Deserts of the World “G...-J...-”
for environmental, ecology, and geography educators & classrooms, travelers.

The Gobi, the largest desert in Asia, and 4th largest in the world, covers parts of China and southern Mongolia. The lack of precipitation that created the Gobi is caused by the “rain shadow” effect of the Himalaya Mountains.

Ray Chapman Andrews lead an expedition into the Gobi in which palentologist Teilhard de Chardin participated.

The Great Basin Desert is contained within the Great Basin watershed area of the western United States between the Wasatch Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. It is considered a “cold” desert.

While exact boundaries defy establishment, the Great Basin Desert covers much of northern Nevada, western and southern Utah, the southern third of Idaho, the southeastern corner of Oregon, and melds into Colorado and Wyoming.

The Mojave Desert is within the watershed of the Great Basin, as is the Great Salt Lake. Jedediah Smith was the first white man to cross overland from Salt Lake to California, then back east across the Sierra Nevada and the Great Basin.

The largest cities in the Great Basin are Reno, NV and Salt Lake City, UT.

The Highlands, which cover most of interior Iceland, are mostly a desert of grey, black or brown earth, lava and volcanic ashes.

Any rain and snow precipitation infiltrates so quickly into the ash that it is unavailable for plant growth.

Judean Desert lies east of Jerusalem and descends to the Dead Sea, it is the northern region of the Negev Desert.