- Features of the location of the Sonoran Desert
- Climate features
- The richness of flora and fauna
- Travel to the National Park
- Culture and desert
- Video
The Mexicans decided not to suffer too much, coming up with a name for one of their states, they simply took the toponym that the Sonoran Desert had before. Now both the state and the sandy-rocky areas on the borders of Mexico and the United States have the same name.
And to make it even more fun, the same toponym was given to cities - two American settlements located in the states of Texas and California, and one more, in Honduras, in the state of Valle. The desert, to distinguish it from the cities, is sometimes called Gila.
Features of the location of the Sonoran Desert
It is clear that the desert is located in North America, and on the territory of two states - Mexico (Sonora state) and the United States of America (California and Arizona states).
On the North American continent, the Sonoran Desert is the leader in terms of both size and severity of climatic conditions. It covers an area of 311 thousand square kilometers and is divided into a number of smaller deserts, each of which has its own name and characteristics.
Climate features
The weather and climatic conditions of the Sonoran Desert are not too different from what can be observed in other arid regions of the planet. Depending on various reasons, up to 380 mm of precipitation falls annually, but this is at best. In dry years, the same amount of precipitation can be only 75 mm.
It becomes more humid in the desert with the onset of winter, the rainy season (if you can call it that) lasts until the end of spring. The next two seasons are dry, until winter comes again and it rains.
The richness of flora and fauna
Another thing is surprising - how in such a harsh climate, practically in the absence of moisture, a large number of birds, insects, amphibians and reptiles live in this desert. And the kingdom of flora is amazing - more than 2000 species of various plants delight local residents and guests.
Central to the list of plants is the saguaro, giant cactus found throughout the Sonoran Desert. In Russian, this plant is known as carnegia, this name was given to him in honor of Andrew Carnegie, the famous American multimillionaire ser. XIX - early. XX century, who became famous as a philanthropist, a person who took an active part in charitable projects.
Saguaro is not the only cactus, although it breaks records for size, longevity and beauty. On the territory of the desert, there are about 50 species of cacti and succulents, including prickly pears and echinocactus. Other representatives of the plant kingdom include the well-known agave and bearberry, sage and willow. Women will remember such a plant as jojoba, the oil of which is added to cosmetic creams and shampoos. Relatives of agave are also widespread - yucca (broad-leaved and short-leaved, splintered and tall).
Travel to the National Park
Travelers visit the area quite often, and they are not smugglers trying to illegally cross the border between Mexico and the United States. Most people come here to Saguaro - a national park. The toponym was born thanks to the local giant cactus, a kind of zest of the park.
In the center of the national park is the city of Tucson, and the park area itself is divided into two parts - west and east. In the western half there is the main attraction - Mount Tucson, in the eastern part there is a similar natural monument - Mount Rincon. The museification of the territories began in 1933, when the Saguaro National Monument was born. In 1976, a natural area with the same name was added to it; in 1994, the creation of a National Park was announced.
The main task of the employees of the National Park is to preserve the plant fund and animal world, since even saguaro are under threat of destruction. Every decade a campaign is announced to count the giant cacti, for which volunteers are invited.
The hot and dry desert, however, has become home to various animals, the following famous mammals are noted: the red lynx; the baribal inhabiting the forest zone; raccoon-striped, familiar even to small children from the cartoon; steppe wolf - coyote; collared bakers. The climatic conditions of the desert are considered suitable for a variety of amphibians and three species of turtles found in the Sonora area.
Culture and desert
The toponym Sonora is well known to lovers of literature and cinema. Carlos Castaneda, an American writer, philosopher and mystic, has written a number of books set in this particular desert.
Another famous American, Steven Spielberg, made the Sonoran Desert the setting for one of his sci-fi films. According to the plot of the tape, a squadron of planes without crews appears out of nowhere in the heart of the desert, and the cars disappeared back in 1945.
