The Gobi (Mongolian The Mongolian language is the best-known member of the Mongolic language family. It has about 5.7 million speakers, including over 90% of the residents of Mongolia and many of the Mongolian residents of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region of China. In Mongolia, the Khalkha dialect of Mongolian, written in Cyrillic, is predominant; in Inner: Говь, Govi, "semidesert"; Chinese Chinese or the Sinitic language (汉语／漢語 Hànyǔ; 华语／華語 Huáyǔ; 中文 Zhōngwén) is a language family consisting of languages which are mostly mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages: 戈壁(沙漠) Gēbì (Shāmò)) is a large desert A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Deserts are defined as areas with an average annual precipitation of less than 250 millimetres per year, or as areas where more water is lost by evapotranspiration than falls as precipitation. In the Köppen region in Asia Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population. During the 20th century Asia's population nearly quadrupled. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China China is seen variously as an ancient civilization extending over a large area in East Asia, a nation and/or a multinational entity, and of southern Mongolia Mongolia (pronounced /mɒŋˈɡoʊliə/; Mongolian: Монгол улс , literally Mongol country/nation, ) is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and the People's Republic of China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 38. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains The Altai Mountains are a mountain range in central Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their sources. The Altai Mountains are known as the original locus of the speakers of Turkic as well as other members of the proposed Altaic language group. The northwest end of the range is and the grasslands and steppes A steppe in physical geography refers to a biome region characterised by grassland plain without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. The prairie (especially the shortgrass and mixed prairie) is an example of a steppe, though it is not usually called such. It may be semi-desert, or covered with grass or shrubs or both, depending on the of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor Hexi Corridor or Gansu Corridor refers to the historical route in Gansu province of China. As part of the Northern Silk Road running northwest from the bank of the Yellow River, it used to be the most important passage from North China to Xinjiang and Central Asia for traders and the military and Tibetan Plateau The Tibetan Plateau , also known as the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (Chinese: 青藏高原; Pinyin: Qingzang Gaoyuan) is a vast, elevated plateau in Central Asia covering most of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province in China and Ladakh in India-controlled Kashmir. It occupies an area of around 1,000 by 2,500 kilometers, and has an average to the southwest, and by the North China Plain The North China Plain is based on the deposits of the Yellow River and is the largest alluvial plain of eastern Asia. The plain is bordered on the north by the Yanshan Mountains and on the west by the Taihang Mountains. To the south, it merges into the Yangtze Plain. From northeast to southeast, it fronts the Bohai Gulf, the highlands of Shandong to the southeast. The Gobi is made up of several distinct ecological and geographic regions based on variations in climate and topography. This desert is the fifth largest in the world Bayuda Desert · Chalbi Desert · Danakil Desert · Eastern Desert · Ferio Desert · Kalahari Desert · Libyan Desert · Namib Desert · Nubian Desert · Nyiri Desert · Richtersveld · Sahara · Ténéré · White Desert.

The Gobi is most notable in history as part of the great Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire (Mongolian: Монголын Эзэнт Гүрэн , Mongolyn Ezent Güren or Их Mонгол улс, Ikh Mongol Uls) was an empire from the 13th and 14th century spanning from Eastern Europe across Asia. It is the largest contiguous empire in the history of the world. It emerged from the unification of Mongol and Turkic tribes, and as the location of several important cities along the Silk Road The Silk Road (or Silk Routes) is an extensive interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, as well as North and Northeast Africa and Europe. The Silk Road gets its name from the lucrative Chinese silk trade, a major reason for the connection of trade.

The Gobi is a rain shadow The condition exists because as warm moist air rises through "orographic lifting" to the top of a mountain range or large mountain, where due to decreasing atmospheric pressure with increasing altitude, it has expanded and adiabatically cooled to the point that the air reaches its adiabatic dew point . At the adiabatic dew point, desert formed by the Himalaya The Himalaya Range (Sanskrit: literally, "abode of snow", Hindi/Sanskrit: हिमालय, IPA: /hɪˈmɑːləj/), or the Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. By extension, it is also the name of a massive mountain system that includes the Karakoram, the Hindu range blocking rain-carrying clouds from reaching the Gobi.

Contents

Geography

The Gobi measures over 1,610 km (1,000 mi) from southwest to northeast and 800 km (497 mi) from north to south. The desert is widest in the west, along the line joining the Lake Bosten and the Lop Nor Lop Nur is a group of small, now seasonal salt lake sand marshes between the Taklamakan and Kuruktag deserts in the southeastern portion of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China (87°-89° east). It occupies an arc of land 1,295,000 km2 (500,002 sq mi)[1] in area, making it fifth largest in the world and Asia's largest. Much of the Gobi is not sandy but is covered with bare rock.

The Gobi has several different Chinese names, including 沙漠 (Shāmò, actually a generic term for deserts in general) and 瀚海 (Hànhǎi, "endless sea"). In its broadest definition, the Gobi includes the long stretch of desert and semi-desert area extending from the foot of the Pamirs The Pamir Mountains are a mountain range in Central Asia formed by the junction or knot of the Himalayas, Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, and Hindu Kush ranges. They are among the world’s highest mountains and since Victorian times they have been known as the "Roof of the World", translated from "Pamir". They are also known by, 77° east, to the Greater Khingan The Greater Khingan Range (simplified Chinese: 大兴安岭; traditional Chinese: 大興安嶺 pinyin: Dà Xīng'ān lǐng; Mongolian: Их Хянганы нуруу ; Manchu: Amba Hinggan), also called the Greater Hing'an Range or Greater Hinggan Range, is a volcanic mountain range in Inner Mongolia in northeastern China. The range extends Mountains, 116°-118° east, on the border of Manchuria Manchuria is a historical name given to a vast geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria either falls entirely within People's Republic of China, or is divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast China , and historically referred as Guandong (simplified Chinese: ; and from the foothills of the Altay, Sayan The Sayan Mountains are a mountain range in southern Siberia, Russia, and Yablonoi mountain ranges on the north to the Kunlun, Altyn-Tagh Altyn-Tagh, Astyn-Tagh, Altun Mountains, Altun Shan or Aerjin Shan , is a mountain range along the north side of the Tibetan Plateau in northwestern China. To the north is the eastern Tarim Basin and the Kumtagh Desert. The western third is in Xinjiang while the eastern part forms the border between Qinghai to the south and Xinjiang and Gansu to, and Qilian The Qilian Mountains is a northern outlier of the Kunlun Mountains, forming the border between the Qinghai and the Gansu provinces of northern China. The mountains are the source of the Ejin (Heihe) River mountain ranges, which form the northern edges of the Tibetan Plateau The Tibetan Plateau , also known as the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (Chinese: 青藏高原; Pinyin: Qingzang Gaoyuan) is a vast, elevated plateau in Central Asia covering most of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province in China and Ladakh in India-controlled Kashmir. It occupies an area of around 1,000 by 2,500 kilometers, and has an average, on the south.[citation needed]

A relatively large area on the east side of the Greater Khingan range, between the upper waters of the Songhua The Songhua River is a river in Northeast China, and is the largest tributary of the Heilong River (Amur), flowing about 1,434 km from Changbai Mountains through the Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces. The river drains 557,180 square miles of land (Sungari) and the upper waters of the Liao-ho, is also reckoned to belong to the Gobi by conventional usage. On the other hand, geographers A geographer is a scientist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's physical environment and human habitat and ecologists Ecology is the scientific study of the distributions, abundance and relations of organisms and their interactions with the environment. Ecology includes the study of plant and animal populations, plant and animal communities and ecosystems. Ecosystems describe the web or network of relations among organisms at different scales of organization prefer to regard the western area of the Gobi region (as defined above), the basin of the Tarim in Xinjiang Xinjiang is an autonomous region (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region) of the People's Republic of China and also claimed by the Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2. Xinjiang borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, has abundant oil and the desert basin of Lop Nor and Hami (Kumul) as forming a separate and independent desert, called the Taklamakan Desert The Taklamakan Desert , also known as Taklimakan, is a desert in Central Asia, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's 17th largest desert. It is bounded by the Kunlun Mountains to the south, and the desert Pamir Mountains and Tian Shan (ancient Mount Imeon) to the west and north. The name is.

The Nemegt Basin in the northwestern part of the Gobi Desert (in Mongolia) is famous for its fossil treasures, including early mammals Prehistoric mammals are groups of mammals that lived before humans developed writing. 164 million years ago, in the Jurassic period, Castorocauda lutrasimilis, a mammal-like animal weighing about 500 grams (1.1 lb), had a full mammalian pelt, with guard hairs and under fur, webbed feet, and scales on the tail like a modern beaver, as well as teeth, dinosaur eggs, and even prehistoric stone implements, some 100,000 years old.

Climate

Gobi by NASA World Wind World Wind is a free and open source virtual globe developed by NASA and the open source community for use on personal computers. Old versions need Microsoft Windows but the more recent Java version, World Wind Java, is cross platform and provides a suite of demo apps. The World Wind Java version was awarded NASA Software of the Year for 2009. The Sand dunes in Inner Mongolia, China A summer monsoon produces a flash flood, 2005 Bactrian camels The Bactrian Camel is a large even-toed ungulate native to the steppes of north eastern Asia. It is one of the two surviving species of camel. The Bactrian Camel has two humps on its back, in contrast to the single-humped Dromedary Camel by the sand dunes In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by aeolian processes. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind. The valley or trough between dunes is of Khongoryn Els, Gurvansaikhan NP, Mongolia The sand dunes In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by aeolian processes. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind. The valley or trough between dunes is of Khongoryn Els, Gurvansaikhan NP, Mongolia

The Gobi is a cold desert, and it is not uncommon to see frost and occasionally snow on its dunes. Besides being quite far north, it is also located on a plateau roughly 910–1,520 meters (3,000–5,000 ft) above sea level, which further contributes to its low temperatures. An average of approximately 194 millimeters (7.6 in) of rain falls per year in the Gobi. Additional moisture reaches parts of the Gobi in winter as snow is blown by the wind from the Siberian Siberia , is a vast region, constituting almost all of Northern Asia and currently the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, as it was in the USSR from its beginning, and the Russian Empire since the 16th century Steppes. These winds cause the Gobi to reach extremes of temperature ranging from –40°C (-40°F) in winter to +50°C (122°F) in summer.[2]

The climate Climates encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elements in a given region over long periods of time. Climate can be contrasted to weather, which is the present condition of these same elements and their variations over periods up to two weeks of the Gobi is one of great extremes, combined with rapid changes of temperature Historically, two equivalent concepts of temperature have developed, the thermodynamic description and a microscopic explanation based on statistical physics. Since thermodynamics deals entirely with macroscopic measurements, the thermodynamic definition of temperature, first stated by Lord Kelvin, is stated entirely in empirical, measurable, not only through the year but even within 24 hours (by as much as 35 °C or 61 °F).

Temperature
Sivantse (1190 m) Ulaanbaatar Ulan Bator or Ulaanbaatar (/ˈuːlɑːn ˈbɑːtɑr/; Mongolian: Улаанбаатар, ᠤᠯᠠᠭᠠᠨ ᠪᠠᠭᠠᠲᠤᠷ English: The Red Hero), is the capital and largest city of Mongolia. The city is an independent municipality not part of any province, and its population as of 2008 was just over one million (1150 m)
Annual mean -2.5 °C (27 °F) 2.8 °C (37 °F)
January mean -26.5 °C (-15.7 °F) -16.5 °C (2 °F)
July mean 17.5 °C (63.5 °F) 19.0 °C (66 °F)
Extremes 38.0 °C and -43 °C (100 °F and -45 °F) 33.9 °C and -47 °C (93 °F and -52 °F)

Even in southern Mongolia the thermometer A thermometer (from the Greek θερμός meaning "warm" and meter, "to measure") is a device that measures temperature or temperature gradient using a variety of different principles. A thermometer has two important elements: the temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb on a mercury thermometer) in which some physical change occurs goes down as low as -32.8 °C (-27 °F), and in Alxa Alxa League is one of 12 prefecture level divisions and three extant leagues of Inner Mongolia. The league borders Mongolia to the north, Bayan Nur to the northeast, Wuhai and Ordos to the east, Ningxia to the southeast, and Gansu to the south and west. The capital is Bayan Hot (older name: 定远营 Dingyuanying) in the aimag's Left Banner it rises as high as 37 °C (98.6 °F) in July.

Average winter minimals are a frigid -40 °C (-40 °F) while summertime temperatures are warm to hot, highs range up to 50 °C (122 °F). Most of the precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that is pulled down by gravity and deposited on the Earth's surface. The main forms of precipitation include rain, snow, ice pellets, and graupel. It occurs when the atmosphere, a large gaseous solution, becomes saturated with water vapour and the water falls during the summer.

Although the southeast monsoons Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by seasonal changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea. Usually, the term monsoon is used to refer to the rainy phase of a seasonally-changing reach the southeast parts of the Gobi, the area throughout this region is generally characterized by extreme dryness, especially during the winter. Hence, the icy sandstorms A dust storm or sandstorm is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front blows loose sand and dust from a dry surface. Particles are transported by saltation and suspension, causing soil erosion from one place and deposition in another. The Sahara and drylands around the Arabian peninsula and snowstorms A winter storm is an event in which the dominant varieties of precipitation are forms that only occur at cold temperatures, such as snow or sleet, or a rainstorm where ground temperatures are cold enough to allow ice to form . In temperate continental climates, these storms are not necessarily restricted to the winter season, but may occur in the of spring and early summer plus early January (winter)

Conservation, ecology, economy

The Gobi Desert is the source of many important fossil finds, including the first dinosaur eggs.

These deserts and the surrounding regions sustain many animals, including black-tailed gazelles The Goitered, Black-tailed or Persian gazelle is a gazelle found in the north part of Azerbaijan, in a large area of central Asia, including part of Iran and southern west Pakistan in the western end of the range, as well as the Gobi desert. The specific name means "full below the throat" and refers to the male having an enlargement of, marbled polecats The marbled polecat is a small mammal belonging to the monotypic genus Vormela within the Mustelinae subfamily. Vormela is from the German word Würmlein, which means "little Worm". The term peregusna comes from pereguznya, which is Ukrainian for polecat. Marbled polecats are generally found in the dryer areas and grasslands of south-, bactrian camels The Bactrian Camel is a large even-toed ungulate native to the steppes of north eastern Asia. It is one of the two surviving species of camel. The Bactrian Camel has two humps on its back, in contrast to the single-humped Dromedary Camel, Mongolian wild ass and sandplovers Plovers are a widely distributed group of wading birds belonging to the subfamily Charadriinae. They are known to dive in lakes looking for fish. There are about 40 species in the subfamily, most of them called "plover" or "dotterel". The closely related lapwing subfamily, Vanellinae, comprises another 20-odd species, and are occasionally visited by snow leopards The snow leopard is a moderately large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. The classification of this species has been subject to change and its exact taxonomic position will not be resolved until further studies are conducted, brown bears The brown bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It can weigh from 300 to 780 kilograms (660 to 1720 lbs) and its largest subspecies, the Kodiak Bear, rivals the polar bear as the largest member of the bear family and as the largest land-based predator, and wolves. The desert features a number of drought-adapted shrubs such as gray sparrow's saltwort, gray sagebrush, and low grasses such as needle grass and bridlegrass.

The area is vulnerable to trampling by livestock and off-road vehicles (human impacts are greater in the eastern Gobi Desert, where rainfall is heavier and may sustain livestock). In Mongolia, grasslands have been degraded by goats, raised by nomadic herders as source of cashmere wool. Economic trends of livestock privatization and the collapse of the urban economy have caused people to return to rural lifestyles, a movement contrary to urbanization.

Large copper and gold deposits located at Oyuu Tolgoi, about 80 kilometers from the Chinese border into Mongolia, are being investigated for mining operations.[3]

Desertification

Currently, the Gobi desert is expanding at an alarming rate, in a process known as desertification. The expansion is particularly rapid on the southern edge into China, which has seen 3,600 km2 (1,390 sq mi) of grassland overtaken every year by the Gobi Desert. Dust storms, which used to occur regularly in China, have seen a dramatic increase in occurrence in the past 20 years, mainly due to desertification, and causing further damage to China's agriculture economy.

The expansion of the Gobi is attributed mostly to human activities, notably deforestation, overgrazing, and depletion of water resources. China has made various plans to try to slow the expansion of the desert, which have met with some small degree of success, but usually have no major impact. The most recent plan involves the planting of the Green Wall of China, a huge ring of newly-planted forests that the Chinese government hopes will act as a buffer against further expansion.

Ecoregions of the Gobi

The Gobi, broadly defined, can be divided into five distinct dry ecoregions.

The 'Eastern Gobi desert steppe' is the easternmost of the Gobi ecoregions, covering an area of 281,800 km2 (108,804 sq mi). It extends from the Inner Mongolian Plateau in China northward into Mongolia. It includes the Yin Mountains and many low-lying areas with salt pans and small ponds. It is bounded by the Mongolian-Manchurian grassland to the north, the Yellow River Plain to the southeast, and the Alashan Plateau semi-desert to the southeast and east.

The Alashan Plateau semi-desert lies west and southwest of the Eastern Gobi desert steppe. It consists of the desert basins and low mountains lying between the Gobi Altai range on the north, the Helan Mountains to the southeast, and the Qilian Mountains and northeastern portion of the Tibetan Plateau on the southwest.

The Gobi Lakes Valley desert steppe ecoregion lies north of Alashan Plateau semi-desert, between the Gobi Altai range to the south and the Khangai Mountains to the north.

The Dzungarian Basin semi-desert includes the desert basin lying between the Altai mountains on the north and the Tian Shan range on the south. It includes the northern portion of China's Xinjiang province and extends into the southeastern corner of Mongolia. The Alashan Plateau semi-desert lies to the east, and the Emin Valley steppe to the west, on the China-Kazakhstan border.

The Tian Shan range separates the Dzungarian Basin semi-desert from the Taklamakan Desert, which is a low, sandy desert basin surrounded by the high mountain ranges of the Tibetan Plateau to the south and the Pamirs to the west. The Taklamakan Desert ecoregion includes the Desert of Lop.

Eastern Gobi desert steppe

A Khulan (Mongolian Wild Ass) on a hill in the eastern Gobi of Mongolia at sunset.

Here the surface is extremely diversified, although there are no great differences in vertical elevation. Between Ulaanbaatar (48°00′N 107°00′E / 48°N 107°E) and the little lake of Iren-dubasu-nor (43°45′N 111°50′E / 43.75°N 111.833°E ) the surface is greatly eroded, and consists of broad flat depressions and basins separated by groups of flat-topped mountains of relatively low elevation 150 to 180 m (490 to 590 ft)), through which archaic rocks crop out as crags and isolated rugged masses. The floors of the depressions lie mostly between 900 to 1,000 m (3,000 to 3,300 ft) above sea-level. Farther south, between Iren-dutiasu-nor and the Hwang-ho comes a region of broad tablelands alternating with flat plains, the latter ranging at altitudes of 1000–1100 m and the former at 1,070 to 1,200 m (3,510 to 3,900 ft). The slopes of the plateaus are more or less steep, and are sometimes penetrated by "bays" of the lowlands. As the border-range of the Hyangan is approached, the country steadily rises up to 1,370 m (4,490 ft) and then to 1,630 m (5,350 ft). Here small lakes frequently fill the depressions, though the water in them is generally salt or brackish. Both here and for 320 km (199 mi) south of Ulaanbaatar, streams are frequent and grass grows more or less abundantly. There is, however, through all the central parts, until the bordering mountains are reached, an utter absence of trees and shrubs. Clay and sand are the predominant formations, the watercourses, especially in the north, being frequently excavated 2 to 3 m (6 ft 7 in to 9 ft 10 in) deep, and in many places in the flat, dry valleys or depressions farther south beds of loess, 5 to 6 m (16 to 20 ft) thick, are exposed. West of the route from Ulaanbaatar to Kalgan the country presents approximately the same general features, except that the mountains are not so irregularly scattered in groups but have more strongly defined strikes, mostly east to west, west-north-west to east-south-east, and west-south-west to east-north-east.

The altitudes too are higher, those of the lowlands ranging from 1,000 to 1,700 m (3,300 to 5,600 ft), and those of the ranges from 200 to 500 m (660 to 1,600 ft) higher, though in a few cases they reach altitudes of 2,400 m (7,900 ft). The elevations do not, however, form continuous chains, but make up a congeries of short ridges and groups rising from a common base and intersected by a labyrinth of ravines, gullies, glens and basins. But the tablelands, built up of the horizontal red deposits of the Han-gai (Obruchev's Gobi formation) which are characteristic of the southern parts of eastern Mongolia, are absent here or occur only in one locality, near the Shara-muren river, and are then greatly intersected by gullies or dry watercourses. Here there is, however, a great dearth of water, no streams, no lakes, no wells, arid precipitation falls but seldom. The prevailing winds blow from the west and northwest and the pall of dust overhangs the country as in the Takla Makan and the desert of Lop. Characteristic of the flora are wild garlic, Kalidium gracile, wormwood, saxaul, Nitraria schoberi, Caragana, Ephedra, saltwort and the grass Lasiagrostis splendens. The taana wild onion Allium polyrrhizum is the main browse eaten by many herd animals, and Mongolians claim that this is essential to produce the correct, slightly hazelnut-like flavour of camel airag (fermented milk).

This great desert country of Gobi is crossed by several trade routes, some of which have been in use for thousands of years. Among the most important are those from Kalgan (at the Great Wall) to Ulaanbaatar (960 km (597 mi)), from Jiuquan (in Gansu) to Hami 670 km (416 mi) from Hami to Beijing (2,000 km (1,243 mi)), from Hohhot to Hami and Barkul, and from Lanzhou (in Gansu) to Hami.

Alashan Plateau semi-desert

The southwestern portion of the Gobi, known also as the Hsi-tau and the Little Gobi, fills the space between the great north loop of the Yellow River on the east, the Ejin River on the west, and the Qilian Mountains and narrow rocky chain of Longshou , 3,200 to 3,500 m (10,500 to 11,500 ft) in altitude, on the southwest. The Ordos Desert, which covers the northeastern portion of the Ordos Plateau, in the great north loop of the Huang He, is part of this ecoregion. It belongs to the middle basin of the three great depressions into which Potanin divides the Gobi as a whole. "Topographically," says Przhevalsky, "it is a perfectly level plain, which in all probability once formed the bed of a huge lake or inland sea." The data upon which he bases this conclusion are the level area of the region as a whole, the hard saldgine clay and the sand-strewn surface, and lastly the salt lakes which occupy its lowest parts. For hundreds of kilometers there is nothing to be seen but bare sands; in some places they continue so far without a break that the Mongols call them Tengger (i.e. sky). These vast expanses are absolutely waterless, nor do any oases relieve the unbroken stretches of yellow sand which alternate with equally vast areas of saline clay or, nearer the foot of the mountains, with barren shingle. Although on the whole a level country with a general altitude of 1,000 to 1,500 m (3,300 to 4,900 ft), this section, like most other parts of the Gobi, is crowned by a chequered network of hills and broken ranges going up 300 m higher. The vegetation is confined to a few varieties of bushes and a dozen kinds of grasses and herbs, the most conspicuous being saxaul (Haloxylon ammondendron) and Agriophyllum gobicum. The others include prickly convolvulus, field wormwood (Artemisia campestris), acacia, Inula ammophila, Sophora flavescens, Convolvulus ammanii, Peganum and Astragalus, but all dwarfed, deformed and starved. The fauna consists of little else except antelopes, the wolf, fox, hare, hedgehog, marten, numerous lizards and a few birds, e.g. the sandgrouse, lark, stonechat, sparrow, crane, Henderson's Ground Jay (Podoces hendersoni), Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris), and Crested Lark (Galerida cristata).

Dzungarian Basin semi-desert

The Yulduz valley or valley of the Haidag-gol (43°N 83°E / 43°N 83°E–43°N 86°E / 43°N 86°E) is a mini desert enclosed by two prominent members of the Shanashen Trahen Osh mountain range, namely the chucis and the kracenard pine rallies, running perpendicular and far from one another. As they proceed south they transcend and transpose, sweeping back on east and west, respectively so as to leave room for the Lake Bosten. These two ranges mark the northern and the southern edges respectively of a great swelling, which extends eastward for nearly twenty degrees of longitude. On its northern side the Chol-tagh descends steeply, and its foot is fringed by a string of deep depressions, ranging from Lukchun (130 m (427 ft) below sea level) to Hami (850 m (2,789 ft) above sea-level). To the south of the Kuruk-tagh lie the desert of Lop Nur, the Kum-tagh desert, and the valley of the Bulunzir-gol. To this great swelling, which arches up between the two border-ranges of the Chol-tagh and Kuruk-tagh, the Mongols give the name of Ghashuun-Gobi or Salt Desert. It is some 130 to 160 km (81 to 99 mi) across from north to south, and is traversed by a number of minor parallel ranges, ridges and chains of hills, and down its middle runs a broad stony valley, 40 to 80 km (25 to 50 mi) wide, at an elevation of 900 to 1,370 m (3,000 to 4,490 ft). The Chol-tagh, which reaches an average altitude of 1,800 m (5,900 ft), is absolutely sterile, and its northern foot rests upon a narrow belt of barren sand, which leads down to the depressions mentioned above.

The Kuruk-tagh is the greatly disintegrated, denuded and wasted relic of a mountain range which formerly was of incomparably greater magnitude. In the west, between Lake Bosten and the Tarim, it consists of two, possibly of three, principal ranges, which, although broken in continuity, run generally parallel to one another, and embrace between them numerous minor chains of heights. These minor ranges, together with the principal ranges, divide the region into a series of long; narrow valleys, mostly parallel to one another and to the enclosing mountain chains, which descend like terraced steps, on the one side towards the depression of Lukchun and on the other towards the desert of Lop. In many cases these latitudinal valleys are barred transversely by ridges or spurs, generally elevations en masse of the bottom of the valley. Where such elevations exist, there is generally found, on the east side of the transverse ridge, a cauldron-shaped depression, which some time or other has been the bottom of a former lake, but is now nearly a dry salt-basin. The surface configuration is in fact markedly similar to that which occurs in the inter-mount latitudinal valleys of the Kunlun Mountains. The hydrography of the Ghashiun-Gobi and the Kuruk-tagh is determined by these chequered arrangements of the latitudinal valleys. Most of the principal streams, instead of flowing straight down these valleys, cross them diagonally and only turn west after they have cut their way through one or more of the transverse barrier ranges. To the highest range on the great swelling Gruni-Grzhimailo gives the name of Tuge-tau, its altitude being 2,700 m (8,858 ft) above the level of the sea and some 1,200 m (3,937 ft) above the crown of the swelling itself. This range he considers to belong to the Choltagh system, whereas Sven Hedin would assign it to the Kuruk-tagh. This last, which is pretty certainly identical with the range of Kharateken-ula (also known as the Kyzyl-sanghir, Sinir, and Singher Mountains), that overlooks the southern shore of the Lake Bosten, though parted from it by the drift-sand desert of Ak-bel-kum (White Pass Sands), has at first a westnorthwest to eastsoutheast strike, but it gradually curves round like a scimitar towards the eastnortheast and at the same time gradually decreases in elevation. In 91° east, while the principal range of the Kuruk-tagh system wheels to the eastnortheast, four of its subsidiary ranges terminate, or rather die away somewhat suddenly, on the brink of a long narrow depression (in which Sven Hedin sees a northeast bay of the former great Central Asian lake of Lop-nor), having over against them the écheloned terminals of similar subordinate ranges of the Pe-shan (Boy-san) system (see below). The Kuruk-tagh is throughout a relatively low, but almost completely barren range, being entirely destitute of animal life, save for hares, antelopes and wild camels, which frequent its few small, widely scattered oases. The vegetation, which is confined to these same relatively favoured spots, is of the scantiest and is mainly confined to bushes of saxaul (Haloxylon), Anabasis, reeds (kamish), tamarisks, poplars, and Ephedra

European exploration up to 1911

The Gobi had a long history of human habitation, mostly by nomadic peoples. By the early 20th century the region was under the nominal control of Manchu-China, and inhabited mostly by Mongols, Uyghurs, and Kazakhs. The Gobi desert as a whole was only very imperfectly known to outsiders, information being confined to the observations which individual travellers had made from their respective itineraries across the desert. Amongst the European explorers who contributed to early 20th century understanding of the Gobi, the most important were:

See also

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References

This article is missing citations or needs footnotes. Please help add inline citations to guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (July 2007)
This article is largely based on an article in the out-of-copyright 11th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, which was produced in 1911. It should be brought up to date to reflect subsequent history or scholarship (including the references, if any). When you have completed the review, replace this notice with a simple note on this article's talk page. Thanks!
  1. ^ Wright, John W. (ed.); Editors and reporters of The New York Times (2006). The New York Times Almanac (2007 ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books. pp. 456. ISBN 0-14-303820-6.
  2. ^ Planet Earth BBC TV series 2006 UK, 2007 US, Episode 5
  3. ^ "Oyu Tolgoi Gold and Copper Project, Southern Mongolia". http://www.ivanhoe-mines.com/s/OyuTolgoi.asp. Retrieved 2009-08-08.

Further reading

External links

Coordinates: 42°35′N 103°26′E / 42.59°N 103.43°E

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Deserts
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Asia

Ad-Dahna Desert · Arabian Desert · Aral Karakum · Aralkum · Badain Jaran Desert · Betpak-Dala · Cholistan Desert · Dasht-e Kavir · Dasht-e Lut · Dasht-e Margoh · Dasht-e Naomid · Gurbantünggüt Desert · Gobi Desert · Hami Desert · Indus Valley Desert · Judean Desert · Karakum Desert · Kharan Desert · Kumtag Desert · Kyzyl Kum · Lop Desert · Nefud · Negev · Ordos Desert · Qaidam · Rub' al Khali · Russian Arctic · Registan Desert · Saryesik-Atyrau Desert · Syrian Desert · Taklamakan Desert · Tengger Desert · Thal Desert · Thar · Tihamah · Ustyurt Plateau · Wahiba Sands
Australia

Gibson Desert · Great Sandy Desert · Great Victoria Desert · Little Sandy Desert · Nullarbor Plain · Painted Desert · Pedirka Desert · Simpson Desert · Strzelecki Desert · Sturt's Stony Desert · Tanami Desert · Tirari Desert
Europe

Accona Desert · Alpine · Bardenas Reales · Błędów Desert · Cabo de Gata · Deliblatska Peščara · Hálendi · Oleshky Sands · Oltenian Sahara · Ryn Desert · Tabernas Desert
North America

Alvord Desert · Amargosa Desert · Baja California Desert · Black Rock Desert · Carcross "Desert" · Channeled scablands · Chihuahuan Desert · Escalante Desert · Gran Desierto de Altar · Great Basin · Great Salt Lake Desert · Jornada del Muerto · Mojave Desert · Nk'mip "Desert" · North American Arctic · Owyhee Desert · Painted Desert · Red Desert · Sonoran Desert
Polar regions

Antarctica · Arctic
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Atacama Desert · La Guajira Desert · Los Médanos de Coro · Monte Desert · Patagonian Desert · Sechura Desert · Tatacoa Desert
Oceania

Kaʻū Desert · Rangipo Desert
See also List of deserts and List of deserts by area

Categories: Deserts of Mongolia | Deserts of China | Ecoregions | Physiographic provinces | Sites along the Silk Road

 

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The Przewalski's horse of Mongolia's . Gobi desert. considered the world's only remaining, true wild horse has had its share of existential challenges over the centuries. Once considered extinct in the wild , due primarily to habitat ...

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What are some major differences between the Gobi desert and the Mojave Desert?
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A. The Gobi Desert is bigger, colder and located in Asia,while the Mohave is warmer , smaller and in North America
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