What is Simpson Desert?
[[Image:B9113 22 simpson desert.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Ted Colson's expedition across the Simpson Desert in 1936]] The '''Simpson Desert''' is a very dry part of [[Australia]]. It is mainly in the [[Northern Territory]], but also in the north of [[South Australia]] and western [[Queensland]]. It covers about 176,500 square km,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ga.gov.au/education/facts/landforms/deserts.htm |title=National Mapping - Fab Facts, Landforms, Deserts |access-date=2008-06-03 |archive-date=2008-08-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080802191317/http://www.ga.gov.au/education/facts/landforms/deserts.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> about 2.3% of Australia. The Simpson Desert gets less than 150 ml of rain each year. It is made up of big red sand [[dune]]s up to {{convert|40|m|yd|0|lk=on|abbr=on}} high, {{convert|190|km|mi|0|lk=on|abbr=on}} long and about {{convert|1|km|mi|0|lk=on|abbr=on}} apart. At most times there is no surface water, but after rain there can be rivers which flow into normally dry lakes. Temperatures in summer can be more than 50 C, and in winter can be below 0 C. Early [[explorer]]s into the Simpson Desert were [[Charles Sturt]] [[1845]], J.McKinlay, W.O. Hodgkinson, C.Winneke [[1883]], A.Poeppel [[1879]]. The desert was named after A.A.Simpson, [[President]] of the [[Royal Geographical Society of Australasia]] in [[1929]]. The first [[Europe]]an to cross the desert was Ted Colson in [[1936]]. [[Image:Desert de Simpson.jpg|thumb|right|Simpson Desert, Australia]] No proper roads cross the desert. There are many tracks that were made during the search for gas and oil during the 1960s and 1970s. These tracks include the French Line, the Rig Road, and the QAA Line. Such tracks can be driven on by well-equipped [[four-wheel drive]] vehicles which must carry extra fuel and water. Towns close to the edge of the Simpson Desert include [[Oodnadatta, South Australia|Oodnadatta]] to the southwest, and [[Birdsville, Queensland|Birdsville]] in the east. On the western side is the Mount Dare