Deserts: characteristics and types. Tropical deserts: general characteristics; the brightest representatives of the belt of wet jungles and dry deserts

In the northern and southern hemispheres, between 15 and 30 latitudes, there is a zone of tropical deserts. Some deserts are located inside the continents, while others stretch along the western coasts of the continents. These are very hot and dry areas. the globe with poor flora and fauna. There are no permanent rivers here, and vast areas are occupied only by waving sands, heaps of stones and clay surfaces cracked from the heat.

tropical desert

Tropical or as they are also called trade wind deserts include the deserts of Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan; the exceptionally peculiar Atacama Desert in Chile; the Thar Desert in northwest India; vast deserts of Australia; Kalahari in South Africa; and finally, the greatest desert in the world - the Sahara in North Africa.

Tropical Asian deserts

Tropical Asian deserts, together with the Sahara, form a continuous arid belt stretching for 7200 km from Atlantic coast Africa to the east, with an axis approximately coinciding with the Tropic of the North; in some areas inside this belt it almost never rains. The patterns of the general circulation of the atmosphere lead to the fact that downward movements prevail in these places. air masses, which explains the exceptional aridity of the climate. Unlike the deserts of America, the Asian deserts and the Sahara have long been inhabited by humans who have adapted to these conditions, but the population density is very low.

The most beautiful deserts in the world

Atacama, Chile

Presumably the oldest dry desert in the world (only 3-15 mm of precipitation per year) consists of salt lakes, sand and solidified lava. The composition of its soil is as close as possible to Martian. By the way, they filmed "Space Odyssey" here. In autumn, when the rains fall, the desert is covered with flowers.

Great Sandy Desert, Australia

In the Uluru-Kata Tjuta nature reserve, the people of the wild dog dingo, there is an 8.6 km² red rock sacred to the Anangu aborigines. It takes about an hour to climb it, and it is better to make it at dawn or at night to admire the stars.

Gobi, Mongolia

Asia's largest and coldest (up to -40 °C) desert is famous for its fossils: it is here that paleontologists have found dinosaur eggs. The Gurvansaikhan Park is famous for the Khongoryn-Els sandy massif stretching for 180 km, which means “singing sands”.

Namib, Namibia

High sand dunes come close to the ocean, where the cold Benguela current forms fog, creating obstacles to navigation. South of the Kunene River is the Skeleton Coast - a graveyard of dead ships, which is covered with sand more and more every year.

It lies in the climatic zone of the same name. On our planet, almost all desert areas are located precisely in the tropics, but, unlike paradises on the coasts of the sea, weather here are much more severe and not at all suitable for life. Well, let's consider what characterizes such tropical deserts, where they can be found and which of them are the most famous.

What characterizes the desert zones of the tropics?

The relief and origin of each of the deserts known to us vary greatly. Somewhere these are based on plateaus, in other places they are surrounded by rocks and elevated plateaus, sometimes deserts are found on the shores of the oceans, that is, in the lowlands. But it is the climate that unites all tropical deserts. The first characteristic is the sharp diurnal fluctuations in air temperature. During the day in most of these natural areas, the thermometer can exceed 50, and at night the air cools down to 10. The second characteristic is the difference between winter and summer. In such zones, it is insignificant, but the further the desert lies from the equator, the more the range of annual temperature fluctuations expands. Well, the third common feature are the winds. Some regions of our planet have become completely devastated not because there are barren lands. It's just that atmospheric flows are arranged so that there are no clouds over the deserts - they are always dispersed by the wind. Due to this, the percentage of solar radiation increases and, accordingly, all living things die out.

Sands of the Middle East

Considered the Sahara. It occupies the entire northern part of Africa and smoothly passes into a small isthmus. Both natural zones are very similar to each other in terms of landscape, origin and climate. They also form a pronounced climatic zone on the surface of the Earth. Numerous tropical deserts, whose names are given only by local residents, are part of this natural area. Here, yellow sands predominate, which are collected either in single dunes or in huge ridges of dunes stretching for kilometers. It is in this Afro-Asian geographic area that very high temperature fluctuations are observed. During the day, the thermometer does not fall below 45, and the maximum reaches 58. Therefore, only insects and reptiles live in the sands of the Sahara and Arabia, which crawl out to the surface only at night.

smallest continent

The deserts of the tropical belt are also concentrated on Australian lands. Local residents also divide them into numerous "sovereign" territories, but their landscapes are very similar to each other. The climatic conditions here are not as severe as in Asia. The temperature during the day is within 30 degrees, and at night it does not fall below 15. The amount of precipitation that falls per year is up to 300 mm (which is a lot for a desert). The Australian sand flats are characterized by their red soils. The local sands have a crimson hue, the glow of which intensifies at sunset.

Mysterious valleys of Chile

In the west, perhaps, there are the most extraordinary tropical deserts. Photos of these masterpieces of nature are presented in the article, and they do not look like pictures of the Sahara or any other natural area. Here in leading role not sands protrude, but valleys that are surrounded by rocks. In (as it is called) precipitation has not fallen for 400 years. All the moisture that the local land is content with is fogs that occur only in the summer.

Other sandy areas

Desert areas can also be found in southern Africa. These are Kalahara and Namibia. The landscape and origin of this natural area can be compared to the Sahara. AT North America, and also in Mexico there are narrow deserts that stretch from North to South. Their landscapes can be compared with the Atacama. There are few sands, but there are a lot of various other rocks that create incredible beauty.

Deserts and semi-deserts are waterless, dry regions of the planet, where no more than 25 cm of precipitation falls per year. The most important factor their formation is the wind. However, not all deserts have hot weather, some of them, on the contrary, are considered the coldest regions of the Earth. Representatives of flora and fauna have adapted to the harsh conditions of these areas in different ways.

How do deserts and semi-deserts arise?

There are many reasons for the formation of deserts. For example, there is little rainfall because it is located at the foot of the mountains, which, with their ridges, cover it from rain.

Ice deserts formed for other reasons. In Antarctica and the Arctic, the main snow mass falls on the coast; snow clouds practically do not reach the interior regions. Precipitation levels generally vary greatly, for one snowfall, for example, an annual norm can fall. Such snow drifts form over hundreds of years.

Hot deserts are distinguished by the most diverse relief. Only some of them are completely covered with sand. The surface of most is littered with pebbles, stones and other different breeds. Deserts are almost completely open to weathering. Strong gusts of wind pick up fragments of small stones and hit them on the rocks.

In sandy deserts, the wind carries the sand across the area, creating undulating sediments, which are called dunes. The most common type of dunes are dunes. Sometimes their height can reach 30 meters. Ridge dunes can be up to 100 meters high and stretch for 100 km.

Temperature regime

The climate of deserts and semi-deserts is quite diverse. In some regions, daytime temperatures can reach up to 52 ° C. This phenomenon is due to the absence of clouds in the atmosphere, so nothing saves the surface from direct sun rays. At night, the temperature drops a lot, again due to the lack of clouds that can trap the heat radiated from the surface.

In hot deserts, rain is rare, but sometimes there are heavy downpours. After rain, water does not soak into the ground, but rapidly flows from the surface, washing away particles of soil and pebbles into dry channels, which are called wadis.

Location of deserts and semi-deserts

On the continents located in northern latitudes, there are deserts and semi-deserts of the subtropical and sometimes also tropical - in the Indo-Gangetic lowland, in Arabia, in Mexico, in the southwestern United States. In Eurasia, extratropical desert regions are located in the Central Asian and South Kazakh plains, in the basin Central Asia and in the Near Asian highlands. The Central Asian desert formations are characterized by a sharply continental climate.

In the southern hemisphere, deserts and semi-deserts are less common. Here are located such desert and semi-desert formations as the Namib, Atacama, desert formations on the coast of Peru and Venezuela, Victoria, Kalahari, the Gibson Desert, Simpson, Gran Chaco, Patagonia, the Great Sandy Desert and the Karoo semi-desert in southwestern Africa.

Polar deserts are located on the continental islands of the near-glacial regions of Eurasia, on the islands of the Canadian archipelago, in the north of Greenland.

Animals

Animals of deserts and semi-deserts for many years of existence in such areas have managed to adapt to harsh climatic conditions. From cold and heat, they hide in underground burrows and feed mainly on underground parts of plants. Among the representatives of the fauna there are many types of carnivores: fennec fox, cougars, coyotes and even tigers. The climate of deserts and semi-deserts has contributed to the fact that many animals have perfectly developed a thermoregulation system. Some desert dwellers can withstand fluid loss of up to a third of their weight (for example, geckos, camels), and among invertebrates there are species that can lose water up to two thirds of their weight.

In North America and Asia, there are a lot of reptiles, especially a lot of lizards. Snakes are also quite common: ephs, various Poisonous snakes, boas. Of the large animals, there are saiga, kulans, camels, pronghorn, it has recently disappeared (it can still be found in captivity).

The animals of the desert and semi-desert of Russia are a wide variety of unique representatives of the fauna. The desert regions of the country are inhabited by sandstone hares, hedgehogs, kulan, dzheyman, poisonous snakes. In the deserts that are located on the territory of Russia, you can also find 2 types of spiders - karakurt and tarantula.

They live in polar deserts polar bear, musk ox, arctic fox and some species of birds.

Vegetation

If we talk about vegetation, then in deserts and semi-deserts there are various cactus, hard-leaved grasses, psammophyte shrubs, ephedra, acacias, saxaul, soap palm, edible lichen and others.

Deserts and semi-deserts: soil

The soil, as a rule, is poorly developed, and water-soluble salts predominate in its composition. The ancient alluvial and loess-like deposits predominate among them, which are processed by the winds. Gray-brown soil is inherent in elevated flat areas. Deserts are also characterized by solonchaks, that is, soils that contain about 1% of easily soluble salts. In addition to deserts, salt marshes are also found in steppes and semi-deserts. Groundwater, which contains salts, is deposited into the soil when it reaches the soil surface. top layer resulting in soil salinization.

Completely different are characteristic of such climatic zones, how subtropical deserts and semi-deserts. The soil in these regions has a specific orange and brick red color. Noble for its shades, it received the appropriate name - red soil and yellow soil. AT subtropical zone in northern Africa and in South and North America there are deserts where gray soils have formed. Red-yellow soils have developed in some tropical desert formations.

Natural and semi-desert - a huge variety of landscapes, climatic conditions, flora and fauna. Despite the harsh and cruel nature of the deserts, these regions have become home to many species of plants and animals.

Desert - natural area, characterized by a flat surface, sparseness or absence of flora and specific fauna.

There are sandy, rocky, clayey, saline deserts. Separately, the Arctic deserts are distinguished (eng. polar desert) in Antarctica and the Arctic. They can be snowy and snowless (dry). The area of ​​snowy deserts is more than 99% of the total area of ​​the Arctic deserts. A snowless (dry) desert is the McMurdo Dry Valleys. The area of ​​these valleys is 8 thousand km² (less than 0.06% of the 14.1 million km² of the total area of ​​Antarctica). Katabatic winds (cold air currents directed down the slopes earth's surface, which have arisen due to cooling of the air on glaciers and are carried downward due to the greater gravity) cause the evaporation of moisture. Thanks to this, the valleys are practically free of ice and snow for about 8 million years.

The most famous sandy desert is the Sahara (the largest sandy desert in terms of area), which occupies the entire northern part of African continent. Close to deserts are semi-deserts, also related to extreme landscapes.

In total, deserts occupy more than 16.5 million km² (excluding Antarctica), or about 11% of the land surface. With Antarctica more than 20%.

general characteristics

Deserts are common in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere, subtropical and tropical zones Northern and Southern hemispheres. They are characterized by humid conditions (the annual amount of precipitation is less than 200 mm, in extra-arid regions - less than 50 mm, and in some deserts there has been no precipitation for decades). In the relief there is a complex combination of highlands, low hills and insular mountains with structural layered plains, ancient river valleys and closed lake depressions. The erosional type of relief formation is strongly weakened, eolian relief forms are widespread. For the most part, the territory of the deserts is drainless, sometimes they are crossed by transit rivers (Syr Darya, Amu Darya, Nile, Huang He and others); there are many lakes and rivers that dry up, often changing their shape and size (Lob Nor, Chad, Eir), periodically drying up watercourses are characteristic. Groundwater is often mineralized. Soils are poorly developed, characterized by the predominance of water-soluble salts in the soil solution over organic matter, salt crusts are common. The vegetation cover is sparse (the distance between neighboring plants varies from several tens of cm to several meters or more) and usually covers less than 50% of the soil surface; practically absent under extraarid conditions.

Sandy deserts are inhabited from plants mainly by thorny bushes, from animals - by reptiles and small steppe animals. In sandy deserts above the places of occurrence groundwater there are oases - "islands" with dense vegetation and reservoirs. The snowy deserts are mostly found above the Arctic Circles and are inhabited by cold-hardy animals.

Desert classification

By the nature of soils and soils:

• Sandy - on loose deposits of ancient alluvial plains;
• Loess - on loess deposits of piedmont plains;
• Loamy - on slightly carbonate cover loams of the plains;
• Clay takyr - on the piedmont plains and in ancient river deltas;
• Clay - in low mountains, composed of saline marls and clays,
• Pebble and sand-pebble - on gypsum plateaus and piedmont plains;
• Rubble gypsum - on the plateau and young piedmont plains;
• Stony - on low mountains and small hills;
• Solonchakous - in saline depressions of the relief and along the sea coasts.

According to the dynamics of precipitation:

• Coastal - develop where cold ones approach hot coasts sea ​​currents(Namib, Atacama): almost no rainfall; life, respectively.
• Central Asian type (Gobi, Betpak-Dala): the rate of precipitation is approximately constant throughout the year - and therefore life is here all year round, but barely warm.
• Mediterranean type (Sahara, Kara-Kum, Great Sandy Desert in Australia): there is the same amount of precipitation as in the previous type, but only they all pour out at once, in two to three weeks; here there is a brief and stormy flowering of life (various ephemera), which then passes into a latent state - until the next year.

How do deserts form?

Historical experience shows that degradation natural environment as a result of the destruction of forests occurred in the following sequence: deforestation - the emergence of savannas - desertification. Several millennia ago, the Sahara arose on the site of the savannas, and even earlier, a significant part of this territory was occupied by forests.

Desertification is the final stage of soil destruction. After deforestation, the climate changes, go to the depth fresh water, erosion begins, and then the winding of the soil. Desertification has become a global problem in the 20th century. Every year, the advancing deserts capture up to 50 thousand square kilometers of territory, where people lived quite recently, and forests rustled in the recent past. The threat of desertification now affects 150 states to one degree or another. If it develops at a modern pace, 600-700 million people, a seventh of the world's population, will be under the threat of resettlement. The arid lands, which are threatened by the desert, now supply meat, wool, cotton, grain. These lands have considerable potential for further development of agricultural production. Their loss will turn into another tragedy for humanity. Deserts need to be stopped.

The process of desertification has also affected the territory of our country. It is observed in Kazakhstan, in the flat regions of Central Asia, on the territory of Kalmykia. The main reason is improper farming: plowing of dry steppes, ill-conceived irrigation, lack of protective forest plantations. Today, the annual increase in the area of ​​semi-deserts in a number of regions of our country reaches 10 percent. true scale This process has only now begun to be elucidated with the help of satellite observations.

Peculiarities

Relief

The relief of hot deserts is very diverse. Only some of them are completely covered with sand. The surface of others consists of stones, pebbles and other rocks. Deserts are practically open to weathering. Strong winds pick up small fragments of stones from the surface and throw them onto the rocks. Erosion is most intense near the surface, where the winds throw the most sand and stones onto the rocks.

In sandy deserts, winds carry sand over the surface, forming undulating sediments - dunes. The shape of the dunes depends on the direction of the wind and the size of the sand particles. The most common form of dunes is dunes. The dunes are crescent shaped. They form in deserts where the winds blow in any one direction. The dunes move slowly, and sand pours over their tops. Their height can reach 30m. Ridged dunes are long sandy ridges formed by winds blowing from two directions. They can be up to 100 km long and up to 100 m high.

Temperatures

AT daytime the temperature in the desert can rise to 52°C, as there are no clouds in the atmosphere and nothing protects the surface from the sun's rays. It is much cooler underground, and therefore most animals hide during the day from the heat in deep holes. At night, the temperature drops very quickly due to the absence of clouds to trap the heat radiated from the surface. During the day, the phoenix fox hides from the heat in a deep hole. She hunts at night when it is cool. Under the very skin of large ears, foxes pass blood vessels. Flowing through them, the roof cools, releasing heat into the air. This reduces the body temperature of the animal.

rain in the desert

Although there is little rainfall in the hot deserts, there are occasional very heavy showers, after which water does not soak into the soil, but quickly flows down the surface, washing away pebbles and soil particles from it into dry channels - wadis.

The seeds of some plants in deserts can lie in the soil for many months, and even years. After rain, they germinate very quickly, bloom, produce seeds, and then die when conditions become unbearable. Many plants in deserts are branched root system, which absorbs moisture deep from the ground. The leaves of such plants are very small in order to minimize the evaporation of moisture from their surface. Cacti, shaped to minimize evaporation, are covered with sharp spines that do not animals to eat them. When it rains, cacti absorb water with juicy pulp.

Tropical desert flora

The primitive soils of tropical deserts are very poor in humus, and gray soils form only in relatively humid areas. The soil cover in tropical deserts, as a rule, is absent. Vast areas are covered with sands or placers of rubble and pebbles, on the surface of which a characteristic shiny dark crust forms, the so-called desert tan, which protects rocks from rapid weathering and destruction.

Only plants that can grow in extreme conditions of drought and high temperatures can grow in deserts. There are many xerophytes, ephemers and ephemeroids that do not form a dense vegetation cover, unusual shrubs and semi-shrubs of the "tumbleweed" type. In the sandy deserts of Asia, leafless shrubs (white saxaul, sand acacia) are common, in America and Africa, succulents (cacti, agaves, aloe, etc.) are common. A variety of wormwood and saltwort are characteristic of clay deserts. Hamads, at first glance, devoid of vegetation, also have a vegetation cover - lichens.

Where ground water come close to the surface, oases are located. The largest of them are in the river valleys. Irrigated agriculture and horticulture are developing here, cotton, wheat, barley, sugar cane, olive, etc. are cultivated. In the Arabian and North African deserts grows date palm- a beautiful, slender tree up to 30 m high. Its nutritious dates are eaten raw, boiled, fried and dried. The apical buds, flower shoots of palm trees - palm cabbage, as well as the powdery core of young palm trees are used for food.

Tropical desert fauna

The hot and extremely dry climate of tropical deserts is extreme for living organisms. However, the animals living in these places have managed to adapt to such conditions. They can go without drinking for a long time and travel great distances in search of water. During the hottest season of the year in tropical deserts, many invertebrates go into suspended animation, while reptiles and rodents go into hibernation. Some animals spend most of their lives underground, while ungulates and most bird species summer period migrate from hot regions. Many desert animals lead night image life. They crawl out of their holes only for a short period of time between the night cold and the scorching heat of the day, and some animals hide in the shade of bushes or climb high branches away from the hot earth during the day.

In tropical deserts, jerboas, voles, mole rats, hyenas, cheetahs, desert cats, miniature chanterelles are common; ungulates are represented by antelopes, donkeys, mountain sheep; birds - grouse, larks. There are many reptiles (geckos, lizards, snakes), arachnids and insects (dark beetles, phalanges, scorpions) in the deserts.

The one-humped camel (dromedary) is often called the “ship of the desert” for its endurance and reliability. Previously, the dromedary lived only in the arid regions of the Middle East, northern India and North Africa, but later one-humped camels were introduced into central Australia. Brownish or sandy-gray dromedaries weigh from 300 to 690 kg and reach a height of 2 m, sometimes black and white individuals are found. The dromedary has a long curved neck, a narrow chest and a single hump consisting of fat deposits - food reserves - approx. from geoglobus.ru. The size of the hump varies depending on the amount of food and the time of year. The dromedary feeds on dry grass and young shoots of shrubs, chewing each portion of food thoroughly (40-50 times). It needs salt to conserve water.

The camel's hooves are perfectly adapted for moving on the sands, and thick lips allow the animal to eat even thorny plants. Usually dromedaries live in family groups of 20 individuals: one male, one or more females and their offspring. Camels give birth to one cub in winter, during the first year of life it gains weight very quickly. camels live 40-50 years.

Typical desert birds - grouse have long and sharp wings, adapted for fast flight. They feed on the seeds of grasses and shrubs, and when they arrive at a watering place, they moisten their abdominal feathers, which have a special structure. In the goiter and wet feathers, the grouse carry water to the chicks. The nest of the grouse is arranged on the ground, the parents take turns incubating 3 laid eggs.

In the deserts, jerboas are often found: in the Sahara - sandy, and in Central Asia and Iran - crested, thick-tailed and upland. Funny animals with long hind legs and short "handles" resemble miniature kangaroos. Their soft thick fur is colored in the color of sand - approx. from geoglobus.ru. From their shallow, complexly branched burrows with several exits, jerboas emerge at nightfall. On long hind legs, they jump in search of food, reaching speeds of up to 50 km / h. Animals feed mainly plant food but do not neglect insects and carrion.

And in Russia there are deserts

As a rule, at the mention of deserts, the Sahara, Kalahari and Gobi come to mind, and not everyone thinks about Russia at such moments. Mostly motherland associated with the taiga and endless snowy expanses. However, this phenomenon is not completely alien to our country. The desert in Russia is much richer in flora than one might imagine. Don't believe? Read on! Oddly enough, one of the Russian deserts is located just 800 km from the capital. Archedinsky-Don sands - this is the name of the local wasteland. Most of this territory is covered with sandy massifs left from the time ice age Don.

The plants of the Russian deserts make this territory truly unique in its kind - birch bushes stretch among the sandy hillocks, black alder and aspens grow. There are junipers here, special kind cinquefoil and buckthorn. There are also saxauls, common in desert areas around the world. In the spring, in especially humid areas of the desert, numerous tulips bloom, and the harsh nature turns into a real parade of colors and shades. They can be called the brightest accent among the desert spring. Dangerous animals are almost non-existent here. The most common representatives of the Russian desert fauna are ground squirrels and jerboas. Of the larger animals, saigas are common in this area, and the number of bird species here is truly enormous.

Where sand turns to ice

Note that the desert in Russia is not only the Tsimlyansk and Archedinsky-Don sands. These territories also include the Arctic wastelands, where the heat is replaced by frost. For most of the year, these expanses are covered with a thick layer of ice, and here you can only find moss that is very resistant to low temperatures. Only at the height of summer, white wastelands are transformed beyond recognition - mosses and lichens acquire new colors, forming green-red carpets. Sow thistle and some types of cereals make their way out of the frozen soil.

There are also flowering plants of the Russian deserts - foxtail, buttercup, arctic pike, snow saxifrage and even polar poppy. In some places, sky-blue forget-me-nots and fluffy white reindeer moss peep through. The icy, harsh desert turns into a real wonderful world during this period, where the beauty and riot of life compete with low temperatures and strong winds. Much more striking is the diversity of the fauna of the Arctic wastelands - walruses, seals and polar bears coexist here with a huge number of bird species, deer, narwhals and beluga whales.

The driest deserts in the world

Dry deserts in Antarctica

The Dry Valleys of Antarctica can be considered the driest place on the planet, as there has been no precipitation in these places for more than two million years. The Dry Valleys include the Victoria, Taylor and Wright valleys. They are located near McMurdo Sound. This desert of Antarctica is not covered with ice, its area is about eight thousand square kilometers.

Causes of dryness in Katabatic winds. They blow at a speed of at least three hundred and twenty kilometers per hour, which is maximum speed wind on the planet. It is the wind that evaporates all the moisture. For nearly eight million years the valleys have remained free of snow and ice. Dry Valleys is a protected area of ​​particular value, where it is very convenient to conduct various kinds of research. By natural conditions these valleys are close to the conditions of Mars. This similarity is used by NASA for testing purposes.

On the territory of the valleys there is Lake Vida and the Onyx River. The water of the lake is extremely salty and surpasses even the water of the Dead Sea in the amount of salt. Animal world in the Dry Valleys is extremely poor, despite the complete absence of ice and snow cover. This is due precisely to increased dryness, which makes it difficult for animals to survive there.

The driest places in Eurasia

There are several deserts on the territory of Eurasia. They are located in Central, Central Asia, Kazakhstan. In Kazakhstan, the most famous deserts are the Ustyurt plateau, Betpak-Dala, Kyzylkum, Moyunkum, the Aral Karakum. The desert expanses of Kazakhstan are truly immense. The fauna is represented by jerboas, vipers, gray monitor lizards and gazelles. In Central Asia, the sandy desert of Takla-Makan can be distinguished. It is recognized as the largest in the world, while its conditions are among the most severe. The desert of Dzungaria, the desert of Alashan and the Gobi are known. The deserts of Central Asia have cold winters with maximum precipitation in summer.

In Central Asia, vast territories are occupied by deserts, where it is extremely dry and extremely hot climate. They can be attributed to the southern deserts, which are a continuation of the North African deserts and the deserts of Asia Minor. The largest Central Asian deserts are the Karakum and Kyzylkum. The rest are much smaller.

The hottest desert in India

One of the most significant in India and the most populated desert in the world is the Thar Desert. It is located in the Indian state of Rajasthan. The climate of the Thar Desert cannot be called harsh; it is a living eco-system.

The Thar Desert is inhabited by animals. Common representatives are the Indian gazelle, jungle cat, nilga antelope, jackals and foxes. Due to the low population of desert expanses by people, animals have the opportunity to live in vivo environment. It is common to find lizards of prehistoric appearance, rat snakes, vipers and sand boas there. It is surprising that in the place of the Thar Desert in the last two hundred and eighty million years there has been a sea four times.

In the area of ​​the village of Akal, petrified trees have been preserved, which are the remains of ferns and forests that grew in those places about one hundred and eighty million years ago. One of the largest petrified trees with a girth of one and a half meters, and a length of almost seven meters.

8 most unusual deserts of the planet

1. Desert with lagoons - Lencois Maranhensis, Brazil

It's hard to believe, but this desert, which extends into the National Park in the state of Maranhao in Brazil, is full of lagoons. The impressive view creates a contrast between the white dunes and the blue lagoons formed by the rains, the water from which collects in the lowlands between the dunes, forming small ponds with clear water. The lagoons themselves, where fish, turtles and shellfish live, can only be seen after the winter has passed and before the onset of summer.

2. Colored desert, USA

The colored desert in the state of Arizona in the USA is an expanse of hills, plateaus and individual hills with steep slopes. It is a dry, sparsely vegetated land that has been heavily eroded. The name "Colored Desert" refers to the variety of colorful sedimentary rock layers that are visible against this rugged landscape. The relief of the Colored Desert is often compared to the colorful layers of a cake. The variety of shades of sandstone and mudstone layers is the result of the content of various minerals in sedimentary rocks and the rate at which they were deposited.

3. The smallest desert in the world - Carcross Desert, Canada

The Carcross Desert in Yukon is called the smallest desert in the world. The dry climate and winds have created sand dunes here and contributed to the growth of sparse vegetation that has adapted to environment. The size of the Kacross desert is about 2.6 square meters. km.

4. The largest gypsum desert - White Sands, USA

Rising right in the middle of the Tularos Basin, one of the greatest natural wonders state of New Mexico in the USA - the shimmering sands of the gypsum desert. The dunes cover about 712 sq. km of land, which makes this desert the largest gypsum desert in the world. Unlike other deserts, here the sand is really cool to the touch due to the high evaporation and moisture on the surface and the fact that the sands reflect rather than absorb the sun's rays.

5. Black Desert, Egypt

The Black Desert is an area where volcanic hills are covered large quantity small black stones. Pebbles lie on top of the orange-brown earth, and therefore the desert is not completely black. Climbing one of the tops of numerous hills, you can admire an indescribable landscape consisting of many equally beautiful gloomy hills. However, it is worth remembering that the Black Desert is uninhabited and there are no amenities here.

6. The largest salt desert - Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia

This desert, located in Bolivia, can significantly change your idea of ​​​​deserts. It is actually a dried-up salt lake whose relief is completely flat, and is so large and transparent that it seems as if the sky is reflected, creating a landscape of different shades of blue. Another attractive aspect of this desert is the many colorful lakes that have acquired their color from a variety of minerals.

The Uyuni salt marsh is the largest wet salt marsh, stretching over 10,582 sq. km. The salt marsh contains a large number of sodium, potassium, lithium, magnesium, and borax. According to some estimates, it contains about 10 billion tons of salt, of which about 25,000 tons are mined annually.

7. Desert covered in snow - Takla Makan, China

Takla Makan is one of the largest sandy deserts in the world, being the 15th in the list of the largest non-polar deserts. It extends over 270,000 sq. km of the Tarim River Basin, its length is 1000 km and its width is 400 km. From the northern and southern edges it is crossed by two branches silk road, which travelers usually sought to avoid the arid wasteland.

In 2008, China's largest desert experienced the largest snowfall and recorded the most low temperatures after 11 days of continuous snowfall.

8. Red Sand Desert - Simpson Desert, Australia

Located in Australia, the Simpson Desert is striking in its beauty due to the red sand dunes.

Another attractive aspect is that here are the longest parallel dunes on the planet. The most famous dune is the Big Red dune, whose height reaches 40 m.

Although the climate here is rather harsh, the spinifex plant grows here, which fixes loose sand, and is a habitat for 180 species of birds, as well as lizards and marsupials.

Sources

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert https://www.factroom.ru/facts/16538 https://uznayvse.ru/interesting-facts/samyie-suhie-pustyini-v-mire.html

"Natural zones of the temperate zone of Eurasia" - Mixed forest. Taiga. Mixed and deciduous forests. Steppes and forest-steppes. The southern taiga in the European part of Russia is changing mixed forests. Numerous and widespread: brown bear, lynx, wolverine, chipmunk, marten, sable, squirrel, etc. Flora. Deserts and semi-deserts of the temperate zone.

"Desert Life" - Lions. Kalahari Desert. The Kalahari Desert is a large arid sandy area in Southern Africa. Hyenas. The Arabian Desert has the most sand and lots of sand dunes. Flamingos. Australian desert. The Kalahari supports a variety of fauna and flora. Nearly half of Australia is a desert. Cheetahs. Previously havens for wild animals from elephant to giraffe.

"Belts of Russia" - A small area of ​​the temperate zone is occupied by steppes. Representatives of the flora of the tundra. Sedge. Tundra from a bird's eye view. A small part of the temperate zone is occupied by mixed and broad-leaved forests. Representatives of the plant world of semi-deserts and deserts. Forest-steppe. Semi-desert. Sheep.

"Belts of the Earth" - Wet equatorial forest(EKP). Diversity of Earth's climates. Climate-forming factors are the reasons for the formation of the climate of any part of the earth's surface. Savannah (Subequatorial CP). In transitional climatic zones, seasonal precipitation falls unevenly. Climatic zones of the Earth. Recall the "properties of air masses".

"Climatic zones of the Earth" - Game "Finish the sentence." Large volumes of the troposphere, which have the same properties, are called ... The air shell of the Earth is called ... Climatic zones of the Earth. Equatorial Tropical Moderate Arctic (Antarctic). Warm-up on the map. Main climatic zones: Earth's climate is influenced by..

"Thermal zones of the Earth" - Physical, political and map of the hemispheres. Two - bend, unbend. Summary of the lesson. Thermal belts. 3. Half of the globe. Sands. Three - three claps in the hands, Three nods with the head. Water. Work in workbook. The globe. Belts of the Earth. Australia. Each card has its own ... . Guess the crossword. And the conditional image of the Earth's surface on a plane is called ....