The steep-sided flat-floored valley in hot deserts through which occasional flash floods flow is known as

Analyze the question: We need the name of a steep-sided, flat-floored valley in hot deserts that carries water only during occasional flash floods.

Explain the concept: Hot deserts have a few characteristic landforms, each with a distinct meaning:

• Bajada: a gently sloping plain formed when several alluvial fans merge at the foot of a mountain. It is not a valley.
• Headland: a coastal landform, a point of land jutting into the sea. It has nothing to do with deserts.
• Playa: a flat, dry lake bed in a desert basin. It sometimes holds shallow water after rain. It is a basin floor, not a valley.
• Wadi: a dry river valley (called an arroyo in the Americas) with steep sides and a flat floor. It stays dry most of the time but floods suddenly after heavy, short rainstorms.

Solution:

1. The question describes a valley, which rules out the bajada (a plain) and the playa (a lake bed).
2. It is in a hot desert, which rules out the headland (coastal).
3. The features "steep-sided", "flat-floored" and "occasional flash floods" match the definition of a wadi exactly.

Answer: D. wadi

Tip: Link the word "wadi" to the Sahara and Arabian deserts, where it is an Arabic term for a dry valley. Remember "Wadi = Water When it rains only". Playa = "play-ground flat" (a flat lake bed), and bajada = "slope" built from fans.