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Hot Desert Systems and Landscapes

Playas, Inselbergs and Landscape Development

  • 3 things to know
  • Component 1

Overview

Recall questions on playas in endorheic basins with their temporary lakes and salts, on inselbergs and parallel slope retreat, and on how weathering, aeolian and fluvial processes, time and relict landforms shape desert landscapes.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

What happens to dissolved salts as playa water evaporates?

Key term

What processes maintain the steep sides of an inselberg?

Key term

Under what conditions do aeolian processes dominate in desert environments?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What is a playa?

    Model answer

    A flat, dry lake bed in an enclosed desert basin where ephemeral lakes evaporate, leaving deposits of salt and fine sediment.

  2. 2

    Where does water collect in an endorheic basin to form a playa?

    Model answer

    Water drains to the lowest point in the closed basin.

  3. 3

    What forms temporarily in an endorheic basin after rainfall?

    Model answer

    A temporary lake forms.

  4. 4

    Why does the temporary lake in a playa disappear?

    Model answer

    High evaporation rates exceed inflow, causing the lake to dry up.

  5. 5

    What happens to dissolved salts as playa water evaporates?

    Model answer

    Dissolved salts precipitate as the water evaporates.

  6. 6

    What is an inselberg?

    Model answer

    An isolated, steep-sided residual hill rising abruptly from surrounding pediments or plains, formed from resistant rock.

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AThe horns have less sand volume, so they move more quickly.
BSand is transported up the gentle windward slope via saltation.
CSand accumulates at the crest.

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Weathering means breakdown of rock in place.
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