Have you been to the Taklimakan Desert?

The Taklimakan Desert is located in the middle of the Tarim Basin in northwest China. It is the largest desert in China, with a total area of ??about 337,000 square kilometers, of which quicksand accounts for 85% of the total area. It is the second largest mobile desert in the world. The terrain here is obviously undulating, the temperature difference between day and night is large, and the climate is extremely dry.

However, in this land to be reclaimed, there are still original forests dominated by Populus euphratica forest and a wide variety of desert plants and wild animals. There are abundant underground water resources, oil and other mineral resources under the sand layer. As for the formation of the Taklimakan Desert, the scientific community still has no unified understanding.

Although some scholars have studied the ancient wind-deposited sand buried in the sedimentary strata here, even if sporadic outcrops are found, it is difficult to judge the time, scale, shape and ancient environment of the ancient desert. During the day, the Taklimakan sun is scorching, and the strong evaporation force makes the surface scenery erratic.

Desert travelers often see hazy mirages in the distance. Around the desert, dense poplar forests and tamarisk shrubs grow and develop on both sides of the Yersian River, Tarim River, Hotan River and Cheerchen River, forming a green island in the sand sea. Except for part of the Taklimakan Desert that is not covered by sand dunes, the rest is occupied by complex sand dunes.

The Taklimakan Desert has a large area of ??moving sand dunes, with dune heights generally ranging from 100 to 200 meters, with the highest being 250 meters. The types of sand dunes are complex and diverse. Complex sand hills and sand ridges are like giant dragons inhabiting the earth; tower sand dunes are like various honeycombs and fish scales, which are unpredictable. The eastern part of the desert is mainly composed of huge long-term extended complex dune chains, generally 5 to 15 kilometers long, up to 30 kilometers long, and 1,000 to 2,000 meters wide.

The sand dune slopes here are tall and steep, and the windward slope is covered by a secondary dune chain, which extends for a long time, but is divided by some low dunes perpendicular to it, forming a long closed depression. , with lakes scattered among them. Composite longitudinal sand ridges are mainly distributed in the central and southwestern parts of the desert, with an extension length of 10-20 kilometers and a maximum length of 45 kilometers. Distributed into isolated individuals or strings of sand dunes and long, narrow and irregular ridges.

Tall and large curved sand dunes can be seen in the northern part of the desert, and fish-shaped sand dunes can be seen in the west and northwest. There are also two tall sand dunes with distinct red and white colors in the Taklimakan Desert, called Shengmu Mountain. They are composed of red sandstone and white gypsum respectively, and are formed when sedimentary rocks are exposed out of the ground. The wind-eroded mushrooms on the mountain are strange and spectacular, about 5 meters high, and the huge cover can accommodate more than ten people.