The Arid ZonesThe hot and temperate deserts and their marginal steppe lands comprise onethird of the land surface of the world and are an increasingly critical area for the economic wellbeing of world populations. The remarkable mechanisms of fl oral, faunal, and human adaptation to the distinct and diffi cult environment of these arid zones, as well as the potential of modern technology for facilitating adaptation, are described and explained by Walton in the light of our most recent knowledge of the phenomena and processes involved. |
Contents
Figures | 6 |
The nature and causes of aridity | 7 |
The climates of the arid lands | 24 |
Copyright | |
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Africa agriculture Alice Springs alluvial alluvial fans amount animals annual aquifers arid areas arid lands arid zone artesian basins Australia Barrage basins camel cent Central Asia chemical weathering chernozems climate crops cultivation Cyrenaica dams deposits desert locust drainage drought dry lands dunes East economic environment erosion evaporation extend extremely arid floods grazing ground ground-water higher hot deserts increase inselbergs irrigation isohyet Lake latitudes layer less locust loess lower major margins Mediterranean miles mineral Nile nomadic North America numbers oases oasis occur Old World pastoralism pedocals perennial irrigation period plains plants Pleistocene pluvial precipitation problems rain rainfall relative humidity reservoirs river rock run-off Sahara saline salt sand savanna seasonal sediments semi-arid semi-arid lands sheep showers slopes solonchaks south-west southern steppe steppe lands summer supply surface temperate deserts temperature tion transhumance Tunisia utilisation valley vegetation wind winter xerophytes