Exam 19: Deserts and Winds

The ________ was a period of drought in the 1930s in the United States that resulted in significant dust storms blowing fine sediment for hundreds of miles.

Which part of the wind's sediment load is visible in this image?

What process creates desert blowouts?

Deposits of silt carried by blowing winds are referred to as ________.

Why is erosion by wind more effective in an arid region than in a humid region?

Which of the following can contain large quantities of evaporite minerals such as borate and halite?

Why is it so difficult for wind to pick up clay-sized particles?

Saltating sand grains in a desert are carried by the wind and rarely more than 1 meter above the surface in normal circumstances.

What factor in this image would control the depth of this feature? (What might stop it from getting deeper?)

Inselbergs are generally associated with a(n)________ stage desert landscape.

A true desert is defined by how hot it is.

Rates of physical weathering in deserts are high, even though there isn't a great deal of precipitation, because it is usually heavy when rain does fall.

Explain how the environmental conditions in the headwaters of the Colorado River affect the longevity of the river as it moves through the desert.

In a desert environment, in which area would surface water infiltrate into the local groundwater system most effectively?

Which desert location in the United States consists of alternating mountain ranges and flat-bottomed valleys as a result of fault block mountains?

The central United States is covered with extensive deposits of loess.Where did this loess come from?

The world's driest desert is the Atacama Desert in South America.

Most dry lands exist between ________ degrees latitude on either side of the equator.

Streams in arid regions are generally small and die out before reaching the sea.Explain two ways that streams lose water in this environment and why this loss occurs.

What sedimentary structure is visible in this image?