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Sevier

(Encyclopedia)Sevier, river, c.280 mi (450 km) long, formed in SW Utah by the junction of Panguitch Creek and Assay Creek. It flows northward through canyons, then leaves the mountains and flows SW through the Sevi...

Dasht-e Kavir

(Encyclopedia)Dasht-e Kavir däsht-ēkävērˈ [key], great salt desert, c.500 mi (800 km) long and c.200 mi (320 km) wide, SE of the Elburz Mts., N central Iran. It is a huge basin of interior drainage named after...

gerbil

(Encyclopedia)gerbil jûrˈbĭl [key], small desert rodent found throughout the hot arid regions of Africa and Asia. Also known as sand rats, gerbils have large eyes and powerful, elongated hind limbs upon which th...

sandstorm

(Encyclopedia)sandstorm, strong dry wind blowing over the desert that raises and carries along clouds of sand or dust often so dense as to obscure the sun and reduce visibility almost to zero; also known as a dusts...

David, Félicien César

(Encyclopedia)David, Félicien César fālēsyăNˈ sāzärˈ dävēdˈ [key], 1810–76, French composer. His ode-symphony Le Desert (1844) and his opera Lalla-Roukh (1862) contain Eastern elements, presaging the ...

Alice Springs

(Encyclopedia)Alice Springs, town, Northern Territory, Australia. It lies in a pastoral area surrounded by desert near the center of the continent and is a stop on the Adelaide Darwin Railway. The town ...

Mojave

(Encyclopedia)Mojave mōhäˈvē [key], river, c.100 mi (160 km) long, rising in the San Bernardino Mts., S Calif., and flowing generally north to disappear in the Mojave Desert. Due to the porous soil and rapid ev...

Nevada, University of

(Encyclopedia)Nevada, University of, at Reno and Las Vegas; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1864, opened 1874 at Elko, moved to Reno 1886. The Reno campus includes the Mackay School of Mine...

sirocco

(Encyclopedia)sirocco sərŏkˈō [key] [Ital., from Arab. sharq=east], hot, dust-laden, dry, southerly wind originating in the N African desert (most commonly in the spring) and reaching Italy and nearby Mediterra...

Kadesh, oasis, ancient Palestine

(Encyclopedia)Kadesh –bärnēˈə [key], oasis in the desert S of ancient Palestine, mentioned frequently in the Bible, notably as a limit of Edom. Another biblical name is En-mishpat. ...