Why are tropical desert mountain along the western mountain?
Answers
Answer:
There are four major factors responsible for the location of the world's tropical desert on the Western margins of continents:
1. Offshore areas of trade wind and falling under the rain shadow area: When the moisture laden trade wind flows from east to west shed their moisture on the eastern part and by the time they reach the western margin, they become dry. These dry winds make the soil more and this led to the formation of the desert.
2. Anticyclonic conditions: The areas between 20 ° -30 ° latitude on western margins of continents are the regions of descending air. Because of this, the air gets compressed and warm as it descends and thus the moisture keeps decreasing.
3. Formation of Rain-shadow Zone: A region in the lee of mountains that receives less rainfall than the region windward of the mountains is called rain-shadow zone.
4. Presence of cold ocean currents along the western coast of continents tends to stabilise the air over the coast. This prevents cloud formation and rainfall. Hence, it leads to arid conditions or the formation of marine deserts on the adjacent coastal lands.