cold sandy desert?

[Asura Levi]

(Sometimes I'm just not sure if I'm posting in the right section. I apologize if this is the case.)

A rather simple question, what would be needed to create a sandy cold desert? I picture the Sahaara desert but cold all day long. No snow on it.

 

[Jabrosky]

Why not try the Gobi in Mongolia?

 

[ThinkerX]

A rather simple question, what would be needed to create a sandy cold desert? I picture the Sahaara desert but cold all day long. No snow on it.

Simple answer is a lack of moisture. Something about the prevailing winds - maybe a high elevation and an inland location - causes moisture bearing clouds to mostly bypass the region.

 

[George Lightgood]

Believe it or not, Antarctica is a desert receiving about the same amount of precipitation as the area around Phoenix, Arizona. Maybe six to eight inches total and most of that is by the coast. Do some research to confirm, but cold dry desert ought to be met here easy peasy!.

If that is too extreme, the Chilean deserts where they test Mars Rovers, also would fit, I think.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

The factors involved in temperature are altitude, latitude and prevailing wind currents from memory. Basically the higher up you are, the more southerly or northerly your location the colder things get. And with wind currents it mostly depends on where the winds come. For example in Christchurch they get in summer a hot dry nor wester as the locals would say. The wind comes from the north west, basically off the Australian coast, and cooks everyone. In Wellington by contrast it is the southerly that freezes everyone's butt off.

As for the desertification, it's about moisture in the air and its retention on the ground. If it doesn't rain because the winds come from drier areas (true of inland deserts) things are dry. But sometimes desertification can occur simply because the ground is incapable of retaining moisture. I think this is true of the Gobi (but my geography's rusty). In essence there is some rainfall but the ground is too poor to allow that rainfall to form into rivers and spread out across the land, irrigating things.

Cheers, Greg.