Think about the drying process of flowers in sand. A huge difference from being buried in soil. Pretty warm to hot sand with a zero moisture %. Like putting fruit in a dehydrator. If the remains are buried deep enough, I'll toss out 4 feet, which I know will not emit decomp smell for a very young horse or mature goat, the smell of decomp is filtered as it goes to the surface or travels downward...no smell, no buzzards.
There was a range heifer that died the last week in May just off a dirt road we take through State Land. About 5 days ago, my son and I took one of the 4x4's out to trouble shoot an ignition problem. Well, there it was, what was left of the heifer. She was out on the dirt originally, (the rains have brought the vegetation up) no rain til July 3rd, and not much that 1st week, and then random, on, off since and one gully washer about a week ago that moved her a bit, maybe about 20 feet. The area where she originally went down is flat and when the flooding hits it, it disperses to a width of about 100 feet, usually at a 2" height.
What was left was a very dry thick hide, encasing the bones of the rib cage, spine, neck, and hips. The head was gone, except for the lower jaw, all the legs and tail were gone. There were a few scattered bones trailing out to a coyote den, but other then that, what bones remained were tightly held by the dried hide, still with hair attached. That's typical for decomposition of a large mammal (apprx. 150 lbs) out in the desert, exposed to the elements. We have very similar temps during May, June, and part of July as Apache Junction has, the altitude is just higher. Any other time of the year, we have +/-20 degrees cooler than the general Phoenix area.
Does that help a bit?
