aestivation The condition of becoming dormant in hot seasons.
alkaline Referring to soluble salts that can be found in the ground in arid areas.
alluvial Relating to material, such as soil, that is deposited by running water.
artesian A well from which water flows under natural pressure without pumping.
basalt A hard, dense, dark, often glassy appearing volcanic rock.
biomass The amount of living matter in an area.
calcareous Made up of calcium carbonate.
chott A basin of land that is flooded during certain seasons.
debouching Issuing forth (as in emptying into the sea).
deposition The setting down of material.
desiccated Dried up.
deciduous A plant or animal which sheds parts at certain seasons.
eolian Something caused by the wind’s action—such as erosion, or movement or material from one place to another.
endemic Something that belongs to a certain area.
ephemeral Short-lived.
erosion The process of slowly wearing away.
escarpment A steep slope that separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations or mountain ranges.
friable Crumbly or crunchy in texture.
halophytic Salt loving, as in plants that can tolerate salty soil.
harmattan A dry northeasterly wind on Africa’s Atlantic coast that carries dust particles.
hummocks Rounded hills or knolls.
inundation Flooding.
leaching Loss of soluble substances from the top layer of soil by precipitation and runoff.
lee The side that is sheltered from the wind.
loess A fertile yellowish brown soil that is deposited by the wind and which can be found in Asia, Europe, and North America.
lunettes An Australian term for a dune in a crescent shape.
massif A mass of compact and largely isolated mountains.
pan A flat, hard mass of land with no vegetation that is sometimes covered by standing water.
pastoralist One whose life is based on the raising and herding of livestock.
photosynthesis The process by which green plants and certain other organisms transform light energy into the chemical energy needed for life.
playa The bottom of a desert basin that can become a shallow lake during the rainy season.
pluvial A feature or event characterized by rain or rainfall.
scree Rocks and stones that are found at the bottom of cliffs.
sediment Matter, such as dirt or rocks, that are deposited by water.
shadoof An early irrigation device consisting of a bucket (to dip into a body of water) attached to a pole on a pivet (to bring up water and spread it on the land).
stratum Layer of rock.
subsidence area An area in which material sinks down or settles.
taiga A type of boreal forest covered with conifers.
upwelling When cold water moves up from the bottom of the ocean.
wadis Dry channels or valleys in deserts which can be filled with water during flash floods.