Desert | Description |
Antarctica | World's largest desert. Covered with solid water. Lack of precipitation makes it a desert. Tallest mountain is Vinson Massif in the Ellsworth Mts. Active volcano - Mt. Erebus |
Sahara Desert | Northern Africa. Second largest in world. Atlas Mts to north. Dominated by rocky regions, sand seas, and salt flats. Inhabitants are the Berbers and Tuaregs. |
Altacama Desert | In Chile. Rain shadow of the Andes makes it the driest desert of the world. Nitrate resources used for production of explosives. |
Kalahari Desert | Botswana, Namibia, South Africa. Known for its red sand, large game reserves, and mineral deposits, notably uranium. |
Mojave Desert | U.S. Bounded by San Gabriel and San Bernadino Mts. Contains lowest and driest point in N. America - Death Valley. Most strongy associate with the Joshua Tree. |
Gobi Desert | China & Mongolia. Asia's largest desert, bounded on the north by Altai Mts. Known for its role in the Silk Road & Nemegt Basin, where fertilized dinosaur eggs & human artifacts have been found. |
Namib Desert | Namibia & Angola. Coastal desert, known for its bizarre Welwitschia and medicinal Hoodia plants. Oldest desert in the world. |
Painted Desert | Northern Arizona. Shared by Grand Canyon & Petrified Forest Nat's Parks. Known for its colorful rock formations. |
Negev Desert | Israel. Triangular, covers southern half of Israel. |
Taklamakan Desert | China. Extremely cold, sandy desert, known for splitting the Silk Road into branches. Bounded by Kunlun, Pamir, Tian, and Shan Mt Ranges. |
Great Sandy Desert | Western Australia. Part of the Western Desert and the 9th largest in world. |
Silk Road | Extensive interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, including North Africa and Europe. |