Desert Worksheet
26 points
Fill-in-the-blanks.
1 point each answer
1.
Wind is most effective in shaping landscapes in areas that have little ______ and _____.
2.
World-wide, deserts occur from ___ to ____ degrees north and south of the equator.
3.
Dust storms are common in arid regions and carry sand grains over the ground in a process
called _____.
4.
An interesting form of weathering which leaves a shine on stable surfaces is called ________
___________.
5.
Mounds of sand deposited when wind velocity decreased are called _____
6.
The steep side of a sand dune is called the ____ side while the gentle slope is called the ______
side.
7.
Dunes migrate in the _____ direction.
8.
Wind can carry silt for hundreds, or even thousands, of kilometers and deposit it as _____.
9.
In the United States huge deposits of this windblown silt from the Pleistocene Ice Age can be
found in the ________. During the Civil War local residents took refuge here from the shelling.
10.
_____ is the term used for growth of deserts caused by human mismanagement.
11.
A ___ is a small flat-topped mountain shaped like a table.
12.
An intermittent desert lake is called a _______ lake.
13.
A/An ___forms where a steep mountain stream deposits sediments as it enters a valley.
Matching.
1 point each
____ 1. Rain-shadow desert
a. The leeward face of a dune
____ 2. Wash
b. Dunes formed in rocky deserts with little sand
____ 3. Bajada
c.
An arid zone on the leeward side of mountains
____ 4. Plateau
d. A large desert region between the Sierra Nevada and Rocky
Mountains
____ 5. Slip face
e. A stream bed that is dry for most of the year
____ 6. Barchans
f. A large elevated area of fairly flat land. A large elevated area of
fairly flat land
____ 7. Great Basin
g. A broad gently sloping depositional surface formed by
merging alluvial fans
Short Answer.
4 points
Explain 2 possible methods that can be used to stabilize migrating dunes and
how effective they are or are not.
