Talk:Gobi Desert

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, now in the public domain.
This article is within the scope of the following WikiProjects:
This article has been reviewed by the Version 1.0 Editorial Team.

Contents

[edit] Lack of information?

The article provides little information on the vegetation of Gobi.

Balkash might be Lake Balkhash, but it's in Kazakhstan, not China, so I'm not 100% sure -- Walt Pohl 04:56, 2 Mar 2004 (UTC)

A map, A map, my Kingdom for a . . . well you know. Tom Cerul

Here are some loused up statistics I didn't know how to fix: It says "500,000 sq mi (1,300,000 sq km)" but it also says "281,800 square kilometers (108,800 square miles)". 63-5 degrees might mean 63.5, but that doesn't explain -4~.5 degrees for a minimum, because -4.5 would be above the stated January mean. And if "The rainfall at Urga for the year amounts to only 97 in." then it would be more of a rain forest than a desert. Art LaPella 16:41, Sep 1, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Galeritct cristata

Does anyone know anything about "Galeritct cristata"? I tried to spell it in different ways and google for it, but the only hits I got were from Wikipedias article about Gobi. Linn

maybe latin GALERIT : ADJ - wearing a hood or skull-cap; ( from http://www.incunabulabooks.com/ibrflatg.htm )

It may be the Crested Lark, Galerida cristata. From [1]:

"The Crested lark is found in most countries of continental Europe except Scandinavia. It is also found in north Africa, central Asia as far as eastern India and China and most of the Middle East.
"Its favoured habitat is open, dry and relatively flat country with low, sparse vegetation. It doesn't like to feel hemmed in and so is also attracted to areas such as playing fields, railway yards and even harbours provided there are grass seeds available."

Most on-line versions of the 1911 Encyclopaedia were scanned and converted to text files using OCR software which occasionally scrambles words.Tom Radulovich 00:20, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Definately plausible. I'd hate to say, incorrectly, that it was there based on plausiblity. Anyone have access to an early Encyc. Brit.? Can we otherwise document this bird in the area? Do we even need to (Will it add anything to the article?)
I should point out that I already changed that -4.5 thing based on it seeming likely. TomCerul 19:54, 27 Sep 2004 (UTC)
The wikipedia article maintains that the Crested Lark's range extends from Portugal to northeast China, which would include the Gobi.
The "Mongolia's Wild Heritage" web site ([2]) lists the Crested Lark as living in the Gobi. Tom Radulovich 00:35, 28 Sep 2004 (UTC)
Cool, thanks for doing the legwork! I'm convinced the bird is there. TomCerul 13:59, 28 Sep 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Jargon

I'm having a lot of trouble understanding the "Sands of the Gobi" section. Could anyone explain the terms or simplify them? Wood Thrush 01:30, Jun 23, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Southwest

[edit] Southwest

by the Tibetan Plateau to the southwest, and by the North China Plain to the southwest. Which one southwest is correct? --Nomad 195.182.95.61 16:23, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Qinghai?

Is Qinghai part of the Gobi Desert as well? The Chinese provinces that include the Gobi Desert are not spelled out well here. Badagnani 01:45, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Location

The map does not show the boundaries of the gobi desert --Thomasdelbert 17:24, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Links

A added a link to the desert article. Finn zee Fox 03:23, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Remove "Sands of the Gobi Deserts"

This blabber (from britannica 1911, I assume) talks about all kinds of sandy areas, most of which have nothing at all to do with the Gobi (there's very little sand there anyway). Will there be any loud complaints if I just remove it? That would make room for someone to add specific information about the few sandy patches in the Gobi proper, such as Khongoryn els. --Latebird 07:18, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Clarify Gobi expansion cost

"This loss of farmland has caused an estimated $50 billion in losses each year for China's economy."

Does this sentence mean that every year that $50 billion more is lost to desertification than the year previously? (Seems high, doesn't it?) Or that $50 billion is lost each year (since some "base" year? Which year would that be?)

Is this the cost of lost farmland production? Or of a number of other factors as well.

A citation would be nice.

Alpha Ralpha Boulevard (talk) 14:26, 2 June 2008 (UTC)