What is an interesting fact about the Chihuahuan Desert?
The Chihuahuan Desert boasts 3,000 plant species, including more than 500 of the world’s 1,500 species of cactus. The desert also harbors North America’s largest prairie dog colony as well as nesting sites and migratory habitats for more than 500 bird species.
How old is the Chihuahuan Desert?
8000 years
The desert is fairly young, existing for only 8000 years.
How many seasons does the Chihuahuan Desert have?
The climate in the Chihuahuan Desert is, as you would guess, dry. It only has two seasons, summer and winter. Summer is the rainy season with smaller amounts of rainfall occurring in the winter.
Where is the Chihuahuan Desert facts?
The roughly 200,000-square-mile Chihuahuan Desert — larger than the state of California — stretches across six Mexican states and parts of Texas and New Mexico. It is the largest desert in North America and is located between two of Mexico’s largest mountain ranges called the eastern and western Sierra Madre.
Where did the Chihuahuan Desert get its name?
1. It nearly covers the entire area of the state it was named for. As the name of this desert in North America suggests, it covers just about the entire area of the Mexican state of Chihuahua in the northern part of the country.
How was the Chihuahuan Desert formed?
Nearly 80% of the region has calcareous (calcium-rich) soils derived from limestone beds. This indicates that the whole region was once submerged beneath the sea and was lifted by geological events. In many parts of the Chihuahuan Desert the thin soils overlie a layer of compacted lime, called caliche.
Is there water in the Chihuahuan Desert?
The Chihuahuan is the third most biodiverse desert in the world. Underground springs, small streams, and the Rio Grande—known as the Rio Bravo in Mexico—provide the precious water that fuels the region’s flora and fauna, as well as the diverse communities and growing economies.
How cold does the Chihuahuan Desert get at night?
However, there are remarkable differences between night and day. The average temperature is of 25.9 °C (79 °F), with a minimum of 19.3 °C (66.7 °F) and a maximum of 32.6 °C (90.7 °F). On the coldest nights of the month, the temperature usually drops to around 16 °C (60.5 °F).
Does Chihuahua snow?
Winter hits Chihuahua with 25cm of snow It was either cold or very cold throughout the state, said Civil Protection operations director Virgilio Cepeda, with average snow accumulation measuring 15 centimeters in 52 of the state’s 67 municipalities.
Why is Chihuahuan Desert so dry?
On the east side of the 13,000-foot-tall (3,962 m) Sierra Madre, chilled, dry air flows down into the Chihuahuan’s desert basins, gaining enough energy from compression as it drops to heat up by about 4 degrees for every 1,000 feet (304 m). The resulting hot, dry winds sustain this unique desert.
What is the highest temperature in the Chihuahuan Desert?
The highest recorded temperature in Chihuahua is 104.0°F (40°C), which was recorded in June. The lowest recorded temperature in Chihuahua is 14.0°F (-10°C), which was recorded in December. The average amount of precipitation for the year in Chihuahua is 17.6″ (447 mm).
What animals live in Chihuahuan Desert?
Wildlife in the Chihuahuan Desert include the mountain lion, bobcat, wolf, coyote, mule deer, white-tailed deer, gemsbok, antelope, ring-tailed cat, and many other smaller species. Many species of birds, reptiles and amphibians are prevalent.
What are 5 interesting facts about the Chihuahuan Desert?
In the mid-19th century, the grass in the northern Chihuahuan Desert grew as high as the belly of a horse. However, overgrazing led to the decline of native grasses thus allowing the invasion of shrubs like yuccas and agaves, ocotillo, creosote bushes, mormon tea, and many others. 4. The Chihuahuan Desert is home to several mountain ranges.
Which two countries share the Chihuahuan Desert?
This unique Desert is a sublime region shared by two countries, the United States and Mexico. The Chihuahuan desert is located in Mexico, 90% of it to be exact, covering about 175,000 square miles of the northern part of the country.
Where is the Chihuahuan Desert in Texas?
Chihuahuan Desert. The Chihuahuan Desert in West Texas. The Chihuahuan Desert (Spanish: Desierto de Chihuahua, Desierto Chihuahuense) is a desert and ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States.