What is a desert?

A desert is a very dry environment where little rain falls. A desert has 10 inches of precipitation per year or less.

The desert is a land of extremes: extreme heat and extreme dryness; sudden flash floods and cold nights.

Temperatures of 100 degrees or higher are not uncommon in the desert during the day.  However, at night these temperatures usually drop into the 40s or 50s.

Are all deserts hot?

Actually there are four categories of deserts, some are hot and some are cold.

The hottest deserts are the subtropical deserts.  There are cool coastal deserts that are located near oceans.  The third type of deserts are cold winter deserts where the temperatures differ from season to season.  Polar regions are the fourth type of desert where the temperature is frigid.

In a hot desert, the main form of precipitation is rain (10 inches or less).

In a cold desert, the main form of precipitation is snow (10 inches or less).

Are all deserts the same size?

There are large deserts and small deserts.  See the chart below for a list of the four largest deserts.

Where are deserts located?

Look at the map below and see that there are deserts located in many parts of the world. Deserts cover about 1/5 of Earth's surface.

Most deserts are located between 30º North latitude and 30º South latitude (between the two red lines).

As you can see on the map, there are four desert areas in the United States, all are located in the southwestern area.

What are some of the landforms found in deserts?

Mesas and buttes are found in many deserts. They are landforms that are formed from eroding plateaus (raised areas of flat land). 

Mesa

Mesa:
A mesa, a Spanish word meaning table, is a high plateau with a flat top and steep sides.

Butte

Butte:
A butte, a French word meaning mound, is is a landform that may be cone shaped.  They look similar to a mesa but are smaller.

Canyon
 

Canyons:
Canyons are also common landforms found in deserts.  Canyons are deep valleys with steep sides.

Sand Dune

Sand dunes:
Sand dune are hills of loose sand formed in areas such as deserts and lakes, where winds are strong and tend to blow from one direction.

• Under 10 inches of precipitation
• 1/5 of Earth's land are deserts
• There are cold and hot deserts
• Deserts are located in the southeastern section of the United States
• Some desert landforms:
  • mesas
  • buttes
  • canyons
  • dunes

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