Why are deserts found in subtropical regions?
Subtropical deserts are caused by the circulation patterns of air masses. Hot, moist air rises into the atmosphere near the Equator. As the air rises, it cools and drops its moisture as heavy tropical rains. The resulting cooler, drier air mass moves away from the Equator.
Why are deserts found at 30 N and S?
Most of the world’s deserts are located near 30 degrees north latitude and 30 degrees south latitude, where the heated equatorial air begins to descend. The descending air is dense and begins to warm again, evaporating large amounts of water from the land surface. The resulting climate is very dry.
What deserts are subtropical?
Subtropical Deserts They are found in Asia, Australia, Africa and North and South America. In the United States, the Chihuahuan, Sonoran and Mojave are all subtropical deserts. Subtropical deserts are very hot and dry in the summer and cooler but still dry in the winter. Rainfall happens in short bursts.
Why are tropical deserts found in the western of the continent?
These are the results of the prevailing easterly winds of the tropics, which are the trade winds. These winds become dry when they reach the western sides of the continents, and hence don’t bring any rain with them. As these regions become devoid of moisture, deserts are formed.
Why are deserts located where they are?
Some deserts are found on the western edges of continents. They are caused by cold ocean currents, which run along the coast. They cool the air and make it harder for the air to hold moisture. Some deserts form in the rain shadow of mountains, eg the Atacama Desert is located in the rain shadow of the Andes.
Why did the Sahara become a desert?
The rise in solar radiation amplified the African monsoon, a seasonal wind shift over the region caused by temperature differences between the land and ocean. The increased heat over the Sahara created a low pressure system that ushered moisture from the Atlantic Ocean into the barren desert.
Why do large deserts often form in subtropical regions quizlet?
How are deserts formed in the subtropics? In the subtropics, the hot moist air rises near the equator. As the air rises, the air starts to cool down and drop water causing tropical rainfall or storms.
Why do deserts generally exist between 15 and 30 degrees north or south of the equator?
Why do deserts generally exist between 15 and 30 degrees north or south of the equator? -The Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) causes dry air to flow south, away from the equator at 15-30 degrees.
Why do subtropical deserts receive more insolation?
Tropical regions receive much more insolation than do mid-latitude or polar regions, and this results in an unequal distribution of energy as a function of latitude — tropical regions have more Sun-induced energy than the poles. Energy flows from regions of relative surplus toward regions with relative deficits.
Why are deserts found in western sides?
Why do we find presence of a desert on the western part of India give two reasons?
Further the large latitudinal extent, altitude, presence of many mountain ranges and nearness to the oceans results in different climatic conditions in different regions. The western part of Rajasthan is a desert because the Aravalli Mountains lie parallel to the moisture laden winds coming from the Arabian Sea.
Where are deserts commonly found?
Geographically speaking, most deserts are found on the western sides of continents or—in the case of the Sahara, Arabian, and Gobi deserts and the smaller deserts of Asia—are located far from the coast in the Eurasian interior. They tend to occur under the eastern sides of major subtropical high-pressure cells.
What are tropical subtropical deserts?
These regions are tropical subtropical deserts found between and around the Tropics. The climate found here is generally arid or semi-arid and can be cold as well as hot too. These types of climate regions found a separate place in the classification of climate given by Koppen.
How was the desert formed?
1. Offshore areas of trade wind and falling under the rain shadow area: When the moisture laden trade wind flows from east to west shed their moisture on the eastern part and by the time they reach the western margin, they become dry. These dry winds make the soil more and this led to the formation of the desert.
Why are most deserts located on the western sides of continents?
Nature Environment Geography Geology General Topics We observe that most of the deserts are on the western sides of the continents in the subtropics. These are the results of the prevailing easterly winds of the tropics, which are the trade winds.
How many types of deserts are there in the world?
There are four types of desert found in the world: sub-tropical desert; Coastal deserts; Cold desert; Polar Desert. The fifth part of the Earth’s surface is desert.