Would continental deserts appear at the equator of a planet?

[Barlie]

Oh man, thank you SO much! I had this gnawing feeling that I'd screw up the map if I just went ahead with what I understood. It's just for a homebrew pnp rpg game so I'm not quite sure why I care so much, but I do. Now I can move on with this map (and my life) xD.

I'm not really an expert in climatology, but doesn't the general climate also affect the size and quantity? I know, this wasn't the starting question, but as we are already into it, why not discuss it further.
IIRC the Sahara was green in former, warmer periods and it is still not clear why the area deteriorated into the current state.

I'm no expert myself, this is just what I found while unsuccessfully trying to figure out what Caenwyr so graciously told me. There's a theory out that says that the earth wobbles on its axis like a spinning top, periodically changing the orientation of the earth's axis. Along with that change, you'd get changes in locations of temperature zones, wind patterns and ocean currents. The tilt change doesn't even need to be drastic. It seems the most recent green period for the Sahara (between 6000 and 9000 years ago) was destroyed by an axis tilt change of only 0.69 degrees from the vertical. This is based on computer models and evidence from collected sediments, which support each other.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/science...as_once_green/

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/ti...t-1117177.html

Edit: I have just one more question. Assuming no terrain blocks the wind, how far do you have to travel inland before the area is no longer climatically connected to the ocean?