
Correct answer: (A) Jaisalmer.
Aakal Wood Fossil Park is near Jaisalmer, about 17 km from the city towards Barmer.
Explanation
Aakal Wood Fossil Park is linked to Jaisalmer because Rajasthan Tourism places it about 17 km from Jaisalmer, towards Barmer. The park matters in Rajasthan geography because it is not just a tourist spot but a preserved Jurassic-era fossil site: Rajasthan Tourism says a forest stood there 180 million years ago, was later submerged under the sea, and its tree trunks were preserved as fossils. Aakal displays fossilised tree trunks from the Jurassic era. So, when the question asks for the nearby city, the answer is Jaisalmer, not any other western Rajasthan city.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Bikaner is not the nearby city identified for Aakal Wood Fossil Park; the official Jaisalmer page places the park about 17 km from Jaisalmer.
- (C) Barmer appears only as the direction from Jaisalmer, not as the city near which the park is located.
- (D) Jodhpur is not the nearby city; Rajasthan Tourism describes the park on the Jaisalmer page as lying about 17 km from Jaisalmer.
Concept
This tests location-based mapping of Rajasthan's geological heritage sites. Such questions recur in RAS because parks, fossil sites and desert landforms connect static geography with tourism and environmental heritage.