Thursday, March 24, 2011

xeric

dry or desert like conditions, having very little moisture with average annual rainfall of less than 10 inches.
Valley of Fire, Nevada
Nevada's oldest state park, located in the Mojave Desert and dedicated in 1935, covers almost 35,000 acres.  Its name is derived from the red sandstone formations created by ancient shifting sand dunes.  Average annual rainfall is about 4 inches.
Grand Canyon, Arizona (taken from the North Rim)
This National Park, covering over 1.2 million acres on the Colorado Plateau, is also a World Heritage Site.  Consisting of several major ecosystems, great biodiversity exists here.The inner canyon is xeric, receiving only about 9 inches of rain a year.
 
Sonoran Desert (Phoenix area) 
One of the largest and hottest deserts in North America, covering 120,000 square miles just south of the Mojave Desert, the Sonoran Desert can be found in the US states of Arizona and California and the Mexican states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, and Sonora.  A unique variety of flora and fauna exist here such as the saguaro cacti seen in the above photo.  Average annual rainfall varies from 3 inches to 16 inches.  Many areas are xeric such as  Phoenix with just over 8 inches of rainfall per year.  (Arizona is the only state that has all four North American deserts--Sonoran, Mojave, Chihuahuan, and Great Basin.)

Come join in the fun at Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.  You will be enlightened, charmed, and have some plain ole fun!  See more entries HERE.  This week our letter is "X."   
   


LINKS:
Valley of Fire:
official website
my post "Still Exploring"
Grand Canyon:
official website
Sonoran Desert:  
Desert USA 
biomes of the Sonoran Desert

photos by me © 2009 and 2010      

24 comments:

  1. Great photos! That was really interesting about Arizona and the four deserts!!

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  2. never heard that word before. Isn't it just amazing how much space there is in the US? Great photos! {:-D

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  3. You found a great X. I didn't play today because we're getting ready to head back north to NC. We're snowbirds and besides I couldn't think of any X either...lol...

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  4. The picture from the Grand Canyon makes me nervous. I really want to take my kids there, but they are all too young and I envision them jumping under the railing and...well, you know.
    But the pictures without kids are great!!

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  5. I flew over the canyon and surrounding desert a while back and I could not believe how red the earth was. Looking forward to seeing it from the ground one day.

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  6. The Mojave desert seems like a very interesting place .

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  7. One day I'm going to come out there and visit the desert. I find it facinating -it's such an alien landscape compared to our green English pastures and rolling hills.

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  8. I first experienced the Sonoran Desert in 1986, and fell in love with it! Now I live in it, and I love it even more! Thanks for a great post!!

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  9. I grew up in Hawaii, so the first time I visited the Mojave, it was a shock to my system. Very alien to what I knew. Then I visited Sodona, AZ. I was ready to pack up and move there forever. I still hope to go back someday soon.

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  10. That is a fabulous new vocabulary word - xeric- makes a great 'x' post! Loved the pictures, especially the rock formations in the Valley of Fire. Makes me want to go visit.

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  11. I went to 10th, 11th, and 12th grade in southern New Mexico...and we had xeric conditions with some dusty storms...
    We were talking the other day about the eXtreme marathons done in the desert! Whew!

    The photos you shared are amazing! The mountains look like from another world...

    Blessings & Aloha!
    And thank you soooo much for stopping by my past quilt posts!

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  12. What an interesting and informative post! I love those pictures.

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  13. We travelled through this region in the 90th, it was wonderful !

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  14. Beautiful post and perfect for the Letter X.

    I am a Buckeye, too.

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  15. Someday I'd like to visit the desert, but til then I'll just enjoy posts like this one. I actually knew what Xeric meant!

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  16. It looks so wonderful
    I want visit your country :P

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  17. Xeric?! I had never heard that word. Great pick! I was brought up in Bakersfield CA, where we got bearly 6.5 inches of rainfall per year. It's hot there! We got so little rain, that I learned to love it, when it did come. I now live in a rainy place-the NW--and I really enjoy the rain--lots of it! No more Xeric! Just had to use it one more time to learn a new word! :)

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  18. Funny how xeric doesn't sound like it would mean "dry". Probably that slurpy "s" sound. I'd like to visit Valley of Fire again and see how much it has changed in 20 years or so. Thanks for dropping by my blog. I appreciate your comment. :-)

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  19. Great post. I live in Utah--also a desert--so I appreciate great pictures of xeric places. :-D Thanks for stopping by my blog.

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  20. Beautiful landscape! I hope to go to Arizona one day..

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  21. That might just be the coolest "x" word I've ever learned about :) And great photos as always!

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  22. Sorry taken so long to comment had cold all week and not been on PC much
    loved it super X words

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  23. Man! Living in Arizona this is a perfect word for our climate.

    I actually didn't know this word, but I will totally use it now!

    Thanks for teaching me something new this week.

    A+ and my apologies for my late visit!

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  24. Brilliant choice for the letter x.
    I have spend a lot of time in the deserts of Nevada but somehow never seem to make it to Arizona. We have even explored the Baja section of the Sonoran. Maybe the next vacation will have to be AZ.

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