North American Desert
Encyclopedia
The North American Deserts includes all the desert
s located on the continent
. It is also the term for a large U.S. Level 1 ecoregion (EPA) of the North American Cordillera
, in the Deserts and xeric shrublands
biome
(WWF). The continent's deserts are largely between the Rocky Mountains
and Sierra Madre Oriental
on the east, and the rain shadow
creating Sierra Nevada, Transverse
, and Peninsular Ranges
on the west. The North American xeric region of over 95751 sq mi (247,994 km²) includes: 3 major deserts; numerous smaller deserts; and large non-desert arid regions; in the western United States
and in northeast, central, and northwest Mexico
.
diminished rainfall and which have many non-desert shrub-steppe
(EPA) and xeric shrublands
(WWF) in addition to desert ecosystem
s and ecoregions. This large arid region of 190000 sq mi (492,097.7 km²) includes: deserts, such as the Great Basin Desert
and Sonoran Desert; and the non-desert arid region areas (with greater than 10 inches annual precipitation) in the Great Basin arid region, Colorado Plateau
, Mexican Plateau
, and others. This arid region extends from the top of the North American Desert in Washington and Idaho
southward into Mexico in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt
. The 'western arid region' is east of and (except for Mojave sky islands
) discontiguous from the Mojave Desert, unlike the southwestern Great Basin deserts adjacent with ecotone
s to the northern Mojave Desert.
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
s located on the continent
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. It is also the term for a large U.S. Level 1 ecoregion (EPA) of the North American Cordillera
North American Cordillera
The North American Cordillera is the North American portion of the American Cordillera which is a cordillera extending up and down the western side of the Americas. The North American Cordillera covers an extensive area of mountain ranges, intermontane basins, and plateaus in western North...
, in the Deserts and xeric shrublands
Deserts and xeric shrublands
Deserts and xeric shrublands is a biome characterized by, relating to, or requiring only a small amount of moisture.-Definition and occurrence:...
biome
Biome
Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a...
(WWF). The continent's deserts are largely between the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
and Sierra Madre Oriental
Sierra Madre Oriental
The Sierra Madre Oriental is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico.-Setting:Spanning the Sierra Madre Oriental runs from Coahuila south through Nuevo León, southwest Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, and Hidalgo to northern Puebla, where it joins with the east-west running Eje Volcánico...
on the east, and the rain shadow
Rain shadow
A rain shadow is a dry area on the lee side of a mountainous area. The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems, casting a "shadow" of dryness behind them. As shown by the diagram to the right, the warm moist air is "pulled" by the prevailing winds over a mountain...
creating Sierra Nevada, Transverse
Transverse Ranges
The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region that runs along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie between...
, and Peninsular Ranges
Peninsular Ranges
The Peninsular Ranges are a group of mountain ranges, in the Pacific Coast Ranges, which stretch from southern California in the United States to the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Coast Ranges that run along the Pacific coast from Alaska...
on the west. The North American xeric region of over 95751 sq mi (247,994 km²) includes: 3 major deserts; numerous smaller deserts; and large non-desert arid regions; in the western United States
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
and in northeast, central, and northwest Mexico
Northwest Mexico
Northwest Mexico is a region of the United Mexican States, formed by the states of Durango, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Sonora, Baja California and Baja California Sur...
.
Major deserts
- Chihuahuan DesertChihuahuan DesertThe Chihuahuan Desert is a desert, and an ecoregion designation, that straddles the U.S.-Mexico border in the central and northern portions of the Mexican Plateau, bordered on the west by the extensive Sierra Madre Occidental range, and overlaying northern portions of the east range, the Sierra...
- (Mexico, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona) (140000 square miles (362,598.3 km²)) - Mojave DesertMojave DesertThe Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
- (California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona) (22000 square miles (56,979.7 km²)) - Sonoran DesertSonoran DesertThe Sonoran Desert is a North American desert which straddles part of the United States-Mexico border and covers large parts of the U.S. states of Arizona and California and the northwest Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. It is one of the largest and hottest...
- (Mexico, Arizona, California) (120000 square miles (310,798.6 km²))
Smaller deserts
- Alvord DesertAlvord DesertThe Alvord Desert is a desert located in Harney County, in southeastern Oregon in the western United States. It is roughly southeast of Steens Mountain. The Alvord Desert is a dry lake bed and averages of rain a year. Two mountain ranges separate it from the Pacific Ocean—the Coast Range, and...
- (Great Basin) (84 square miles (217.6 km²)) - Amargosa DesertAmargosa DesertThe Amargosa Desert is located in Nye County in western Nevada, United States, along the California–Nevada border. It is largely coincident with the geographic Amargosa Valley....
- (Mojave—Great Basin) (600 square miles (1,554 km²)) - Baja California DesertBaja California DesertThe Baja California Desert is a Desert ecoregion of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula.-Geography and climate:The ecoregion covers 77,700 square kilometers and includes most of the Peninsula's western slope. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the east by the Peninsular Ranges...
- Black Rock DesertBlack Rock DesertThe Black Rock Desert is an arid region in the northern Nevada section of the Great Basin with a lakebed that is a dry remnant of Pleistocene Lake Lahontan...
- (Great Basin) (1000 square miles (2,590 km²)) - Black Rock Pocket (>12950 acres (5,240.7 ha))
- Bruneau Desert
- Carson DesertCarson DesertThe Carson Desert is a desert in the Lahontan Basin and the desert valley of the Churchill County desert region which receives an average annual precipitation. The desert is the low valley area between the adjacent mountain ranges, while the larger watershed includes the interior slopes of the...
- (Great Basin) (300 square miles (777 km²)) - Colorado DesertColorado DesertCalifornia's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert, which extends across southwest North America. The Colorado Desert region encompasses approximately , reaching from the Mexican border in the south to the higher-elevation Mojave Desert in the north and from the Colorado River in...
- (Sonoran) - Diamond A Desert (>203 square miles (525.8 km²))
- El Vizcaíno DesertEl Vizcaíno Biosphere ReserveThe El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve, created in 1988, is located in Mulegé Municipality in northern Baja California Sur, at the center of the Baja California Peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and Sea of Cortez...
- Escalante DesertEscalante DesertThe Escalante Desert is a geographic Great Basin region and arid desert ecoregion, in the Deserts and xeric shrublands Biome, located in southwestern Utah.-Geography:...
- (Great Basin) (3270 square miles (8,469.3 km²)) - Forty Mile Desert - (Great Basin)
- Great Basin DesertGreat Basin DesertThe Great Basin Desert is an area of nearctic high deserts across parts of Nevada, California, and Utah that extends into the Colorado River watershed , but which is mostly a portion of the central Nevada desert basins of the Great Basin.It along with the Escalante Desert, Mohave Desert, the...
- (Great Basin) - Gran Desierto de AltarGran Desierto de AltarThe Gran Desierto de Altar is one of the major portions of the Sonoran Desert of Mexico, including the only active erg dune region in North America. It extends across much of the northern border of the Gulf of California, reaching more than 100 kilometers east to west, and over 50 km north to...
- (Sonoran) - Great Salt Lake DesertGreat Salt Lake DesertThe Great Salt Lake Desert is a large dry lake in northern Utah between the Great Salt Lake and the Nevada border which is noted for white sand from evaporite Lake Bonneville salt deposits...
- (Great Basin) (4000 square miles (10,360 km²)) - Great Sandy DesertHigh Desert (Oregon)The Oregon High Desert is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon, located east of the Cascade Range and south of the Blue Mountains, in the central and eastern parts of the state. Divided into a southern region and a northern region, the desert covers most of five Oregon counties and averages above...
- (Great Basin) (24000 square miles (62,159.7 km²)) - J-P Desert
- Lechuguilla DesertLechuguilla Desertthumb|250px|right|[[Agave lechuguilla]] the plant the desert is named afterThe Lechuguilla Desert is a small desert located in southwestern Arizona near the U.S.-Mexico border. It is considered to be part of the Lower Colorado Valley region of the Sonoran Desert...
- (Sonoran) - Owyhee DesertOwyhee DesertThe Owyhee Desert ecoregion, within the Deserts and xeric shrublands Biome, is in the Northwestern United States. The Owyhee Uplands Bypass passes through the desert.-Geography:...
- (Great Basin) (14000 square miles (36,259.8 km²)) - Ralston Desert
- Red DesertRed Desert (Wyoming)The Red Desert is a high altitude desert and sagebrush steppe located in south central Wyoming, comprising approximately 9,320 square miles...
- San Emidio Desert (305 square miles (789.9 km²))
- Seventy One Desert (>42211 square miles (109,326 km²))
- Sevier Desert - (Great Basin)
- Smoke Creek DesertSmoke Creek DesertThe Smoke Creek Desert is an arid region of northwestern Nevada, USA that lies to the north of Pyramid Lake, west of the Fox Range and east of the Smoke Creek Mountains. The southern end of the desert lies on the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation, and a rail line lies at the eastern edge...
- (Great Basin) (980 square miles (2,538.2 km²)) - Tamaulipan mezquitalTamaulipan mezquitalThe Tamaulipan mezquital ecoregion, in the deserts and xeric shrublands biome, is located in the southern United States and northeastern Mexico...
- Ten Mile Desert
- Tule Desert (Arizona)Tule Desert (Arizona)The Tule Desert is a small desert located in southwestern Arizona near the U.S.-Mexico border. It is considered to be part of the Lower Colorado Valley region of the Sonoran Desert. It lies in a north-south direction to the east of the Cabeza Prieta Mountains and almost entirely in the Barry M....
- (Sonoran) - Tule Desert (Nevada) - (Mojave—Great Basin) (412 square miles (1,067.1 km²))
- Twenty-Six-Mile Desert
- Yp DesertYp DesertThe Yp Desert is a desert and ecoregion, within the Deserts and xeric shrublands Biome, in Owyhee County, Idaho, and Elko County, Nevada in the northwestern United States....
- (Great Basin) - Yuha DesertYuha DesertThe Yuha Desert is a section of the Sonoran Desert located in the Imperial Valley of California; south of Interstate 8, west of El Centro, CA, and north of the international border....
- (Sonoran) - Yuma DesertYuma DesertThe Yuma Desert is a lower-elevation section of the Sonoran Desert in the southwestern United States and the northwest of Mexico. It is in the Salton basin. The desert contains areas of sparse vegetation and has notable areas of sand dunes. With an average rainfall less than 8 inches each...
- (Sonoran)
Western arid regions of North America
The separately defined western arid regions of North America are continental regions of aridity based on available water in addition to rain shadowRain shadow
A rain shadow is a dry area on the lee side of a mountainous area. The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems, casting a "shadow" of dryness behind them. As shown by the diagram to the right, the warm moist air is "pulled" by the prevailing winds over a mountain...
diminished rainfall and which have many non-desert shrub-steppe
Shrub-steppe
Shrub-steppe is a type of low rainfall natural grassland. Shrub-steppes are distinguishable from deserts, which are too dry to support a noticeable cover of perennial grasses or other shrubs, while the shrub-steppe has sufficient moisture levels to support a cover of perennial grasses and/or...
(EPA) and xeric shrublands
Deserts and xeric shrublands
Deserts and xeric shrublands is a biome characterized by, relating to, or requiring only a small amount of moisture.-Definition and occurrence:...
(WWF) in addition to desert ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
s and ecoregions. This large arid region of 190000 sq mi (492,097.7 km²) includes: deserts, such as the Great Basin Desert
Great Basin Desert
The Great Basin Desert is an area of nearctic high deserts across parts of Nevada, California, and Utah that extends into the Colorado River watershed , but which is mostly a portion of the central Nevada desert basins of the Great Basin.It along with the Escalante Desert, Mohave Desert, the...
and Sonoran Desert; and the non-desert arid region areas (with greater than 10 inches annual precipitation) in the Great Basin arid region, Colorado Plateau
Colorado Plateau
The Colorado Plateau, also called the Colorado Plateau Province, is a physiographic region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States. The province covers an area of 337,000 km2 within western Colorado, northwestern New Mexico,...
, Mexican Plateau
Mexican Plateau
The Central Mexican Plateau, also known as the Mexican Altiplano or Altiplanicie Mexicana, is a large arid-to-semiarid plateau that occupies much of northern and central Mexico...
, and others. This arid region extends from the top of the North American Desert in Washington and Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
southward into Mexico in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt
Trans-Mexican volcanic belt
The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt also known as the Transvolcanic Belt and locally as the Sierra Nevada , is a volcanic belt that extends 900 km from west to east across central-southern Mexico...
. The 'western arid region' is east of and (except for Mojave sky islands
Sky Islands
Sky Islands is a 1993 Jazz album by Ramsey Lewis released on GRP Records.The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.-Track listing:-Personnel: *Tony Carpenter - Percussion, Background Vocals...
) discontiguous from the Mojave Desert, unlike the southwestern Great Basin deserts adjacent with ecotone
Ecotone
An ecotone is a transition area between two biomes but different patches of the landscape, such as forest and grassland. It may be narrow or wide, and it may be local or regional...
s to the northern Mojave Desert.
See also
- Desert ecologyDesert ecologyIn ecology, desert ecology is the sum of the interactions between both biotic and abiotic processes in arid regions, and it includes the interactions of plant, animal, and bacterial populations in a desert habitat, ecosystem, and community. Some of the abiotic factors also include latitude and...
- Deserts and xeric shrublandsDeserts and xeric shrublandsDeserts and xeric shrublands is a biome characterized by, relating to, or requiring only a small amount of moisture.-Definition and occurrence:...
- biome and ecoregions - Deserts of California
- Great American DesertGreat American DesertThe term Great American Desert was used in the 19th century to describe the western part of the Great Plains east of the Rocky Mountains in North America....