Desert Contrasts

FIG. I-Setting of Coachella. DESERT regions are commonly described in terms of monotony, sameness, of or little variety because of extreme aridity. These are descriptions given by persons born and reared in humid areas. A desert dweller would seldom characterize his land thus, even unsettled parts, though he might speak of monotony of rural scene in Massachusetts, sameness of Illinois portion of Corn Belt, or uniformity of expression of northern forest region of Canada. This discussion is a preliminary attempt to emphasize fact that desert areas, despite many repetitive elements, have their own variety of expression, different though it may be from that of other kinds of lands; even within a single and comparatively localized area picture is far from monotonous. The area selected is part of Colorado Desert known as Valley or, more commonly and simply, as the Coachella (Fig. i). Other similar illustrative areas, such as Mojave Desert, Owens Valley, and southern Nevada, might have been selected. The is about go miles east and a bit south of Los Angeles. Technically, it is not a valley but a section of longitudinal, partly filled structural depression lowest part of which is occupied by Salton Sea and which includes also Imperial Valley and part of Mexico that lies between Imperial Valley and head of Gulf of California. The is about 50 miles long and ranges in width from Io to 20 miles or, if measured from crest to crest of bounding mountains, 20 to 35 miles. In this larger sense has an area of some I200 square miles, or about area of Rhode Island

Archaeology · Desert (philosophy · Epistemology · Geography · Botany, Ecology, and Taxonomy Studies · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Philosophy · Rangeland and Wildlife Management

• Sand Forms in the Coachella Valley, Southern California

  SALAH A BEHEIRY•Annals of the Association of…•1967

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