Desio discovered in 1938 natural oil in the subsurface of Libya. In the same years he discovered also an exploitable deposit of Carnallite in the Oasis of Marada, and rich artesian aquifers in some zones of Northern Libya, which gave a strong impulse to the development of the agriculture. Further exploration in this region was however halted by the outbreak of World War II. During the winters of 1937 and 1938, Desio explored Wallega and the Benishangul-Gumuz Region in Eastern Ethiopia, both from the point of view of the geology and mining, discovering some new deposits of gold and molybdenite. In 1940 he organized and directed an expedition to Tibesti, employing automobiles and aircraft. The scientific reports were published in a volume by the Royal Geographical Society of Italy. In the same year he organized and directed a mining exploration in Northern Albania. Exploration of mountains in Asia In 1929 he was a member of the Italian Geographical Expedition to Karakoram, under the leadership of the Duke of Spoleto, in the capacity of geographer and geologist. On this occasion he covered Kashmir and Baltistan in Northern Pakistan, and developed his scientific activity in the valleys of Baltoro and Panmah glaciers on the south slope of the range, and in the Sarpo Laggo and Shaksgam valleys, between the Karakorum and the Aghil ranges, the Abruzzi valley climbing, for the first time, the Conway Pass. The results of this expedition are contained in a volume, which was published under the aegis of the Royal Geographical Society and the Italian Alpine Club in 1936. During the summer of 1933, Desio led an expedition to Iran. The expedition climbed some of the highest peaks of the Zagros Range including development of a new route to the summit of Iran's highest peak, Mount Damāvand (5,610 m). He published some scientific reports on this trip. From 1952 to 1955, he led 3 expeditions to the Karakorum Range and Hindu Kush. The first was a preliminary expedition; the second, the main expedition for the first ascent of K2 (8,611 m, second highest peak in the world); the third, for geological, geophysical and ethnographical researches. The results of the studies carried out during these expeditions have been published in many papers and more largely developed in 8 volumes of scientific character. During the summer of 1961, he led an expedition to Badakhshan and Katagan (North¬eastern Afghanistan) with a