answersLogoWhite

0

ClimateThe reason people settled in Southwest Asia was because of its water resources. Western Asia contains grasslands, rangelands, deserts, and mountains. Water shortages are a problem in many parts of West Asia. With a rapidly growing population, and increasing demands for water, salinity and population threaten the water supplies. Major rivers, including the Tigris and Euphrates, provide sources for irrigation water to support agriculture. The drought is seasonal, lasting from April to early June, and comes again between late September and November. The winds are dry and dusty, with occasional gusts up to 80 kilometers per hour (50 miles per hour) and often kick up violent sand and dust storms that can carry sand a few thousand meters high, and can close down airports for short periods of time. These winds can last for a full day at the beginning and end of the season, and for several days during the middle of the season. This weather effect occurs anywhere from one to several times a year. Water resourcesSeveral major aquifers provide water to large portions of Western Asia. In Saudi Arabia, two large aquifers of Palaeozoic and Trassic origins are located beneath the Jabal Tuwayq mountains and areas west to the Red Sea. Cretaceous and Eocene-origin aquifers are located beneath large portions of central and eastern Saudi Arabia, including Wasia and Biyadh which contain amounts of both fresh water and saline water. Flood or furrow irrigation, as well as sprinkler methods, are extensively used for irrigation, covering nearly 90,000 km² across Western Asia for agriculture. Geology

Three major Tectonic plates converge in Western Asia, the African, Eurasia, and Arabian plates. The boundaries between the tectonic plates make up the Azores-Gibraltar Ridge, extending across North Africa, the Red sea, and into Iran. The Arabian Plate is moving northward into the Anatolian plate (Turkey) at the East Anatolian plate, and the boundary between the Aegean and Anatolian plate in eastern Turkey is also seismically active.

User Avatar

Wiki User

14y ago

What else can I help you with?