Definition: Red clay, also known as pelagic clay, accumulates in the deepest and most remote areas of the ocean. Containing less than 30% biogenic material, its composition is a varied mix of very fine quartz and clay minerals, authigenic deposits precipitated directly from seawater, and micrometeorites. Though called "red" because it sometimes takes the color of oxidized iron minerals, it is usually brownish in color. Its ultimate origin is uncertain, but red clay seems to be mostly derived from distant rivers, and windblown dust. Covering 38% of the ocean floor, it accumulates more slowly than any other sediment type, at only 0.1-0.5 cm / 1000 yr.
Definition: A desert biome is a terrestrial biome which loses more liquid water by evapotranspiration than is supplied by precipitation and includes communities adapted to these conditions.
Definition: Of plant duration, a plant whose life span extends over more than two growing seasons, c.f. annual, biennial, ephemeral, of flowering with respect to architecture, hapaxanthic, monocarpic, pleonanthic
Definition: A taxon is Endangered when the best available evidence indicates that it meets any of the \r\ncriteria A to E for Endangered, and it is therefore considered to be facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
