Table of Contents
What is a Sonoran Desert?
The Sonoran Desert. The Sonoran Desert as currently defined covers approximately 100,000 square miles (260,000 sq. km.) and includes most of the southern half of Arizona, southeastern California, most of the Baja California peninsula, the islands of the Gulf of California, and much of the state of Sonora, Mexico.
Where is the Sonoran Desert?
The Sonoran Desert occurs primarily in Mexico. More than two-thirds of its total area is in Baja California and the state of Sonora. In the United States, most of the Sonoran Desert can be found in the southern third of Arizona, with small areas in southeastern California.
What is unique about the Sonoran Desert?
The Sonoran desert spans parts of the American Southwest and Northern Mexico. It is the wettest, hottest, and most bio diverse desert in North America, where it occurs naturally in the states of California and Arizona in the USA, and Baja California, Sinaloa and Sonora in Mexico.
Is the Sonoran Desert Hot or cold?
The Sonoran is a hot desert. Summer air temperatures routinely exceed 40°C (104°F), and often reach 48°C (118°F). These high near-surface temperatures interact with cool, moist air in the atmosphere to produce the violent thunderstorms of the summer monsoons.
Why is it called the Sonoran Desert?
Both sections conserve fine tracts of the Sonoran Desert, including ranges of significant hills, the Tucson Mountains in the west and the Rincon Mountains in the east. The park gets its name from the saguaro cactus which is native to the region.
What is the wettest desert in the world?
video (50 min.) Cherapunjee, the wettest spot on earth, has a serious drought problem. In the Atacama desert, the driest spot on earth it never rains but people have managed to grow trees with fog water.
What is the hottest desert in the world?
Seven years of satellite temperature data show that the Lut Desert in Iran is the hottest spot on Earth. The Lut Desert was hottest during 5 of the 7 years, and had the highest temperature overall: 70.7°C (159.3°F) in 2005.
What is the hottest desert in Arizona?
Sonoran Desert
It is the hottest desert in Mexico. It has an area of 260,000 square kilometers (100,000 sq mi)….
| Sonoran Desert | |
|---|---|
| Countries | Mexico and United States |
| States | Arizona, Baja California, California and Sonora |
| Coordinates | 32°15′N 112°55′WCoordinates: 32°15′N 112°55′W |
What Desert has the most animals?
The Sonoran Desert alone boasts more than 500 species of birds, 130 species of mammals, more than 100 species of reptiles, and more than 2,500 plant species.
How cold is the Arizona desert at night?
During the day, desert temperatures rise to an average of 38°C (a little over 100°F). At night, desert temperatures fall to an average of -3.9°C (about 25°F).
Was AZ underwater?
Arizona was still covered by a shallow sea during the ensuing Cambrian period of the Paleozoic era. Brachiopods, trilobites and other contemporary marine life of Arizona left behind remains in the western region of the state. Deposition resumed during the Devonian when Arizona was once more submerged by the sea.
Is the Sonoran Desert in California or Arizona?
The Sonoran Desert is an arid region covering approximately 100,000 square miles in southwestern Arizona and southeastern California, as well as most of Baja California and the western half of the state of Sonora, Mexico. Subdivisions of this hot, dry region include the Colorado and Yuma deserts.
Where does the Sonoran Desert merge with the Baja desert?
The Sonoran Desert gradually merges into thornscrub in south-central Sonora and southern Baja Calfornia, Mexico. Part of the Sonoran Desert was recently reclassified as thornscrub, and other parts may soon be as well.
Is there a biosphere reserve in the Sonoran Desert?
El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar, a biosphere reserve in Sonora on the U.S. border, is an area of lava fields, cinder cones, and volcanic craters. Sonoran Desert National Monument, established in 2001, preserves 760 square miles (1,970 square km) southwest of Phoenix.
Who are the students at Sonoran Desert Institute?
Flexible. Firearms-Specific. DEAC Accredited. SDI offers the following programs designed to help you reach your goals, no matter where you are in your career. We welcome students from all stages of life, from recent high school graduates to military veterans.