The total area of the Gobi Desert is around 500,000 square miles (1,295,000 kilometers), making it one of the largest desert regions in the world, after the Sahara. The Eastern region of the Gobi Desert has been used by nomadic herders for thousands of years, and some ecologists have grown concerned about the ecological stability of this region due to overgrazing and exploitation. Another region, the Bayanhongor, has a rich archaeological record of dinosaur fossils, along with a small population of rugged animals and plants.
One of the most important plants in the Gobi Desert is saxaul, a woody shrub which provides food, fuel, and shelter. Gazelles, polecats, plovers, wolves, camels, wild asses, bears, musk oxen, and Przewalski's horses can also be found in some regions of the Gobi. Many of these species are unique to the desert, as is the case with the Gobi Bear, which is the only known desert dwelling bear species in the world. The Gobi Desert is also visited by snow leopards and other animals which live along its fringes.
Conditions in the Gobi Desert can be very harsh. It tends to be very dry, with rain coming in brief and sometimes violent bursts. Because much of the Gobi Desert is in the north, it is also a very cold desert, with ice and snow covering large parts of it in the winter. The temperatures can get extreme, sometimes fluctuating wildly between day and night. Surviving in the unique conditions of the Gobi requires extreme adaptations, and life is sometimes found in surprising places in the Gobi Desert.
The Gobi is most notable in history as part of the great Mongol Empire, and as the location of several important cities along the Silk Road.
The Gobi a rain shadow desert formed by the Himalaya range blocking rain-carrying clouds from reaching the Gobi.
Geography
The Gobi measures over 1,610 km (1,000 mi) from southwest to northeast and 800 km (497 mi) from north to south. The desert is widest in the west, along the line joining the Baghrash Kol and the Lop Nor (87°-89° east). It occupies an arc of land 1,295,000 km2 (500,002 sq mi)[1] in area, making it fifth largest in the world and Asia's largest. Much of the Gobi is not sandy but is covered with bare rock.
The Gobi has several different Chinese names, including 沙漠 (shāmò, actually a generic term for deserts in general) and 瀚海 (hànhǎi, endless sea). In its broadest definition, the Gobi includes the long stretch of desert and semi-desert area 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 Shan, Altun Shan, and Qilian shan ranges, which form the northern edges of the Tibetan Plateau, on the south.[citation needed]
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 also reckoned to belong to the Gobi by conventional usage. On the other hand, 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.
The Nemegt Basin in the northwestern part of the Gobi Desert (in Mongolia) is famous for its fossil treasures, including early mammals, dinosaur eggs, and even prehistoric stone implements, some 100,000 years old.
Climate
Climate (as of 2009)
The climate of the Gobi is one of great extremes, combined with rapid changes of temperature, not only through the year but even within 24 hours (by as much as 35 °C or 61 °F).
| Temperature | ||
| Sivantse (1190 m) | Ulaanbaatar (1150 m) | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual mean | -2.5 °C (27 °F) | 2.8 °C (37 °F) |
| January mean | -26.5 °C (-15.7 °F) | -16.5 °C (2 °F) |
| July mean | 17.5 °C (63.5 °F) | 19.0 °C (66 °F) |
| Extremes | 38.0 °C and -43 °C (100 °F and -45 °F) | 33.9 °C and -47 °C (93 °F and -52 °F) |
Even in southern Mongolia the thermometer goes down as low as -32.8 °C (-27 °F), and in Alxa it rises as high as 37 °C (98.6 °F) in July.
Average winter minimals are a frigid -40 °C (-40 °F) while summertime temperatures are warm to hot, highs range up to 50 °C (122 °F). Most of the precipitation falls during the summer.
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. Hence, the icy sandstorms and snowstorms of spring and early summer plus early January (winter)