The low-pressure zone located near the equator, where the trade winds of the two hemispheres meet, is called the:

The ITCZ is a belt of low pressure near the equator where the north-east trade winds of the Northern Hemisphere and the south-east trade winds of the Southern Hemisphere meet (converge).

Near the equator, the Sun's rays fall almost vertically throughout the year, so the land and sea are strongly heated. The warm, moist air rises, creating a zone of low pressure at the surface. As the air rises, it cools and its water vapour condenses, forming tall clouds and causing heavy rainfall and thunderstorms almost every afternoon. This is why equatorial regions, such as the Amazon and Congo basins and Indonesia, have hot, wet climates and dense rainforests. Because the air in this zone rises rather than moving horizontally, the surface winds are weak and calm. Sailors called this region the "doldrums".

The ITCZ is not fixed. It moves north and south with the apparent movement of the Sun. In the northern summer (July), it shifts north, and over the Indian subcontinent it moves as far north as about 20-25°N, over the Gangetic plain, where it is called the monsoon trough. This low pressure helps draw the moist south-west monsoon winds from the Indian Ocean towards India. In winter, it moves south of the equator.

The Earth's main pressure belts are:

• Equatorial low pressure belt (ITCZ, doldrums), near the equator.
• Sub-tropical high pressure belts, around 30°N and 30°S, called the "horse latitudes", where the air sinks and many of the world's great deserts are found.
• Sub-polar low pressure belts, around 60°N and 60°S.
• Polar high pressure areas, near the poles.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Horse latitudes are the sub-tropical high-pressure belts around 30° north and south.
• ✗Polar front is the boundary between cold polar air and warmer air in middle latitudes.
• ✗Sub-tropical high is a high-pressure belt, not a low-pressure zone at the equator.