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Knowing from previous study that the pressure and wind belts of the globe migrate northward at June solstice season and southward at December solstice season, we can infer that the intermediate zones in question will have climates that combine the characteristics of the first two types in a seasonal alternation. This results in the tropical wet-dry (Aw) climate, which has a wet season controlled by moist, warm equatorial and maritime tropical air masses at time of high sun and a dry season controlled by the continental tropical air masses at time of low sun.
The latitude belts in which tropical wet-dry climate is found lie roughly, between 5 and 25° latitude, throughout Central and South America, Africa, and Australia. In Southeast Asia this zone is pushed northward to latitudes 10° to 30° because the continental tropical air mass source region in summer is necessarily situated further north to conform to the Asiatic landmass.
2. Main article
Koppen places Allahabad and a large belt of southeastern Asia in latitudes 20° to 25° in the Cwa climate (temperate, rainy climate, dry winter, hot summer). The Cw climate is a poleward extension of the Aw climate both here and in Africa and South and Central America. The two are here treated under the tropical wet-dry climate.
The Koppen system provides an exact basis for the distinction between Am and Aw climates, both of which have a dry season. The Am-Aw boundary varies according to both total annual rainfall and driest-month rainfall. In the annual rainfall range between 40 in (100 cm) and 100 in (250 cm) the Am climate can exist with progressively lower values of driest-month rainfall, beginning with 2.4 in (6 cm) and declining to zero. Thus an Am station might have one month with no rainfall whatsoever, provided it has an annual total of more than 100 in (250 cm).
3. References
Alternation of wet and dry season results in a growth of a distinctive vegetation known generally as the tropical savanna. This is characterized by open expanses of tall grasses, interspersed with hardy, drought-resistant shrubs and trees. Other areas have savanna woodland, monsoon forest, thornbush, and tropical scrub, all of which are formation glasses. Grasses in this climate are dried to straw and many tree species shed their leaves in the dry season. Other trees and shrubs have thorns and small leaves or hard, leathery leaves that resist water loss.
Soils of the wet-dry tropical climates are mostly yellowish or reddish latosols, similar to those described in connection with the wet equatorial climate. Excessive leaching is again the result of the heavy rainfall and high temperatures. In general, these residual soils of uplands are not fertile and are little cultivated in South America and Africa. Locally, rich flood plain alluvium is highly productive. Stream flow in these regions contrasts greatly with that of the wet equatorial climate, in that the former has a very strong seasonal fluctuation. From flood conditions with extensive low-lying areas under water in the rainy season, the streams pass to a regime of little or no flow in the dry season, when channel bottoms of sand and gravel are exposed and mud flats dry.
Closely related to vegetation and climate is the natural animal life of the savanna grasslands and woodlands. These are the regions of the carnivorous game animals and a vast multitude of grazing animals on which they feed. The grasslands of Africa are the natural home of such herbivores as wild beast, gazelle, deer, antelope, buffalo, rhinoceros, zebra, giraffe, and elephant. On them feed the lion, leopard, hyena, and jackal. Some of the herbivores depend upon fleetness of foot to escape the predators. Others, such as the rhinoceros, buffalo, and elephant, defend themselves by their size, strength, or armor-thick hide. The giraffe is a peculiar adaptation to savanna woodlands; his long neck permits browsing upon the higher foliage of scattered trees.
The dry season brings a severe struggle for existence to animals of the African savanna. As streams and hollows dry up, the few muddy water holes must supply all drinking water. Danger of attack by carnivores is greatly increased.
The Indian savanna, woodland, and thorn forest have a somewhat similar assemblage. Deer and antelope are especially abundant, with some water buffalo and a few rhinoceroses. The tiger replaces the lion as the principal carnivore. The Indian elephant, however, is largely restricted in natural habitat to the rain forest coastal strips of Burma, the Malabar Coast, and Ceylon.
