Desert Environment

• Often found in continental interiors. Rainfall is rare but when it does occur is torrential and leads to flash flood
• Wadis

  Desert stream channels, steed gradients, very high energy so transport coarse grained, energy is lost rapidly

  Poorly sorted, angular to rounded

  Red colour

  Breccia and Conglomerate
• Alluvial Fan

  Same idea as rivers

  Close To mountains - breccia

  Further away transported length, greater and so grains are smaller

  Often feldspar and mica from granites in the higher mountains - Arkose
• Desert Sandstone

  Very well sorted

  Very well rounded

  High sphere it’s

  Entirely Quartz

  Red due to iron cement

  Large scale cross bedding
• Playa Lake

  Metal ions from weathered rock in the high ground become more concentrated. eventually precipitated out of solution

  Siltstone/mudstone

  Evaporties

  Salt Psuedomorphs

  Dessicration Cracks

  ripple Mark