What contributes to the dryness, large daily temperature shifts, and salty soil of deserts?
What will be an ideal response?
Many deserts are located at about 30 degrees north and south latitude, where dry air sinks. Rain shadows also reduce rainfall.
Lack of rainfall keeps the humidity in deserts low. With little water vapor to block the sun's rays, intense sunlight reaches and heats the ground. At night, the lack of insulating water vapor in the air allows the temperature to fall fast. As a result, deserts tend to have larger daily temperature shifts than other biomes.
Desert soils tend to be somewhat salty, because rain that falls usually evaporates before seeping into the ground. Rapid evaporation allows any salt in rainwater to accumulate at the soil surface.
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