Historical Geology Understanding Our Planet\'s Past

Figure 194An exposure
of loess standing in
vertical cliffs,Warren
County, Mississippi.
(Photo by E.W. Shaw,
courtesy USGS)

Historical Geology

TABLE 11 the MAJOR DESERTS

Area

Desert Location Type (square miles x 1,000)

Sahara North Africa Tropical 3,500

Australian Western/Interior Tropical 1,300

Arabian Arabian Peninsula Tropical 1,000

Turkestan Central Asia Continental 750

North American Southwest U.S./North Mexico Continental 500

Patagonian Argentina Continental 260

Thar India/Pakistan Tropical 230

Kalahari Southwest Africa Littoral 220

Gobi Mongolia/China Continental 200

Takla Makan Sinkiang, China Continental 200

Iranian Iran/Afganistan Tropical 150

Atacama Peru/Chile Littoral 140