What could be the main reason/reasons for the formation of the African and Eurasian desert belt?
- 1.It is located in the sub-tropical high-pressure cells.
- 2.It is under the influence of warm ocean currents.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct in this context?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) 1 only
Only statement 1 is correct, so the answer is (a). The African and Eurasian hot deserts, such as the Sahara, Arabia and the Thar, lie roughly between 15° and 30° N. This is the zone of the sub-tropical high-pressure cells, where sinking air suppresses rain. Warm ocean currents do not create deserts. The coastal influence that adds to aridity comes from cool currents.
- ✓ 1. Between about 15° and 30° latitude, the sub-tropical high brings subsidence (sinking air) and a temperature inversion. These stop rain from forming, so dry climates develop. The Sahara, Arabian and Thar deserts sit in this zone.
- ✗ 2. Warm currents warm the air above them and add moisture, which favours rain on the coasts they flow past. In tropical and subtropical latitudes, the dry west coasts are bordered by cool waters instead, as with the Atacama Desert beside the cold Humboldt (Peru) Current. Warm currents do not explain the African–Eurasian desert belt.
Remember · Hot deserts lie in the 15°–30° sub-tropical high-pressure belts because of sinking air. Cold currents on west coasts intensify aridity, while warm currents bring moisture.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Ch 11 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Ch 13 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 11 · Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Chapter 11 “At low latitudes, from 15° - 30°, they occur in the area of subtropical high where subsidence and inversion of temperature do not produce rainfall.”
- NCERT Class 11 · Fundamentals of Physical Geography, Chapter 13 “West coasts of the continents in tropical and subtropical latitudes (except close to the equator) are bordered by cool waters. Their average temperatures are relatively low with a narrow diurnal and annual ranges.”
Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2011, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·
