Simpson Desert

The Simpson Desert (English Simpson Desert ) is an Australian desert. It lies mostly in the Northern Territory and covers an area of ​​176,500 km ². The annual rainfall is less than 200 mm. The average daily maximum temperatures are between 50 and 58 ° C.

Location

To the west of the Finke River and Mabel Range forms the border of the desert. To the north it merges with the Adam Range, during the Georgina and Diamantina River represent the eastern border. In the south is Lake Eyre.

Discovery history

The desert was named by the explorer and geologist Cecil Madigan after Allen Simpson, an Australian philanthropist and geographers. The researcher Charles Sturt was in 1845 the first European to visit the region. In 1936 it managed Edmund Colson first white man to cross the entire desert.

Description

Under the Simpson desert is the Great Artesian Basin, a large aquifer. Of this occurs at several points on the surface of water, both in a natural way by artesian sources (especially in Dalhousie ) and due to holes. Due to the enormous exploitation of the aquifer in recent years the amount of water has diminished significantly and the sources threaten to dry up completely.

In the Simpson Desert are the longest running parallel from north to south sand dunes in the world. They are held by the sparse vegetation in place and are between 3 m and 30 m in the west to the east high. The most famous dune, " Nappanerica " or " Big Red " is called, 40 m high.

There are no roads through this desert. The few runs that were created in the 1960s and 1970s by geologists, may be used only by well-equipped four-wheel vehicles. The starting points are the towns of Oodnadatta in the west and Birdsville in Queensland. A section of the Trans - Australian Railway Commonwealth Line crosses the western part of the Simpson Desert.

The South Australian Department for Environment and Heritage ( DEH ) decided in November 2008 to close the Simpson Desert from December to March for tourists.

1967 The Simpson Desert National Park protects a part of the desert area in Queensland.

Flora and Fauna

Compared with other Australian deserts falls in the Simpson desert only little rainfall. Even for the hardy acacia and eucalyptus trees that dominate the appearance of other deserts, it is too dry, and shrubs take their place. The closer you get to the center of the desert, the more steps back, the Bushes, and soon Spinifexgräser are the only plants that are still to be found. They have the form of small shrubs and provide habitat and food for the animals of the region.