The Chihuahuan Desert is a 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. Deserts are defined as areas with an average annual precipitation of less than 250 millimetres per year, or as areas where more water is lost by evapotranspiration than falls as precipitation. In the Köppen that straddles the U.S.-Mexico border The Mexico – United States border is the international border between Mexico and the United States. It runs from San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Baja California, in the west to Matamoros, Tamaulipas, and Brownsville, Texas, in the east, and traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from major urban areas to inhospitable deserts. From the Gulf in the central and northern portions of the Mexican Plateau, bordered on the west by the extensive Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a mountain range in western Mexico and the extreme southwest of the United States, extending 1500 km from southeast Arizona southeast through eastern Sonora, western Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Durango, Zacatecas, Nayarit, Jalisco, Aguascalientes to Guanajuato, where it joins with the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Eje Volcá range, and overlaying northern portions of the east range, the Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico, spanning 1000 km 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 Transversal of central Mexico. On the U.S. ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language side it occupies the valleys and basins of central and southern New Mexico The state's total area is 121,412 square miles . The eastern border of New Mexico lies along 103° W longitude with the state of Oklahoma, and three miles (5 km) west of 103.5° W longitude with Texas. On the southern border, Texas makes up the eastern two-thirds, while the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora make up the western third, with, Texas Houston is the largest city in Texas and the fourth-largest in the United States, while San Antonio is the second largest in the state and seventh largest in the United States. Dallas–Fort Worth and Greater Houston are the fourth and sixth largest United States metropolitan areas, respectively. Other major cities include El Paso and Austin—the west of the Pecos River The Pecos River arises near Pecos, New Mexico, United States, and flows for 926 miles through the eastern portion of that state and neighboring Texas before it empties into the Rio Grande near Del Rio. The river drains approximately 44,300 square miles (115,000 km2) of land and southeastern Arizona Arizona is the 48th state and last of the contiguous states admitted to the Union, achieving statehood on February 14, 1912 - the 50th anniversary of Arizona's recognition as a territory of the United States. Arizona is noted for its desert climate, exceptionally hot summers, and mild winters, however it also features pine forests and mountain; south of the border, it covers the northern half of the Mexican In Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica many cultures matured into advanced civilizations such as the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, the Maya and the Aztec before the first contact with Europeans. In 1521, Spain conquered and colonized the territory, which was administered as the viceroyalty of New Spain which would eventually become Mexico state The United Mexican States , is a federal republic composed of 32 federal entities (Spanish: entidades federativas), (31 States and 1 Federal District). These states constitute one Federated State or Union of Chihuahua Chihuahua is a state in northern Mexico with a mainland area of 247,087 square kilometers (95,400.8 sq mi), slightly larger than the United Kingdom. It is surrounded by the states of Sonora to the west, Sinaloa to the south-west, Durango to the south, and Coahuila to the east, and by the U.S. states of Texas to the north-east and New Mexico to the, most of Coahuila Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza , is one of Mexico's 31 component states. It is located in the north of the country, north-east portion of Durango Durango is one of the constituent states of Mexico, with a population of 1,509,118. It has Mexico's second-lowest population density, after Baja California Sur. The city of Durango is the state's capital, extreme northern portion of Zacatecas Zacatecas is a state of Mexico, located in the northern region. It is bounded to the northwest by Durango, to the north by Coahuila, to the east by San Luis Potosí, to the south by Aguascalientes and Guanajuato and to the southwest by Jalisco and Nayarit. The state is best known for its rich deposits of silver ore, its colonial architecture and and small western portions of Nuevo León Nuevo León is a state located in northeastern Mexico. It borders the states of Tamaulipas to the north and east and San Luis Potosí to the south, and Coahuila to the west. To the north, Nuevo León accounts for a 15 kilometer (9 mi) stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to the U.S. state of Texas. It has an area of about 362,000 km2 (139,769 sq mi). It is the third largest desert of the Western Hemisphere and is second largest in North America North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocean; South America lies to the southeast, after the Great Basin Desert The Great Basin is the largest watershed of North America which does not drain to an ocean. Water within the Great Basin evaporates since outward flow is blocked . The basin extends into Mexico and covers most of Nevada and over half of Utah, as well as parts of California, Idaho, Oregon and Wyoming. The majority of the watershed is in the North.[1]
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Geography
The terrain mainly consists of basins A drainage basin is an extent or area of land where water from rain and melting snow or ice drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean. The drainage basin includes both the streams and rivers that convey the water as well as the land surfaces from which water drains into those channels, broken by numerous small mountain ranges A mountain range is a chain of mountains bordered by highlands or separated from other mountains by passes or valleys. Individual mountains within the same mountain range do not necessarily have the same geology, though they often do; they may be a mix of different orogeny, for example volcanoes, uplifted mountains or fold mountains and may,.
Several larger mountain ranges include the Sierra Madre, the Sierra del Carmen, the Sacramento Mountains, the Sandia-Manzano Mountains, the Magdalena-San Mateo Mountains, the Chisos, the Guadalupe Mountains, and the Davis Mountains The Davis Mountains are a range of mountains in West Texas, located near Fort Davis, after which they are named. They are a popular site for camping and hiking and the region includes the Davis Mountains State Park. The historical and architectural value of the fort, along with the rugged natural beauty of the park combine to prepresent a. These create "sky islands" of cooler, wetter, climates Climates encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elements in a given region over long periods of time. Climate can be contrasted to weather, which is the present condition of these same elements and their variations over periods up to two weeks within the desert, and such elevated areas have both coniferous and broadleaf woodlands, and even forests along drainages and favored exposures.
The Chihuahuan Desert is higher in elevation than the Sonoran Desert The 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 deserts in North America, with an area of 311,000 square to the west, mostly varying from 600–1,675 m (1,969–5,495 ft) in altitude. As a result, it tends to have a slightly milder climate in the summer (though usually daytime June temperatures are in the range of 35 to 40 °C (95 to 104 °F)). Winter weather varies from relatively mild to quite cold depending on altitude and the ferocity of northerly winds. Precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that is pulled down by gravity and deposited on the Earth's surface. The main forms of precipitation include rain, snow, ice pellets, and graupel. It occurs when the atmosphere, a large gaseous solution, becomes saturated with water vapour and the water is somewhat more abundant than most of the southern Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds of North America and is noted for its arid conditions and Basin and Range topography that varies from the North American lowpoint at Badwater Basin to—less than 100 miles away—the contiguous United States highpoint at the Mount Whitney summit. The watershed spans several, the Sonoran, and Mojave The 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. Named after the Mohave tribe of Native Americans, it is a typical Basin and Range topography deserts, however it is still usually less than 254 millimeters (10.0 in) per year, with much of the rain falling during the "monsoon Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by seasonal changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea. Usually, the term monsoon is used to refer to the rainy phase of a seasonally-changing" of late summer. The mean annual precipitation for the Chihuahuan Desert is 235 mm (9.3 in) with a range of approximately 150–400 mm (6–16 in). Nearly two-thirds of the arid zone stations have annual totals between 225 and 275 mm (8.9 and 10.8 in).[2] Snowfall is scant except at the higher elevation edges.
The Chihuahuan Desert is an ecoregion that has received little exploration and study. Therefore, it has not been classified or had subdivisions applied to it, as has the Sonoran Desert to the west.
There are a few urban areas within the desert: the largest is Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez , also known as Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez has an estimated population of 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte), across from El Paso, Texas. El Paso and Ciudad Juárez comprise one with almost two million inhabitants, neighboring El Paso El Paso stands on the Rio Grande , across the border from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. The image to the right shows Downtown El Paso and Juárez, with the Juárez Mountains in the background. The two cities form a combined international metropolitan area, sometimes called Juarez-El Paso, with Juárez being the significantly larger of the two; then the city of Chihuahua The city of Chihuahua is the state capital of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It has a population of about 825,327. The predominant activity is industry, including domestic heavy, light industries, consumer goods production, and to a smaller extent maquiladoras and Torreón. Albuquerque Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 521,999 as of July 1, 2008, according to U.S. census estimates, and ranks as the 34th-largest city in the U.S. As of June 2007,, Las Cruces Las Cruces, also known as "The City of the Crosses", is the county seat of Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 74,267 as of the 2000 Census, and was estimated at 91,865 as of July 1, 2008, making it the second largest city in the state. Las Cruces is the economic and geographic center of the fertile Mesilla and Roswell Roswell is a city in and the county seat of Chaves County in the southeastern quarter of the state of New Mexico, United States. The population was 45,293 at the 2000 census. It is a center for irrigation farming, dairying, ranching, manufacturing, distribution, and petroleum production. It is also the home of New Mexico Military Institute , in New Mexico are among the other significant cities in this ecoregion. Saltillo and Monterrey are located in the border of the Chihuahuan desert.
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in the United States and Canada. It is the world's largest independent conservation organization with, the Chihuahuan Desert may be the most biologically diverse desert in the world, whether measured on species richness or endemism, although the region has been heavily degraded over time. Many native species have been replaced with creosote shrubs. The Mexican wolf, once abundant, has been extirpated. The main cause of degradation has been grazing.[3]
Vegetation
See: Agave Agave is a genus of monocots and is a perennial. In the APG III system, it is placed in the subfamily Agavoideae of the broadly circumscribed family Asparagaceae. Some authors prefer to place it in the segregate family Agavaceae. Traditionally, it was circumscribed to comprise about 166 species, but it is now usually understood to have about 208, Creosote bush, Lechuguilla, Mesquite Mesquite is a leguminous plant of the Prosopis genus found in northern Mexico through the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahuan Deserts, and up into the southwestern United States as far north as southern Kansas and as far east as the eastern fifth of Texas, where average annual rainfall is in excess of 40 inches, Ocotillo, Prickly pear Opuntia, also known as nopales , or Paddle Cactus from the resemblance to the ball-and-paddle toy, is a genus in the cactus family, Cactaceae, Sotol, Yucca Yucca is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the agave family, Agavaceae. Its 40-50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flowers. They are native to the hot and dry parts of North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Early reports, Grasses Poaceae is a family in the Class Liliopsida (the monocots) of the flowering plants. Plants of this family are usually called grasses, or, to distinguish them from other graminoids, true grasses; the shrub- or tree-like plants in this family are called bamboo (there are also herbaceous, non-woody bamboos). There are about 600 genera and some 9,000, Peyote Lophophora williamsii , is a small, spineless cactus. It is native to southwestern Texas and through central Mexico. It is found primarily in the Chihuahuan desert and in the states of Tamaulipas and San Luis Potosi among scrub, especially where there is limestone
See also
References
- ^ Wright, John W. (ed.); Editors and reporters of The New York Times (2006). The New York Times Almanac (2007 ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books. pp. 456. ISBN 0-14-303820-6.
- ^ Chihuahuan Climate, Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute
- ^ Chihuahua Desert Ecoregion, World Wild Fund for Nature
External links
- Chihuahuan Desert images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu (slow modem version)
- Pronatura Noreste in the Chihuahuan Desert
- Small desert beetle found to engineer ecosystems EurekAlert! March 27, 2008
Categories: Chihuahuan Desert | Mexican Plateau | Deserts and xeric shrublands | Deserts of Mexico | Deserts of Texas | Ecoregions of Mexico | Global 200 ecoregions | Nearctic | Deserts of New Mexico | Deserts of Arizona | Southwestern United States | Natural history of Chihuahua | Natural history of Coahuila | Natural history of Durango | Natural history of Zacatecas | Natural history of Nuevo León | Regions of Northern Mexico
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