Week 3 - Deserts: Sonoran Desert

On our way home from Arizona to California 11/11/18

Today our family just got back home from visiting Prescott Valley in Arizona. The photo above was taken by my wife (passenger) somewhere along the middle of the trip from Arizona to California. This photo was taken more or less in-between Salome and Aguila, Arizona in the Sonoran dessert. From the view in our car the Sonoran desert is actually quite beautiful with its interesting array of desert plants and wildlife. Some of our favorites views were of the Saguaro Cacti and a hawk catching a ride on the high winds near the freeway as we drove by, seemingly floating in a stationary position in the air.

From what we could see, the area is mostly flat with vegetation littered across the basin. Low mountains surround either side of the road in the far background. An arial view shows evidence of erosion from the mountains. Dried out riverbeds streak out like veins from the nearby mountains. This is caused during the monsoon season when heavy rains poor down, but the water is soon quickly absorbed or evaporated. This is called interior drainage, because the water does not flow back to the ocean. Sediment from the mountains are eroded down into this basin eventually filling the basin and eroding away the mountains.

Google Map Screenshot of California/Arizona

The Sonoran Desert is a rainshadow formed by the mountain regions in California. As you can see in the photo above, it looks "greener" West of the blue lines and it looks mostly dry East of the blue lines. The light blue lines mark the mountains in California. The two northern curved lines mark the San Bernardino mountains. The green line marks more or less where the photo was taken, facing West.

As oceanic air moves inland, it hits the mountains on the windward side causing it to expand, cool, and rain. As the dry air lowers on the leeward side of the mountain, it condenses and warms. This dry, cloudless,  hot air compounds the effects of evaporation. Hence a desert is formed. This is an example of how tectonic processes affect the climate.