concerned with the formation of deserts (areas receiving very little precipitation) and processes occurring specifically within deserts
Questions tagged [desert]
46 questions
14
votes
6 answers
Where did the sand in the Sahara come from?
If the Sahara used to be fertile and has since experienced minimal rainfall causing the current desert conditions, where did all the sand come from?
I assume the original dirt is still there, just underneath the sand.
BWhite
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6
votes
1 answer
Why is the Sahara so much larger than the other horse latitude deserts?
Every continent has a dry strip between about 15º and 35º on its west coast, but they vary drastically in size:
The Baja/Mojave and Atacama are fairly narrow, stretching about 300 miles inland at the widest (using the "25 cm annual precip"…
user331
4
votes
3 answers
When was the first not-icy desert formed?
For how long have deserts existed and which one would be the first to be created? I'm talking about arid, dry deserts, not the Antarctic or Arctic or any other icy deserts.
user8390
3
votes
2 answers
How can the Simpson Desert be the largest sand dune desert in the world?
In the Wikipedia article for the Simpsons Desert in Australia in the first paragraph it says:
It is the fourth-largest Australian desert, with an area of $\small\mathsf{176,500}$ $\small\mathsf{km^2}$ ($\small\mathsf{68,100}$ sq mi) and is the…
Zebrafish
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Reversing the desertification
What will be the effect on a desert-like area if it is covered with millions of umbrella-like structures like the following one?
Would it play any positive role in reversing the desertification?
user12774