Chapter 21 Harsh and Arid Lands

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Chapter 21Harsh and Arid Lands

• Section One
• Landforms and Resources

Unit Seven - Southwest Asia
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Golan Heights
Looking into Israel from the Golan Heights.
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Landforms Divide the Region

• Southwest Asia forms a land bridge connecting
  Asia, Africa, and Europe.

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Peninsulas and Waterways

• The most distinctive landform in Southwest Asia
  is the Arabian Peninsula, which is surrounded by
  the Red Sea on the southwest and the Persian Gulf
  on the east.

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Peninsulas and Waterways

• Also, on the southwest side of the Arabian
  Peninsula is a strategic opening to the
  Mediterranean Sea the Suez Canal.

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Plains and Highlands

• Most of the land on the Arabian Peninsula is
  barren with some low hills, ridges, and wadis,
  which are riverbeds that remain dry except during
  the rainy seasons.

Wadi Zen in Jordan
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Plains and Highlands

• The heart of Iran is a plateau surrounded by
  mountains.

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Mountains

• The Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan are
  linked with other ranges of mountains that frame
  southern Asia

Hindu Kush Mnts.
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Water Bodies
Euphrates River

• Because much of Southwest Asia is arid, there are
  few rivers that flow the entire year. Two of the
  most important rivers the Tigris and the
  Euphrates supported several ancient river
  valley civilizations.

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Water Bodies

• The Jordan River has no outlet to the sea, but
  its waters mingle with the salty waters of the
  Dead Sea, a landlocked salt lake.

Jordan River
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An Oil-Rich Region

• The most abundant resource in Southwest Asia is
  oil.

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Other Resources

• In parts of Southwest Asia, water is a scarce
  resource that must be constantly guarded and
  carefully used.

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Climate and Vegetation
Rub al-Kali
Empty Quarter is the largest sand desert in the
world. Covers 1/3 of the Arabian Peninsula.1
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Climate and Vegetation

• Oasis is an isolated area of vegetation in a
  desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar
  water source. Oasis also provide habitat for
  animals and even humans if the area is big
  enough. The location of oasis has been of
  critical importance for trade and transportation
  routes in desert areas.

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Climate and Vegetation
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Climate and Vegetation
Salt Flat
Natural salt pans are flat expanses of ground
covered with salt and other minerals
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Human- Environment Interaction
Drip irrigation
Small pipes drip water into the ground to reduce
evaporation and conserve water
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Human- Environment Interaction
Desalination
processes that remove some amount of salt and
other minerals from water.
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Human- Environment Interaction
Fossil water
groundwater that has remained sealed in an
aquifer for a long period of time.
The world's largest irrigation project
transport of pipe segments for the Great Manmade
River in the Sahara desert, Libya a network of
pipes that supplies water from the Nubian
Sandstone Aquifer System, tapped from a fossil
water aquifer in the Sahara Desert of Libya
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Human- Environment Interaction
An oil refinery in Mina-Al-Ahmadi, Kuwait
converts crude oil into useable products
Petroleum that has not been processed is called
Crude oil