Volcanic deserts may have enough precipitation to sustain vegetation, but due to repeated covering of tephra and acid rain after eruptions and high percolation and infiltration rates of water, vegetation is scarce.[2] In addition to this volcanic desert shows often poor or little soil formation due to slow chemical weathering caused by cold climate or coarse tephra. This is how the Plaine des Sables, on the island of Réunion, can find itself close to the Commerson Crater, a place which holds several world records of rainfall.
