Gobi Desert is a large desert covering parts of Northern and Northeastern China and of Southern Mongolia.
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- The Gobi Desert is a large desert or brushland region in East Asia.
- It covers parts of Northern and Northeastern China and of Southern Mongolia.
- The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Taklamakan Desert to the west, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the southwest and by the North China Plain to the southeast.
- The Gobi is notable in history as the location of several important cities along the Silk Road.
- The Gobi is a rain shadow desert, formed by the Tibetan Plateau blocking precipitation from the Indian Ocean reaching the Gobi territory.
- It is the sixth largest desert in the world.
- Also, it is the second largest in Asia after the Arabian Desert.
- The Gobi measures over 1,600 km (1,000 mi) from southwest to northeast and 800 km (500 mi) from north to south.
- The desert is widest in the west, along the line joining the Lake Bosten and the Lop Nor (87°–89° east).
- It occupies an arc of land in area as of 2007
- Much of the Gobi is not sandy but has exposed bare rock.
- In its broadest definition, the Gobi includes the long stretch of desert extending from the foot of the Pamirs (77° east) to the Greater Khingan Mountains, 116–118° east, on the border of Manchuria, and from the foothills of the Altay, Sayan, and Yablonoi mountain ranges on the north to the Kunlun, Altyn-Tagh, and Qilian mountain ranges, which form the northern edges of the Tibetan Plateau, on the south.
- A relatively large area on the east side of the Greater Khingan range, between the upper waters of the Songhua (Sungari) and the upper waters of the Liao-ho, is reckoned to belong to the Gobi by conventional usage
- . Some geographers and ecologists prefer to regard the western area of the Gobi region (as defined above): the basin of the Tarim in Xinjiang and the desert basin of Lop Nor and Hami (Kumul), as forming a separate and independent desert, called the Taklamakan Desert.
- Archeologists and paleontologists have done excavations in the Nemegt Basin in the northwestern part of the Gobi Desert (in Mongolia).
- This specific place is noted for its fossil treasures, including early mammals, dinosaur eggs, and prehistoric stone implements, some 100,000 years old
- The Gobi is overall a cold desert, with frost and occasionally snow occurring on its dunes.
- Besides being quite far north, it is also located on a plateau roughly 910–1,520 m (2,990–4,990 ft) above sea level.
- This contributes to its low temperatures.
- An average of approximately 194 mm (7.6 in) of rain falls annually in the Gobi.
- Additional moisture reaches parts of the Gobi in winter as snow is blown by the wind from the Siberian Steppes.
- These winds may cause the Gobi to reach −40 °C (−40 °F) in winter to 45 °C (113 °F) in summer.
- However, the climate of the Gobi is one of great extremes, combined with rapid changes of temperature of as much as 35 °C (63 °F). These can occur not only seasonally but within 24 hours.
- In southern Mongolia, the temperature has been recorded as low as −32.8 °C (−27.0 °F).
- In contrast, in Alxa, Inner Mongolia, it rises as high as 37 °C (99 °F) in July.
- Average winter minimums are a frigid −21 °C (−6 °F), while summertime maximums are a warm 27 °C (81 °F).
- Temperatures can change as much as 35 °C (63 °F) within a 24hr period.
- Although the southeast monsoons reach the southeast parts of the Gobi, the area throughout this region is generally characterized by extreme dryness, especially during the winter, when the Siberian anticyclone is at its strongest.
- The southern and central parts of the Gobi Desert have variable plant growth due to this monsoon activity.
- The more northern areas of the Gobi are very cold and dry, making it unable to support much plant growth; this cold and dry weather is attributed to Siberian-Mongolian high pressure cells.
- Hence, the icy sandstorms and snowstorms of spring and early summer plus early January (winter).
- Gobi in Mongolinan means waterless place.
- The Mongolian Gobi Desert can be split into 5 different ecoregions, including the Eastern Gobi desert steppe, the Alashan Plateau semi-desert, the Gobi Lakes Valley desert steppe, the Dzungarian Basin semi-desert, and the Tian Shan range.
- The Gobi Desert is home to the Khongor sand dune..
- At over 12km wide, 180km long, and a height of 80 meters, this is one of the world’s biggest and most beautiful sand dunes.
- The Gobi Desert region first became known in Europe through Marco Polo in the 13th Century who described this vast land vividly.
- In 1987, the Mogao Caves complex near the city Dunhuang in Gansu province was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. This is a series of Buddhist cave temples in China dating from the 4th to the 10th-century housing important historical paintings.
- The Gobi desert is the home to a surprising number of animals. This includes gazelles, polecats, camels, Mongolian wild donkeys, and a whole load of lizards.Occasionally, the Mongolian Gobi Desert is also visited by snow leopards, brown bears and wolves.
- Although, the population of this mega expanse of land is relatively small. Fewer than 3 persons per square mile, in fact. The main Gobi Desert population is Mongols, as well as Han Chinese.
- Most inhabitants in the Gobi Desert work raising cattle, living a nomadic life. They use traditional living quarters known as Mongolian Gers (yurts) and often move around.
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