Editing Deadly Desert (section)

==Geology==
On the map of Oz, first published in the endpapers of the eighth book, ''[[Tik-Tok of Oz]]'' (1914), the eastern quadrant of the desert is called the ''Deadly Desert'', while the other three quadrants of desert are called the ''Shifting Sands'', the ''Impassable Desert'', and the ''Great Sandy Waste''.<ref name=annotated/>

The desert was originally described as dangerous as any natural desert but no more. Indeed, in the second book, ''[[The Marvelous Land of Oz]]'' (1904), the witch [[Mombi]] tries to escape through it in the form of a [[griffin]], and [[Glinda the Good Witch |Glinda]] chases her over the sands. In the third book, ''[[Ozma of Oz]]'' (1907), it has become a magical desert with life-destroying sands and noxious fumes, a feature that remained constant through the rest of the series.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Riley |first1=Michael O. |title=Oz and Beyond: The Fantasy World of L. Frank Baum |date=1997 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |isbn=0-7006-0832-X |page=139}}</ref>

In the fifth book, ''[[The Road to Oz]]'' (1909), a sign is posted on the edge of the desert to warn travelers: 

<div class="center" style="width: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">ALL PERSONS ARE WARNED NOT TO VENTURE UPON THIS DESERT<br/>For the Deadly Sands Will Turn Any Living Flesh to Dust in an Instant.<br/>Beyond This Barrier is the<br/>LAND OF OZ<br/>But no one can Reach that Beautiful Country because of these Destroying Sands.</div>

The desert is used as a literary device to explain why Oz is essentially cut off from the rest of the world and the rest of the surrounding countries of [[Nonestica]]. However, it has been crossed several times by people from within Oz and from the outside world, with applied ingenuity, with magical assistance, or through unusual natural phenomena. In fact, no one in the Oz series is ever seen to die in the desert.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=De Hoff |first1=Nathan M. |title="Great dates and deserts!": Some Thoughts on the Deadly Desert of Oz |journal=The Baum Bugle |date=Winter 2011 |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=11–15}}</ref>