Western Earth Surface Processes
This active dry wash demonstrates the importance of soil moisture in the Mojave Desert. Although dry most of the time, streams flow repeatedly and limit plant life in washes because of floods and abrasion by flowing sand and gravel. However, plants next to the wash are larger than normal and probably take advantage of supplemental water from streamflow (from figure 2).
This publication describes soil moisture modeling in the Mojave Desert. It provides a general background on the process of pedogenesis, or soil development, which is a major factor affecting soil moisture properties. Soil texture changes with pedogenesis, which, in turn, affects soil moisture. Soil moisture is vital to plant survival, and therefore to the survival of all desert organisms associated with plants. Developing soil moisture models provides valuable information that can be used in predicting the impacts of disturbance, an area’s ability to recover from disturbance, and in making land management decisions.
Download this report as a 6-page PDF file (of2008-1100.pdf; 3 MB)
For questions about the content of this report, contact Dave Miller
Suggested citation and version history
Download a free copy of the latest version of Adobe Reader.
|
Help |
PDF help |
Publications main page |
| Western Open-File Reports for 2008 |
| Geologic Division | Western Earth Surface Processes |
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1100/
Page Contact Information: Michael Diggles
Page Last Modified: April 7, 2008
