Great Sandy Desert, Australia's second-largest desert, c.110,000 sq mi (284,900 sq km), Western Australia and Northern Territory. Lying between the Tanami Desert (NE) and the Gibson Desert (S), it is a vast region of salt marshes, desert grassland, low woodland, and tall, red sand dunes. The desert forms a bioregion with the Tanami Desert, and much of the W Great Sandy coincides with the sedimentary Canning Basin. The desert is crossed by the 1,150 mi (1,850 km) Canning Stock Route track, and is home to Uluru, or Ayers Rock, in Uluru–Kata Tjuta National Park, and the Wolfe Creek meteorite crater. The climate is generally arid tropical. Gold and copper mining and tourism are important industries.
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