GEOGRAPHIC TERMS

AMERICAN DESERT - Referring to the entire desert province of North America

 

ARABIAN DESERT - That arid region generally southward from the Fertile Crescent of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Also refers to eastern Egypt, between the Nile River and the Red Sea. This Shuttle view looks northeast across the Sinai Peninsula, also known as the Sinai Desert, into the heart of the Nefud on the Arabian Peninsula, and further toward the Syrian Desert.

ATACAMA DESERT - South American Desert, confined mostly to northern Chile. At the foothills of the southern Andes, some of this desert is quite high.

AUSTRALIAN DESERT - The deserts of Australia. More specific desert regions are defined in the glossary.

 

BASIN AND RANGE PROVINCE - That portion of the American Desert largely confined to Nevada, western Utah, and southeastern California, characterized by successive, parallel mountain ranges, and a closed drainage system. (Great Basin.)

BLACK ROCK DESERT - A region of northwestern Nevada, in the Basin and Range Province, with many distinct playas and mountain ranges.

CHIHUAHUAN DESERT - Desert region of the state of Chihuahua in Mexico.


This Gemini photograph from the mid-1960’s shows the Salton Sea, and adjacent regions of the Colorado Desert, (and in the further background, the Mojave).

COLORADO DESERT - This region covers much of extreme southeastern California, including the Imperial and Coachella Valleys, eastward to the Colorado River.

COLORADO PLATEAU - A region of the American Desert, characterized by largely exposed, flat-lying sedimentary rock layers. Some of these layers have weathered into fantastic shapes and formations, such as arches, natural bridges, buttes, mesas, and chimneys. Drained by the Colorado, San Juan, and Green Rivers. In some cases, immense canyons have been excavated. Moderate folding of the formations into anticlines, synclines, and monoclines, as well as some volcanic and laccolithic features in some areas, contribute to the overall magnificence of the region.

Landsat image over southern Utah, showing Waterpocket Fold (right of center), and the Henry Mountains (right). West is left side of image.

This Shuttle image shows a portion of the Afar region adjoining the Red Sea to the northeast. The terrain is quite rough, consisting of highly faulted basalt flows, intermixed with salt flats.

DANIKIL DEPRESSION - A low-lying, rifted region at the south end of the Red Sea, on the African continent (in the countries of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia). Also known as the Afar Triangle, portions lie below sea level. The region is known for its lava flows and extensive salt deposits. Salt mining has been a tradition in the region for millenia. The word "Salary" comes from "Salt."

DASHT-E-KAVIR - A desert basin of northeastern Iran (Persia). Much of Iran is either arid or semi-arid, but it seems traditional to name the lower-lying regions as desert. Higher elevations are cooler and attract some moisture, but overall it is not temperature that defines a desert, and many mountain ranges are dry enough to be considered desert as well.

DASHT-E-LUT - Another desert basin of eastern Iran (Persia). This image shows a large dune field in the basin.

DASHT-I-MARGO - A desert basin of western Afghanistan. Its physiography is similar to the desert basins of eastern Iran.

 

ESCALANTE DESERT - This region in the southwest portion of Utah, is actually a further extension of the Great Salt Lake Desert.

GIBSON DESERT - A distinct desert region of central Western Australia and Northern Territory Provinces. This Shuttle image shows the Hammersly Range of northern Western Australia. To the north (up) lies the Sandy Desert, just beyond the frame, and the eastern portion of the picture is part of the Gibson Desert. The whole region is quite dry, and much of the picture is occupied by dune fields, salt pans, and exposed bedrock.

GILA DESERT - A low-lying desert region surrounding the lower Gila River up to its juncture with the Colorado River.

GOBI DESERT - The desert region of north-central China and Mongolia.

GRAND ERGS - There are several of these empty regions in the Sahara, which contain virtually nothing but sand in massive dune formations. This one is in Morocco.


View looking westward across the Great Salt Lake and the adjacent Bonneville Salt Flats, (or the Great Salt Lake Desert).

GREAT SALT LAKE DESERT - Most of what once was the peri-glacial Lake Bonneville, that which is not currently part of the Great Salt Lake is now classified as this desert, primarily in the northwest quadrant of Utah. Much of this desert is occupied by the Bonneville Salt Flats.

 

GREAT SANDY DESERT - Northern Western Australia Province contains this large desert region.

GREAT VICTORIA DESERT - The largest desert region of Australia, this area occupies much of the southern continent.

HARNEY BASIN - The lowest-lying area,(at 4,000 feet, it's still considered "high" desert), at the center of the Oregon Desert, occupying much of southeastern Oregon.


View looking northwest from the Hogar area toward the Atlas Mountains of Morocco.

HOGAR - (Ahaggar) A mountainous region of the western Sahara, mostly comprising faulted, ancient metamorphic rock, with elevations reaching over 9,000 feet.

KALAHARI DESERT - A desert of the central southern African continent. North is at the top of this inverted image of the southern end of Africa. The deep rust color of the Kalahari is in plain view at the middle to lower right of the image


Looking northward, with the Sierra Nevada crest near the center of the image, the desert state of Nevada features prominantly in the right had side. Lake Tahoe, and the desert water bodies of Pyramid Lake, Walker Lake, and Mono Lake are all clearly visible. Pyramid and Walker are the remains of the once existent periglacial Lake Lahontan, which covered a large portion of the state of Nevada.

LAKE LAHONTAN and LAKE BONNEVILLE - These two prehistoric lakes occupied much of the Basin and Range Physiographic Province during the Pleistocene ice ages. Their remains are known as the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and the Humbolt and Carson River Sinks in Nevada, as well as numerous other large playas in the vicinity. Lake Manly and Lake Rogers were also prominent ice-age features in what is now known as Death Valley.
LIBYAN DESERT - A portion of the Sahara in eastern Libya and western Egypt.

NASA shuttle image over the southern Angola area, showing extensive dune fields of the Mocamedes.

MOCAMEDES DESERT - A northern extension of the Namib into southern Angola.

MOJAVE DESERT - That portion of the American Desert largely resident within southeastern California.

Landsat false color image over the northern Mojave, with Death Valley and the Panamint Mountains on the left (west), and Charleston Peak to the right (east).

NAMIB DESERT - An African desert on the coast of the southwestern African continent, linking the South Atlantic with the more inland Kalahari Desert

(AN) NAFUD - Northwestern Arabian desert.

 

NUBIAN DESERT - A desert region of southern Egypt and northern Sudan. East of the Nile River.

ORDOS DESERT - A southerly extension of the Gobi into what is now China, mostly south of the northward bend on the Hwang Ho.

OREGON DESERT - The arid and semi-arid regions of eastern Oregon. Essentially equivalent to the Harney Basin. Also referred to as the Great Sandy Desert, not to be confused with the desert of the same name in northwestern Australia.

PAMPAS - Semi-arid grasslands of northern Argentina leeward of the southern Andes.

QATARRA DEPRESSION - A region of the Libyan Desert in northwestern Egypt, lying as much as 400 feet or more below sea level.

(AR) RUB-AL-KHALI - (Ar Rimal) Literally the "Empty Quarter", the southern portion of the Arabian Desert.

SAHARA DESERT - The great desert of northern Africa, stretching from the Nile river, westward to the Atlantic coast. Within this immense arid stretch of land, fully one third of the African continent of itself, are several smaller named regions, (Most of which are identified elsewhere in this glossary.)

SEVIER DESERT - A southern extension of the Great Salt Lake Desert in the Basin-and-Range province within central western Utah.

SIMPSON DESERT - Lowland desert of central Australia. Lake Eyre, a large playa, is a prominent feature of this region, showing clearly in the Shuttle image here.

SONORAN DESERT - The desert region of southern Arizona and adjacent portions of Mexico (State of Sonora).

SYRIAN DESERT - The desert to the west of the Fertile Crescent (Badiyat and Ash Sham).

TAKLI-MAKAN - An arid basin in Sinkiang Province, China, between the Tienshan and Kunlun Shan. This Shuttle image shows the Takli Makan Basin (lower), and points westward to the horizon. The Takli Makan is at the heart of the ancient trade route between Europe and the Far East, known as the Silk Road(s), and is the focus of an on-going study to locate archeological sites with space-borne remote sensing platforms.

TANAMI DESERT - The Australian desert of western Northern Territory. This is the northernmost of the named Australian desert regions.

THAR DESERT - (Indian Desert) A desert region in Jasthan Province, India, and extending into Pakistan.

TIBESTI - A mountainous region in the eastern central Sahara, composed of volcanic constructs, with peaks as high as 11,000 feet above sea level. Shown here is Emi Koussi, approximately 11,200 feet in elevation.

VISCAINO DESERT - A desert of central Baja California, on the Pacific side of the central spine of the peninsula, adjacent to Viscaino Bay. Much of Baja California is quite arid.

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