Gibson Desert

Most of the desert is a flat plain covered in small stones.

In another part, there are red sand dunes.

A Western Australian biodiversity audit describes two parts of the Gibson Desert. The Lateritic Plain, which covers most of it, is a flat, gently rolling plain of small gravel called 'buckshot', with a few flat-topped sandstone hills called mesas. The Dune Field has red sand dunes.

Under them lie old, flat layers of sandstone. There are no rivers that flow all year; creeks run only now and then.

Western Australian biodiversity audit (DBCA library): gravelly sandplains and laterised uplands on flat-lying Jurassic and Cretaceous sandstones of the Canning (Gunbarrel) Basin. Two subregions: the Lateritic Plain, a monotonous, gently undulating plain with a few sandstone mesas, and the Dune Field, red dune fields mantling Permian strata of the Gunbarrel Basin. No permanent rivers: the riparian zones follow ephemeral creek lines; Quaternary alluvia along palaeo-drainage features carry coolibah woodland over bunch grasses.

Spinifex grass and mulga trees grow here.

Rare animals are listed for this desert too, like the bilby and the marsupial mole.

Hummock grasses called spinifex cover much of the desert. On the buckshot plains, mulga trees stand over spinifex, and in the valleys mulga scrub grows above the grass.

The audit lists rare animals here, among them the night parrot, the marsupial mole, the bilby, the black-footed rock-wallaby, the malleefowl, the princess parrot, the woma python and the mulgara.

Audit: the Carnegie Botanical District; mulga parkland over Triodia basedowii (a spinifex) on lateritic buckshot plains; shrub steppe in the north and mulga scrub in the south on lateritic uplands; coolibah woodlands on old drainage lines. Rare species include the night parrot, marsupial mole, bilby, black-footed rock-wallaby, malleefowl, princess parrot, woma python and mulgara. More than 40% of the original mammal fauna is regionally extinct; threats named are changed fire regimes and feral animals (camels, rabbits, foxes, cats).

Two Class A nature reserves, the Gibson Desert Nature Reserve and Mangkili Claypan Nature Reserve; more than 1.8 million ha (12%) of the bioregion reserved.

Very little rain falls here. Most of the rain falls in summer.

Holes in the rock can hold water.

The Gibson Desert gets about 200 millimeters of rain a year, mostly in summer. No rivers here flow all year.

The audit names Lake Gruszka and the Gibson Desert gnamma holes, natural holes in rock that hold water, as rare features of the region. It says the gnamma holes are no longer regularly looked after by their traditional owners.

Audit: arid climate, mainly summer rainfall, about 200 mm a year. Rare features: Lake Gruszka and the Gibson Desert gnamma holes, two wetlands of national significance; the gnamma holes' greatest threat is siltation, as the site is no longer regularly maintained by traditional owners. Large, intense summer wildfires degrade hummock grasslands and mulga woodland.

Deserts can be very hot. Wear a wide hat and loose, light clothes.

Drink water, and rest in the shade.

The CDC advises light, loose, light-colored clothing and a wide-brimmed hat in hot places, and drinking during exertion, because waiting until you are thirsty is not enough to prevent mild dehydration.

It also says to avoid hard activity during the hottest part of the day. If someone feels faint in the heat, move to shade or a cool place.

CDC Yellow Book (heat illness): lightweight, loose, light-colored clothing and a wide-brimmed hat; fluid intake during exertion (thirst alone does not prevent mild dehydration, but forcing water on someone not thirsty raises the risk of hyponatremia); avoid strenuous activity in the hottest part of the day; for heat syncope, move to shade or a cool place.

Geoscience Australia: mainland deserts reach temperatures over 35 °C in summer.