Why is there sand in deserts and no dirt? Why isn’t there sand anywhere else?

Question

I figured it was something to do with sand being light enough to be carried by wind, but that wouldn’t explain why the rest of the world lacks sand.

In: 327

Answer 1

Your view of what constitutes “desert” is not complete. In the geographic sense, “desert”simply denotes an exceedingly dry, or arid, region. It’s not concerned with the composition of the surface layer. There are mountainous deserts, salt flat deserts and ice sheet deserts, for example. Believe it or not the polar regions can be considered deserts.