By Nick Middleton
Deserts make up a 3rd of the planet's land floor, but when you photo a wilderness, what involves brain? A sandy barren region? A drought-parched airborne dirt and dust bowl? An alien panorama with out all existence kinds? during this terrific Very brief advent, geographer and well known technological know-how author Nick Middleton unearths that deserts are locations of vast average appeal and wealthy biodiversity. Typified by means of drought and extremes of temperature, they are often harsh and opposed, yet Middleton exhibits that many deserts also are spectacularly attractive, and infrequently they could teem with existence. the writer highlights how each one desolate tract is exclusive, describing their usually great lifestyles types, awesome surroundings, and lengthy heritage of creative human habitation. Written via a revered scientist who enjoys a large following for his Going to Extremes tv sequence on nationwide Geographic, Deserts tells you every little thing you ever desired to find out about those impressive locations and captures their value within the operating of our planet.
Read Online or Download Deserts: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) PDF
Best geography books
National Geographic Italia [IT] (March 2015)
Nationwide Geographic Italia è los angeles rivista che ogni mese racconta le meraviglie del nostro pianeta con reportage esclusivi, fotografie mozzafiato e articoli sempre nuovi e sorprendenti. L’obiettivo è condurre il lettore nei più reconditi segreti della natura, nei misteri della vita animale, tra popolazioni lontane e affascinanti, invitandolo advert apprezzare e a prendersi cura del mondo in cui viviamo.
Frommer's Great Escapes From NYC Without Wheels
Like every issues, dwelling within the new york isn't loose! an excellent publication that breaks down in different types for foodies (that's me), romantic weekends, historic websites, antiques, artwork cities. child pleasant escapes, fairs and the good outdoor. In 2008-9, we're all dealing with one of many biggest financial crunch: however it doesn't suggest we need to sacrifice leisure and experience time.
Jamaica Alive! (Hunter Travel Guides)
This intriguing new addition to the Alive! sequence takes you to the Jamaica, a land of dashing waterfalls, sandy shorelines, giant rivers and robust cultural roots. "Dawn to nightfall" sections specialise in the easiest sunlight hours delights, akin to awesome watersports, sightseeing, white sand shorelines and interesting museums.
- Tundra to Tropics: The Floristic Plant Geography of North America
- The Myth of Continents: A Critique of Metageography
- Frommer's Portable Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard
- Dominica & St. Lucia Alive
- Draw Write Now, Book 2: Christopher Columbus, Autumn Harvest, Weather (Draw-Write-Now)
- Frommer's Maine Coast Day by Day (Frommer's Day by Day - Pocket)
Extra resources for Deserts: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Example text
Similar features have been identified from satellite images on the surface of Mars, an arid planet where wind plays a very significant role in shaping the landscape. Desert pavements Some of these pavements are very extensive. They cover large parts of the Gobi desert, for instance, and the name ‘gobi’ is often used as a general term for desert pavements. These rather tedious landscapes have attracted a number of other regional names, including ‘gibber plains’ in Australia, ‘hammada’ in North Africa, ‘serir’ and ‘reg’ in other parts of the Arab world.
Alluvial fans are found in many mountainous areas and arctic environments, but they tend to be bigger and best developed in deserts, particularly in basin-and-range topography. Individual fans can be large, in some cases more than 50 kilometres wide, and rise many hundreds of metres above the plain. They may also take a considerable length of time to form. The Milner Creek fan, 46 in the White Mountains of California, sits upon a desert surface that has been dated to some 700,000 years ago. Hence, the Milner Creek fan is nearly three-quarters of a million years in age and continues to grow.
The extremely arid heart of the Sahara, for example, receives so little rainfall that no ‘rainy season’ can be identified. A similar statement applies to the Atacama. Temperatures in the Atacama are also remarkably uniform throughout the year, with monthly mean air temperatures 26 between 14°C and 16°C. Temperatures in the deserts of the Horn of Africa, which are close to the Equator, also show little variability from month to month. Precipitation in the deserts of Iran and Afghanistan is similarly very seasonal, occurring almost exclusively in winter and spring (November to May), brought largely by cyclonic disturbances from the Mediterranean.