The Yuma Desert is a lower-elevation section of the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Ariz ...

in the

southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, N ...

and the northwest of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

. It lies in the Salton basin. The desert contains areas of sparse vegetation and has notable areas of

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

s. With an average rainfall less than each year, it is among the harshest deserts in North America. Human presence is sparse throughout, the largest city being

Yuma, Arizona Yuma ( coc, Yuum) is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 93,064 at the 2010 census, up from the 2000 census population of 77,515. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, M ...

, on the Colorado River and the border of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Overview

The desert includes the lower-elevation parts of the southwestern corner of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, extending west to the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

. On the other side of the river, in

, is the Colorado Desert region of the Sonoran Desert, also referred to as the Low Desert. Although the two regions are separated only by the Colorado River, numerous species of plant and animals live only on one side or the other, such as saguaro cactus, which occurs only east of the river. The Yuma Desert also includes the sandy plains of western

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the ...

, going all the way to the head of the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja C ...

, then an inland strip reaching into the central Sonoran interior. The most significant river in this desert is the Gila River of Arizona. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is located in this desert, as are the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge and Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. To the south of Arizona's Yuma Desert, in northern Mexico, is the Pinacate volcanic field and biosphere reserve, part of the Gran Desierto de Altar, which is the southern extension of the Yuma Desert. It is on the northwestern foothills of Mexico's

Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American ...

, the western mountain

cordillera A cordillera is an extensive chain and/or network system of mountain ranges, such as those in the west coast of the Americas. The term is borrowed from Spanish, where the word comes from , a diminutive of ('rope'). The term is most commonly us ...

Flora

Vegetation is dominated by the creosote bush ('' Larrea tridentata''), which is widespread. The saguaro cactus ('' Carnegiea gigantea'') and the ocotillo ('' Fouquieria splendens'') are common on the bajadas, while many of the desert trees found are restricted to dry watercourses; these include paloverde ('' Parkinsonia''), the desert willow ('' Chilopsis linearis''), desert ironwood ('' Olneya tesota''), and smoke trees (''

Psorothamnus spinosus ''Psorothamnus spinosus'', or ''Delea spinosa'', is a perennial legume tree of the deserts in North America. Common names include smokethorn, smoketree, smoke tree, smokethorn dalea, and corona de Cristo. Distribution ''P. Spinosus'' is native ...

''). The Yuma desert is the northern edge of the distributions of the Elephant Tree (''

Bursera microphylla ''Bursera microphylla'', known by the common name elephant tree in English or 'torote' in Spanish, is a tree in genus ''Bursera''. It grows into a distinctive sculptural form, with a thickened, water-storing or caudiciform trunk. It is found in ...

'') and the Blue Baja Lily ('' Triteleiopsis palmeri'').

Fauna

:Main articles in: Fauna of the Sonoran Desert The Salton Trough region from orbit

References

External links

Britannica.com

Yuma Desert Watershed Map

{{coord, 32.55, -114.52, display=title Deserts and xeric shrublands in the United States Ecoregions of the United States Sonoran Desert Deserts of Mexico Deserts of Arizona Deserts of the Lower Colorado River Valley Deserts of the Gran Desierto de Altar Geography of Yuma County, Arizona Yuma, Arizona

Overview

Flora

Fauna

See also

References

External links