nCa Report
There are some 14 territories and areas in Central Asia that are categorized as deserts. Some of them are in this category mainly for technical reasons and one of them should not have existed at all.
The total area of deserts in Central Asia comes to about 1.5 million square km. This should be taken as an approximation because some territories overlap at some points and the area of the deserts is also not rigidly stable.
Deserts in Central Asia
| Desert | Country | Area | |
| 1 | Aral Karakum | Kazakhstan | 40000 square km |
| 2 | Aralkum Desert | Uzbekistan / Kazakhstan | Youngest (and most unwanted) desert in the world [1] |
| 3 | Barsuki | Kazakhstan | Greater Barsuki about 2400 square km (unconfirmed)
Lesser Barsuki about 800 square km (unconfirmed) |
| 4 | Betpak-Dala | Kazakhstan | 75000 square km |
| 5 | Karagiye | Kazakhstan | 40 kilometres long karst trench close to the Caspian Sea [2] |
| 6 | Karakum | Turkmenistan | 350000 square km |
| 7 | Kazakh semi-desert | Kazakhstan | 678400 square km |
| 8 | Kyzylkum | Uzbekistan / Uzbekistan | 298000 square km |
| 9 | Mirzachoʻl | Uzbekistan | 10000 square km [3] |
| 10 | Moiynkum | Kazakhstan / Kyrgyzstan | 37500 square km |
| 11 | Ryn | Kazakhstan / Russia | 40000 square km |
| 12 | Saryesik-Atyrau | Kazakhstan | [4] |
| 13 | Taukum | Kazakhstan | 10000 square km |
[1] – Aralkum Desert is the youngest in the world. It appeared circa 1960 on the seabed once occupied by Aral Sea. It is full of toxic waste dumped during the soviet era. Its size keeps changing depending on the inflow of water into the Aral. If the efforts to rehabilitate the Aral Sea eventually succeed, the scientists believe that the Aralkum Desert may shrink considerably or disappear altogether.
[2] – Karst is a type of landscape where the dissolving of the bedrock has created sinkholes, sinking streams, caves, springs, and other characteristic features. Karst is associated with soluble rock types such as limestone, marble, and gypsum.
[3] – Geographically Mirzachoʻl Steppe is a south-eastern extension of the Kyzyl Kum desert. loess plain. With consistent efforts since the end of the 19th century, Mirzachoʻl has been transforming from a desert into a highly productive agricultural area. Today it is a major producer of cotton and grain in Uzbekistan, with cultivation on over 500000 hectares of land. Guliston and Yangiyer, both in Sirdaryo Region, are the main population centers in Mirzachoʻl Steppe.
Loess is an aeolian sediment produced by wind-blown silt deposition, usually in the size range of 20-50 micrometers. It consists of Twenty percent or less clay and the equilibrium of sand and silt components that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate. Therefore, the loess plains are flat regions covered by such deposits. This helps to make farmland very fertile.
[4] – Saryesik-Atyrau ia a sand desert, relatively ecologically healthy with little erosion. Great number of small lakes and ponds and occasional grasslands, that support a varied animal and bird population.
© Mukhiddin Juliev – Research Gate
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The deserts in Central Asia defy a clear-cut categorization. Some of them are host to a number of unique, sometimes endangered, flora and fauna. That is why we cannot categorize them just as deserts and treat them entirely as deserts. /// nCa, 6 May 2024 [to be continued]
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