Sechura Desert

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The Sechura Desert is located south of the Piura Region of Peru along the Pacific Ocean coast and inland to the foothills of the Andes Mountains. It is north of the Atacama Desert.

Location and extent

Within Peru, the desert is described as the strip along the northern Pacific coast of Peru in the southern Piura and western Lambayeque regions, and extending from the coast 20–100 km inland to the secondary ridges of the Andes Mountains. At its northern end near the city of Piura, the Sechura Desert transitions to the Tumbes-Piura tropical-dry forests ecoregion. Comprising much of eastern Lambayeque Region, this habitat is composed of equatorial dry forests. The total area of the Sechura Desert is 188,735km².

History

While a desert, the Sechura has been subject to flooding from rivers and to storms driven in from the Pacific Ocean. In 1728 a tsunami generated from an earthquake swept inland, destroying the town of Sechura, then located closer to the water. Survivors moved inland and re-established the town in its current location.

During El Niño years, flooding in the desert regularly occurs. In 1998 the runoff from the flooding rivers poured into the coastal Sechura Desert. Where there had been nothing but arid, hardscrabble waste for 15 years, suddenly, the second-largest lake in Peru had developed: 90 miles (145 kilometers) long, 20 miles (30 kilometers) wide, and ten feet (three meters) deep, with occasional parched domes of sand and clay poking up from the surface.

Climate

The Peruvian Desert has a low range of temperature changes due to the moderating effect of the nearby Pacific Ocean. Because of the upwelling of cold coastal waters and because of subtropical atmospheric subsidence, the desert is one of the most arid on Earth.^[1]

Summer (December through March) is warm and sunny with temperatures that average over 24 °C (75 °F), with ranges from 25 ° to 38 °. Winter (June through September) is cool and cloudy with temperatures that vary from 16 °C at night to 24 °C during the day.

Geography

The numerous short rivers that cross the Sechura supported prehistoric indigenous human settlements for millennia. A number of urban cultures flourished here, including the Moche. The Moche survived on a diet of fish, guinea pigs, squash and peanuts. The Sican Culture (c. 800–1300 CE) succeeded the Moche, and developed refined techniques of lost wax goldsmithing.

Today the rivers support intensive irrigated agriculture on the fertile bottomlands. Two of Peru's five largest cities, including Piura and Chiclayo, lie within the agricultural region in the North.

References

↑ Cooke, Ron; Warren, Andrew; Goudie, Andrew (1996). Desert Geomorphology (2nd ed.). London: UCL Press. p. 442. ISBN 1-85728-017-2. Cite uses deprecated parameters (help)

External links

Atacama–Sechura Deserts at WWF website

v t e World deserts

Desert Desertification List of deserts List of deserts by area

Africa	Algerian Bayuda Blue Chalbi Danakil Djurab Eastern Ferlo Farafra (White) Kalahari Libyan Moçâmedes Namib Nubian Nyiri Owami Richtersveld Sahara Ténéré

Asia	Ad-Dahna Akshi Arabian Aral Karakum Aralkum Badain Jaran Betpak-Dala Cholistan Dasht-e Kavir Dasht-e Lut Dasht-e Margoh Dasht-e Naomid Gurbantünggüt Gobi Hami Indus Valley Judaean Karakum Kharan Khash Kumtag Kyzyl Kum Liwa Lop Maranjab Nefud Negev Ordos Qaidam Ramlat al-Sab`atayn Rub' al Khali Russian Arctic Registan Saryesik-Atyrau Syrian Taklamakan Tengger Thal Thar Ustyurt Plateau Wahiba Sands

Australia	Gibson Great Sandy Great Victoria Little Sandy Nullarbor Plain Painted Pedirka Simpson Strzelecki Sturt's Stony Tanami Tirari

Europe	Accona Bardenas Reales Błędów Cabo de Gata Deliblatska Peščara Hálendi Monegros Oleshky Oltenian Sahara Ryn Stranja Tabernas

North America	Alvord Amargosa Baja California Black Rock Carcross Carson Channeled scablands Chihuahuan Escalante Forty Mile Gran Desierto de Altar Great Basin Great Salt Lake Great Sandy Jornada del Muerto Kaʻū Lechuguilla Mojave North American Arctic Owyhee Painted Desert Red Desert Sevier Smoke Creek Sonoran Tule (Arizona) Tule (Nevada) Yp Yuha Yuma

South America	Atacama La Guajira Los Médanos de Coro Monte Patagonian Sechura Tatacoa

Zealandia	Rangipo Desert

Polar regions	Antarctica Arctic Greenland North American Arctic Russian Arctic

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Coordinates: 7°45′55.52″S 78°43′40.9″W / 7.7654222°S 78.728028°W / -7.7654222; -78.728028

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