Part 2: Deserts & Wind Flashcards
- How is an area determined it’s a desert?
moisture in the area is relatively much lower in the area than in surrounding areas, due to landscape and/or conditions
- Latitude desert is a result of high pressure and lack of rain, where are they located?
Latitudinal deserts occur around the 30° N and S latitudes
- What creates a Rain shadow desert?
depend on the location of mountains and wind direction.
- What is sand? Common type of sand?
Quartz is the most common due to its abundance and its resistance to weathering.
- Plate tectonics moves land in different positions, also plays roles in where desserts are found. Name 3 different types of erosional structures.
There are several different types of structures that may be produced by this sandblasting; among them are ventifacts, yardangs, and hoodoos
- Ventifacts are pebbles with curved or nearly flat surfaces that meet at sharp ridges.
- Yardangs are parallel ridges aligned with a prevailing wind
- Hoodoo are unusually shaped. They may take the form of a mushroom, a camel, a tower, or even an “Old Man in a Mountain.”
- Define Aeolian
Aeolian (also spelled “eolian”) processes are those that are powered by wind
- Define Coeruleus Effect, not a force.
The Earth’s rotation causes a deflection of air, water, and travel called the Coriolis Effect.
- Does water erode in the dessert?
Streams are the primary erosive agent in arid and desert regions
- What is a requirement of dune formation?
depending on the wind direction, sediment supply, surface or obstacle on which the dune forms, and of course, an arid climate
- How is a desert in a polar region formed?
Polar deserts form at high latitudes where there is little moisture because the air is too cold to hold much moisture.
- (Ancient) Loess
Ancient loess is usually glacial in origin, a rock flour formed by the abrasion of rocks frozen into the ice that are dragged across bedrock and ground to a flour-like texture.
- Modern Loess
Modern loess is often fine volcanic ash
