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Deserts provide an excellent subject for interchange between Earth scientists of differing sub-disciplines. The aridity of climate and the sparseness of plants and animals, especially Man, encourage surface processes that produce sedimentary deposits sufficiently distinctive to be recognized unequivocally both throughout the passage of time and from one planet to another. Because of this, and because Lyell's dictum of uniformitarianism is probably most appropriate in desert settings where the impingement of evolving life forms has been least, an exchange between scientists concerned with the living deserts of Earth and beyond, on the one hand, and with ancient Earth counterparts, on the other, is extremely fruitful. Lessons are learned on all sides. This was the spirit that encouraged 185 participants to gather at a Special Scientific Meeting of the Geological Society of London in May 1986. It is also the underlying rationale for this Special Publication which incorporates a substantial proportion of the contributions made at that Meeting.