Expansive soils (usually silts and clays) which have developed cracks due to shrinkage from a loss of moisture.

thoroughly dried out; "old boxes of desiccated Cuban cigars"; "dried-out boards beginning to split"

preserved by removing natural moisture; "dried beef"; "dried fruit"; "dehydrated eggs"; "shredded and desiccated coconut meat"

lacking vitality or spirit; lifeless; "a technically perfect but arid performance of the sonata"; "a desiccate romance"; "a prissy and emotionless creature...settles into a mold of desiccated snobbery"-C.J.Rolo