The Taklamakan Desert is a vast, extremely arid desert in the Tarim Basin of northwestern China, covering about 337,000 square kilometers between the Kunlun, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges. Sand dunes rise as high as 91 meters across a landscape that is almost entirely shifting sand, with only scattered patches of alluvial clay. Summers can reach 40 degrees Celsius while winters drop below minus 20, a swing driven by the rain shadow of the Himalayas combined with dry continental air masses. Historically the desert was a formidable barrier on the Silk Road, crossed only by caravans stopping at its oasis towns.
Facts
Classification
Biogeographic Realm Area (sq km) Connections
Demonstrates
The Taklamakan sits in the deep rain shadow of surrounding mountain ranges, making it one of the driest and most drought defined deserts on Earth.
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Source National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
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Sources
1. Wikipedia: Taklamakan Desert
WikipediaIntroductionQuote, Introduction
The Taklamakan Desert ( TAK-lə-mə-KAN) is a desert in northwestern China.
2. Taklamakan Desert (Wikipedia)
WikipediaGeography section, first sentence, area figureQuote, Geography section, first sentence, area figure
The Taklamakan Desert has an area of 337,000 km2 (130,000 sq mi), making it slightly smaller than Germany.
World Wildlife Fund
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationDemonstrates: Dust StormView the Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
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