Live Quiz Arena
🎁 1 Free Round Daily
⚡ Enter ArenaQuestion
← HistoryWhich irrigation risk increased when Incan agricultural terraces exceeded a critical height during rapid spring melt?
A)Structural collapse from hydrostatic pressure✓
B)Nutrient leaching from topsoil erosion
C)Crop disease spread through standing water
D)Salt accumulation from capillary action
💡 Explanation
When terrace height is excessive during snowmelt, hydrostatic pressure increases because the saturated soil exerts lateral force exceeding the terrace wall's strength leading to collapse. Therefore structural failure is the primary risk, rather than nutrient loss, disease or salinization which stem from different erosion or evaporation mechanisms.
🏆 Up to £1,000 monthly prize pool
Ready for the live challenge? Join the next global round now.
*Terms apply. Skill-based competition.
Related Questions
Browse History →- Which risk was present when a Roman siege tower approached a city wall constructed with lime mortar?
- Which limitation constrained early applications of algebra in 9th-century Islamic irrigation systems?
- Which structural consequence results from sustained freezing within the pozzolan concrete of a Roman aqueduct?
- Which mechanical consequence resulted from water freezing inside early cast iron water pipes during winter months?
- Which mechanism limited pre-Columbian andean terrace agriculture expansion above certain altitudes?
- Which function did the 'Equation of Time' serve in pre-telescopic Islamic astronomy?
