Short note on Desert Soil (about 50 words)
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Answer:
Desert soils form in areas where the demand for water by the atmosphere (evaporation) and plants (transpiration) is much greater than precipitation. Deserts cover 20 to 33% of the Earth's land surface, and can be found in the tropics, at the poles, and in between. Deserts are defined as being very dry
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Answer:
Desert soils form in areas where the demand for water by the atmosphere (evaporation) and plants (transpiration) is much greater than precipitation. Deserts cover 20 to 33% of the Earth’s land surface, and can be found in the tropics, at the poles, and in between.
Deserts are defined as being very dry. Not all of them are hot, or sandy. The antarctic continent is a dry, polar desert. At the south pole, it doesn't snow very often, though, blowing snow can accumulate up to 20 cm. Even though moisture levels are really low, deserts are prone to flash flooding when they recieve rain. This is what causes all of the interesting and colorful rock formations. The lack of soil moisture keeps minerals from leaching out of the soils, and can even create cement like horizons near the soil surface.
Most desert soils are called Aridisols (dry soil). However, in really dry regions of the Sahara and Australian outback, the soil orders are called Entisols. Entisols are new soils, like sand dunes, which are too dry for any major soil horizon development. They also occur in floodplains after a spring flood, which is why they can occur in the desert.
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