http://www.cleverscampcamp.com/current-river-camping-nps/
Introduction to Desert
In this brief introduction, we will discuss the location of deserts, some of its main features flora and fauna, the effect on climate and human use.
key locations and types of deserts
A desert is a landscape or region that receives a low amount of rainfall less than enough to support plant growth. Deserts are classified into areas with annual rainfall less than 250 mm (10 inches) per year or as areas where more water is lost through evapotranspiration falls as precipitation. Deserts are part of a classification of regions that, on average each year, a deficit of moisture (For example, it can potentially lose more as received.) Deserts are found in the plant cover is sparse and almost nonexistent, and represent approximately one third (33%) of the landmass of the Earth. This brief introduction will focus on hot deserts. hot deserts generally have a wide range of Daily and seasonal temperatures, with high daytime temperatures and low nighttime temperatures (due to high humidity low). In the hot desert daytime temperatures can reach 45 ° C/113 ° F or more in summer and fall to 0 º C/32 º F or lower, winter. The dry desert air is not able to block the sunlight during the day or to trap heat in the night.
Therefore, during the day most of the sun's heat reaches the ground, and once the sun sets the desert cools quickly by radiation of its heat into space. Urban areas in deserts lack large (more than 14 ° C/25 ° F) daily temperature variations, particularly because of the island effect urban heat. Many deserts are formed by rain shadows, mountains blocking the way of precipitation in the desert (in the lee mountain). Deserts are often composed of sand and rock surfaces. Sand dunes called ergs and stone surfaces called Hamada. Exhibitions rocky terrain are typical, and reflect minimal soil development and sparse vegetation. The soil is rocky because of the chemical under the weather. The largest hot desert in the Sahara in northern Africa, which covers nine million square kilometers and 12 countries. Other major hot deserts include the desert Arabia, the Kalahari Desert, Great Victoria Desert, Great Basin and Desert Syrian Desert. Deserts are also classified by their position geographical and meteorological conditions prevailing winds average latitudes, the rain shadow, coastal, monsoon, or deserts polar. desert areas currently not dry, for example, the environments are paleodeserts Nebraska sand dunes. Montane deserts are arid places with a tall, the most striking example is the northern Himalayas, particularly in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, in the regions of Kunlun Mountains and the Tibetan Plateau.
Many places in this category have elevations of 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) and the thermal regime may hémiboréale. These places owe their profound aridity (the average annual rainfall is often less than 40 mm or 1.5 inches) to be far more sources closest available moisture. normally deserted at Cold Mountain. rain shadow deserts form when tall mountain ranges block clouds from reaching the areas where the wind goes. As the air over the mountains, it cools and condenses the moisture, causing precipitation on the windward side. When it comes to wind air is dry and has lost most of its moisture, resulting in a desert. Here the air is heated, it expands, and blows across the desert. The hot, dry air removes moisture in the desert. An example of a rain shadow desert is Death Valley Located in the shadow of the mountain slopes of the Cordillera de la Costa Pacific in California and the Sierra Nevada.
Key Features physical
Sand covers only about 20 per cent of the Deserts of the Earth. Most sand is sand and leaves regions Sand Sea undulating dunes. In general, there are six forms of deserts: 1 Mountains) and two Basin Desert) Hamada deserts, which consist of plateau landforms 3) Regs, which consist of four floors of rock) ergs, which are formed by sand seas 5) located between the basins and 6) Badlands, which are marginal drylands including clay soil rich in almost all areas of the desert plains are where the removal of materials for wind erosion by wind, showed a predominance of loose stones, but with occasional stones. The remaining surfaces of arid lands are composed of exposed bedrock, soil desert, and fluvial deposits and alluvial fans, beaches, lakes, desert and oasis. outcrops occur as small mountains surrounded by vast plains of erosion. There are different types of dunes exist. Barchan dunes are produced by winds blowing across a flat, crescent-shaped. Seif dunes are longitudinal dunes that are parallel or a strong wind blowing in a branch. Transverse dunes run at right angles to the direction the constant wind. Star dunes are star-shaped and have several ridges around a point. Oases are vegetated areas by wet springs, wells or irrigation. Many are artificial. Oases are often the only places in deserts that support crops and permanent room.
Flora and fauna
The Deserts have a reputation for keeping life very little, but the reality in the deserts often high biodiversity, including animals that remain hidden during the day to control body temperature or reduce water needs. Some For example, the wildlife in the Mojave Desert, including brush mice, cactus gray fox, porcupine, kangaroo rat, coyote, the hare and several species of lizards. In the deserts of Australia have the Bilby, erate, Devil Espinosa, bearded dragon, Red Kangaroo and Dingo as examples. These animals have adapted to live in deserts are called xerocoles. Many desert animals (and plants) are especially clear evolutionary adaptations to conserve water or heat tolerance, are therefore often studied in comparative physiology, physiology and ecophysiology scalable.
A well-studied example is the specialization of mammalian kidneys shown by species that live in the desert. There many examples of convergent evolution were identified organisms in the desert, even among the cacti and euphorbia, kangaroo rats and gerbils, lizards Phrynosoma and Moloch. Some flora includes shrubs, cactus, Desert Holly, and Brittlebush. Most desert plants are drought tolerant salt, such as drought-tolerant. Some store water in their leaves, roots and stems. Other desert plants have long taproots that penetrate the water table if present, or have adapted to the weather with a wide distribution of roots to absorb water more acres land. Another adaptation is the development of small prickly leaves that shed less moisture than deciduous leaves with greater surface.
Stems and leaves of certain plants speed below the surface of sand-carrying winds and protect the soil against erosion. Even fungi and small plant organisms found in surface soil (soil cryptobiotic call) can be a vital link in preventing erosion and support other living organisms. Deserts typically have a vegetation cover is sparse, but extremely diverse. The giant saguaro cactus Sonoran Desert provide nests for desert birds and serve as "Trees" desert. Saguaro grow slowly but can live up 200 years. At nine years, are about 15 centimeters (6 inches). After about 75 years, the cacti develop their first branches. A mature saguaro cactus is 15 meters high and weigh 10 tons. Sonora points and strengthen the general impression of deserts, cactus-rich land. Although cacti are often regarded as characteristic desert plants, other plants and have adapted to arid environments. These include pea and sunflower families. Cold deserts have grasses and shrubs as dominant vegetation.
Biodiversity Study Case – The Atacama
Atacama is the driest place on earth and it is virtually sterile because it is blocked from moisture on both sides of the range of the Andes and the coastal mountains of Chile. The cold Humboldt Current and the Pacific anticyclone is essential to maintain the dry climate of Atacama Desert. Average precipitation in the Antofagasta region of Chile is only 1 mm per year. Some weather stations in the Atacama have never received rain. The data indicate the Atacama Desert may not have had heavy rain from 1570 to 1971. It is so arid that mountains that reach up to 6,885 meters (22,590 feet) are completely free of glaciers and the southern 25 ° S to 27 ° S, may have been ice-free throughout the Quaternary, if the permafrost extends to a height of 4,400 meters and is continuous above 5,600 meters.
Some places in the Atacama receive a marine fog known locally as Camanchaca, providing sufficient moisture for hypolithic algae, lichens and even some cacti. But in the region to be in the shade "fog" of the high ridge of the coast which averages 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) meters about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Antofagasta, the soil has been compared to that of Mars. Because of their appearance of a another world, the Atacama Desert has been used as a filming location for scenes from the planet Mars. The desert is also appears mainly James Bond Quantum of Solace 2008. In 2003, a team of researchers has published a report in the journal Science entitled "The soil of Mars in the Atacama Desert Chile and the dry limit of Microbial Life "in which doubled the evidence used by the Viking 1 and Viking 2 on Mars to detect life, and were unable to detect any signs of soil from the Atacama desert. The region may be unique on Earth in this regard and is used by NASA to test instruments for future missions to Mars. Consider some of the biology in a given region of Atacama – proximity Pan de Azucar National Park.
Pan de Azucar NP is divided into two ecosystems: the coastal desert and desert steppe Taltal Sierra Vicuña Mackenna. Not more than 20 species of cacti in region, mainly of the genus Copiapoa The guanaco is the largest mammal in the park. Other mammals Andean Fox, Fox Chilla and European hare. The coastal area is home to marine mammals, including sea otters and sea lions American South. Among the birds are the Humboldt penguin and Pelican. Also reptile species and genera Tropidurus Callopistes inhabit the park.
Uses human
Mineral resources
Deserts may contain large quantities of mineral resources through its surface. This mineral also determines the color. For example, the red sand deserts of many is the result of the presence of laterite. . Some mineral deposits also are formed, improved, or preserved by geologic processes that occur in arid areas because of climate. water seeps ground minerals and redeposited in areas near the water table. This leaching process concentrates these minerals is the mineral that can be extracted. Evaporation of mineral accumulation in drylands enriches its lakes. Lake beds known as ranges can be sources of deposits minerals formed by evaporation. The water evaporates from the closed basins precipitates minerals such as gypsum, salts (including nitrate sodium chloride and sodium), and borates.
The minerals that form in these deposits evaporation depends on the composition and temperature salt water at the time of filing. Important resources evaporites occur in the desert of the Great United States, mineral deposits made famous by teams of "20 mule-drawn wagons loaded with borax after Death Valley Railroad. Boron, from borax and borate evaporites, is an essential ingredient in the manufacture of glass, enamel, agricultural chemicals, water softeners, and pharmaceuticals. Borates are extracted evaporite deposits at Searles Lake, California, and elsewhere in the desert. The total value of chemicals that have been produced from Searles Lake well over U.S. $ One billion the Atacama Desert in Chile is unique among the deserts of the world's abundance of minerals. Nitrate Sodium is taken by explosives and fertilizer in the Atacama desert since the mid-19th century. Nearly 3 million tons were mined during the First World War 1. See our group www.chronosconsulting.com Chile Mining and Energy and our other articles on mining Base articles.
valuable minerals located in arid lands include copper in the United States, Chile, Peru and Iran, the ore iron, lead and zinc in Australia, and gold, silver and uranium deposits in Australia and the United States. nonmetallic mineral and rocks such as beryllium, mica, lithium, clays, pumice, slag and also occur in arid regions. Sodium carbonate, sulfate, borate, nitrate, lithium, bromine, iodine, calcium, strontium and its compounds from sediments and near surface brines formed by evaporation inland waters, often in recent geological time. The Green River Formation of Colorado, Wyoming and Utah contains alluvial fan deposits evaporites and bathing area in a huge lake whose level fluctuated for millions of years. Economically significant deposits trona, a source of sodium compounds important, and thick layers of shale were created in the arid environment.
Some the most productive of oil in the Earth are located in arid and semi-arid Africa and the Middle East, although the oil fields have been originally formed in shallow marine environments. climate change in recent years has placed these reservoirs in an arid environment. It is noteworthy that Ghawar, the largest oil fields and production in the world is most often under theEmpty Dahnadeserts and Al Barrio. To learn more oil please see other www.chronosoil.com oil reservoirs, however, assumes that from wind and are currently in humid environments. The Rotliegend, a reservoir oil in the North Sea, is associated with extensive evaporite deposits. Many oil stocks in the United States may come from eolian sands. ancient alluvial fan sequences may also be hydrocarbon reservoirs.
Solar Energy Resources
Deserts are increasingly seen as sources of solar energy. The Negev Desert and the surrounding area, including the Valley the Arava are the sunniest parts of Israel and some of these lands are arable, where he became the center of the solar industry Israel. David Faiman, a world expert in solar energy, feel the energy needs of a country like Israel could be satisfied by building solar energy plants in the Negev. Faiman also believes that current technology for electricity supply worldwide needs 10 percent of the Sahara. Solel has nine fields of solar collectors in the Mojave Desert in California recently signed a contract to build the Mojave Solar Park plant will be the largest global production of solar energy.
Human life in deserts
Desert is a hostile environment for life-threatening mistrust of humans. In hot deserts, high temperatures cause a rapid loss of water due to sweating, and lack of water sources that can replace lead to dehydration and death within days. In addition, unprotected humans are also at risk of heat stroke. Humans also can adapt to sandstorms in some deserts, not only in its negative effects respiratory systems and eyes, but also in its potentially harmful effects on equipment such as filters, vehicles and communication equipment. Sandstorms can last for hours, sometimes days. This makes enough to survive in the desert difficult for humans. However, some cultures have made the deserts warm their homes for thousands of years, including Bedouins, Tuaregs and Pueblo.
Modern technology, including irrigation systems, desalination and air conditioning have made deserts much more hospitable. In the United Kingdom States and Israel, for example, agriculture in the desert found widespread use and places like Las Vegas are a lot of conditioning. In cold deserts, hypothermia and frost are the main risks, as well as dehydration, lack of heat to melt ice to drink. Falling through the surface ice packs and ice sheets in ice water is a particular hazard requiring urgent action to prevent hypothermia quickly. Hunger is also a risk at low temperature the body needs much more food energy to maintain body heat and movement. As with hot deserts, some people like the Inuit have adapted to the harsh conditions of cold deserts. Most humans traditional life in deserts is nomadic. It depends on the water deserts Search hot, and after little rainfall for pasture for livestock. In cold deserts, we must find a good hunting and fishing, the refuge snowstorms and the extreme winter storage and enough food for winter. permanent establishments in the two types of deserts need permanent water and sources of food and adequate housing, or technology and energy sources to provide. Many deserts are flat and featureless, with no landmarks or compounds of landforms, such as the repetition of sand dunes or the scrambled ice fields of glaciers. advanced skills or devices necessary to navigate through these landscapes and the inexperienced traveler is lost when the reserves run out after losing. In storms sand or snow storms can also cause very low visibility conditions disorientation.
The danger posed by wild animals in the desert has been presented in the accounts of explorers, "but does not cause great mortality in other environments such as jungles and savannahs or forests, and generally by itself does not affect distribution rights. The defense against polar bears could be desirable in certain regions of the Arctic, according to guard against poisonous snakes and scorpions in the choice of places to camp in some deserts hot. Without it is difficult to overestimate the importance of the deserts of our cultural heritage and history. Three of the major world religions Christianity, Islam and Judaism has commenced and is in the background of the desert. The three monotheistic religions are, and now have an enormous geopolitical influence goes far beyond its region of origin, see the articles on Christianity in the Base and www.biblon.com Biblon items. Deserts are also an important travel and tourism attractions such as The Joshua Tree, Death Valley National Park as well as vital to the film industry.
Deserts are also extremely important areas of scientific interest. – Specific examples, deep canyon on the western edge of Colorado Desert is associated at University of California, Riverside is located in PL Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center. Get a variety of visiting researchers and students and also research addresses issues of conservation of the ecological environment as the destination of lizard fringe fingers. Another middle of the desert, created by a visionary biologist, Gobabeb Training and Research Centre is located in Namibia in the driest part of the coast of Namibia in the Namib Desert Naukluft Park-. As the United Nations Environment Programme concludes: "People have lived in deserts for millennia, hunter-gatherers, farmers and ranchers, and some people still do today. But others who live in neighborhoods located in deserts, deserts or enjoy a temporary basis for tourism and recreation. However, others are the benefits of mining or other resources not renewable. Deserts are likely strong growth and the global environment and its future with the best support, if it is based on a thorough understanding its structure and function, and influence the activities of people in the past, present and future. "
Dr Simon Harding
www.chronosconsulting.com
www.coberongreen.com
About the Author