Taklamakan Desert
Taklamakan by NASA World Wind
View of the Taklamakan desert
Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin
The Taklamakan Desert (Takelamagan Shamo, 塔克拉玛干沙漠), 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 bounded by Kunlun Mountains to the south, and Pamir Mountains and Tian Shan (ancient Mount Imeon) to the west and north.
Taklamakan is known as one of the largest sandy deserts in the world[1], ranking 15th in size in a ranking of the world's largest non-polar deserts.[2] It covers an area of 270,000 km² of the Tarim Basin, 1,000 km long and 400 km wide. It is crossed at its northern and at its southern edge by two branches of the Silk Road as travellers sought to avoid the arid wasteland.[3] In recent years, the People's Republic of China has constructed a cross-desert highway that links the cities of Hotan (on the southern edge) and Luntai (on the northern edge).
A vast alluvial fan between the Kunlun and Altun mountain ranges forming the southern border of the Taklamakan Desert, the left side appearing blue from water flowing in many small streams
[1]
Climate
Taklamakan is the paradigm of a cold desert. Given its relative proximity with the cold to frigid air masses in Siberia, extreme lows are recorded in wintertime, sometimes well below −20 °C (−4 °F) . During the 2008 Chinese winter storms episode the Taklamakan was reported to be for the first time covered in its entirety of a thin layer of snow reaching 4 centimetres (1.6 in) in some observatories.[4]
Its extreme inland position, virtually in the very heartland of Asia and thousands of kilometres from any open body of water, accounts for the cold character of its nights even during summertime.
Oasis
There is no water on the desert and it is hazardous to cross. Takla Makan means "go in and you'll never come out" [5] Merchant caravans on the Silk Road would stop for relief at the thriving oasis towns.[6]
Desert life near Yarkand
The key oasis towns, watered by rainfall from the mountains, were Kashgar, Marin, Niya, Yarkand, and Khotan (Hetian) to the south, Kuqa and Turfan in the north, and Loulan and Dunhuang in the east.[3] Now many, such as Marin and Gaochang are ruined cities in sparsely inhabited areas in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China.[7]
The archeological treasures found in its sand buried ruins point to Tocharian, early Hellenistic, Indian and Buddhistic influences. Its treasures and dangers have been vividly described by Aurel Stein, Sven Hedin, Albert von Le Coq and Paul Pelliot[3]. Mummies, some 4000 years old, have been found in the region. They show the wide range of peoples who have passed through. Some of the mummies appear European.[8] Later, the Taklamakan was inhabited by Turkic peoples. Starting with the Tang Dynasty, the Chinese periodically extended their control to the oasis cities of the Taklamakan in order to control the important silk route trade across Central Asia. Periods of Chinese rule were interspersed with rule by Turkic and Mongol and Tibetan peoples. The present population consists largely of Turkic, Uyghur people.
See also
- Tarim mummies
- Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves
- Kizil Caves
- Emin Minaret
- Yuezhi
- List of deserts by area
- Cities along the Silk Road
- Mount Imeon
- ↑ "Taklamakan Desert". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
- ↑ "The World's Largest Desert". geology.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-22.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Bahn, Paul G. (2001). The Atlas of World Geology. New York: Checkmark Books. pp. pp 134– 135. ISBN 0-8160-4051-6.
- ↑ "China's biggest desert Taklamakan experiences record snow", Xinhuanet.com (February 1, 2008).
- ↑ "Takla Makan Desert at TravelChinaGuide.com". Retrieved on 2008-11-24.
- ↑ "Spies Along the Silk Road". Retrieved on 2007-08-07.
- ↑ "The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith". Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
- ↑ "Mysterious Mummies of China". pbs.org. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
References
- Jarring, Gunnar (1997). The toponym Takla-makan, Turkic Languages, Vol. 1, p. 227-240
- Hopkirk, Peter (1980). Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia. Amherst: The University of Massachusetts Press. ISBN 0-87023-435-8.
- Hopkirk, Peter (1994). The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia. ISBN 1-56836-022-3.
- Desert Meteorology, Thomas T. Warner, 2004, Cambridge University Press, 612 pages ISBN 0521817986
External links
Geography topics |
|
Geography · History of geography |
|
Branches |
Human
|
Behavioral · Cultural · Demography · Development · Economic · Feminist · Health · Historical · Political · Regional · Urban
|
|
Physical
|
|
|
|
Techniques |
|
|
Societies |
American Geographical Society · Association of American Geographers · European Geography Association · Geographical Association · Hong Kong Geographical Association · International Geographical Union · National Geographic Society · Royal Canadian Geographical Society · Royal Geographical Society · Royal Scottish Geographical Society · Russian Geographical Society · Saudi Geographical Society · Society of Woman Geographers · Société de Géographie
|
|
Lists |
Basic topics · Geographers · Geography of countries
|
|
Subfields of physical geography |
|
|
![Land ocean ice cloud hires.jpg](/2009-wikipedia_en_wp1-0.7_2009-05/I/110px_Land_ocean_ice_cloud_hires.jpg) |
|
Deserts |
|
Africa |
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
|
|
Antarctica |
|
|
Asia |
Aral Karakum · Aralkum · Badain Jaran Desert · Betpak-Dala · Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert · Gobi Desert · Hami Desert · Indus Valley Desert · Karakum Desert · Kharan Desert · Kumtag Desert · Kum-tagh Desert · Kyzyl Kum · Lop Desert · Ordos Desert · Qaidam · Registan Desert · Saryesik-Atyrau Desert · Taklamakan Desert · Tengger Desert · Thal Desert · Thar-Cholistan Desert · Ustyurt Plateau
|
|
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 · Bardenas Reales · Błędów Desert · Cabo de Gata · Deliblatska Peščara · Hálendi · Oltenian Sahara · Ryn Desert · Tabernas Desert
|
|
Middle East |
Ad-Dahna Desert · Arabian Desert · Dasht-e Kavir · Dasht-e Lut · Dasht-e Margoh · Dasht-e Naomid · Judean Desert · Nefud · Rub' al Khali · Negev · Syrian Desert · Tihamah · Wahiba Sands
|
|
North America |
|
|
South America |
Atacama Desert · La Guajira Desert · Médanos de Coro National Park · Monte Desert · Patagonian Desert · Sechura Desert · Tatacoa Desert
|
|
Oceania |
Kaʻū Desert · Rangipo Desert
|
|
See also: List of deserts and List of deserts by area |
|