Deserts are natural areas.characterized by flat surfaces, a small amount of flora or its complete absence. Often they have a rather specific fauna. Deserts can be sandy, stony, clayey and saline. Snow (arctic) allocate separately. By the nature of the soil and soil, there are nine types, and by dynamic precipitation - three.
What is the biggest desert in the world?There are many of them on the planet. But there are not so many really big ones among them. And the largest desert in the world is the Sahara. It is located in the north of Africa. Its area is more than 8.5 million square meters. km It is almost 1/3 of the continent. Despite the harsh conditions, about 2.5 million people live on its territory. But still the population density there is the lowest on earth. The main peoples living on its territory are Berbers and Tuareg.
Few people know that this desert is much"Younger" than many people believe. It is believed that the Sahara five and a half thousand years. Scientists have found that 6,000 years ago this desert "lived" - there were trees, gardens and a lot of lakes in it. But over time, it has changed. According to the latest research of the scientific community, the majority is inclined to believe that the Sahara "deserted" only 2.7 thousand years ago.
There are several in the Saharastates - Libya, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Chad, Niger, Sudan and Western Sahara. Studies show that the desert area is unstable. It is constantly changing. From satellites received data that the Sahara periodically increases or decreases.
In some places of this desert during the day you can fryscrambled eggs on hot sand, and at night right there the thermometer can drop to minus ten. Therefore, in past centuries, trade caravans moved across the desert only in the dark, and during the day they pitched tents and rested.
In addition to the usual information about the Sahara, there area lot of interesting facts. It also has one more feature - it is one of the few rare places on the planet, where evaporation is much higher than the precipitations: in a ratio from 2,000 to 5,000 mm / 100 mm.
Under the Sahara there is a huge underground lake,which is even larger than Baikal, and oases exist precisely because of it. The sand in the desert is not so much - only 1/5, and the rest of the territory is occupied by rocky land, and quite a bit - sandy-pebble and simple pebble wastelands.
The sand cover of the desert is approximately equal150 meters deep, and the largest sand dunes are similar in height to the Eiffel Tower. And if all of humanity is going to scoop out the sand of the Sahara, then each of them will have over 3 million buckets.
In the desert, strong winds are constantly blowing.For the whole year there are only twenty windless days. Khamsin - one of the most famous winds in the desert, translated as "fifty", which speaks of how it blows quickly. Interestingly, this coincides with the Egyptian wind season, which lasts the same number of days.
The largest desert in the world has the most interestingphenomenon - mirages, which were previously considered anywhere, but it turns out they have a permanent location. And today there is even a special map on which they are applied.
It is also interesting that the fullThe description of the mirage on this place is a palace, a well, a mountain range, an oasis, a palm grove. Each of them is mostly permanent. Every year there are up to 160 thousand. Mirages can have several options - wandering, vertical, stable and horizontal.
Of the plants here, mostly prevailshrubs and shrubs. On the south side are ephemeroids and ephemera. Animals moving rapidly, with sand-digging abilities (having hair brushes, claws, bristles on their paws).
The largest desert on earth is famous for a place called Death Valley. It is considered the hottest and driest place on earth.
Despite the harsh living conditions,The territory of the Sahara is inhabited by many species of flora and fauna: 545 plants, 12 amphibians, 13 fish (in oasis lakes), and over 80 mammals and reptiles.
The Sahara is not the only big desert in the worldthere are almost equal to her. There are nine more large deserts on our planet. All of them are smaller in area than the Sahara, but in relation to the rest - much more. On every continent there is a similar representative of the locality.
Самая большая пустыня в мире после Сахары – Arabian. Its territory is equal to 2 330 000 square meters. m. And it captures the territory of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan and Syria. Basically, this desert is uninhabited due to strong winds and sandstorms, and the temperature fluctuations are quite large. In the sand, an egg can fry in just 10 minutes. And at night from the cold, even the stones give cracks.
Gobi Desert is located on the lands of China and Mongolia. Bert his nachlo from the Altai Mountains. Its territory is 166,000 square meters. km If you translate its name, it will sound like a "waterless place."
The desert of Australia is the next largest (647 000 sq. Km) desert of the planet. It is here that you can find the famous red dunes, whose height reaches 40 meters.
Kalahari in translation - "painful." Its territory is 600 thousand square meters. km But its area is increasing all the time, capturing the territories of Botswana, Angola, Zambabwe and Zambia.
The Karakum in translation means "black sands".Its territory is 350 thousand square meters. km The height of the ridges can reach 60 meters. This desert is located in most parts of Turkmenistan. Due to the small vegetation that prevails there, the locals adapted it as a pasture for livestock.
Takla Makan is located in Central Asia, its territory is 337,600 square meters. km There, in 2008, not only very cold temperatures were observed, but even snowfall!
Many wonder what the desert isbig among salt? It can be answered that Salar da Uyuni is considered the greatest in the world. On its territory, salt is calculated in billions of tons. And passing rains, dissolving it, turn the desert into a huge mirror.
Atacama - the largest desert in Chile.This is the most arid place on earth. The plants, however, were able to adapt, having developed their own methods of survival in this place. In case of drought, they refuse even to the functions of reproduction and growth.
Антарктида - самая большая пустыня в мире, consisting of ice. Its area is over 14 million square meters. km And surprisingly, this particular desert is considered the driest place on the planet. There is also an explanation - all the moisture is “dried out” by the cold, and the precipitation here does not exceed 4 cm per year. In 1983, life was marked by its lowest temperature - 89 degrees Celsius.
