Deserts Climate Type

Deserts are the regions of scanty rainfall (less than 25 cm or 10 inch of rainfall)
May be hot like Saharan Desert; Coastal dry deserts like Atacama & Temperate or the mid
latitude deserts viz. Gobi.
Hot desert climates are typically found under the subtropical ridge
Deserts Climate Type
Unbroken sunshine for the whole year + stable descending air + high pressure aloft
These areas are located between 15 30 degrees south & north latitude, under the subtropical
latitudes called the horse latitudes.
Major hot deserts of the world include
Sahara Desert (Africa)
Thar Desert (India)
Libyan Desert (Africa)
Mojave Desert (N-America)
Kalahari Desert (Africa)
Iranian Desert
Arabian Deserts
Hot desert drylands, like the Atacama of Chile, the Namib of southern Africa, and the western
Australian desert, are the result of cold oceanic currents that divert rain-laden air away from
coastlines.
Deserts Climate Type
Among the mid-latitudes deserts, many are found on plateau & are at considerable distance
from the sea Cold Deserts viz.
Gobi Desert
Turkestan Desert
Patagonian Desert
Causes of aridity of deserts
The hot deserts lie astride the horse latitudes or sub-tropical high pressure belts, where the air
is descending, a condition least favorable for precipitation of any kind.
Aridity of deserts due to high pressure belts

Rain shadow Air descending leeward side from mountainous areas warms and dries by
compression, little rainfall forms and aridity is the result for e.g. Patagonian desert due to rain
shadow effect of Andes.
aridity of deserts due to rain shadow

Cold ocean currents Cold air present above such currents ensures less evaporation of
moisture with scarse evaporation resulting in formation of mist & fog, but no clouds hence no
rain. Effect of cold Peruvian current makes Atacama the driest place of the earth
aridity of deserts due to cold currents & continentality

Continentality Central areas of continents are dry because they lie far away from the oceans
& air moving over landmasses does not absorb large amounts of water vapour, required for

precipitation.
Temperature variation in Deserts
Deserts are some of the hottest spots on the earth & have high temperature throughout the
year.
There is no cold season in hot deserts & average temp. is around 30 -35*C.
Diurnal range of temperature is extremely high in deserts due to intense high temp. during the
day & freezing cold nights.
Days are unbearably hot with highest temp. of 76*C recorded in open barren sand and in
shaded, well-ventilated areas viz.
Al- Azizia in Libya has had a recorded high temperature of 58 C.
An interesting variant of tropical and subtropical deserts are the so-called West Coast Desert
areas found on the western coastal margins of the regions such as Atacama deserts of South
America, and the Sahara [Moroccan part] and Namib deserts of Africa.

These areas are much cooler than their latitude would suggest (monthly mean temperatures of
only 1521 C.
The cooling results from airflow off adjacent coastal waters where upwelling of the ocean gives
rise to cold currents.
Deserts of this sort are subject to frequent fog and low-level clouds; yet they are extremely
arid.
Desert Facts
Deserts cover more than 1/5th of the Earths land, and they are found on every continent.
Despite the common conceptions of deserts as dry and hot, there are cold deserts as well.
The largest hot desert in the world, northern Africas Sahara, reaches temperatures of up to
122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) during the day.
But some deserts are always cold, like the Gobi desert in Asia and the desert on the continent
of Antarctica.
Simoom Violent dust storms in deserts
Desert Animals Characteristics
Desert animals have adapted ways to help them keep cool and use less water. Camels, for
example, can go for days without food and water.
Many desert animals are nocturnal, coming out only when the brutal sun has descended to
hunt, have long feet & secrets conc. waste.
Some animals, like the desert tortoise in the southwestern United States, spend much of their
time underground.
Most desert birds are nomadic, crisscrossing the skies in search of food.
Because of their very special adaptations, desert animals are extremely vulnerable to
introduced predators and changes to their habitat.
Desert Animals
Desert vegetation Characteristics
Desert vegetation is an amazing example of adaptive power of plants and trees, which majorly
consists of scrub, herbs, weeds, roots & bulbs.
The predominant vegetation of deserts is xerophyte or drought resistant which usually has
special ways of storing and conserving water viz. cacti
Trees are rare except where there is abundant of ground water to support clusters of date
palms.

Absence of moisture retards the rate of decomposition hence desert soils are deficient in
humus content along with high rate of evaporation making the soil saline.
Plants have few or no leaves & foliage is waxy, leathery or hairy / needle shaped to reduce the
loss of water through transpiration.
Thick bark & tough skins to protect them while they lie dormant from excessive evaporation
Develop an extended root system close to the surface to collect a lot of water during scant
rainfall.
Develop a deep root system and reach groundwater.
Desert vegetation
Characteristic features of desert vegetation
Stay many years dormant as a seed and when sufficient rain falls, and speed up your active
life to a 3 week compressed cycle, producing leaves, flowers and new seeds in no time.
Poison your immediate neighbours, and reduce competition of even your own species.
Remain small, it saves surface through which water evaporates.
Get round, a more advantageous ratio volume/surface, and develop green cylindrical stems
able to perform photosynthesis
Cut off your limbs, I mean, led some of your branches die in order to consume less of
everything
Nomads in Deserts
Bushmen
Kalahari
Bindibu / Aborigins
Australia
Bedouin
Arabia
Tauregs Sahara
Mangols
Gobi (Cold Desert)
Minerals in Deserts
Diamond & Copper
Kalahari (Thirst land)
Atacama
Caliche (Cemented gravels) Sodium Nitrate fertilizer
Chuquicamata (Chile) Largest copper town
Sahara & Arabia
Oil
Mexico Silver
Utah
Uranium
Nevada Copper