DESERTS AND DRY ENVIORNMENT CH1

desert

An extremely dry area with little water and few plants

subtropical desert

A biome prevailing at approximately 30° N and 30° S, with hot temperatures, extremely dry conditions, and sparse vegetation.

rain shadow desert

A dry area on the lee side of a mountain range. Many middle-latitude deserts are of this type.

polar desert

a high-latitude region that receives little precipitation

steppe

sparse, dry, treeless grassland

loess

Wind-blown silt, mainly formed from glacial processes.

sand dunes

hills of sand shaped by the wind

pedestal rock

an isolated erosional mass of rock supported by or balanced on a pedestal formed by differential weathering and erosion

ventifacts

Rock with abraded surfaces formed in deserts.

alluvial fans

a triangle-shaped deposit of gravel, sand, and even smaller pieces of sediment, such as silt created as flowing water interacts with mountains, hills, or the steep walls of canyons

bajada

A group of several alluvial fans that have come together and formed a single surface.

playa lake

A playa is a dry, vegetation-free, flat area at the lowest part of an undrained desert basin.

playa

A dry lake bed in a desert valley.

Inselbergs

Isolated piece of bedrock which sticks above an alluvial surface.

pediment

a gently sloping erosion surface or plain of low relief formed by running water in arid or semiarid region at the base of a receding mountain front.