The picture above is a satellite view of the Tibetan plateau, found north of the Himalayas. The green land to the south of the Himalayan mountains is India, which receives enough precipitation to support a tropical rainforest. North of the mountain range you can see a great plains region and the Gobi Desert; areas that receive very little rainfall. How can we account for such a change in the amount of precipitation each place receives? The short answer is "rain shadow", and it happens in the United States as well. It is largely the reason that Western South Dakota receives approximately 5 less inches of rain per year than we do here in Sioux Falls.
In this blog response, explain what happens to the air mass that initially forms over the Indian Ocean as it travels north. Why does this process leave so much precipitation on the south (windward) side of the Himalayas, and hardly any to the north of them?
Note: You may answer this question here, or on Classmarker. It will be worth 4 points.
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Thursday, May 5, 2011
Tibetan Rain Shadow
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3 comments:
As the Air from the ocean moves north the south of the himilayas get rain. But as the air is still moving north it has to go through the moutain. The moist air naturally rises then condense over the mountain thus trapping it among the mountains for snow and rain.
the maritime tropical air masses move across india. When it gets to the higher elevations, it rises, causeing the air to become cool. Since cool air can't hold as much water, it releases its water across the mountains and area. It keeps doing this, until finally when it gets to the Gobi Desert and land beyond the mountains, the air doesn't contain much water, if any. That is why it that area of land is in a Rain Shadow.
The air mass that forms over the India Ocean will move up through India and pass the Himalaya mountains as this happens a rain shadow occurs. A rain shadow is where the air cools as it rises. As it is cooling it the air mass releases the moisture through snow and rain. When this is occuring the wind on this side gets cooler as well and releases its moisture because cool air can't hold as much moisture as warm air because warm air is like a sponge.
As the air mass moves to the other side of the mountain the air warms up and holds the moisture than the cool air. This is why it is so dry on the other side of the mountain.
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