Sturt's stony desert
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Geographic location : | 27 ° 0 ′ S , 140 ° 0 ′ E |
| Surface: | 29,750 km² |
| Annual rainfall: | 150 - 250 mm |
| Average daily maximum temperature: |
unknown |
Sturt's Stony Desert ( English Sturt's Stony Desert ) is an Australian desert that is located in the states of South Australia and, to a small extent, in Queensland . It extends over an area of 29,750 square kilometers. The desert is largely covered by desert pavement made of stone debris up to a size of 100 mm. It is one of the most arid and remote areas in Australia .
Discovery story
Sturt's Stony Desert got its name from the British explorer John McDouall Stuart , who first crossed the desert in 1861. He named it after the British explorer Charles Sturt , in whose expeditions he took part.
climate
The climate changes between hot summers and mild winters. The rainfall is low and the area is extremely arid.
geology
Sturt's Stony Desert emerged from the Jura to the Tertiary over a sedimentary basin , the Eromanga Basin . Originally the elevations in this landscape consisted of weather-prone sandstone on which weather-resistant chalcedonian sandstone was deposited. The weather-resistant components were shattered in the course of erosion processes and the sandstone, weathered to sand, was washed out or transported by wind.
landscape
The area is characterized by red sandy, stony and clayey plains that were formed in the Quaternary . The stone desert pavement that makes the crossing difficult and gives the desert its name with the term stony desert . The sharp-edged stones caused great problems for the Stuart expedition as they tore through the horses' hooves.
Beneath the desert lies the Great Artesian Basin , one of the largest freshwater pools in the world. This water resource is used for livestock farming, mining and tourism. There are several artesian springs in the desert, the most important at Dalhousie Springs . Many of the springs in the desert are threatened with success due to intensive use by free-roaming camels , livestock farming and mining.
Infrastructure
The Birdsville Track leads through Sturt's Stony Desert from Birdsville to Maree . There are several small settlements in the desert. Telecommunications connections in the settlements only became possible in 1987.
flora
The desert landscape can be described as savanna-like . On it grow low-growing acacias , such as gidgee ( Acacia cambagei ), and eucalypts , such as the coolabah ( Eucalyptus coolabah ), which grows on heavy clay soils, or red eucalyptus ( Eucalyptus camaldulensis ), which also finds sufficient water on drying rivers, and mulga - Bushes ( Acaciaaneura and Acaciaaneura stowardii ). Zygochloa grass grows in the savannah and on the sand hills and dunes .
fauna
Free-roaming camels , horses, donkeys and rabbits threaten the ecology, with the rabbit plague declining due to an epidemic. There were around 36 mammal species at the beginning of European colonization, ten of which are extinct in the desert area, including the black-tailed pouch marten ( Dasyurus geoffroii ), golden short-nosed pouch ( Isoodon auratus ), small rabbit- nosed pouch ( Macrotis lesueur ) and the short-tailed jumping mouse (Notomys amplus) . There are around 100 species of lizard in the desert.
157 birds were observed, including the Australian Bustard ( Ardeotis australis ), Langschwanztriel ( Burhinus grallarius ), black kite ( Milvus migrans ), crested pigeon ( Ocyphaps lophotes ) Rosakakadu ( Cacatua roseicapilla ), stilts Monarch ( Grallina cyanoleuca ), flute bird (Gymnorhina tibican) and Bronze-winged pigeon ( Phaps chalcoptera ) and gray-backed crow shrike ( Cracticus torquatus ).
Golden Blacktail Butler (extinct)
Little rabbit nosebug (extinct)
economy
Natural resources such as coal and natural gas lie in the desert. The savannah is used for agriculture in the north for cattle breeding and in the south. Tourism had a meaning in Witjira National Park .
Individual evidence
- ↑ ga.gov.au : Desert , in English, accessed February 27, 2013
- ↑ a b c d e Rangelands - Overview ( Memento from June 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ): Sturt Plains in English, accessed on March 24, 2013
- ↑ austhrutime.com : Sturt's Stony Desert , called in English, 24 March 2012
- ↑ exploroz.com : Birdsville Track , in English, accessed March 25, 2013
