Deserts are called natural zones, characterized by flat surfaces, a small amount of flora or its complete absence. Often there is a rather specific fauna in them. Deserts can be sandy, rocky, clayey and solonchak. Snow (arctic) is isolated separately. By the nature of the soil and soils, there are nine species, and by the dynamic precipitation - three.
Sahara
What is the largest desert in the world? There are many on the planet. But there really are not so many large 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 This is almost 1/3 of the continent. Despite the harsh conditions, approximately 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 the Berbers and Tuaregs.
Sahara Desert Age
Few people know that this desert is much “younger” than many people think. It is believed that the Sahara is five and a half thousand years old. Scientists found that 6000 years ago this desert "lived" - it had trees, gardens and a lot of lakes. But over time, it has changed. According to the latest research by the scientific community, the majority is inclined to believe that the Sahara “desertified” only 2.7 thousand years ago.
Territorial "highlights"
In the Sahara there are several states at once - Libya, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Chad, Niger, Sudan and Western Sahara. Studies show that the desert is unstable. She is constantly changing. From satellites received data that the Sahara periodically increases or decreases.
Curious Sahara Facts
In some places of this desert during the day you can fry eggs in hot sand, and at night right there the thermometer can drop to minus ten. Therefore, in past centuries, trade caravans moved through the desert exclusively at night, and during the day they set up tents and rested.
In addition to the usual information about the Sahara, there are many interesting facts. She also has one more peculiarity - this is one of the few rare places on the planet where evaporation far exceeds precipitation: in the ratio - from 2000 to 5000 mm / 100 mm.
Under the Sahara there is a huge underground lake, which is even larger than Lake Baikal, and oases exist precisely because of it. There is not so much sand in the desert - only 1/5, and the rest of the territory is occupied by stony land, and very little by sand and gravel and simple pebble wastelands.
The desert sand cover is approximately 150 meters in depth, and the largest sand dunes are similar in height to the Eiffel Tower. And if all of humanity is going to scoop up the sand of the Sahara, then each of them will have over 3 million buckets.
Strong winds constantly blow in the desert. For the whole year there are only twenty calm days. Hamsin, one of the most famous desert winds, translates to “fifty,” which means how quickly he blows. Interestingly, this coincides with the Egyptian wind season, which lasts as many days.
Mirages
The largest desert in the world has an interesting phenomenon - mirages that were previously thought to occur anywhere, but it turns out, they have a permanent location. And today there is even a special card on which they are applied.
It is also interesting that a complete description of the mirage at this place is given - a palace, a well, a mountain range, an oasis, a palm grove. Each of them is basically constant. Each year there are up to 160 thousand. Mirages can have several options - wandering, vertical, stable and horizontal.
Flora and fauna of the Sahara
Of the plants here, mainly shrubs and shrubs predominate. On the south side are ephemeroids and ephemeras. Animals that move quickly, with the ability to dig sand (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, many species of flora and fauna live in the Sahara: 545 plants, 12 amphibians, 13 fish (in oasis lakes), and more than 80 mammals and reptiles.
The largest deserts of the world: captivating and dangerous
Sahara is not the only big desert in the world, there are almost equal to it. 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 they are much larger. Each continent has a similar representative of the area.
The largest desert in the world after the Sahara is the Arabian. Its territory is 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 the strongest winds and sandstorms, and temperature fluctuations here are quite large. In sand, an egg can be fried in just 10 minutes. And at night from the cold, even stones give cracks.
The Gobi Desert is located on the lands of China and Mongolia. Bert began 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 Australian Desert is the next largest (647,000 sq. Km) large desert on the planet. It is here that you can meet the famous red dunes, whose height reaches 40 meters.
Kalahari translated - "painful." Its territory is equal to 600 thousand square meters. km But its area is constantly growing, capturing the territories of Botswana, Angola, Zambabwe and Zambia.
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 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 low temperatures were observed, but even snowfall!
Many people wonder which desert is the largest among the salt ones. It can be answered that Salar da Uyuni is considered the greatest in the world. On its territory, salt is estimated at billions of tons. And the passing rains, dissolving it, turn the desert into a huge mirror.
Atacama is the largest desert in Chile. It is the most arid place on earth. Nevertheless, the plants were able to adapt, having developed their own ways of survival in this place. During drought, they refuse even the functions of reproduction and growth.
Antarctica is the largest desert in the world, consisting of ice. Its area is over 14 million square meters. km And surprisingly, it is this desert that is considered the driest place on the planet. There is an explanation - all the moisture is “dried up” by the cold, and rainfall here does not exceed 4 cm per year. And the year 1983 was marked by its lowest temperature - 89 degrees Celsius.