In general, Australian laws may not be followed, the main thing is to report this in small print. Geography of Australia: geology, climate, deserts, water bodies, natural resources, ecology and population What part of Australia is desert

Despite the fact that Australia is called the Green Continent, 40% of its territory occupy vast desert territories with severe climatic conditions. In some parts of the deserts of Australia it has not rained for decades.

It is due to this that most of the mainland remains dry throughout the year, which makes the Green Continent one of the driest on the planet.

The "Queen" of the Australian desert system can be called the Red Desert or the Great Sandy Desert, which occupies 360,000 km².

She stretches 900 km from Eighty Mile Beach on the Indian Ocean coast to the Tanami Desert deep into the Northern Territories.

In the south, it passes into another Australian desert - the Gibson Desert. The red sand dunes, the lack of a permanent population and the status of the hottest place in Australia make this desert area at the same time interesting and scary.

Not every tourist will want to visit these wild endless arid places. So, why don't even the natives of this territory risk staying in the Great Sandy Desert for a long time?

Red Desert in detail

First of all, it is worth noting the relief of the Great Sandy Desert. Here dominated by sand dune ridges, whose average height is from ten to twelve meters.

Max dune height Red Desert - thirty meters. The Great Sandy Desert of Australia is characterized by the rare filling of numerous saline lakes with water.

So, in the south, Lake Disappointment is filled with moisture from time to time, in the east - Mackay, and in the north - Gregory. If we take all the deserts of Australia, then the Great Sandy Desert leads in the hottest climate.

From December to February, when it is summer in Australia, the thermometer column on average here reaches the mark 35°C, in winter, and from June to August, when it is winter on the Green Continent, the air temperature drops on average up to 15-20 °С.

Interesting to know! Most precipitation falls in the north of the desert. In the south, the main part of the already rare moisture either seeps into the sands or evaporates instantly.

The arid climate of this desert is due to the fact that Precipitation here is extremely irregular.. Most of the moisture is brought by the equatorial summer monsoons.

Territory of the Great Sandy Desert covered in red sand. A number of scientists suggest that minerals may well be contained in the depths of the Red Desert.

Nature and animals of the desert

Extremely harsh conditions, of course, do not contribute to the rich plant life in the Red Desert.

That is why on the sand dunes of the Red Desert mainly grow such xerophytic thorny grasses and shrubs like spinifex and acacia.

In the northern regions of this desert grow stunted eucalyptus trees.

As far as the animal kingdom is concerned, live here Australian desert animals such as the Moloch lizard, the dingo dog, the red kangaroo and the goanna. Also, the Red Desert has become home to such typical species of marsupials of Australia as:

• comb-tailed mouse;
• rabbit bandicoot;
• mole rufus.

As for the avifauna of the Red Desert, they have adapted to its extremely harsh hot conditions. only a few species of parrots Australia.

Life in the desert

The harsh climatic conditions offered by the Great Sandy Desert of Australia are the reason that here no permanent population.

However, in some more or less favorable, if they can be called such, areas of the Red Desert to this day several groups of Australian aborigines live.

These are such tribes of the indigenous inhabitants of the Green Continent as: ngina and karadieri. But even these old-timers of the Great Sandy Desert are afraid of its hardness and dryness.

Each individual Australian desert has its own characteristics. But the Red Desert is real deserted huge territory, to life on which only certain species of flora and fauna have adapted.

The territory, deprived of moisture, frightens even the natives, who settled over its area in areas that are at least occasionally sprinkled with rain. Frightening and impressive The Great Sandy Desert is a natural wonder and heritage of Australia.

In conclusion, we invite you to look video about the natural mystery of Australia– Red Desert:

Australian deserts are divided into several types, among which the country's scientists distinguish mountainous and foothill deserts, rocky and sandy, as well as clay.

About 32% of the area of ​​the continent is occupied by sandy deserts.

In second place are rocky deserts - they occupy about 13% of the area of ​​​​all desert territories. Large-stony deserts are located on the foothill plains.

The deserts of Australia occupy almost half of the entire surface of the continent. For this, Australia is even sometimes called the continent of deserts. But the rest of the continent's surface remains dry most of the year. Of course, such harsh conditions do not contribute to rich vegetation - in the Western Desert you can find only acacia-mulga, eucalyptus and spinifex.

It can be concluded that Australia is the most arid continent on earth. The explanation for this must be sought in the climatic conditions determined by the geographical position of the continent, the vast water surface of the Pacific Ocean and the close proximity of the Asian continent. In addition, most of the deserts of the continent are in the subtropics.

The Great Sandy, or, as it is also called, the Western Desert belongs to the sandy-saline type. The relief of the desert almost entirely consists of ergs - this is the local name for sandy massifs, consisting of dunes, dunes, flying sands and salt marshes. The Great Sandy Desert has a unique feature: due to the predominance of the trade winds in this area, the sand turns into high, up to 15 meters high ridges. The length of each such dune is about 50 km. This desert is one of the most dangerous in Australia - it rains here in small quantities and not every year, there are no permanent rivers.

Of the animals in this desert, there are the dingo dog, the Moloch lizard, the red kangaroo, the goannas and several marsupials - the rabbit bandicoot, comb-tailed mice and rufus moles. In a word, typical Australian fauna. Of the birds in the conditions of hot sands, only two or three species of parrots have learned to survive.

The early explorers of Australia referred to the Gibson Desert as "a great rolling desert of gravel". This is true: the entire surface of this desert is covered with rubble - material unsuitable for agriculture. This area was discovered in 1874. Unlike Western, on the territory of the Gibson Desert there are several natural reservoirs - these are saline lakes.

Although the desert is poor in vegetation and wildlife, here you can meet some representatives of the Australian fauna and flora. In particular, acacia and spinifex, and from the animals of the marsupial badger, red kangaroo and emu, grass wren and moloch lizard. Some of these animals are threatened with extinction - marsupial badgers, which previously inhabited about 70% of Australia, have now declined significantly. The reason for this is the low ability to reproduce, as well as the extermination of animals by poachers.

The Victoria Desert is a clear confirmation and proof that Australia is not in vain called the driest continent on Earth. It is a huge space located in Western and South Australia. Travelers who have explored this desert have even found something poetic in this sun-baked landscape: picturesque folds of sand, which, thanks to the northwest and southeast winds, fit parallel and are colored in brown-red, yellowish, ash and purple. Only eucalyptus, acacia and spinifex grow in the sands of Victoria.

This desert is almost completely devoid of water sources and is extremely difficult to access both for habitation and for research. Despite this, the Myrning Kogara tribes live in the Great Victoria Desert, trying to preserve the traditional way of life. Also noteworthy is the creation of the protected Mamungari Park on the outskirts of the desert, where you can watch birds, plants and some rare animals.

The Victoria Desert is also known as the world capital of opals - their rich deposits are found in a place called Coober Pedy. This town among tourists is better known for its underground dwellings, which the workers equipped in worked out drifts.

This desert was discovered thanks to the desire of the Australian government to find new areas for grazing livestock and people. However, as one would expect, the desire to use the Gibson Desert or, as it was called at first, Aruntu, for this purpose, turned out to be in vain. By the way, she deceived the expectations of oil seekers as well - the search was carried out in the 70s of the 20th century. Currently, several protected areas have been established in the Gibson Desert. One of them - Simpson Desert National Park - is considered the largest. However, rare animals or plants cannot be found inside it - most visitors come here to experience the silence of the desert while driving an off-road vehicle.

Lake Eyre, the largest lake on the mainland, although salty, is also not empty - it attracts eagles, ducks, gulls and Australian pelicans. Budgerigars and kingfishers, finches and wheatears, as well as swallows and pink cockatoos have chosen trees rare in this area - acacias.

As in any desert, the flora is represented by thorns and drought-resistant grasses: spinifex and eucalyptus, and the flora is represented by lizards and rodents: marsupial jerboa, desert bandicoot, marsupial mole, marsupial mouse, ubiquitous dingoes and kangaroos, as well as wild camels.

The desert is located within the Nambung National Park near the city of Cervantes in Western Australia. Here are located free-standing stones, which are a combination of the remains of trees that once grew here, the remains of sea shells and marine life.

Small Sandy Desert

The Little Sandy Desert is located in Western Australia south of the Great Sandy Desert, in the east it connects with the Gibson Desert. There are several lakes in the Lesser Sandy Desert, the largest of which is Lake Disapoinmet in the north, into which the River Seyviori flows. The area of ​​the Malaya Sandy Desert is 101 thousand sq. km. In these parts is the only settlement of Parnngurr. Through the Little Sandy Desert from the city of Vilun to Halls Creek lies the only road for cattle driving 1.5 thousand kilometers long.

The Tirari Desert is located in South Australia. Its area is 15,250 sq. km. In terms of relief, the Tirari Desert is similar to the Simpson Desert, there is an area with fossil deposits. In the north, the Tirari Desert passes into the Simpson Desert, in the east it borders on the Strzelecki Desert. Part of the desert is part of Lake Eyre National Park.

Rocky and sandy desert The Tanami Desert is located northwest of Alice Springs. It is a desert steppe covered with sandy plains, drying up salt lakes and swamps, small water formations of the Lander River. Tanami Desert Area 292,194 sq. km. In some places gold is being mined.

The Strzelecki Desert is located in the southeast in the states of South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland, northeast of Lake Eyre, north of the Flinders Range. In the northwest, the Strzelecki Desert passes into the Simpson Desert. The area of ​​the desert is 39,830 km. It was discovered in 1845 and named after the Polish explorer Pavel Strzelecki.

The Sturt Desert is located in South Australia. The desert got its name in honor of Charles Sturt (Charles Sturt), who in 1844 tried to reach the center of Australia. For the most part, the Sturt Desert is a collection of sharp small stones. Therefore, the local natives did not sharpen their arrows, but simply collected stone tips here.

The Pedirka Desert is a small desert in South Australia with an area of ​​about 1250 square kilometers located 100 km northwest of the city of Odnadatta and 250 km northeast of Coober Pedy, a city known as the opal capital of the world and famous for its underground dwellings. The sands of Pedirka are red. The desert is not considered popular with nature lovers and is gradually being built up.

Interestingly, some Australian deserts, namely those located in the western part of the continent, are located higher than the rest of the relief - about 200 meters above sea level. There are also those that rise to 600 meters. Despite the exceptional severity of the deserts that make up most of the continent, travelers and explorers go to Australia at all times of the year, for whom this country is a constant source of new discoveries. There are several travel agencies in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne that specialize in organizing car tours of the Australian deserts.

Geographic Encyclopedia

Areas of the earth's surface where, due to a too dry and hot climate, only very scarce flora and fauna can exist; usually these are areas with low population density, and sometimes generally uninhabited. This term refers to... Collier Encyclopedia

Libyan Desert Desert is a type of landscape characterized by a flat surface, sparseness or absence of flora and specific fauna. There are sandy, rocky, clayey, saline deserts. Separately, snowy deserts are distinguished (in ... ... Wikipedia

History of Australia ... Wikipedia

No official languages ​​Primary languages ​​Australian English (80%) Indigenous languages ​​Australian languages, Tasmanian languages ​​... Wikipedia

Would you like to improve this article?: Wikify the article. Contents ... Wikipedia

Differs in exclusive originality. It dates back to the Mesozoic flora of Gondwana and was formed under conditions of long-term territorial isolation from other continents. According to the floristic classification of the earth's surface, Australia stands out in ... ... Wikipedia

Countries ... Wikipedia

Flag of the Commonwealth of Australia Australia ... Wikipedia

Commonwealth of Australia English ... Wikipedia

Books

• Great Travelers. Why did people embark on long and risky journeys to uncharted lands? What dangers awaited them along the way? Who was the first to penetrate deep into the African continent? Who paved the `silk` road ...
• Desert bird. Child of the Woods, Elie Berthe. Elie Berte (1815–1891) – French writer, born in Limoges, moved to Paris in 1834. Author of numerous adventurous and historical novels, many of which have been translated into Russian...

Means "entrance to the lakes" - in this place, an extensive network of rivers and lakes flows into the ocean, creating ideal conditions for fishing.

Indeed, there were quite a few fishing trawlers on the pier at Lakes Entrance, which immediately sold fresh fish and shrimp. Almost all vacationers in this place in Victoria could see a boat, many hotels have corners with tables for cutting fish.

Well, where there are fish, there are pelicans.

And the fishermen...

In general, apart from fish and a couple of beaches, there is nothing special to see in Lakes Entrance, except for the private maritime museum Griffiths Sea Shell Museum, where you could find just tons of different types of shells, alcoholized and dried fish and other marine reptiles.

Not far from Lakes Entrance are the Buchan Caves.

Well, after visiting the caves, it was nice to skip a mug of local beer at the Bullant Brewery.

We were already in Canberra in 2008, stopping by for a couple of days on our way to Sydney. Then we saw that there are many places in the city that can be visited in a few days.

Before leaving Canberra we visited the Australian Parliament building. There were several police officers at the entrance, who let visitors through the frame, like in airports. After walking through the halls and offices, visiting the green roof, we drove on...

The Economist Intelligence Unit consulting group has published its top cities in the world and Melbourne topped it for the second year in a row.

The top ten cities look like this:

great ocean road

Last December we took a ride on the Great Ocean Road and just yesterday added everything from that trip.

You can drive the whole road in one day, if you leave early in the morning, stop not everywhere, but return directly along the highway. In order not to rush into sightseeing, we stopped for a couple of nights right in the middle of the road, in the town of Port Campbell (Summer's Rest Units).

On the first day it was cloudy, so we had to put on jackets, but on the second day the sun came out and it became much more fun.

A few places we visited:

Despite s18(1) of the Spam Act 2003 (Cth), I agree and acknowledge that any message Vodafone sends me will not contain an unsubscribe facility. I understand that I can, at any time, opt out of receiving marketing material by contacting Vodafone Customer Care.

In general, Australian laws may not be followed, the main thing is to report this in small print.

She received the surname "Macpherson" from her stepfather, Neil MacPherson.

Thanks to her ideal body proportions (90-61-89), at the age of 18, El signed the first contract with the famous Click Model Management modeling agency.

In 1985, El decides to marry the photographer and creative director of Elle magazine Gilles Bensimon, who was 20 years older than McPherson. Through her marriage, El appeared in every issue of Elle magazine for six years.

Elle was featured on the cover of Time magazine in 1986. By that time, she had already been on the covers of magazines such as Cosmopolitan, GQ, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue and Playboy. El also appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated six times during her career.

In 1989, McPherson and Bensimon divorced, and along with her husband, Elle lost her largest employer, Elle magazine. This period in the girl's career and life is not easy, but Elle pulls herself together and decides to move on.

Elle MacPherson in the movie "On the Edge"

In 1990, the first film with the participation of a famous model, Alice, directed by Woody Allen, was released. Then she plays in several films: "Sirens" (with Hugh Grant), "Batman and Robin" (with George Clooney), "On the Edge" (with Anthony Hopkins) and others.

Also in 1990, MacPherson launched her Elle Macpherson Intimates underwear line, which is sold exclusively in Australia.

In 1995, together with supermodel friends, El opened the Fashion Café restaurant chain, which did not become profitable and was closed in 1998.

In 1999, Elle MacPherson starred in five episodes of the hit series Friends.

Elle was engaged to French financier Arpad Busson in 2003, with whom she had two sons, Flynn in 1998 and Cy in 2003.

In 2005, the couple broke up, and today Elle lives in London with her children.

Smile!

I'm reading today in the local newspaper about what to do when traveling, and I see this advice:

smile. always smile.

It "ll get you places you wouldn't believe. From persuading Parisian waiters to speak English to figuring out where the hell you"re supposed to be sitting on that train, a little smile and a good attitude will get you help in no time. NB: There"s an exception to this rule – it "s called Russia. (They" ll think you "re mad.)

In translation:

Smile! Always smile.

It will open up so many new opportunities for you that you never dreamed of. For example, a waiter from Paris will suddenly speak English, or you will finally find that fucking seat on the train - just smile a little and act accordingly.

One exception to this rule is Russia. They will think you are crazy.

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 severe 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 towering 1-5 meters of free-standing stones 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.