World Deserts, Plateaus & Landforms
Deserts and plateaus represent expansive geographical landforms created by climatic aridity, rain-shadow effects, and tectonic uplifting. Subtropical hot deserts, such as the Sahara in North Africa, the Arabian Desert, and the Great Victoria Desert in Australia, are located along high-pressure horse latitudes (20°–30° N/S) under descending dry air masses. Cold mid-latitude deserts like the Gobi in Central Asia and the Patagonian Desert in South America develop due to extreme continentality and mountain rain-shadow barriers. The Atacama Desert in Chile is the driest non-polar desert on Earth, influenced by the cold Humboldt Current. Prominent elevated plateaus include the Tibetan Plateau ('Roof of the World'), the Colorado Plateau, and the Deccan Plateau.
Key Concepts & Examination Highlights
- The Sahara is the world's largest hot subtropical desert, covering over 9.2 million square kilometers across northern Africa.
- The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is the driest non-polar desert on Earth, with some weather stations recording zero rainfall for decades.
- The Tibetan Plateau is the world's highest and largest plateau, covering 2.5 million sq km with an average elevation exceeding 4,500 meters.
- Aeolian landforms in arid regions include yardangs, zeugen, barchan sand dunes, mushroom rocks (pedestal rocks), and desert pavement (reg).