What is a beautiful desert and how to appreciate this beauty? But looking at the photographs of the Sonora desert made by those who have been there, you understand that she is really beautiful! Its undulating relief, unusual vegetation represented by the most diverse forms of trees and shrubs, its variety of cacti is simply amazing. Today’s tour of it and photos in the article will confirm - the desert is beautiful!
Desert world
The sandy-rocky desert of Sonora lies in the subtropical zone from the southwest of the USA to the north-west of Mexico, covering part of the Great Basin of the lower Colorado River and faceted (you can not say otherwise) gently sloping mountains. At the foot of the mountains lies sand, washed off by powerful streams of air from the slopes of the mountains down, forming a bayadas, which in Spanish means “slopes”. The desert landscape is heterogeneous. About ¼ of the desert is occupied by low elevations and small mountains. Depending on the calculation method used to determine large areas, sources show different sizes of desert area, but not less than 260 square meters. km and not more than 355 square meters. km The Sonora Desert is so great that sometimes it is spoken of as a group of deserts with the names of Hume, Juha, Colorado and others.
Climate
The desert climate is harsh. Precipitation is rare. In winter, it rains from December to March. The desert's neighborhood with mountains and the ocean formed a peculiar type of summer weather over the desert with barrage of heavy rains and thunderstorms raging from July to September. Moisture in the desert does not stay because of the high air temperature and the water evaporates quickly. The temperature is always positive, even in the winter months it can be + 30 ° С, with a maximum summer + 40 ° С. But the average daily temperature amplitude is large: from + 40 ° C during the day to + 2 ° C at night.
Desert flora
The two-season pattern of precipitation in the Sonora desert leads to an increase in the number of plant species in it more than in any other desert in the world. It contains plant genera and species from the Agave family, the Palm family, the cactus family, the legume family and many others. The desert is the only place in the world where the famous saguaro cactus, fishing hook, prickly pear, nocturnal flowering organ and organ pipe grow. Cacti provide food for many mammals and desert birds. They look very impressive during flowering, covered with red, pink, yellow and white flowers. Most often, cacti bloom from late March to June, depending on the type of cacti and seasonal temperatures. Sonora desert wildflowers include desert verbena sand, desert sunflower and evening primrose. All plants have long roots, with which they look for water, plunging into the soil for tens of meters.
Interesting fact
Scientists at the University of Arizona, conducting research on the existence of life in virtually lifeless and hot deserts, made an amazing discovery. In the strata of lifeless, it would seem, sand, a huge number of bacteria live - microorganisms that increase the surface temperature of the soil by 10 ° C through their life. Since deserts cover more than 20% of the planet’s surface, the conclusions come naturally that desert microorganisms play an important role in the global thermal regime of the planet. Sonora is no exception in this process. The more microorganisms in the soils and sands of the desert, the darker the layers of desert soils become. Microorganisms secrete scitonemin into the soil during their vital functions. It is he who makes the soil dark, and this happens due to the absorption of waves of green and yellow sunlight.
Crack in the Sonora Desert
As noted above, natural phenomena and microorganisms affect the ongoing changes on the planet. Heavy precipitation, especially after drought, and tropical storms contribute to the formation of cracks, while artificial cracks can be caused by intensive pumping of groundwater to protect agriculture, exploration drilling and excavation. That is, a person does not stand aside, thanks to his activity, a break could well have occurred in the American Desert of Sonora, discovered 16 kilometers from Pikachi State Park in Arizona. It was in this area that there was an extensive drainage of groundwater in the desert.
The first cracks appeared in the Sonora desert in 1929. There are a lot of them at the moment in the desert. In 2013, the Arizona Geological Survey recorded another 5-kilometer crack that separates the desert surface in the Tator Hills. By 2014, the crack increased due to heavy autumn rains. Geologists believe that the southern part of the crack is fresher, and it is believed that it could be an underground void that reached the surface after the monsoons in 2016.
Such faults are dangerous for people and SUVs, so in the event of faults, the Arizona State Geological Survey always warns locals of the danger.
