Eco-friendly locations / The Largest Deserts in the World / The Patagonia Desert
The Patagonia Desert
Patagonia, part of South America is located south of the Rio Colorado river (in another version the Rio Negro and Limaj ) in Argentina and the Bio-Bio in Chile , though absolutely precise definition does not exist. Sometimes it is referred to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego . Located in Argentina and Chile, it includes the Andes mountains in the west and in the south, and plateaus and low plains to the east. The name "Patagonia" is derived from the word patagón, used by Magellan to describe people who were born here. During his expedition he thought they were giants. Now it is considered that the average growth Tehuelche, who lived at that time in Patagonia, was about 1.80 m (~ 5 '11 "), which is much larger than the average growth of 1.55 m (5 '1"), the Spaniards of the time.
Description
The Patagonian wilderness ( the desert steppe of Patagonia ) is a sandy-stony desert in South America . Its population is extremely small in number. Mineral resources are limited. Due to inaccessibility, it is one of the least studied of the world's deserts.
Geographical characteristics
The desert stretches in a narrow strip along a length of 1,600 km of the Atlantic Ocean from 39 ° to 53 ° south latitude, occupying the Patagonian plateau at an altitude of 600-800 m. This is the only desert coast at high latitudes. It is situated at the foot and the lower part of the eastern slope of the Andes in Argentina . It has an area of 400 000 km ². The soil cover consists mostly of undeveloped desert stony soils. Saline soils, up to the salt marshes occupy drainage basins. Water resources are extremely limited, while the groundwater resources on the contrary are significant.
Climate
Summer temperatures on average are +21 ° C, the absolute maximum is of 40 ° C. The average winter (July) +10 - +16 ° C. Winters are generally soft and despite zero temperatures, very harsh. Severe frosts temperatures can drop to -21 °.
Flora and fauna
In humid areas, there is relatively sparse cereal cover preobladet feather , ovsyanets , bluegrass . In most areas the vegetation cover is very sparse. Of the plants also occurs azorella , mulinum etc. From among the more diverse animals are found: the long-haired armadillo , Mara , various rodents , tuko-tuko , wild llama (the only hoofed Patagonia), the Argentine gray fox , the cougar , the Patagonian weasel . Birds :rabbit owl rhea . The desert is also home to a variety of lizards.
Others The Largest Deserts in the World .
Maps of The Patagonia Desert
mapOthers from The Largest Deserts in the World
Under such dry conditions it is hard for the plants to live and the soils to form.
There is anything that protects the earth from overheating in these areas.
The hottest place on the Earth is the tropical desert, but there are coldest , even icy deserts, for instance, Antarctica.
Deserts cover approximately 20% of the Earth's land surface and 80% in Australia , therefore, a fifth of the Earth's land area belongs to the deserts.
Many of the major deserts are located near the tropics, such as the Sahara desert which is the largest desert in the world, as well as the Kalahari, the Namib Desert and the Grand Victoria in Australia.
Droughts During the grazing of cattle during droughts disorders of vegetation occur.
They are so significant that are likely unrecovered.
The sun's rays quickly dry the soil and turn to dust, which happens to desertification, a continuous transformation of the land in the desert.
A desert with a change in climatic conditions can always shrink and expand.
The long-term global climate change or contraction of the continents can garden the desert or turn it into a magnificent forest.
Short-lived changes in weather conditions influence the expansion of its borders, turning occasionally green areas in arid deserts.
The hottest places on the Earth are the tropical desert, where the daytime temperatures often reach +50 ° C.
This heat can destroy the stones and give the landscape an unusual character.
The underground water evaporates so quickly that minerals are dissolved from the crust.
Deserts are constantly dry, but in other natural areas prolonged dry periods can occur - the droughts.
Their presence in any place depends on what kind of rainfall is there.
There was a drought in Sahel, Africa, that lasted many months without rain.
However, droughts are regular and in some places they are with a typical moisture content, such as the North American grasslands which dry up every 22 years.
Water plays a significant role in shaping the dry landscape, despite of its low quantity in the desert .
Water alters the chemical composition of rocks, now and then it is dumped in the desert from the sky, at times becoming the cause of short, but strong flash floods, which are harmful to the soil.
Do all the deserts have very high temperatures and a lot of sand? We call a desert an area where not more than 25 inches of rain falls per year.
As a rule, deserts are formed in the hot desert climates, but there are exceptions.
Most deserts have a lot of rocks and stones and sand.
What is the biggest desert? The most extensive deserts are located in areas of high atmospheric pressures.
All the winds blow in areas of their inner regions, but the moist winds from the sea reach them very rarely.
There are those deserts, which are near the sea, and yet the sea winds will reach them, they lose most of moisture on the way.
Certain deserts are formed on the internal continental slopes of mountain ranges, well sheltered from the sea winds.
Almost all of Antarctica is a huge frozen desert, which is located in an area of high pressure, so that its interior is extremely small drops of fresh snow.
The driest desert in the world.
In many deserts there is no rain for several years in a row, then a short downpour happens and everything starts all over again.
The most arid desert is the Atacama Desert in South America .
Until 1971, there were 400 years without spilling a drop.
It is known that in several places in the desert, there are artesian waters, but the high boron content makes them unsuitable for irrigation.
What is an oasis? An oasis is a plot of land in the desert, which is covered with vegetation.
It feeds from underground springs or natural wells.
The largest desert in the world The largest desert in the world is the Sahara Desert in North Africa.
Its area is of approximately 8400 sq.
km.
However, only ten percent of its territory is covered with sand, and everything else is taken by bare rocks and stones.
After Sahara, we have the Arabian desert, the Gobi, the Patagonian,the Rub’ al Khali, the Great Victoria, the Kalahari, the Great Basin, the Chihuahuan and the Thar.