Desert Landscapes Trivia: 10 Questions With Answers

This desert landscapes trivia explores North America's dry lands, from saguaro forests in the Sonoran Desert to Joshua trees in the Mojave and the white sands of New Mexico. Ten questions with answers.

Start Desert Landscapes Trivia

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Plants
The saguaro cactus grows naturally only in which desert?
Plants
Which plant is a symbol of the Mojave Desert?
Size
What is the largest desert in North America?
Cold deserts
Which US desert is a cold desert with snowy winters?
Dunes
White Sands in New Mexico is made of which mineral?
Extremes
Which desert valley is the lowest point in North America?
Colors
The Painted Desert, known for colorful layered rock, is in which state?
Weather
What is a sudden, dangerous rush of water in a desert canyon called?
Animals
Which desert lizard is one of only a few venomous lizards in the world?
Climate
What mainly creates deserts like the Mojave on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: The saguaro cactus grows naturally only in which desert?
Answer: Sonoran Desert
Saguaros grow in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and northwest Mexico. They can live more than 150 years and grow over 12 meters tall.
Q2: Which plant is a symbol of the Mojave Desert?
Answer: Joshua tree
Joshua trees are a type of yucca. They grow mainly in the Mojave, and Joshua Tree National Park in California is named after them.
Q3: What is the largest desert in North America?
Answer: Chihuahuan Desert
The Chihuahuan Desert covers about 360,000 square kilometers across northern Mexico, west Texas and southern New Mexico.
Q4: Which US desert is a cold desert with snowy winters?
Answer: Great Basin Desert
The Great Basin Desert covers much of Nevada and Utah. Its high elevation brings cold winters, and much of its precipitation falls as snow.
Q5: White Sands in New Mexico is made of which mineral?
Answer: Gypsum
White Sands holds the world's largest gypsum dune field. Gypsum stays cool in the sun, so visitors can walk barefoot even in summer.
Q6: Which desert valley is the lowest point in North America?
Answer: Death Valley
Badwater Basin in Death Valley lies about 86 meters below sea level, the lowest point on the continent.
Q7: The Painted Desert, known for colorful layered rock, is in which state?
Answer: Arizona
The Painted Desert stretches across northern Arizona. Its red, orange and purple bands come from iron and other minerals in the rock.
Q8: What is a sudden, dangerous rush of water in a desert canyon called?
Answer: Flash flood
Rain from a distant storm can send a wall of water down dry canyons within minutes, even when the sky overhead is clear.
Q9: Which desert lizard is one of only a few venomous lizards in the world?
Answer: Gila monster
The Gila monster lives in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts. It is slow-moving and rarely dangerous to people.
Q10: What mainly creates deserts like the Mojave on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada?
Answer: A rain shadow
Moist Pacific air drops its rain on the western slopes of the mountains, leaving dry air for the lands to the east.

Desert Landscapes Trivia – North America's Four Great Deserts

Geographers usually describe four major deserts in North America: the Chihuahuan, Sonoran, Mojave and Great Basin. Each has its own climate and plants. The Sonoran has summer monsoon rains that support saguaros, while the Great Basin is high, cold and dotted with sagebrush.

Deserts are defined by low rainfall, usually less than 250 millimeters a year, not by heat. Yet they are far from empty. Kangaroo rats, roadrunners, desert tortoises and hundreds of kinds of wildflowers survive by saving water and staying active at night.

What This Quiz Teaches

Whether you are planning a trip to Arizona or studying ecosystems, this quiz helps you tell one desert from another.

Which plants mark the Sonoran and Mojave deserts
Why the Great Basin is a cold desert
What White Sands is made of
How rain shadows create deserts
Why flash floods are so dangerous

Did You Know?

Some desert wildflower seeds wait years in the soil for enough rain to bloom.
Kangaroo rats can survive without drinking water, getting moisture from seeds.
Joshua Tree National Park sits where the Mojave and Colorado deserts meet.
Desert temperatures can drop more than 20 degrees Celsius between day and night.
Roadrunners can reach speeds of about 30 kilometers per hour on foot.