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| Preface | |
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| Introduction: Defining the Desert System | |
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| Defining the Desert System | |
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| Evolution of Deserts | |
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| Indices of Aridity | |
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| Desert Surfaces | |
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| Tectonically Stable and Unstable Deserts | |
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| Deserts of the Past | |
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| Changing Human Perspectives on Deserts | |
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| Deserts of the World | |
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| Introduction: the Extent of Global Aridity | |
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| Global Deserts | |
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| The Climatic Framework | |
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| Introduction: Classification of Deserts by Temperature | |
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| Weather Data | |
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| Atmospheric Controls: Surface Boundary Layer | |
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| Temporal and Spatial Variability of Climatic Influences | |
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| The Hydrologic Framework | |
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| Introduction | |
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| The Water Balance in Deserts | |
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| Water Budgets | |
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| Surface Runoff and Floods | |
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| The Chemical Quality of Surface and Soil Water | |
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| Water Resources | |
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| Case Study: the Waters of the Tigris-Euphrates Basin and the Impact of Modern Water Management | |
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| Lake Systems: Past and Present | |
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| Introduction to Desert Lakes | |
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| Types of Lake | |
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| Lakes of the Global Arid Environment | |
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| Weathering Processes and Hillslope Systems | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Weathering | |
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| Weathering Forms | |
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| Duricrusts | |
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| Desert Varnish | |
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| Hillslope Processes | |
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| Composite Surfaces (Pediments | |
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| Desert Soils and Geomorphic Surfaces | |
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| Introduction | |
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| The Nature of Soils in Arid and Semiarid Regions | |
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| Soil Description and Classification | |
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| Soil Characteristics of Arid Regions | |
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| Inorganic and Biological Soil Crusts | |
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| Spatial Heterogeneity in Soil Properties and the Ecohydrology of Patterned Vegetation Zones | |
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| Surface Volume Changes | |
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| Surface Types: Hamada and Stone Pavements | |
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| Water as a Geomorphic Agent | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Groundwater Sapping in Slope and Valley Development | |
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| Piping Processes in Channel and Slope Evolution | |
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| Fluvial Processes | |
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| Fluvial Landforms | |
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| Aeolian Processes | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Near-surface Flow | |
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| Wind Processes | |
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| Landforms of Accumulation: Sand Sheets, Zibar, and Sand Stringers | |
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| Landforms of Accumulation: Dunes | |
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| Ripples | |
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| Landforms of Aeolian Erosion and Desert Dust | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Deflation Features: Desert Depressions and Pans | |
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| Ventifacts | |
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| Yardangs and Ridge and Swale Systems | |
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| Desert Dust | |
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| Plant communities and their Geomorphic Impacts | |
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| Introduction: Characteristics of Desert Ecosystems | |
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| Adaptations to Desert Conditions | |
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| Plant Communities and Ecotones | |
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| Succession in Desert Plant Communities | |
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| Dune Communities | |
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| Vegetation Type and Density and Relationship to Geomorphic Processes | |
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| Animal Communities | |
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| Introduction: Environmental Requirements | |
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| Effects on Geomorphic Processes | |
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| Hydrologic Impacts | |
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| Effects of the Geomorphic Activity of Animals on Plant Communities | |
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| Desertification and the Human Dimension | |
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| Desertification: Introduction and Terminology | |
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| Climate Change and Desertification | |
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| Anthropogenic Causes of Desertification | |
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| Water Resources: a Rural and Urban Problem | |
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| Case Study: the Aral Sea | |
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| Discussion | |
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| Index | |