Desert
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Reverted [[WP:AGF|good faith]] edits by [[Special:Contributions/122.106.63.176|122.106.63.176]]; This really doesn't belong under terminology. using [[WP:TWINKLE|TW]]
{{two other uses|arid terrain|the act of abandoning or withdrawing support from an entity|desertion}}
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[[Image:Judea 2 by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Hills in the [[Judean desert]].]]
A '''desert''' is a [[landscape]] or region that receives very little [[precipitation (meteorology)|precipitation]]. Deserts can be defined as areas that receive an average annual precipitation of less than 250 [[Millimetre|mm]] (10 in),<ref name="usgs">[http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/deserts/what/ What is a desert?]</ref><ref>According to [http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/deserts/what/ What is a desert?], this definition is due to [[Peveril Meigs]]</ref> or as areas in which more water is [[Evapotranspiration| lost]] than falls as precipitation.<ref name="brittanica" >{{cite web | url = http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-70815/desert | title = desert | accessdate = 2008-02-09 | work = Encyclopædia Britannica online}}</ref> In the [[Köppen climate classification]] system, deserts are classed as ''BWh'' (hot desert) or ''BWk'' (temperate desert). In the Thornthwaite climate classification system, deserts would be classified as arid [[megathermal]] climates.<ref name=Fredlund1993>{{cite book | author = Fredlund, D.G. | coauthors = Rahardjo, H. | year = 1993 | title = Soil Mechanics for Unsaturated Soils | publisher = Wiley-Interscience | url = http://www.soilvision.com/subdomains/unsaturatedsoil.com/Docs/chapter1UST.pdf | format = pdf | isbn = 978-0471850083 | accessdate = 2008-05-21}}</ref><ref>Glossary of Meteorology. [http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?id=megathermal-climate1 Megathermal Climate.] Retrieved on [[2008-05-21]].</ref>
== Terminology ==
Deserts are part of a wider classification of regions that, on an average annual basis, have a moisture deficit (i.e. they can potentially lose more than is received). Deserts are located where vegetation cover is exceedingly sparse.<ref>[http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/Cambridge/entries/066/desert.html 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica]</ref>
== Geography ==
[[Image:Sahara satellite hires.jpg|thumb|A satellite image of the [[Sahara]], the world's largest hot desert and second largest desert after [[Antarctica]].]]
Deserts take up one-third of the Earth's land surface.<ref name="usgs"/> They usually have a large [[Diurnal temperature variation|diurnal]] and seasonal temperature range, with high daytime temperatures (in summer up to 45 °C or 113 °F), and low night-time temperatures (in winter down to 0 °C; 32 °F) due to extremely low [[humidity]]. Water acts to trap [[infrared]] radiation from both the sun and the ground, and dry desert air is incapable of blocking [[sunlight]] during the day or [[Thermal insulation|trapping heat]] during the night. Thus during daylight most of the [[sun]]'s heat reaches the ground. As soon as the sun sets, the desert cools quickly by radiating its heat into space. Urban areas in deserts lack large (more than 25 °F/14 °C) daily temperature ranges, partially due to the [[urban heat island]] effect.
Many deserts are formed by [[rain shadow]]s, mountains blocking the path of precipitation to the desert. Deserts are often composed of [[sand]] and [[Rock (geology)|rock]]y surfaces. [[Sand dunes]] called [[Erg (landform)|ergs]] and stony surfaces called [[hamada]] surfaces compose a minority of desert surfaces. Exposures of [[Rock (geology)|rocky]] terrain are typical, and reflect minimal soil development and sparseness of [[vegetation]].
[[Image:AntarcticaDomeCSnow.jpg|thumb|The snow surface at Dome C Station in Antarctica is a representative of the majority of the continent's surface.]]
Bottomlands may be [[salt]]-covered flats. [[Eolian processes]] are major factors in shaping desert landscapes. '''Cold deserts''' (also known as [[polar desert]]) have similar features but the main form of precipitation is [[snow]] rather than [[rain]]. [[Antarctica]] is the world's largest cold desert (composed of about 98 percent thick [[continent]]al [[ice sheet]] and 2 percent barren rock). Some of the barren rock is to be found in the so-called [[Dry Valley]]s of Antarctica that almost never get snow, which can have ice-encrusted [[saline lake]]s that suggest evaporation far greater than the rare snowfall due to the strong [[katabatic winds]] that evaporate even ice.
The largest hot desert is the [[Sahara Desert|Sahara]].
Deserts sometimes contain valuable mineral deposits that were formed in the arid environment or that were exposed by erosion. Due to extreme and consistent dryness, some deserts are ideal places for natural preservation of artifacts and fossils.
== Etymology ==
English ''desert'' and its Romance cognates (including [[Italian language|Italian]] ''deserto'', French ''désert'' and Spanish ''desierto'') all come from the Latin ''desertum'', which means "an unpopulated place". This in turn is derived from the [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]] word ''dSr.t'', which literally means "red land" and refers to the desert. The correlation between aridity and sparse population is complex and dynamic, varying by culture, era, and technologies, and thus the use of the word ''desert'' can cause confusion. In English prior to the 20th century, ''desert'' was often used in the sense of "unpopulated area", without specific reference to aridity; but today the word is most often used in its climate-science sense (an area of low precipitation)—and a desert may be quite heavily populated, with millions of inhabitants. Phrases such as "[[desert island]]" and "[[Great American Desert]]" in previous centuries did not necessarily imply sand or aridity; their focus was the sparse population. But the connotation of a hot, parched, sandy place often influences today's popular interpretation of those phrases.
== Types of desert ==
[[Image:Désert-du-Thar.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Thar Desert]] near [[Jaisalmer]], [[India]]]]
[[Image:High desert.jpg|thumb|right|High desert in [[Eastern Oregon]], [[United States]]]]
[[Image:Agasthiyamalai range and Tirunelveli rainshadow.jpg|thumb|The [[Agasthiyamalai]] hills cut off [[Tirunelveli]] ([[India]]) from the [[monsoon]]s, creating a [[rainshadow]] region]]
In 1953, [[Peveril Meigs]] divided desert regions on Earth into three categories according to the amount of precipitation they received. In this now widely accepted system, extremely arid lands have at least 12 consecutive months without rainfall, arid lands have less than 250 millimeters (10 in) of annual rainfall, and semiarid lands have a mean annual precipitation of between 250 and 500 millimeters (10-20 in). Arid and extremely arid lands are deserts, and semiarid grasslands are generally referred to as [[steppes]].<ref name="usgs" />
Measurement of rainfall alone can't provide an accurate definition of what a desert is because being arid also depends on evaporation which depends in part on [[temperature]]. For example, [[Phoenix, Arizona]] receives less than 250 millimeters (10 in) of precipitation per year, and is immediately recognized as being located in a desert due to its arid adapted plants. The [[Alaska North Slope|North Slope]] of Alaska's [[Brooks Range]] also receives less than 250 millimeters (10 in) of precipitation per year, but is not generally recognized as a desert region.
So "potential [[evapotranspiration]]" supplements measurement of rainfall in providing a scientific measurement-based definition of a desert. The water budget of an area can be calculated using the formula P-PE±S, wherein P is precipitation, PE is potential evapotranspiration rates and S is amount of surface storage of water. Evapotranspiration is the combination of water loss through atmospheric [[evaporation]], coupled with the evaporative loss of water through the life processes of plants. Potential evapotranspiration, then, is the amount of water that ''could'' evaporate in any given region. As an example, [[Tucson, Arizona]] receives about 300 millimeters, (12 in), of rain per year, however about 2500 millimeters, (100 in), of water could evaporate over the course of a year.{{Fact|date=April 2008}} In other words, about 8 times more water could evaporate from the region than actually falls. Rates of evapotranspiration in other regions such as Alaska are much lower.
There are different forms of deserts. Cold deserts can be covered in [[snow]] or [[ice]]; frozen water unavailable to plant life. These are more commonly referred to as [[tundra]] if a short season of above-freezing temperatures is experienced, or as an [[ice cap]] if the temperature remains below freezing year-round, rendering the land almost completely lifeless.
Most non-polar deserts are hot in the day and chilly at night (for the latitude) because of the lack of the moderating effect of water. In some parts of the world, deserts are created by a [[rain shadow]] effect in which air masses lose much of their moisture as they move over a [[mountain range]]; other areas are arid by virtue of being very far from the nearest available sources of moisture.
Deserts are also classified by their geographical location and dominant weather pattern as trade wind, mid-latitude, rain shadow, coastal, monsoon, or [[polar desert]]s. Former desert areas presently in non-arid environments are paleodeserts.
[[Montane]] deserts are arid places with a very high [[altitude]]; the most prominent example is found north of the [[Himalaya]] especially in Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, in parts of the [[Kunlun Mountains]] and the [[Tibetan Plateau]]. Many locations within this category have elevations exceeding 3,000 meters (10,000 ft) and the thermal regime can be [[hemiboreal]]. These places owe their profound aridity (the average annual precipitation is often less than 40 mm/1.5in) to being very far from the nearest available sources of moisture. Montane deserts are normally cold.
[[Rain shadow]] deserts form when tall mountain ranges block clouds from reaching areas in the direction the wind is going. As the air moves over the mountains, it cools and moisture condenses, causing [[Precipitation (meteorology)|precipitation]] on the windward side. [[Moisture]] almost never reaches the [[leeward]] side of the mountain, resulting in a desert. When that air reaches the leeward side, the air is dry, because it has already lost the majority of its moisture. The air then warms, expands, and blows across the desert. The warm, desiccated air takes with it any remaining small amounts of moisture in the desert.
== Desert features ==
[[Image:Al-Dahna.jpg|right|thumb|Satellite view of [[Al-Dahna desert]] in Saudi Arabia showing different depositional features.]]
[[Sand]] covers only about 20 percent of Earth's deserts. Most of the sand is in sand sheets and sand seas—vast regions of undulating dunes resembling ocean waves "frozen" in an instant of time. In general, there are six forms of deserts:
* Mountain and basin deserts
* [[Hamada]] deserts, which consist of plateau landforms
* Regs, which consist of rock pavements
* Ergs, which are formed by sand seas
* Intermontane Basins
* Badlands, which are located at the margins of arid lands comprising clay-rich soil
Nearly all desert surfaces are plains where eolian deflation—removal of fine-grained material by the wind—has exposed loose gravels consisting predominantly of [[pebble]]s but with occasional [[cobble]]s.
The remaining surfaces of arid lands are composed of exposed [[bedrock]] outcrops, [[Aridisols| desert soils]], and [[fluvial deposit]]s including [[alluvial fan]]s, [[playa]]s, desert [[lake]]s, and oases. Bedrock outcrops commonly occur as small mountains surrounded by extensive erosional plains.
Several different types of dunes exist. Barchan dunes are produced by strong winds blowing across a level surface and are crescent-shaped. Longitudinal or seif dunes are dunes that are parallel to a strong wind that blows in one general direction. Transverse dunes run at a right angle to the constant wind direction. Star dunes are star-shaped and have several ridges that spread out around a point.
[[Oasis|Oases]] are vegetated areas moistened by [[Spring (hydrosphere)|spring]]s, [[water well|well]]s, or by [[irrigation]]. Many are artificial. Oases are often the only places in deserts that support crops and permanent habitation.
=== Flora and fauna ===
Deserts have a reputation for supporting very little life, but in reality deserts often have high [[biodiversity]], including [[animal]]s that remain hidden during daylight hours to control body temperature or to limit moisture needs. Some fauna includes the [[kangaroo rat]], [[coyote]], [[jack rabbit]], and many [[lizard]]s. Some flora includes shrubs, [[Prickly Pears]], [[Desert Holly]], and the [[Brittle bush]].
[[Image:Baja California Desert.jpg|thumb|right|Flora of Baja California Desert, Cataviña region, Mexico]]
Most desert [[plant]]s are drought- or salt-tolerant, such as [[xerophyte]]s. Some store water in their leaves, roots, and stems. Other desert plants have long [[taproot]]s that penetrate to the water table if present, or have adapted to the weather by having wide-spreading [[root]]s to absorb water from a greater [[area]] of the ground. Another adaptation is the development of small, spiny [[leaf|leaves]] which shed less moisture than [[deciduous]] leaves with greater surface areas. The stems and leaves of some plants lower the surface velocity of sand-carrying winds and protect the ground from erosion. Even small fungi and microscopic plant organisms found on the soil surface (so-called ''[[Soil crust|cryptobiotic soil]]'') can be a vital link in preventing erosion and providing support for other living organisms.
[[Image:Saguaro Forest - Tucson Arizona - Relic38.JPG|thumb|left|[[Saguaro]]s in the [[Sonoran Desert]] of [[Arizona]]]]
Deserts typically have a plant cover that is sparse but enormously diverse. The giant [[saguaro|saguaro cacti]] of the [[Sonoran Desert]] provide nests for desert birds and serve as "trees" of the desert. Saguaro grow slowly but may live up to 200 years. When 9 years old, they are about 15 centimeters (6 in) high. After about 75 years, the cacti develop their first branches. When fully grown, saguaro cacti are 15 meters tall and weigh as much as 10 tons. They dot the Sonoran and reinforce the general impression of deserts as cactus-rich land.
Although [[Cactus|cacti]] are often thought of as characteristic desert plants, other types of plants have adapted well to the arid environment. They include the [[pea]] and [[sunflower]] families. Cold deserts have grasses and shrubs as dominant vegetation.
=== Water ===
[[Image:Moving sand simulator questacon.jpg|thumb|right|The shifting sands simulator at [[Questacon]], Canberra]]
Rain ''does'' fall occasionally in deserts, and desert storms are often violent. A record 44 millimeters (1.7 in) of rain once fell within 3 hours in the Sahara. Large Saharan storms may deliver up to 1 millimeter per minute. Normally dry stream channels, called [[arroyo (creek)|arroyos]] or [[wadi]]s, can quickly fill after heavy rains, and [[flash flood]]s make these channels dangerous.
Though little rain falls in deserts, deserts receive runoff from ephemeral, or short-lived, streams fed considerable quantities of sediment for a day or two. Although most deserts are in basins with closed or interior drainage, a few deserts are crossed by 'exotic' rivers that derive their water from outside the desert. Such rivers infiltrate soils and evaporate large amounts of water on their journeys through the deserts, but their volumes are such that they maintain their continuity. The [[Nile|Nile River]], the [[Colorado River]], and the [[Yellow River]] are exotic rivers that flow through deserts to deliver their sediments to the sea. Deserts may also have underground springs, rivers, or reservoirs that lie close to the surface, or deep underground. Plants that have not completely adapted to sporadic rainfalls in a desert environment may tap into underground water sources that do not exceed the reach of their root systems.
Lakes form where rainfall or meltwater in interior drainage basins is sufficient. Desert lakes are generally shallow, temporary, and salty. Because these lakes are shallow and have a low bottom gradient, wind stress may cause the lake waters to move over many square kilometers. When small lakes dry up, they leave a salt crust or [[hardpan]]. The flat area of clay, silt, or sand encrusted with salt that forms is known as a playa. There are more than a hundred playas in North American deserts. Most are relics of large lakes that existed during the last [[ice age]] about 12,000 years ago. [[Lake Bonneville]] was a 52,000 kilometers² (20,000 mi²) lake almost 300 meters (1000 ft) deep in Utah, Nevada, and Idaho during the Ice Age. Today the remnants of Lake Bonneville include Utah's [[Great Salt Lake]], [[Utah Lake]], and [[Sevier Lake]]. Because playas are arid landforms from a wetter past, they contain useful clues to climatic change.
When the occasional precipitation does occur, it erodes the desert rocks quickly and powerfully.
The flat terrains of hardpans and playas make them excellent racetracks and natural runways for airplanes and spacecraft. Ground-vehicle speed records are commonly established on [[Bonneville Speedway]], a racetrack on the Great Salt Lake hardpan. Space shuttles land on [[Rogers Lake Playa]] at [[Edwards Air Force Base]] in California.
== Mineral resources ==
Some [[mineral]] deposits are formed, improved, or preserved by geologic processes that occur in arid lands as a consequence of climate. [[Ground water]] [[leaching|leach]]es [[ore]] minerals and redeposits them in zones near the [[water table]]. This leaching process concentrates these minerals as ore that can be mined.
Evaporation in arid lands enriches mineral accumulation in their lakes. Lake beds known as [[Playa]]s may be sources of mineral deposits formed by evaporation. Water evaporating in closed basins precipitates minerals such as [[gypsum]], salts (including [[sodium nitrate]] and [[sodium chloride]]), and [[borate]]s. The minerals formed in these [[evaporite]] deposits depend on the composition and temperature of the saline waters at the time of deposition.
Significant evaporite resources occur in the [[Great Basin Desert]] of the United States, mineral deposits made famous by the "20-mule teams" that once hauled borax-laden wagons from [[Death Valley]] to the [[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 mined from evaporite deposits at [[Searles Lake]], California, and other desert locations. The total value of chemicals that have been produced from Searles Lake substantially exceeds [[US dollar|US$]]1 [[1000000000 (number)|billion]].
The [[Atacama Desert]] of [[Chile]] is unique among the deserts of the world in its great abundance of saline minerals. Sodium nitrate has been mined for [[explosive]]s and [[fertilizer]] in the Atacama since the middle of the 19th century. Nearly 3 million [[tonne]]s were mined during [[World War I]].
Valuable minerals located in arid lands include [[copper]] in the United States, Chile, [[Peru]], and [[Iran]]; [[iron]] and [[lead]]-[[zinc]] ore in [[Australia]]; [[chromite]] in [[Turkey]]; and [[gold]], [[silver]], and [[uranium]] deposits in Australia and the United States. Nonmetallic mineral resources and rocks such as [[beryllium]], [[mica]], [[lithium]], [[clay]]s, [[pumice]], and [[scoria]] also occur in arid regions. [[Sodium carbonate]], [[sulfate]], borate, [[nitrate]], lithium, [[bromine]], [[iodine]], [[calcium]], and [[strontium]] compounds come from sediments and near-surface brines formed by evaporation of inland bodies of water, often during geologically recent times.
The [[Green River Formation]] of [[Colorado]], [[Wyoming]], and [[Utah]] contains [[alluvial]] fan deposits and playa evaporites created in a huge lake whose level fluctuated for millions of years. Economically significant deposits of [[trona]], a major source of [[sodium]] compounds, and thick layers of [[oil shale]] were created in the arid environment.
<!-- questionable picture, kind of hard to make anything out and does not depict the caption's {{convert|1000|ft|m|-2|abbr=on}} height [[Image:EmptyQuarter.JPG|right|thumb|Dunes seen in the [[Empty Quarter]], the world's largest sand desert, can reach higher than {{convert|1000|ft|m|-2|abbr=on}}.]] -->
Some of the more productive [[petroleum]] areas on Earth are found in arid and semiarid regions of Africa and the Mideast, although the [[oil field]]s were originally formed in shallow marine environments. Recent climate change has placed these reservoirs in an arid environment. It's noteworthy that [[Ghawar]], the world's largest and most productive oilfield is mostly under the [[Empty Quarter]] and [[Al-Dahna]] deserts.
Other oil reservoirs, however, are presumed to be eolian in origin and are presently found in humid environments. The [[Rotliegendes]], a [[hydrocarbon]] reservoir in the [[North Sea]], is associated with extensive evaporite deposits. Many of the major U.S. hydrocarbon resources may come from eolian sands. Ancient alluvial fan sequences may also be hydrocarbon reservoirs.
== Human life in deserts ==
[[Image:MakhteshGadolCenter03.jpg|right|thumb|Mahktesh Gadol, an erosional basin in the [[Negev]] Desert of southern Israel.]]
A desert is a hostile, potentially deadly environment for unprepared humans. In hot deserts, high temperatures cause rapid loss of water due to [[sweat]]ing, and the absence of water sources with which to replenish it can result in [[dehydration]] and death within a few days. In addition, unprotected humans are also at risk from [[heatstroke]].
Humans may also have to adapt to [[sandstorm]]s in some deserts, not just in their adverse effects on [[respiratory system]]s and eyes, but also in their potentially harmful effects on equipment such as [[air filter|filters]], vehicles and communication equipment. Sandstorms can last for hours, sometimes even days.
Despite this, some cultures have made hot deserts their home for thousands of years, including the [[Bedouin]], [[Tuareg|Tuareg tribe]] and [[Pueblo people]]. Modern technology, including advanced [[irrigation]] systems, [[desalinization]] and [[air conditioning]] have made deserts much more hospitable. In the [[United States]] and [[Israel]] for example, [[desert farming]] has found extensive use.
In cold deserts, [[hypothermia]] and [[frostbite]] are the chief hazards, as well as [[dehydration]] in the absence of a source of heat to melt ice for drinking. Falling through pack-ice or surface ice layers into freezing water is a particular danger requiring emergency action to prevent rapid hypothermia. Starvation is also a hazard; in low temperatures the body requires much more [[food energy]] to maintain body heat and to move. As with hot deserts, some people such as the [[Inuit]] have adapted to the harsh conditions of cold deserts.
Most traditional human life in deserts is [[nomad]]ic. It depends in hot deserts on finding water, and on following infrequent rains to obtain grazing for livestock. In cold deserts, it depends on finding good hunting and fishing grounds, on sheltering from blizzards and winter extremes, and on storing enough food for winter. Permanent settlement in both kinds of deserts requires permanent water and food sources and adequate shelter, or the technology and energy sources to provide it.
Many deserts are flat and featureless, lacking landmarks, or composed of repeating landforms such as sand dunes or the jumbled ice-fields of glaciers. Advanced skills or devices are required to navigate through such landscapes and inexperienced travellers may perish when supplies run out after becoming lost. In addition sandstorms or [[blizzard]]s may cause disorientation in severely-reduced visibility.
The danger represented by wild animals in deserts has featured in explorers' accounts but does not cause higher rates of death than in other environments such as rainforests or savanna woodland, and generally does not by itself affect human distribution. Defence against [[polar bear]]s may be advisable in some areas of the Arctic, as may precautions against [[venomous snake]]s and [[scorpion]]s in choosing sites at which to [[camping|camp]] in some hot deserts.
==Examples of desert climate==
===Southern hemisphere===
{{climate chart|[[Antofagasta, Chile]]
|17|24|0
|17|24|0
|16|28|0
|14|21|0
|13|19|0
|11|18|3
|11|17|5
|11|17|3
|12|18|0
|13|19|3
|14|21|0
|16|22|0
|float=left
|clear=none
|source=<ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/city_guides/results.shtml?tt=TT001750</ref>
}}
{{-}}
== See also ==
* [[Desertification]]
* [[International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas]]
* [[List of deserts]]
* [[List of deserts by area]] (size)
* [[List of North American deserts]]
* [[Aridification]]
== References ==
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== External links ==
{{Commonscat|Deserts}}
* {{cite web | url=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss5/biome/deserts.html | title=The Desert Biome | publisher= [[University of California]] Museum of Paleontology | year=1996}}
* {{cite web | url=http://www.unep.org/geo/gdoutlook/ | title=Global Deserts Outlook | publisher=[[United Nations Environment Programme]] (UNEP) | year=2006}}, a report in the [[Global Environment Outlook]] (GEO) series.
* [http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/relative_biodiversity_scenarios_for_deserts_2000_2050 Map with biodiversity scenarios for desert areas, from the Global Deserts Outlook].
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