Great Sandy Desert
A satellite image of the dunes in the Great Sandy Desert
The IBRA bioregions, with the Great Sandy Desert in red
Area	284,993 km2 (110,036 sq mi)
Geography
Country	Australia
State/Territory	Western Australia Northern Territory
Coordinates	20°S 125°E / 20°S 125°E / -20; 125

The Great Sandy Desert is an interim Australian bioregion,^[1][2] located in the northeast of Western Australia straddling the Pilbara and southern Kimberley regions and extending east into the Northern Territory. It is the second largest desert in Australia after the Great Victoria Desert and encompasses an area of 284,993 square kilometres (110,036 sq mi).^[3][4] The Gibson Desert lies to the south and the Tanami Desert lies to the east of the Great Sandy Desert.

Features

The Great Sandy Desert contains large ergs, often consisting of longitudinal dunes.

In the north-east of the desert there is a meteorite impact crater, the Wolfe Creek crater.

"Fairy circles", which are circular patches of land barren of plants, varying between 22 and 12 metres (7 and 39 ft) in diameter and often encircled by a ring of stimulated growth of grass, are found in the western part of the desert, in the Pilbara region. It has not yet been proven what causes these formations, but one theory suggests that they have been built and inhabited by Australian harvester termites since the Pleistocene.^[5][6]

Population

The region is sparsely populated. The main populations consist of Aboriginal Australian communities and mining centres. The Aboriginal people of the desert fall into two main groups, the Martu in the west and the Pintupi in the east. Linguistically, they are speakers of multiple Western Desert languages. Many of these Indigenous people were forcibly removed from their lands during the late 18th, 19th, and the early 20th centuries, to be relocated to other settlements, such as Papunya in the Northern Territory. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, some of the original inhabitants returned. Young adults, from the Great Sandy Desert region, travel to and work in the Wilurarra Creative programs to maintain and develop their culture, and a greater sense of community.^[7]

Climate

Rainfall is low throughout the coast and, especially further north, is strongly seasonal. Areas near the Kimberley have an average rainfall that exceeds 300 mm (12 in), but can be patchy. Many dry years end with a monsoon cloud mass or a tropical cyclone. Like many of Australia's deserts, precipitation is high by desert standards, but with the driest regions recording total rainfall a little below 250 mm (9.8 in). The heat of Australia’s ground surface, in turn, creates a massive evaporation cycle, which partially explains the higher-than-normal desert rainfall. This region is one which gives rise to the heat lows, which help drive the NW monsoon. Almost all the rain regionally comes from monsoon thunderstorms, or the occasional tropical cyclone rain depression.^[8]

Annually, for most of the area, there are about 20–30 days where thunderstorms form. However, in the north and bordering the Kimberley, 30-40 per year is the average.^[9]

Summer daytime temperatures are some of the highest in Australia.^[10] Regions further south average 38 to 42 °C (100 to 108 °F), except when monsoonal cloud cover is active. Several people have died in this region during seasonal flooding, after their vehicles were stuck or broken down on remote dirt roads. Conversely, a few travellers have had their vehicles malfunction during the hottest times of the year, with dehydration, sun exposure and heatstroke being the predominant causes of death.^[11] Winters are short and warm; temperatures range from 25 to 30 °C (77 to 86 °F).

Frost does not occur in most of the area. The regions bordering the Gibson Desert in the far southeast may record a light frost or two every year.^[12] Away from the coast winter nights can still be chilly in comparison to the warm days.

Economy

Indigenous art is a huge industry in central Australia. Mines, most importantly the Telfer gold mine and Nifty copper mine, and cattle stations are found in the far west. Telfer is one of the largest gold mines in Australia. The undeveloped Kintyre uranium deposit lies south of Telfer.

Fauna and flora

The vegetation of the Great Sandy Desert is dominated by spinifex.^[14]

Animals in the region include feral camels and dingoes. Other mammalian inhabitants include bilbies, mulgara, marsupial moles, rufous hare-wallabies, and red kangaroos.

Varied types of lizards occur here, such as goannas (including the large perentie), thorny devils, and bearded dragons.

Some of the bird-life found within the desert include the rare Alexandra's parrot, the mulga parrot and the scarlet-chested parrot.^[15]

See also

• Carnegie expedition of 1896
• Deserts of Australia
• Gary Junction Road
• List of deserts by area
• Telfer, Western Australia

References

Further reading

• Burbidge, A. A.; McKenzie, N. L., eds. (1983). Wildlife of the Great Sandy Desert, Western Australia. Perth, W.A.: Western Australian Wildlife Research Centre [and] Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife. ISBN 0-7244-9307-7.
• Thackway, R.; Cresswell, I. D. (1995). An interim biogeographic regionalisation for Australia: a framework for setting priorities in the National Reserves System Cooperative Program. Vol. Version 4.0. Canberra: Australian Nature Conservation Agency, Reserve Systems Unit. ISBN 0-642-21371-2.

External links

Media related to Great Sandy Desert at Wikimedia Commons

20°S 125°E / 20°S 125°E / -20; 125