DESERTS

OCR A GCSE Geography-Extreme Environments

WHAT IS AN EXTREME ENVIRONMENT?
An extreme environment is one in which it is
hard for people (or other forms of life) to
survive.
Extreme environments can be:

High Cold Toxic
Deep Dry Stormy
Hot Remote Lacking oxygen
Wet Dark
WHY ARE DESERTS EXTREME?
HOT: Deserts are known for being extremely hot, during the day
these temperatures can rise to above 40 degrees Celsius, which
is difficult for humans to cope with.
COLD: However, deserts can be extremely cold as at night,
there are no clouds to trap the air resulting in below freezing
temperatures. This results in a large diurnal range. The
temperature makes sleeping difficult.
DRY: Deserts lack in water and this can be problematic as when
in there you have nothing to drink, and as it is hard for other
plants/animals to survive, there is also little to eat
REMOTE: The sheer vastness of the desert means that it
is far away from civilisation and very difficult to get to
WHERE DO DESERTS FORM?
Hot deserts are also known
as sub-tropical deserts.
They are found close to the
Tropic of Cancer and the
Tropic of Capricorn: lines
parallel to the equator. The
Sahara lies on the Tropic of
Cancer, north of the
equator. They are generally
formed to the west of
continents.
WHERE DO DESERTS FORM?
30N
30S
10N
10S
EQUATOR
TROPIC OF CAPRICORN
TROPIC OF CANCER
Between
10 and 30
N of the
equator
Between
10 and 30
S of the
equator
HOW DO DESERTS FORM?

Eg.
The Sahara
Eg.
The
Atacama
Eg.
The
Thar
Eg.
The Sonora
HOW DO DESERTS EXPAND?
Deserts expand by desertification. It is the way in
which land turns into desert due to human activities
and climate change.
Desertification in happening now in many parts of
the world. One of the worst affected regions is the
Sahel region, which is south of the Sahara Desert.
The Sahel is a region of semi-arid grassland
stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the
Red Sea in the east.
CAUSES OF DESERTIFICATION
IMPACTS OF DESERTIFICATION
HUMAN PHYSICAL
Migrants move to cities, resulting in the
growth of informal settlements, shanties, in
already massively overpopulated urban areas.
Causes Famine
Places that have war and poverty are most
likely to have famine occur. Drought and poor
land management contribute to famine.
Food Loss
The soil is not suited for growing food;
therefore the amount of food being made will
decline. If the population is growing, this will
cause economic problems and starvation.
Desertification can cause flooding, poor
water quality, dust storms, and pollution. All of
these effects can hurt people living near an
affected region.
Vegetation is Lacked or Damaged
Loosened soil may bury plants or leave
their roots exposed. Also, when
overgrazing occurs, plant species may
be lost.

Soil becomes less usable
The soil can be blown away by wind or
washed away rain. Nutrients in the soil
can be removed by wind or water. Salt
can build up in the soil which makes it
harder for plant growth.

Desertification can cause
flooding, poor water quality,
dust storms, and pollution.
MANAGING DESERTIFICATION
Sustainable farming methods help prevent and manage desertification.
Examples of these are:
DESERT PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS
Transportation:
BIGGEST PARTICLES SMALLEST PARTICLES
Particles
between
2mm and
0.25mm
cannot be
picked up and
are rolled
along the
ground
This is when
the
suspended
particles hit
rocks and
cause
erosion
Particles less
than 0.15mm
are suspended
in the air
Particles
between
0.25mm and
0.15mm can
be partially
suspended so
they jump.
SALTATION
TRACTION
SUSPENSION
ABRITION
DESERT PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS
Weathering is different to erosion
Weathering is the breaking up of rocks in
the place they are found, by weather, living
things and chemicals.
WEATHERING
TYPES
Freeze thaw Hydration
Plants
Exfoliation Salt Crystallisation Animal
Physical Chemical Biological
PHYSICAL WEATHERING
Freeze thaw (aka frost shattering):
First there is a
crack in a rock
This fills with
water,
generally
rainwater
This water
freezes into
ice (during the
cold night time
temperatures)
and expands,
prising the
crack open
This new
crack fills with
water
This repeats
until a block
breaks apart
from the rock
PHYSICAL WEATHERING
Exfoliation is a type
of physical weathering
which the outer layers of a
rock surface peel off in
flakes and shells.
It is caused by the rapid
expansion and contraction
of the rock surface when
subjected to extreme
changes of temperature.
CHEMICAL WEATHERING
Hydration is a type of chemical weathering. It
is where water reacts with the minerals in the
rock.
These minerals swell which puts stress on
the rock and can cause it to weaken, this
can increase the overall permeability of the
stone and lead to spalling, pitting and flaking.
CHEMICAL WEATHERING
Salt weathering, or salt crystallisation, works
in a similar way to freeze thaw weathering.
Moisture collects in a crack in a rock, and
this moisture draws the salt out of the rock.
The water evaporates in the hot
temperatures and as the salt crystallises, it
expands prising the rock apart.

BIOLOGICAL WEATHERING
Plants can cause biological
weathering.
Deep roots go in between
cracks in rock beds and
force the rocks apart.
These broken or loose bits
of rock are then transported
(by traction, saltation,
suspension or abrition)
BIOLOGICAL WEATHERING
Animals can cause
biological weathering.
Desert dwelling animals
like foxes burrow into the
ground loosening rocks
These broken or loose bits
of rock are then
transported (by traction,
saltation, suspension or
abrition)
DESERT LANDFORMS
ROCK PEDESTAL:
Formed by abrasion
0-1m from ground is the
area of maximum
erosion
This is because particles
cannot be picked up any
higher
It is not necessarily
softer here than in
the less eroded part
DESERT LANDFORMS
Yardangs and zeugans:
Yardangs and zeugans are quite
similar, however it is to do with
the way the rock layers are
In a yardang, the layers are
arranged vertically like the letter
Y
In a zeugan, they are arranged
horizontally like a Z
Y


Z
DESERT LANDFORMS
Yardang
Yardangs are formed
when lines of weak rock lie
parallel to each other, and
parallel to the wind
direction.
Wind abrasion erodes the
weaker rock (white in the
diagram) producing ridges
of strong rocks called
yardangs
DESERT LANDFORMS
Zeugen
Firstly temperature and
dew opens joints in the
rock, like in a)
Then these joints are
eroded quickly by wind
abrasion as it is the softer
rock
The top layer doesnt
really erode, or erodes
much more slowly as it is
harder rock.
DESERT LANDFORMS
Desert pavement
Small materials and
sand removed by
wind (deflation)
There may be a
thin coating of
small stones
DESERT LANDFORMS
Plateaus, mesas and buttes
Flat topped, steeped sloped
DESERT LANDFORMS
Wadi- gully formed by
flash floods

Canyon-deep, steep
sided valley
Alluvial fan-fan shaped
river deposits at the foot
of a steep mountain

DESERT LANDFORMS
Oasis- fertile area formed
where a hollow reaches
the underlying water table
Inselberg-large, isolated
outcrop of hard rock (like
ayers rock)
Salt pan-dried out salt
lake with a crusty salt
surface

DUNES
LAND USES
For Adventure:
The Paris-Dakar Rally is
recognised as the worlds
toughest rallies in the world, it
covers 15000km of difficult
terrain
For living:
Many people live in deserts,
Tuareg people live in deserts,
they have a worldwide reputation
of being fearsome fighters and
skilled camel riders.
LAND USES
For Oil:
Ghawar is an oilfield in Saudi
Arabia. It is the worlds biggest
oilfield in the world and
produces 5.5% of the worlds
global oil.
For holidays:
Namibia is a country in
southern Africa. It is a
popular tourist
destination and has
over 1 million tourists a
year. It is home to the
highest desert sand
dunes and the second
deepest canyon.
For agriculture:
Due to irrigation,
desert land can be
turned into fertile land,
perfect for growing
crops or building
houses.
GOOD LUCK X