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Global Geography #15 | Study Material::General Studies | IAS Help

Category

Global Geography

DESERTS
Overview

A desert is a region that receives almost no rainfall. In general deserts are areas with a
moisture deficit i.e. lose more moisture than receive
Deserts are defined as areas with average precipitation less than 250 mm per year or
where more water is lost by evaporation and transpiration than falls by precipitation
Deserts are located where vegetation is sparse or nonexistent
Deserts constitute about one third (33%) of the Earths land surface
The largest desert on Earth is Antarctica

Classification of deserts

Hot deserts
o This is the most common form of desert
o They have large diurnal (daily) and seasonal temperature variation, with daytime
temperatures reaching more than 45 C in the summer and dipping to 0 C at night in
the winter
o Water acts to trap IR
radiation from both the
sun and the ground, and
dry desert air is
incapable of blocking
sunlight during the day
or trapping heat at night
o The largest hot desert is the Sahara Desert
Cold deserts
o Cold deserts (aka polar deserts) are deserts which occur in extremely cold regions.
In cold deserts, the mean temperature during the warmest month is less than 10 C
o Cold deserts form due to extreme lack of precipitation (in the form)
o Cold deserts are covered in snow and ice. Due to lack of liquid water, cold deserts
cannot support life
o Instead of sand dunes, polar deserts have snow dunes (in areas where precipitation
is locally available)
o The largest cold desert is the continent of Antarctica
Montane deserts
o Montane deserts are deserts that occur at very high altitudes
o Example: Ladakh, Tibet
o These places are profoundly arid (low humidity) due to their large distance from the
nearest available source of moisture
Rain shadow deserts
o Rain shadow deserts form when tall mountain ranges block clouds from reaching
areas in the direction of the wind
o As air moves over the mountains, air cools and moisture condenses, causing
precipitation on the windward side of the mountain. When the air reaches the
leeward side, it is dry since it has already lost all its moisture, resulting in a desert

Example: Tirunelveli area in southern Tamil Nadu

Flora and Fauna in deserts

Although deserts are generally thought to support little life, in reality

deserts do have high biodiversity
Animals in the desert include kangaroo rat, coyote, jackal, jack rabbit
and lizards
Most desert animals remain hidden during the daytime to control
body temperature and limit moisture needs
Animals that have adapted to live in deserts are called xerocoles. A particularly wellstudied adaptation is the specialisation of mammalian kidneys shown by desert-inhabiting
species
Deserts typically have plant cover that is sparse but diverse
Most desert plants are salt and drought tolerant, such as xerophytes
Some desert plants store water in their leaves, stems and roots. Others have long taproots
that penetrate deep into the ground to reach the water table, or have roots that spread over
a wider area in order absorb moisture from the ground
Another desert adaptation is the development of long spiny needle-like leaves that lose
less moisture to transpiration
The giant Saguaro cacti, which grow to about 15 m height, are commonly found in the
Sonora desert in Arizona (USA). The Saguaro cacti grow slowly but live up to 200 years,
provide nests for desert birds and serve as desert trees

Water in deserts

Rain does fall occasionally on deserts, and when they do, desert storms are often violent
Large storms in the Sahara deliver up to 1mm of rain per minute
Normally dry streams, called arroyos or wadis, can quickly fill up following rain and cause
dangerous flash floods
A few deserts are also crossed by exotic rivers rivers that originate elsewhere but run
through desert areas. These rivers lose enormous quantities of water to evaporation while
journeying through the desert, but have sufficient volume to ensure continuous flow.
Examples: Nile, Colorado and Yellow rivers
Desert lakes can form where rainwater or meltwater in interior drainage basins is sufficient.
Desert lakes are usually salty, shallow and temporary.
Since they are shallow, wind stress can make the lake waters move over several sq km.
When desert lakes dry up, they leave a salt crust or hardpan. This flat area of clay, silt and
sand encrusted by sand is called a playa or sink. The flat terrains of playas and hardpans
makes them excellent speedways and natural runways for aircraft
Examples of desert lakes: Great Salt Lake (Utah, USA)
The Atacama Desert in Chile is the driest place on Earth. Blocked from moisture on both
sides by the Andes and the Chilean coastal range, the Atacama is virtually sterile and devoid
of all life. The average rainfall in the region is 1 mm per
year. Some weather stations in the desert have never
received rain.

Mineral resources in deserts

Deserts may contain a great amount of mineral

resources over their entire surface

The red colour of many sand deserts is due to the occurrence of laterite. Laterite, rich in iron
and aluminium, is commonly used in making bricks
Evaporation enriches mineral accumulation in desert lakes, including gypsum, sodium salts
and borates
The Great Basin Desert (USA) has been extensively used to mine borates, which are used in
the manufacture of glass
The Atacama Desert (Chile) is abundant in saline minerals. Sodium nitrate for fertilisers and
explosives has been mined from the Atacama since the middle of the 19th century
Significant petroleum deposits are found in desert regions. However, these oil fields were
originally formed when the areas were shallow marine environments. Subsequent climate
change has rendered these regions arid
Deserts are also increasingly seen as sources of solar energy. It is estimated that all the
worlds electricity needs could be met by 10% of the solar energy tapped from the Sahara
Desert

Oasis

An oasis is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, usually surrounding a spring or similar

water source
Oases provide natural habitats for animals, plants and even humans
Oases are formed from underground rivers or aquifers, where water reaches the surface
by natural pressure

List of important deserts

S.
No.
1
2
3

Desert

Location

Notes

Antarctica
Arctic
Sahara

Largest desert on earth

Second largest desert
Largest hot desert
Third largest desert

Arabian desert

5
6

Gobi desert
Kalahari desert

Antarctica
Arctic
Northern Africa
(Egypt, Libya, Sudan,
Morocoo, Algeria)
Arabia
(Saudi Arabia, UAE, Yemen)
Mongolia, China
Southern Africa
(Botswana, parts of Namibia,
South Africa)

Patagonian
desert
Great Victoria
Desert

Argentina

Supports plants and animals since much

of it is not a true desert
Receives about 75-200 mm of rainfall per
year
Cold weather desert

Australia

DESERTIFICATION

Overview

Desertification is the extreme deterioration of land in arid and dry areas due to loss of
vegetation and soil moisture

Desertification results mainly from human activities but is influenced by climatic variations

Desertification directly results in biodiversity loss and loss of productive capacity

Causes of desertification

The primary reasons for desertification are

o

overgrazing

over-cultivation

increased fire frequency

water impoundment

deforestation

overdraft of ground water

increased soil salinity

climate change

Droughts by themselves do not cause desertification. However, continued land abuse during
droughts increases land degradation leading to desertification.

Nomadic lifestyles with slash and burn agriculture

can directly lead to desertification

Historical and current desertification

Desertification is a historic phenomenon: the worlds

largest deserts were formed by natural processes
over long intervals of time.

Dated fossil pollen indicate that the Sahara has

been changing between desert and fertile savanna.
The Sahara is currently expanding southward at a rate of 48 km per year

Drought and overgrazing in the 1930s transformed parts of the Great Plains in the US into
the Dust Bowl

Slash and burn agriculture in Madagascar has caused almost 10% of the country to become
barren, sterile land

Countering desertification

Counter-desertification techniques usually focus on two major aspects

o

Provisioning of water

Fixating and hyper-fertilising soils

Fixating of soils is done by means of shelter belts, woodlots and windbreaks. Made from
trees and bushes, these reduce soil erosion and evapotranspiration

Soil fertilisation and enrichment is often achieved using leguminous plants (which extract
nitrogen from air and fix into soil). Grains, barley, beans and dates are used for this purpose

Stacking stones around the base of trees and artificial groove digging can also help plant
survival by collecting morning dew and retaining soil moisture

Desertification can also be temporarily forestalled by using sand fences (using bushes and
trees), which decrease wind velocity and hence soil erosion and moisture loss

The Green Wall project in Africa aims to plant trees in a 15 km strip from Senegal in the
west to Djibouti in the east. The project aims to counter desert progression while also
providing economic opportunities to the local populations

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) aims to combat desertification and

mitigate the effects of drought

The Convention was adopted in Paris in 1994 and came into effect in 1996. The UNCCD has
193 member nations including India

The Convention seeks to achieve its goals through national-level action programmes that
incorporate long term strategies supported by international cooperation

It is the first and only legally binding framework to address the problem of desertification

The nodal agency for implementing the UNCCD in India is the Ministry of Environment and
Forests

LAST WEEK: FORESTS ~~~~~ NEXT WEEK: TUNDRA, WETLANDS