Geography Deserts

Typical Characteristics Aridity: How measured? 10 inches vs 55.6 inches How much is usable? Why? i. Flash floods ii. Evaporation

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II. Temperature: Distance from Equator Daytime vs Nighttime i. Highest: 136F Role of Clouds

III. Landforms: Sand Less stereotypical - mountains, plateaus, plains, gravel, bedrock; Ravines, gullies, canyons - formed how? Role of wind?

IV. Life: Not barren What allows plants/animals to survive? i. Saguaro cactus ii. Reptiles vs mammals

C. Nocturnal D. Oasis

Why Go There? Resources Minerals and metals Oil Religion Weather Mystery and Beauty

Changing Size . . . Shrinking Irrigation Growing Desertification Overtaxing semi-arid areas 20% of world

Deserts of the World NA: Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan SA: Patagonian Africa: Sahara, Lybian, Namib, and Kalahari Asia: Arabian, Rub al Khali, Gobi, and Takla Makan Australia: Great Sandy, Gibson, Great Victoria, and Simpson

Africa Sahara Camel caravans i. Sagging hump Salt mines

C. Terrain i. rocky mountains, salt flats, gravel plains, sand seas ii. 3000 miles across iii. 1200 miles long iv. covers 3.5 million square miles

D. Precipitation i. Average of less than 4 inches a year, with some areas receiving no rain at all ii. oasis iii. Nile along eastern edge

II. Kalahari Lions, elephants, zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, hyenas, etc. water holes Referred to as a “thirstland” rather than a desert, at times, due to the wider assortment of life found there

D. Terrain i. Basin ii. About as big as Texas

E. Precipitation i. 5-15 inches of rain a year ii. No predictable pattern iii. Water holes

III. San People Also known as the Bushman Found and stored water in ostrich eggs in order to survive droughts

Australia Aborigines Natives of Australia Recorded to have lived there for at least 40,000 years

C. Aboriginal life and traditions i. Creation and “dreamtime” ii. “Songlines” iii. Nomadic hunters/gatherers iv. “Walkabouts”

II. Outback ⅔ of Australia is arid to semi-arid Makes up the interior of the continent Billabongs - water supplies and salt flats Marsupials i. Kangaroo and conserving energy

Asia Gobi Surrounded almost entirely by mountains Terrain i. Mostly rock and gravel terrain ii. Salty soil - scrub brush and grasses with few oases

C. Precipitation i. One of driest deserts ii. Less than four to eight inches rainfall a year iii. Most rivers dry up before reaching interior of desert

D. -40F low to over 100F high i. Extremes - dryness and temperature - forbidding

II. Arabian Peninsula Between Red Sea and Persian Gulf Connects Africa and Asia Saudi Arabia and oil beneath surface i. More than ⅓ of gas and oil lines in world are here

D. Terrain i. Partially covered in rock and gravel ii. Mainly covered in sand - largest sand desert in world - dunes 800 feet high and 30 miles long

E. Rub’ al Khali i. “Empty Quarter” in Arabic ii. Inhabited by Bedouin tribes, who call it “the Sand” - ar-Ramlah

F. Precipitation i. No permanent river ii. Importance of date palm tree

North America Mojave Hottest, driest, lowest desert in US Mainly in southeastern California and southern Nevada

C. Terrain i. A basin rising into mountains to east and west ii. Shrubbery, salt flats, and Joshua trees

D. Death Valley i. Formed along 2 fault lines ii. Lowest point in the Western Hemisphere at 282 feet below sea level iii. 130 miles long and 6-14 miles wide at different points

iv. Driest place in US, receiving less than 2 inches of rain each year v. Once was a site for borax mining, now a national park

II. Devil’s Highway Sonoran Desert in Arizona 200 miles long Only one dependable water source Covered in black lava rock

III. Chihuahuan Mostly on a plateau in Mexico, but stretches into Texas and New Mexico Most notable features are the white sand dunes at White Sands National Monument in NM i. Used as a testing site for bombs/missiles

C. Precipitation i. Varies due to elevation ii. Takes form mainly of brief, violent thunderstorms

South America Patagonia Located in southern Argentina Terrain i. Vast plateau - tableland - or semi-arid steppe filled with short grasses and shrubs ii. Between Atlantic and the Andes

iii. Rio Colorado to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south iv. Almost entire coastline is comprised of cliffs as high as 150 feet v. Surface of basalt vi. Southern hemisphere means inverted seasons compared to what we know

C. Precipitation i. Four to eight inches of rain per year ii. Most moisture evaporated rapidly by dry winds iii. Rivers narrow and dry up quickly as they flow out of the Andes toward the ocean

D. Origin of name i. Spanish patagones means “big feet,” as the recorder of Magellan’s stop reportedly saw huge footprints in the snow ii. Tehuelche Indians

E. Native wildlife i. Guanaco, similar to a small, humpless camel or a llama ii. Rhea, similar to a smaller ostrich or emu iii. What the Welsh immigrants called “pen-gywns”

F. Today i. Sparsely populated ii. Sheep ranches, farms, orchards iii. Oil wells iv. Iron and copper mines