Deserts and semi-deserts of Australia. natural areas. Australia is a continent of tropical deserts. Great Sandy Desert

Despite the fact that Australia is the smallest continent on the planet, it surprises with the diversity of its nature. Changes in the balance of moisture and heat depend on the latitude of the area. This is manifested in the conditional division of the mainland into territories with characteristic soil types, animals and plants - the natural zones of Australia.

The division of the mainland into natural complexes

Australia is divided into four zones, which replace each other depending on the ratio of humidity and heat. The pronounced latitudinal zonality is due to the prevailing flat relief, which only in the east turns into mountain slopes.

The central position on the Australian continent is occupied by a zone of deserts and semi-deserts, located in the tropical zone. It is she who occupies half of all Australian land.

Table Natural areas of Australia

natural areas	Climate type	Typical representatives of the flora	Typical representatives of the fauna
Permanently wet forests	tropical monsoon	eucalyptus ferns	tiger cat
Evergreen hardwood forests	Subtropical (Mediterranean)	stunted eucalyptus trees	dingo dog various types of lizards and snakes
Savannahs and woodlands	Subequatorial and tropical	casuarina	ostrich Emu
Deserts and semi-deserts	Tropical (continental)	cereals and herbs blackbeard	snakes and lizards ostrich Emu

A characteristic feature of Australia is the amazing originality of nature, which consists in a large number of endemic species, both among plants and among animals. Only on this continent you can meet unusual representatives of flora and fauna, which have not found distribution anywhere else in the world.

Features of natural complexes

In Australia, the most impressive is the zone of deserts and semi-deserts - it occupies the largest territory and is located in the tropical zone.

This natural complex is characterized by very scarce precipitation, which evaporates very quickly in a hot climate. It is not surprising that Australia is often called the continent of deserts, because there are 5 large desert territories here:

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• Victoria - the largest desert of the Australian continent, occupies 424 thousand square meters. km.
• sandy desert - the second largest wasteland. Here is the famous Australian Aires Rock National Park, which attracts tourists from all over the world.
• Tanami - unlike most deserts, it is characterized by a sufficient number of rainy days. However, due to the intense heat, precipitation evaporates very quickly. In the desert, gold mining is underway.
• Gibson Desert - its soils are strongly weathered and very rich in iron.
• Desert Simpson - the driest Australian desert, which is famous for its bright red sands

Rice. 1. Red Sands of the Simpson Desert

The vegetation of this zone is very poor, however, here you can also find drought-resistant cereals and grasses, salt-tolerant varieties of trees.

Animals of the desert zone were able to adapt to life in harsh conditions. Some of them, hiding from the heat, burrow into the soil: marsupial varieties of rats, moles, jerboas. Reptiles hide in rocks and crevices of stones. Large mammals such as the dingo dog and kangaroo run great distances in search of moisture and food.

With advancement to the east, the tropical desert zone is replaced by the savannah zone. The flora of this natural complex is already somewhat richer, but here, too, an insufficient amount of moisture is still felt.

There are three types of Australian savannas, which replace each other as humidity decreases:

• deserted;
• typical;
• wet.

The Australian savannah is a large flat area with grasses, thorny shrubs and isolated trees or groves of acacias, eucalyptus, casuarina.

Rice. 2. Casuarina - a typical Australian plant

Typical representatives of the Australian savannah are all kinds of marsupials and wombats. Birds are represented by bustards, Emu ostriches, budgerigars. Lots of termites.

In the wild nature of Australia you will not meet herbivorous ungulates. They were "replaced" by kangaroos, numbering more than 60 species. These animals are champions in high-speed running and jumping. The kangaroo, like the emu, is the national symbol of Australia.

Rice. 3. Australian kangaroo

In the east of the mainland there is a mountain system - the Great Dividing Range, on the slopes of which there are two forest zones:

• evergreen forests;
• constantly wet forests.

Palm trees, ferns, ficuses, eucalyptus grow here in great abundance. The fauna of these zones is somewhat richer and is represented by small predators, various types of reptiles, koala, platypus, and echidna.

What have we learned?

We learned which natural zone is dominant on the mainland - these are tropical deserts and semi-deserts. It is replaced by savannahs and light forests, which smoothly pass into the zone of evergreen and constantly wet forests. A characteristic feature of the nature of Australia is the presence of a large number of endemics among plants and animals.

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And semi-deserts are specific natural zones, the main distinguishing feature of which is drought, as well as poor flora and fauna. Such a zone can form in all climatic zones - the main factor is the critically low amount of precipitation. Deserts and semi-deserts are characterized by a climate with a sharp daily temperature difference and a small amount of precipitation: no more than 150 mm per year (in spring). The climate is hot and dry, it evaporates without having time to soak into. Temperature fluctuations are characteristic not only for the change of day and night. The temperature difference between winter and summer is also very large. The general background of weather conditions can be defined as extremely severe.

Deserts and semi-deserts are waterless, dry regions of the planet, where no more than 15 cm of precipitation falls per year. The most important factor in their formation is the wind. However, not all deserts experience hot weather; on the contrary, some of them are considered the coldest regions of the Earth. Representatives of flora and fauna have adapted to the harsh conditions of these areas in different ways.

Sometimes the air in deserts in summer reaches 50 degrees in the shade, and in winter the thermometer drops to minus 30 degrees!

Such temperature fluctuations cannot but affect the formation of the flora and fauna of the semi-deserts of Russia.

Deserts and semi-deserts are found in:

• The tropical belt is a large part of such territories - Africa, South America, the Arabian Peninsula of Eurasia.
• Subtropical and temperate zones - in South and North America, Central Asia, where a low percentage of precipitation is complemented by topographical features.

There is also a special type of desert - the Arctic and Antarctic, the formation of which is associated with a very low temperature.

There are many reasons for the formation of deserts. For example, the Atacama Desert receives little rainfall because it is located at the foot of the mountains, which cover it from rain with their ridges.

Ice deserts formed for other reasons. In Antarctica and the Arctic, the main snow mass falls on the coast; snow practically does not reach the interior regions. Precipitation levels generally vary greatly, for one snowfall, for example, an annual norm can fall. Such snow drifts form over hundreds of years.

natural area desert

Climate features, desert classification

This natural zone occupies about 25% of the planet's land mass. In total there are 51 deserts, of which 2 are icy. Almost all deserts were formed on the most ancient geological platforms.

General signs

The natural zone called “desert” is characterized by:

• flat surface;
• critical volume of precipitation(annual rate - from 50 to 200 mm);
• rare and specific flora;
• peculiar fauna.

Deserts are often found in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth, as well as tropical and subtropical. The relief of such an area is very heterogeneous: it combines highlands, insular mountains, small hills and layered plains. Basically, these lands are drainless, but sometimes a river can flow through part of the territory (for example, the Nile, the Syrdarya), and there are also drying lakes, the outlines of which are constantly changing.

Important! Almost all desert areas are surrounded by mountains or are located next to them.

Classification

Deserts are of different types:

• Sandy. Such deserts are characterized by dunes and sandstorms often occur. The largest, the Sahara, is characterized by loose, light soil, which is easily blown by winds.
• Clayey. They have a smooth clay surface. They are found in Kazakhstan, the western part of Betpak-Dala, on the Ustyurt plateau.
• rocky. The surface is represented by stones and rubble, which forms placers. For example, Sonora in North America.
• saline. The soil is dominated by salts, the surface often looks like a salt crust or a bog. Distributed on the coast of the Caspian Sea, in Central Asia.
• arctic- located in the Arctic and Antarctica. They are snowless or snowy.

Climatic conditions

The desert climate is warm and dry. The temperature depends on the geographical location: the maximum +58°C was recorded in the Sahara on September 13, 1922. A distinctive feature of the desert area is a sharp temperature drop of 30-40°C. During the day the average temperature is +45°C, at night - +2-5°C. In winter, in the deserts of Russia, it can be frosty with little snow.

In desert lands it is characterized by low humidity. Strong winds often occur here at a speed of 15-20 m/s or more.

Important! The driest desert is the Atacama. There has been no precipitation on its territory for more than 400 years.

Semi-desert in Patagonia. Argentina

Flora

The desert flora is very sparse, mostly sparse shrubs that can extract moisture deep in the soil. These plants are specially adapted to live in hot and dry habitats. For example, a cactus has a thick, waxy outer layer to keep water from evaporating. Sagebrush and desert grasses need very little water to survive. Plants of deserts and semi-deserts have adapted to protect themselves from animals by growing sharp needles and thorns. Their leaves are replaced by scales and spines or covered with hairs that protect the plants from excessive evaporation. Almost all sand plants have long roots. In sandy deserts, in addition to grassy vegetation, there is also shrubby vegetation: zhuzgun, sand acacia, teresken. Shrub plants are low and slightly leafy. Saxaul also grows in deserts: white - on sandy, and black - on alkaline soils.

Desert and semi-desert flora

Most desert and semi-desert plants bloom in spring, reproducing flowers until the onset of hot summer. During wet winter and spring years, semi-desert and desert plants can produce surprisingly many spring flowers. In the desert canyons, on the rocky mountains, pine trees coexist, junipers and sage grow. They provide shelter from the scorching sun for many small animals.

The least known and underestimated species of desert and semi-desert plants are lichens and cryptogamous plants. Cryptogamous or mystogamous plants - spore fungi, algae, ferns, bryophytes. Cryptogamous plants and lichens need very little water to survive and live in dry, hot climates. These plants are important because they help stop erosion, which is very important for all other plants and animals because it helps keep the soil fertile during high winds and hurricanes. They also add nitrogen to the soil. Nitrogen is an important nutrient for plants. Cryptogamous plants and lichens grow very slowly.

In clay deserts, annual ephemera and perennial ephemeroids grow. In solonchaks - halophytes or saltworts.

One of the most unusual plants that grow in such an area is saxaul. It often moves from place to place under the influence of the wind.

Fauna

The animal world is also not numerous - reptiles, spiders, reptiles or small steppe animals (hare, gerbil) can live here. Of the representatives of the order of mammals, a camel, an antelope, a kulan, a steppe ram, a desert lynx live here.

In order to survive in the desert, animals have a specific sandy coloration, they can run fast, dig holes and live without water for a long time, they are preferably nocturnal.

Of the birds, you can meet a crow, a saxaul jay, a desert chicken.

Important! In sandy deserts, there are sometimes oases - this is a place that is located above the accumulation of groundwater. There is always dense and abundant vegetation, ponds.

Leopard in the Sahara Desert

Characteristics of the climate, flora and fauna of the semi-desert

Semi-desert is a type of landscape that is an intermediate option between desert and steppe. Most of them are located in the temperate and tropical zones.

General signs

This zone is distinguished by the fact that there is absolutely no forest on it, the flora is rather peculiar, as is the composition of the soil (very mineralized).

Important! There are semi-deserts on all continents except Antarctica.

Climatic conditions

They are characterized by a hot and long summer period with a temperature of about 25°C. Evaporation here is five times higher than the level of precipitation. There are few rivers and they often dry up.

In the temperate zone, they run in an unbroken line across Eurasia in an east-west direction. In the subtropical zone, they are often found on the slopes of plateaus, highlands and plateaus (Armenian Highlands, Karru). In the tropics, these are very large areas (Sahel zone).

Fennec foxes in the desert of Arabia and North Africa

Flora

The flora of this natural zone is uneven and sparse. It is represented by xerophytic grasses, sunflowers and wormwood, ephemerals grow. On the American continent, cacti and other succulents are most common, in Australia and Africa - xerophytic shrubs and stunted trees (baobab, acacia). Here vegetation is often used to feed livestock.

In the desert-steppe zone, both steppe and desert plants are common. The vegetation cover is mainly made up of fescue, wormwood, chamomile, and hairy feather grass. Often wormwood occupies large areas, creating a dull monotonous picture. In some places, kokhiya, ebelek, teresken, and quinoa grow among the wormwood. Where groundwater comes close to the surface, thickets of brilliant chia come across on saline soils.

The soil, as a rule, is poorly developed, and water-soluble salts predominate in its composition. Among the soil-forming rocks, ancient alluvial and loess-like deposits predominate, which are processed by winds. Gray-brown soil is inherent in elevated flat areas. Deserts are also characterized by solonchaks, that is, soils that contain about 1% of easily soluble salts. In addition to semi-deserts, salt marshes are also found in steppes and deserts. Groundwater, which contains salts, when it reaches the soil surface, is deposited in its upper layer, resulting in soil salinization.

Fauna

The animal world is quite diverse. It is mostly represented by reptiles and rodents. The mouflon, antelope, caracal, jackal, fox and other predators and ungulates also live here. The semi-deserts are home to many birds, spiders, fish and insects.

Protection of natural areas

Part of the desert areas are protected by law and are recognized as nature reserves and national parks. Their list is quite large. From the deserts man guards:

• Etosha;
• Joshua Tree (in Death Valley).

From the semi-deserts are subject to protection:

• Ustyurt Reserve;
• Tiger beam.

Important! The Red Book includes such desert inhabitants as serval, mole rat, caracal, saiga.

Char desert. Zabaykalsky Krai

Economic activity

The climatic features of these zones are unfavorable for economic life, but throughout history, entire civilizations have developed in the desert zone, for example, Egypt.

Special conditions made it necessary to look for a way to graze livestock, grow crops and develop industry. Taking advantage of the available vegetation, sheep are usually grazed in such areas. Bactrian camels are also bred in Russia. Farming here is possible only with additional irrigation.

The development of technological progress and the limited reserves of natural resources have led to the fact that man has reached the deserts. Scientific research has shown that in many semi-deserts and deserts there are considerable reserves of natural resources, such as gas, precious. The need for them is constantly increasing. Therefore, being equipped with heavy equipment, industrial tools, we are going to destroy previously miraculously untouched territories.

1. The two largest deserts on planet Earth are Antarctica and the Sahara.
2. The height of the highest dunes reaches 180 meters.
3. The driest and hottest area in the world is Death Valley. But, nevertheless, more than 40 species of reptiles, animals and plants live in it.
4. Approximately 46,000 square miles of arable land turns into desert every year. This process is called desertification. According to the UN, the problem threatens the lives of more than 1 billion people.
5. Passing through the Sahara, people often see mirages. To protect travelers, a map of mirages was drawn up for caravaners.

The natural zones of deserts and semi-deserts are a huge variety of landscapes, climatic conditions, flora and fauna. Despite the harsh and cruel nature of the deserts, these regions have become home to many species of plants and animals.

The most arid central regions of the mainland occupy the largest areas of Australia. Here are various types of territories, from loose sands, salt marshes, rubble rocky areas to spiny forests. However, two groups dominate: 1) the acacia mulga-scrub formation; 2) a formation dominated by spinifex grass, or triodnium. The latter dominates in the most deserted central regions.

Acacia shrub and stunted (3-5 m) tree-shrub deserts and semi-deserts are similar in nature to the dry prickly woodlands of Somalia or the Kalahari on the African continent. The northern variants of these groups with a short summer wet period and an abundance of high termite mounds can also be considered as the extreme arid version of the savanna and light forest zone. The dominant plant almost everywhere is ours - veinless acacia - and other phyllodes. The number of eucalyptus and casuarina is small, they are confined to dry riverbeds and extensive depressions with a close occurrence of groundwater. The grass cover is often almost absent or represented by very sparse groups of grasses, saltworts, and other leafy succulents.

The sandy areas in the center and west of the continent are covered with thickets of extremely xeromorphic hard grasses from the genus triodia. In Queensland and New South Wales, prickly pear cactus has proliferated and become a noxious weed. Prickly pear was brought from South America in the 80s of the last century and settled on an area of ​​about 24 million hectares.

Unlike the Sahara and the Namib, in the deserts of Australia there are no significant areas of "absolute" deserts, practically free from higher plants. In drainless basins and along the shores of salt lakes, halophytic formations are developed, formed by special species of widespread ancient genera (saltwort, quinoa, parnolistnik, prutnyak, saltpeter). Shober's saltpeter also grows in the semi-deserts of Eurasia. The Nullarbor Plain adjoining the Great Australian Bight has semi-desert vegetation, already developing in a subtropical, close to temperate climate. It is dominated by high (up to 1.5 m) bushes of various halophytes - representatives of haze (hospice, quinoa, etc.), which are considered a good fodder plant for sheep. On the plain, due to the wide distribution of karst phenomena, there are almost no surface water bodies.

Some botanists believe that real deserts in Australia are almost never found, and semi-deserts predominate. Indeed, the density of vegetation in the arid regions of the mainland is usually relatively large, which is associated with a regular short wet season. The annual amount of precipitation is nowhere below 100 mm, but usually it is close to 200-300 mm. In addition, in many places there is a shallow water-resistant horizon, where the moisture available to the roots of plants is stored for a long time.

Animal world. In the faunistic aspect, the fauna of the arid interior regions of Australia as a whole is a depleted variant of dry savanna and light forest groups. Most of the species are found both in deserts and savannahs, although a number of groups of animals are especially numerous in desert and semi-desert habitats. Of the mammals, such typical animals include the marsupial mole, the marsupial jerboa, comb-tailed marsupial mice and the comb-tailed marsupial rat. The entire central and western parts of the mainland are inhabited by large red kangaroos. These animals are numerous in many places and are considered undesirable competitors of sheep. The same applies to smaller types of wallabies. Of the smallest species of the kangaroo family (less than a rabbit), kangaroo rats are interesting for their ability to carry a "load" - an armful of grass, clasping it with their long tail. Many species of kangaroo rats widely inhabited almost the entire continent, but are now heavily exterminated by introduced dogs and foxes, and are also being displaced by rabbits, which inhabit and destroy their original habitats. Therefore, now they are better preserved precisely in desert regions, where the influence of introduced animals is less felt. Here the most common dog is the dingo. In some areas, feral one-humped camels bred, brought to the mainland in the last century as a vehicle on expeditions.

The most famous bird of the semi-desert regions of the mainland is the emu. This is the only species (sometimes two closely related species are distinguished) of a special family related to cassowaries. In all arid regions, weavers and small parrots are common, feeding on seeds of cereals (including triodia). These are the already mentioned zebra finches, budgerigars, and also nymph parrots. All these species nest in the hollows of dry trees. The nocturnal parrot is very typical for arid regions. It is indeed a nocturnal bird. Most of the time she spends on the ground, the basis of nutrition is the seeds of the trio. Unlike most other parrots, the nocturnal one does not nest in hollows, but among thickets of prickly grasses.

Of the vertebrates, various reptiles are especially characteristic of the desert and semi-desert, of which lizards of the agamic, skink and monitor lizard families predominate. The scale-legged family characteristic of Australia, which includes snake-like lizards with reduced limbs, also has desert representatives. Among the agamas in the tropical northern regions of dry woodlands and semi-deserts, there are frilled lizards, which are also characteristic of the savannah. Species of this genus have the ability to run on two hind limbs. This way of movement was inherent in some Mesozoic dinosaurs. Several species of bearded lizards, similar to our common dragons, live in the deserts. The most original appearance of Moloch. This small, up to 20 cm, flat lizard is covered with outgrowths and spikes. Moloch's skin can absorb moisture. In lifestyle and appearance, it resembles American desert toad lizards. The basis of nutrition of Moloch is ants.

Skinks are represented mainly by genera endemic to Australia (sometimes including New Zealand), whose species live both in deserts and in other zones. There are especially many species of the endemic genus Ctenotus - small graceful lizards with smooth scales.

Australia is often called the continent of deserts, because. about 44% of its surface (3.8 million sq. km) is occupied by arid territories, of which 1.7 million sq. km. km - desert.

Even the rest is seasonally dry.

This allows us to say that Australia is the most arid continent on the globe.

Deserts of Australia is a complex of desert regions located in Australia.

The deserts of Australia are located in two climatic zones - tropical and subtropical, with most of them occupied by the latter zone.

Great Sandy Desert

The Great Sandy Desert or Western Desert is a sandy-saline desert in northwestern Australia (Western Australia).

The desert has an area of ​​360,000 km² and is located approximately within the boundaries of the Canning sedimentary basin. It extends 900 km west to east from Eighty Mile Beach on the Indian Ocean deep into the Northern Territories to the Tanami Desert, and 600 km north to south from the Kimberley region to the Tropic of Capricorn, passing into the Gibson Desert.

It gently decreases to the north and west, the average height in the southern part is 400-500 m, in the north - 300 m. The predominant relief is ridges of sand dunes, the average height of which is 10-12 m, the maximum height is up to 30 m Ridges up to 50 km long are elongated in the latitudinal direction, which is determined by the direction of the prevailing trade winds. The region contains numerous salt marsh lakes, occasionally filled with water: Disappointment in the south, Mackay in the east, Gregory in the north, which is fed by the Sturt Creek.

The Great Sandy Desert is the hottest region in Australia. In the summer period from December to February, the average temperature reaches 35 ° C, in winter - up to 20--15 ° C. Precipitation is rare and irregular, mainly brought by the summer equatorial monsoons. About 450 mm of precipitation falls in the northern part, up to 200 mm in the southern part, most of it evaporates and seeps into the sands.

The desert is covered with red sands, thorny xerophytic grasses (spinifex, etc.) mainly grow on the dunes. The dune ridges are separated by clay-saline plains, on which acacia shrubs (in the south) and undersized eucalyptus trees (in the north) grow.

There is almost no permanent population in the desert, with the exception of several groups of aborigines, including the tribes of Karadyeri (Karadjeri) and Ngina (Nygina). It is assumed that the bowels of the desert may contain minerals. In the central part of the region is the Rudall River National Park, in the far south - the World Heritage-listed Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

Europeans first crossed the desert (from east to west) and described it in 1873 under the leadership of Major P. Warburton. The 1,600 km long Canning Stock Route runs through the desert region in a northeasterly direction from the city of Wiluna through Disappointment Lake to Halls Creek. In the northeastern part of the desert is Wolf Creek Crater.

Great Victoria Desert

The Great Victoria Desert is a sandy-saline desert in Australia (the states of Western Australia and South Australia).

The name in honor of Queen Victoria was given by the British explorer of Australia Ernest Giles, who in 1875 was the first European to cross the desert.

The area is 424,400 km², while the length from east to west is more than 700 km. To the north of the desert is the Gibson Desert, to the south is the Nullarbor Plain. Due to unfavorable climatic conditions (arid climate), there is no agricultural activity in the desert. It is a protected area in Western Australia.

The Mamungari Protected Area, one of Australia's 12 biosphere reserves, is located in the desert in the state of South Australia.

The average annual rainfall varies from 200 to 250 mm of rain. Thunderstorms often occur (15-20 per year). Daytime temperature in summer is 32-40 °C, in winter 18-23 °C. Snow never falls in the desert.

The Greater Victoria Desert is inhabited by several Australian Aboriginal groups, including the Kogara and Myrning tribes.

Gibson Desert

The Gibson Desert is a sandy desert in Australia (in the center of the state of Western Australia), located south of the Tropic of Capricorn, between the Great Sandy Desert in the north and the Great Victoria Desert in the south.

The Gibson Desert has an area of ​​155,530 km² and is located within a plateau, which is composed of Precambrian rocks and covered with gravel resulting from the destruction of an ancient ferruginous shell. One of the first explorers of the region described it as "a huge hilly desert of gravel." The average height of the desert is 411 m, in the eastern part there are residual ridges up to 762 m high, composed of granites and sandstone. From the west, the desert is bounded by the Hamersley Range. In the western and eastern parts it consists of long parallel sandy ridges, but in the central part the relief is leveled off. In the western part lie several salt lakes, including Lake Disappointment with an area of ​​330 km², which is located on the border with the Great Sandy Desert.

Precipitation falls extremely irregularly, their amount does not exceed 250 mm per year. Soils are sandy, rich in iron, strongly weathered. In places there are thickets of veinless acacia, quinoa and spinifex grass, which bloom with bright flowers after rare rains.

On the territory of the Gibson Desert in 1977, a reserve (Eng. Gibson Desert Nature Reserve) was organized, the area of ​​​​which is 1,859,286 hectares. The reserve is home to a variety of desert animals such as large bilbies (threatened with extinction), red kangaroos, emu, Australian moose, striped grass wren moloch. Lake Disappointment and neighboring lakes, emerging after rare rains, flock to birds in search of protection from the arid climate.

Inhabited mainly by Australian Aborigines, the desert area is used for extensive grazing. The desert was discovered in 1873 (or 1874) by the English expedition of Ernest Giles, who crossed it in 1876. The name of the desert was in honor of a member of the expedition Alfred Gibson, who died in it while searching for water.

Small Sandy Desert

The Little Sandy Desert is a sandy desert in Western Australia (Western Australia).

Located south of the Great Sandy Desert, in the east it passes into the Gibson Desert. The name of the desert is due to the fact that it is located next to the Great Sandy Desert, but is much smaller. According to the characteristics of the relief, fauna and flora, the Small Sandy Desert is similar to its large "sister".

The area of ​​the region is 101 thousand km². The average annual precipitation, which falls mainly in the summer, is 150-200 mm, the average annual evaporation is 3600-4000 mm. The average summer temperatures range from 22 to 38.3 ° C, in winter this figure is 5.4 - 21.3 ° C. The internal flow, the main watercourse, Savory Creek, flows into Lake Disappointment, located in the northern part of the region. There are also several small lakes in the south. The sources of the Rudall and Cotton rivers are at the northern borders of the region. Spinifex grass grows behind red sand soils.

Since 1997, several fires have been recorded in the region, the most significant was in 2000, when 18.5% of the region's area was affected. About 4.6% of the territory of the bioregion has a conservation status.

There are no large settlements within the desert. Most of the land belongs to the natives, their largest settlement is Parnngurr. Through the desert in a northeasterly direction is the 1,600 km long Canning Cattle Trail, the only route through the desert that runs from the city of Viluna through Lake Disappointment to Halls Creek.

Simpson Desert

The Simpson Desert is a sandy desert in the center of Australia, mostly located in the southeast corner of the Northern Territory, with a small part in the states of Queensland and South Australia.

It has an area of ​​\u200b\u200b143 thousand km², from the west it is bounded by the Finke River, from the north by the McDonnell Range and the Plenty River, from the east by the Mulligan and Diamantina rivers, and from the south by the large salt lake Eyre.

The desert was discovered by Charles Sturt in 1845 and in a 1926 drawing by Griffith Taylor, together with the Sturt Desert, was named Arunta. After surveying the area from the air in 1929, geologist Cecil Medigen named the desert after Allen Simpson, president of the South Australian Chapter of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia. It is believed that the first of the Europeans to cross the desert Medigen in 1939 (on camels), but in 1936 it was made by the expedition of Edmund Albert Colson.

In the 1960s and 80s, oil was searched unsuccessfully in the Simpson Desert. At the end of the 20th century, the desert became popular with tourists, and excursions in four-wheel drive vehicles are of particular interest.

Soils are predominantly sandy with parallel dune ridges, sandy-pebbly in the southeastern part, and clayey near the shores of Lake Eyre. Sand dunes 20-37 m high stretch from northwest to southeast for distances of up to 160 km. In the valleys between them (width 450 m) spinifex grows, which fixes sandy soils. There are also xerophytic shrub acacias (veinless acacia) and eucalyptus trees.

The Simpson Desert is the last refuge for some of Australia's rarest desert animals, including comb-tailed marsupial mice. Vast parts of the desert have received the status of protected areas:

Simpson Desert National Park, West Queensland, organized in 1967, occupies 10,120 km²

Simpson Desert Conservation Park, South Australia, 1967, 6927 km²

Simpson Desert Regional Reserve, South Australia, 1988, 29,642 km²

Wijira National Park, northern South Australia, 1985 7770 km²

In the northern part of the precipitation is less than 130 mm, the dry channels of the screams are lost in the sands.

The rivers Todd, Plenty, Hale, Hay flow through the Simpson Desert; in the southern part there are many drying salt lakes.

Small settlements that raise livestock take their water from the Great Artesian Basin.

australian desert fauna rainfall

Tanami is a rocky and sandy desert in northern Australia. The area is 292,194 km². The desert was the last frontier of the Northern Territory and was little explored by Europeans until the 20th century.

The Tanami Desert covers the central part of the Northern Territory of Australia and a small area of ​​the northeastern part of Western Australia. To the southeast of the desert is the town of Alice Springs, and to the west is the Great Sandy Desert.

The desert is a desert steppe typical of the central regions of Australia with vast sandy plains, which are covered with grasses of the genus Triodia. The main landforms are dunes and sandy plains, as well as shallow water basins of the Lander River, in which there are water pits, drying marshes and salt lakes.

The climate in the desert is semi-arid. 75--80% of precipitation falls in the summer months (October-March). The average annual rainfall in the Tanami region is 429.7 mm, which is a large figure for a desert area. But due to high temperatures, the rainfall quickly evaporates, so the local climate is very dry. The average daily evaporation rate is 7.6 mm. The average daily temperature in the summer months (October-March) is about 36--38 °C, at night - 20--22 °C. The temperature of the winter months is much lower: daytime - about 25 °C, night - below 10 °C.

In April 2007, the North Tanami Aboriginal Protected Area was established in the desert, covering an area of ​​about 4 million hectares. It is home to a large number of vulnerable representatives of local flora and fauna.

The first European to reach the desert was explorer Geoffrey Ryan, who did so in 1856. However, the first European to explore Tanami was Allan Davidson. During his expedition in 1900, he discovered and mapped local gold deposits. The region is home to a small number of people, due to unfavorable climatic conditions. The traditional inhabitants of Tanami are Australian Aborigines, namely the Walrpiri and Gurinji tribes, who are the landowners of most of the desert. The largest settlements are Tennant Creek and Vauchoop.

There is gold mining in the desert. Tourism has developed in recent years.

Desert Strzelecki

The Strzelecki Desert is located in the southeast of the mainland in the states of South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland. The desert area is 1% of the area of ​​Australia. It was discovered by Europeans in 1845 and named after the Polish explorer Pavel Strzelecki. Also in Russian sources it is called the Streletsky Desert.

Stone Desert Sturt

The stone desert, which occupies 0.3% of the territory of Australia, is located in the state of South Australia and is an accumulation of sharp small stones. Local aborigines did not sharpen their arrows, but simply collected stone tips here. The desert got its name in honor of Charles Sturt, who in 1844 tried to reach the center of Australia.

Tirari Desert

This desert, located in the state of South Australia and occupying 0.2% of the mainland, has one of the harshest climatic conditions in Australia, due to high temperatures and almost no rain. There are several salt lakes in the Tirari Desert, including Lake Eyre. The desert was discovered by Europeans in 1866.

Australia is often referred to as the desert continent. About 44% of the mainland's surface is occupied by desert and arid territories.
They are common on the Western Australian Plateau and on the plains of Central Australia.

In the driest regions of the center of the mainland, large areas are stony placers or shifting sands.
On the Western Australian Plateau, rocky deserts form on thick ferruginous crusts (a legacy of wet epochs). Their bare surface has a characteristic bright orange color.
On the Nullarbor Plain, composed of fissured limestones, the desert goes to the southern coast of the mainland.

Great Victoria Desert

The largest desert on the Australian continent.
Its size is about 424,400 km2.
The desert was first crossed by European explorer Ernest Giles in 1875 and named after Queen Victoria.
The average annual rainfall varies from 200 to 250 mm of rain. Thunderstorms are frequent (15-20 per year).
Daytime temperature in summer is 32-40 °C, in winter 18-23 °C.
It is generally accepted that the desert is an endless sand dunes or lifeless rocky plains. However, the Great Victoria Desert looks different. Huge variety of shrubs and small plants. After a rare rain, wild flowers and acacias contrasting on the red sand are an unforgettable sight.
Even without rain, the caves, rocks and gorges of the desert are mesmerizing.

Great Sandy Desert

The second largest after Victoria. The desert is located in the north of Western Australia, in the Kimberley region, east of the Pilbara. A small part of it lies in the Northern Territory.
The desert has an area of ​​360,000 km²
The Great Sandy Desert is the hottest region in Australia.
In the summer period from December to February, the average temperature reaches 35 ° C, in winter - up to 20 -15 ° C.
It is here that the famous Kata Tjuta National Park - Uluru (Ayers Rock) is located, which attracts travelers from all over the world.

Tanami

The rocky and sandy desert is located northwest of the city of Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory of Australia.
The average annual rainfall in this area is more than 400 mm, that is, there are quite a lot of rainy days for the desert. But the location of Tanami is such that high temperature prevails, and with it a high rate of evaporation.
The average daily temperature in the summer months (October-March) is around 38°C, at night 22°C. Temperature in winter: daytime - about 25 °C, night - below 10 °C.
The main landforms are dunes and sandy plains, as well as shallow water basins of the Lander River, in which there are water pits, drying marshes and salt lakes.
There is gold mining in the desert. Tourism has developed in recent years.

Gibson Desert

Sandy desert in the center of Western Australia. It borders the Great Sandy Desert to the north and the Great Victoria Desert to the south.
One of the first explorers of the region described it as "a huge hilly desert of gravel."
Soils are sandy, rich in iron, strongly weathered. In places there are thickets of veinless acacia, quinoa and spinifex grass, which bloom with bright flowers after rare rains.
Annual rainfall in the Gibson Desert can range from 200 to 250 millimeters. The climate is typically hot, in the south temperatures in summer can rise above 40°C, in winter the maximum is around 18°C ​​and the minimum is 6°C.

Desert Simpson

The Simpson Desert is the main part of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in Australia.
This desert is famous for the fact that its sands are bright red and like scarlet waves continuously roll over the desert.
The landscapes of this place amaze the imagination: between high dunes there are areas of smooth clay crust and rocky plains strewn with turned stones. Simpson is the driest desert
The average temperature in summer (January) is 28-30 °С, in winter - 12-15 °С. In the northern part of the precipitation is less than 130 mm.

Small Sandy Desert

The Little Sandy Desert is a piece of land in Western Australia, located south of the Great Sandy Desert, and in the east it merges into the Gibson Desert.

There are several lakes in the territory of the Little Sandy Desert, the largest of which is Lake Disapointment, and it is located in the north. Seyviori is the main river that runs through this area. It flows into Lake Disapointet.

The area of ​​the region is 101 thousand km². The average annual precipitation, which falls mainly in the summer, is 150-200 mm.
Average summer temperatures range from 22 to 38.3° C, in winter this figure is 5.4-21.3° C

Tirari Desert

It occupies an area of ​​15 thousand square kilometers, and it is located in the eastern part of South Australia.

The desert contains salt lakes and large dunes of sand. There are quite harsh conditions, high temperatures and very little precipitation, the average annual amount of which does not exceed 125 millimeters.

It is also part of the rocky ecoregion of Australia.

The Pinnacles

A small desert in the southwest of Western Australia. The name of the desert is translated as "desert of pointed rocks". The desert got its name for standing stones rising 1-5 meters in the middle of a sandy plain. The nearest settlement is the city of Cervantes, from which it is a 20-minute drive to the desert. Stones are rocks or peaks.

The Pinnacles is part of the Nambung National Park.
The landscapes in this part are exceptional, you might think that you are on another planet.
If you are a visitor to the Nambung National Park, do not miss the opportunity to see the beautiful nature of the Te Pinnacles desert.