Dust and Sand

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by JDish2000

Technically, the "Sonoran Desert" is not really a desert at all...

Uhhh, they wouldnt name it "desert" for nothing. Kid yourself not, Phoenix lies right in the desert.

[fcorrales80]

I was deployed to Iraq twice and there is no comparision...not even a slight comparison to the sand storms of that region and the dust storms in Arizona.

[JDish2000]

Less than 10 inches of rain?

Or

Less than 7 inches of rain?

I am in need of researching this fact regarding technical desert criteria.

If anyone else knows or finds the answer can you post for me?

[ABQSunseeker]

As the Wikipedia entry for desert states, the 10 inch precipitation rule is not always very reliable in defining a desert.

Joseph Wood Krutch who was one of the finest naturalist writers this country ever produced wrote of the desert as a place where there is no continuous ground cover. Krutch eventually came to live in Tucson and wrote beautifully about deserts, particularly the Sonoran Desert.

The Sonoran Desert is one of the few deserts in the world which has two "rainy" seasons, such it were. Winter and summer. So it is relatively green. Visitors from abroad who come in search of the Sonoran desert are often stumped by the amount of greenery in the Sonoran.

And as Krutch noted the desert reveals itself most completely in the summer. If you are a desert lover like me, there are all kinds of attractions and glories you can enjoy in the summer desert, despite the withering heat....

[wit-nit]

Originally Posted by JDish2000

Less than 10 inches of rain?

Or

Less than 7 inches of rain?

I am in need of researching this fact regarding technical desert criteria.

If anyone else knows or finds the answer can you post for me?

Deserts

[fcorrales80]

As with EVERYTHING, there is debate as to weather the Sonoran Desert is a true desert. The definition of a desert USED to be 7 inches of rainfall or less a year with a higher yearly evaporation rate, but because of discrepancies (mainly with the Sonoran Desert) the rainfall limit was raised to 10" a few years ago to include most of the Sonoran. From National Geographic:

"With few winter frosts and dual rainy seasons half a year apart, the Sonoran region supports such a rich variety of flora and fauna that it seems almost lush compared with other deserts. In some experts' view, it isn't really a desert so much as a drier version of the subtropical thornscrub found farther south in Mexico. However you define the Sonoran ecosystem, it is a spectacular illustration of how communities of organisms facing extreme conditions find ways not merely to endure but to flourish."
Sonoran Desert, U.S. Deserts, North America Deserts - National Geographic

But for all intensive purposes, I think it's just easier to call it a desert than argue about rainfall totals seeing that parts of the Sonoran receive 10-12 inches of rain and the greenery of the Sonoran fall outside of the true definition of a desert biome.