- Geography of the Small Sandy Desert
- Small Sandy Desert and Human Activities
- Desert nature
It is not for nothing that the Australian continent occupies a remote position from the rest of the world. The territories are characterized by difficult weather conditions, harsh climate, unsuitable for living or economic use. Another feature of Australia is the presence of a large number of deserts, smoothly merging into one another. For example, the Small Sandy Desert occupies the territories located south of the Big Sandy Desert (the fact that these two areas are located side by side and are interconnected is also indicated by their names).
In addition to the Big Sandy Desert in the neighbors to the south, the Malaya Sandy Desert completely imperceptibly passes into the Gibson Desert in the east. This close proximity undoubtedly affects both the climate and the amount of precipitation. They are similar in many characteristics (fauna, flora, relief). On the other hand, there are specific features that are invisible to the layman, but which allow scientists to divide these deserts.
Geography of the Small Sandy Desert
The main territories occupied by the desert are located in the state of Western Australia. The neighbors from the south and east have already been mentioned above, the difference in names with the southern neighbor is caused by the difference in the total area. The Small Sandy Desert spreads its sands over an area of 101 thousand square kilometers.
The amount of precipitation that falls from the heavens onto the areas occupied by the Small Sandy Desert ranges from 150 mm to 200 mm, depending on the year. It is interesting that on the territory of this region the temperature difference is very large, firstly, the average summer temperature can range from + 22 ° С (the coldest summer) to + 38 ° С (a record figure of +38, 3 ° С).
The same applies to the winter period, here you can also see the difference depending on a particular year. In the coldest years, the average is + 5 ° С, the warmest winter will allow the thermometer to be set at + 21 ° С.
The main watercourse in the Small Sandy Desert is Saving Creek, which flows into Lake Disappointment, which occupies the territory in the north of the region. The lake is salty, its name translates as "disappointment".
Such a toponym the reservoir received from the mouth of one of the first explorers of these lands. The traveler was studying the Small Sandy Desert and looking for water. Seeing the lake, he was very happy, but tasting the water showed that the scientist's joy was premature, the water turned out to be very salty and absolutely not suitable for drinking or agricultural needs. In addition to this largest lake in the region, there are several other small bodies of water located in the southern part of the desert. At its northern borders, scientists have discovered the sources of the following rivers: Cotton and Rudall.
Small Sandy Desert and Human Activities
Most of these desert areas are owned by local Aborigines. It is clear that there are no large cities in this region and cannot be. The most representative settlement is Parnngurr, which has a rather difficult spelling and pronunciation for a European.
Man is forced to exist and adapt to such harsh conditions, so there is only one route through the desert. The main purpose of laying a path through the hot and dry desert is to reduce the time for driving livestock. The length of the path is about 1,500 kilometers, it connects the cities of Wiloon and Halls Creek, Lake Disappointment lies on the route of animals and humans.
Desert nature
Most of the territory of the Small Sandy Desert is occupied by deserted steppes, on which various types of triodia become the main representatives of the flora kingdom. A small percentage of the land is occupied by open woodland, which consists mainly of low-growing desert eucalyptus, "desert nut", acatniks.
Among the shrubs, you can see grevillea and acacias; around salt water bodies, representatives of low-shrub halophytic communities are found. There are small eucalyptus forests in the floodplain of the Rudall River, the most common species of this tree are gum Eucalyptus and Kulibach eucalyptus.
Plants adapt to life in harsh conditions, the same quadrangular acacia instead of real leaves ends with sharp and prickly ends. The local population has a name that can be translated as "finish". The explanation of the toponym is simple - because of the sharp thorns, this is the last plant that animals agree to eat in the Small Sandy Desert. In these areas, you can occasionally find plants from the community of haemophilus, including: challoscaria; mayrians; perennial cereals. They also survive in the desert only because they choose areas around bodies of water, albeit with salt water.
