Desert exploration 5597523 224950194 2008-07-11T03:56:05Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other '''Desert exploration''' is the deliberate and scientific [[exploration]] of [[desert]]s, the [[arid]] regions of the [[earth]]. It is only incidentally concerned with the culture and livelihood of native [[desert dwellers]]. The nature of [[desert]]s ensures that the story of their [[exploration]] is filled with tragedy. Many expedition members met their deaths due to the harsh conditions. Unlike earlier naval exploration and later space exploration, there was little hope of financial reward, and desert expeditions were generally undertaken for scientific purposes, in search of earlier explorers who had vanished, or for the challenge alone. The following sections list deserts around the world, and their explorers. Expeditions are listed by their leaders; details of other expedition members may be found via the links. == Africa == * [[Kalahari Desert]] * [[Sahara Desert]] ** [[Heinrich Barth]] - crossed the [[Sahara]] during his travels in [[Africa]] and the [[Middle East]] during 1845-1847. ** [[James Richardson (explorer of the Sahara)|James Richardson]] - explored the Sahara and Sudan he died in the notorious [[Hammada]] (a stony desert) in the Western Sahara. ** [[Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs]] - German geographer. First person the cross Africa north to south. Named a place Regenfeld (Rainfield) near [[Dakhla Oasis]] in southern Egypt after experiencing a rare occurrence of desert rain. **[[Karl Alfred von Zittel]] German [[palaeontologist]] who accompanied Rohlfs. **[[Henri Duveyrier]] - He undertook a number of fossil-hunting explorations in the Sahara. **[[Albert-Félix de Lapparent]] - Explorer of the northern and western parts of the Sahara. **[[Victor Loche]] - first identified the [[Sand Cat]] (Felis margarita) while exploring the North Sahara. **[[Joseph Ritchie]] - sent to find the course of the [[River Niger]] and the location of [[Timbuktu]]. He died in Murzuk]]. **[[Helen Thayer]] - 20th Century walker and explorer. == Asia == * [[Gobi Desert]] == Australia == * [[Central Australia]] - general term covering the arid regions in the [[Australia]]n interior. ** [[Edward John Eyre]] - expeditions to [[Lake Eyre]] and the [[Flinders Ranges]] in the 1830s. ** [[Charles Sturt]] - expeditions from [[Adelaide]] in the 1840s. ** [[John McDouall Stuart]] - accompanied [[Charles Sturt|Sturt]] 1844-1845; expeditions 1859 & 1860 ([[South Australia]]), 1861-1862 (south-north crossing of [[Australia]]). ** [[Ludwig Leichhardt]] - expeditions 1844-1845 [[Moreton Bay]] to [[Port Essington]], 1846-1847 and 1848 west from [[Moreton Bay]], where the entire expedition vanished. ** [[Burke and Wills]] ([[Robert O'Hara Burke]] and [[William John Wills]]) - south-north crossing of [[Australia]] 1860-1861 where both died on the return journey. ** [[Augustus Gregory]] - searched for Leichhardt in 1858. ** [[Ernest Giles]] - expeditions 1872-1876. * [[Gibson Desert]] ** [[Ernest Giles]] - crossed the desert in 1874. * [[Great Sandy Desert]] * [[Great Victoria Desert]] ** [[John McDouall Stuart]] - skirted the desert in 1858. ** [[Ernest Giles]] - crossed the desert in 1875. * [[Nullarbor Plain]] - desert plain on the western part of the south coast of [[Australia]]. ** [[Edward John Eyre]] - expedition 1840-1841. * [[Tanami Desert]] * [[Simpson's Desert]] ** [[Cecil Madigan]] = expedition 1939 ** [[Charles Sturt]] - expedition 1844-1845. * [[Sturt's Stony Desert]] * [[Western Australia]] - a large and generally arid region. ** [[Austin expedition of 1854|Robert Austin]] - expedition 1854. ** [[Alexander Forrest]] - expeditions in 1870s and 1880s. ** [[John Forrest]] - expeditions in 1870s and 1880s. == North America == [[Category:Deserts]] [[Category:Explorers]]