Lesson 3.1.2.1

3.1.2.1 Deserts as natural systems Quiz: AQA Geography, Unit 1

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 3.1.2.1, Deserts as natural systems: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Geography (7037), Unit 1: Physical geography, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What does an aridity index measure?

    • The ratio of precipitation to potential evapotranspiration
    • The depth of the water table beneath a desert, measured from the surface downwards
    • The average temperature of the hottest month of the year in the desert region
    • The total annual rainfall in millimetres, expressed as a single value for the year

  2. Which range of P/PET values is typically used to define hyper-arid conditions?

    • Between 0.5 and 0.65, which describes the dry sub-humid class of the index
    • Below 0.05
    • Between 0.2 and 0.5, which describes semi-arid conditions at the margins of the desert
    • Above 0.65, which describes humid conditions with a surplus of water for plants

  3. Which atmospheric process is a major cause of aridity in the subtropical deserts?

    • Rising air at the equator that generates convectional storms and heavy daily rainfall
    • Polar easterlies that bring frequent frontal rainfall to the interior of the continents
    • Descending air in subtropical high-pressure cells, which suppresses cloud formation and rainfall
    • Monsoon winds that bring heavy rainfall to the interior and fill the desert basins

  4. Which factor makes a continental interior more arid than a coastal location at the same latitude?

    • Dense forest cover that increases evapotranspiration and supplies moisture to the air above
    • Continentality, because distance from the ocean limits moisture supply
    • Proximity to warm ocean currents that carry moisture inland to the desert margins
    • Higher altitude that increases convective rainfall over the interior plateau of the continent

  5. Which cold ocean current is associated with the aridity of coastal deserts such as the Atacama?

    • A warm current that carries moisture to the coast and produces frequent storms along the shore
    • A river current that carries sediment from the mountains to the desert edge and the sea
    • A tidal current that deposits sediment on the shore and builds up the coastal plain
    • A cold current that cools the air and reduces its capacity to produce rainfall

  6. Which combination best describes the hot desert environment?

    • Low and erratic precipitation, high evaporation, sparse vegetation and thin soils with limited organic matter
    • Cold temperatures, permanent snow and deep organic soils that accumulate under a thick cover
    • High precipitation, dense vegetation, deep soils and low evaporation throughout the whole year
    • Waterlogged soils with dense forest and high humidity that persists through all the seasons

  7. Which feature describes the global distribution of mid and low latitude deserts?

    • They are concentrated in polar regions with permanent ice and very cold air temperatures
    • They are distributed evenly across all latitudes, with no particular link to the atmosphere
    • They occur mainly at the equator, where the rainfall is highest and the air is most humid
    • They cluster around 15 to 30 degrees north and south, where subtropical high-pressure dominates

  8. Which factor best explains why water balance is central to understanding desert systems?

    • Precipitation is low and erratic while potential evapotranspiration is high, so water deficits control vegetation and landforms
    • Water balance has no effect on desert landforms or vegetation, which depend only on temperature
    • Precipitation is high and constant, so the water balance rarely changes from one season to the next
    • Water is abundant but locked in permanent ice, so it cannot be used by plants or animals

  9. A desert region receives 120 mm of rainfall per year, and potential evapotranspiration is 1,200 mm per year. What is the aridity index P/PET?

    • 0.10
    • 0.01, which is the rainfall divided by ten times the potential evapotranspiration value
    • 10.0, which is the ratio of potential evapotranspiration to precipitation rather than the reverse
    • 0.90, which is the difference between the potential evapotranspiration and the rainfall

  10. Which statement about wind systems and aridity is most accurate?

    • Wind has no effect on moisture because it does not carry any water vapour in the atmosphere
    • Winds from the equator always carry enough moisture to produce rainfall in every desert region
    • Subsiding dry air in subtropical highs and continental position both reduce the moisture available for rainfall
    • Cold polar air increases rainfall in the subtropical deserts by lifting moisture over the land

  11. Which combination of factors helps explain the aridity of the Atacama Desert?

    • Equatorial convection and warm offshore currents that carry moisture to the desert coast
    • Polar cold fronts and dense forest cover that hold moisture over the desert surface
    • Subtropical high-pressure subsidence, a cold offshore current and rain shadow effects from the Andes
    • Monsoon winds and high rainfall from the Pacific Ocean that reach the desert interior

  12. Why is wind an important agent in deserts despite the low volume of water?

    • Wind is weaker in deserts than in any other environment, so it has little effect on the surface
    • Deserts have wet soils that bind particles tightly, preventing the wind from moving them
    • Sparse vegetation and dry, loose surfaces allow wind to erode, transport and deposit sediment efficiently
    • Deserts have dense vegetation that protects sediment from wind, so little material moves

  13. Which is the most suitable indicator of desert ecosystem limits on vegetation?

    • Average annual sunshine hours alone, which describe the energy input but not the water supply
    • The availability of soil moisture, which depends on the balance between precipitation and evaporation
    • The number of tourists visiting the desert each year, which reflects the attraction of its scenery
    • The colour of the sky during the afternoon, which reflects dust in the air above the desert

  14. Which statement describes the dominant feature of desert soils?

    • Thick, nutrient-rich loam soils with dense vegetation and a deep layer of decomposed leaves
    • Deep, waterlogged peat soils with high organic content that accumulate under permanent water
    • Thin, poorly developed soils with limited organic matter and often salt or carbonate accumulation
    • Permanently frozen soils with no moisture movement, kept in place by the cold climate

  15. Which concept links a set of related landforms into a characteristic desert landscape?

    • The relationship between process, time, landforms and landscapes
    • The uniform spacing of vegetation across the desert floor, which produces the same pattern everywhere
    • The rigid boundary of a closed drainage basin, which separates each landscape from the next
    • The fixed ratio of rainfall to temperature, which determines the landscape type everywhere

  16. Why is a systems approach useful for studying desert landscapes?

    • It considers only landforms and ignores the energy budget that drives the processes
    • It excludes feedback so that outcomes can be predicted exactly from the initial conditions
    • It links energy inputs, water and sediment flows and feedbacks into one explanation of landform development
    • It assumes that deserts have no inputs or outputs, so that their stores remain fixed over time

  17. Which term describes the sum of water lost from a surface by evaporation and plant transpiration?

    • Infiltration, which is the entry of water into the soil through its surface
    • Runoff, which is water that flows over the land surface into channels
    • Interception, which is water caught on vegetation before it reaches the ground
    • Evapotranspiration

  18. What does relief refer to in the causes of aridity?

    • The number of plant species that grow in a given area of the desert scrub
    • The colour of rock surfaces, which affects how much solar energy they absorb during the day
    • The height and shape of the land, which can create rain shadow effects that block moist air
    • The depth of the water table below the desert surface, measured in metres

  19. A location has an aridity index of 0.35. Which aridity class does this fall into?

    • Arid, which is the class with an index between 0.05 and 0.20
    • Hyper-arid, which is the class with an index below 0.05
    • Dry sub-humid, which is the class with an index between 0.5 and 0.65
    • Semi-arid

  20. Which statement about desert vegetation is correct?

    • Desert vegetation depends mainly on high summer rainfall and rarely adapts to drought conditions
    • Desert vegetation is absent from all hot desert soils, which are sterile and permanently dry
    • Desert vegetation is sparse and often adapted to conserve water, such as with deep roots or small leaves
    • Desert vegetation is dense and evenly spread, with thick leaves that absorb large amounts of water

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