Gobi Desert facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Gobi Desert |
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| Length | 1,500 km (930 mi) |
| Width | 800 km (500 mi) |
| Area | 1,295,000 km2 (500,000 sq mi) |
| Geography | |
| Countries | Mongolia and China |
| State | Ömnögovi, Sükhbaatar and Govi-Altai |
| Region | Inner Mongolia |
| Gobi Desert | |||||||||||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 戈壁 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Mongolian name | |||||||||||||||||
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Говь | ||||||||||||||||
| Mongolian script | ᠭᠣᠪᠢ | ||||||||||||||||
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The Gobi Desert is a huge, cold desert and grassland area. It stretches across southern Mongolia and North China. It is the sixth-largest desert in the world.
The word "Gobi" comes from Mongolian. It describes all the dry, waterless places on the Mongolian Plateau. In Chinese, "gobi" means a rocky, semi-desert area, not a sandy one.
Contents
Exploring the Gobi Desert's Landscape
The Gobi Desert is about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) long from southwest to northeast. It is about 800 kilometers (500 miles) wide from north to south. Its total area is around 1,295,000 square kilometers (500,000 square miles).
This vast desert reaches from the Pamirs mountains in the west to the Greater Khingan Mountains in the east. It is bordered by the Altai Mountains, Sayan Mountains, and Yablonoi Mountains in the north. To the south, it meets the Kunlun Mountains, Altyn-Tagh, and Qilian Mountains. These southern mountains form the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau.
Many people think of deserts as endless sand dunes. However, much of the Gobi is not sandy at all. Instead, it looks like bare rock and gravel.
Gobi's Extreme Weather and Climate
The Gobi is known as a cold desert. Frost and even snow can cover its dunes. It is located far north and on a high plateau, about 910 to 1,520 meters (3,000 to 5,000 feet) above sea level. This high elevation makes it very cold.
The Gobi gets about 194 millimeters (7.6 inches) of rain each year. In winter, winds from the Siberian Steppes bring snow. Temperatures can drop to -40°C (-40°F) in winter. In summer, they can soar to 45°C (113°F).
The Gobi's climate has huge temperature swings. It can change by as much as 35°C (63°F) in just 24 hours! In southern Mongolia, temperatures have been as low as -32.8°C (-27°F). In contrast, in Alxa, Inner Mongolia, it can reach 37°C (99°F) in July.
Winter lows average a chilly -21°C (-6°F). Summer highs average a warm 27°C (81°F). Most of the rain falls during the summer months. The Gobi is very dry, especially in winter. This dry weather is due to high-pressure systems from Siberia and Mongolia.
Amazing Animals, Plants, and Fossils
The Gobi Desert is famous for its incredible fossil discoveries. In 1923, scientists found the first dinosaur eggs here. There were twenty-six eggs, each about 23 centimeters (9 inches) long.
Archeologists and paleontologists have explored the Nemegt Basin in Mongolia. They found many ancient treasures. These include early mammals, more dinosaur eggs, and stone tools from 100,000 years ago.
Despite the tough conditions, many animals live in the Gobi. Some are unique to this region. These include black-tailed gazelles, marbled polecats, wild Bactrian camels, and Mongolian wild ass. You might also spot snow leopards, Gobi bears, and wolves.
Lizards are very good at living in the Gobi's climate. About 30 different species live along its southern Mongolian border. The most common plants are shrubs that can survive with little water. These include gray sparrow's saltwort, gray sagebrush, and grasses like needle grass.
Protecting the Gobi's Wildlife
Sadly, the number of shrubs in the desert has decreased. This is partly because of livestock grazing. Animals like goats are raised by herders for cashmere wool. Their grazing can harm the grasslands.
To protect this special environment, several large nature reserves have been created. These include Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park, Great Gobi A, and Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area. These areas help keep the Gobi's unique plants and animals safe.
The Expanding Gobi: Desertification
The Gobi Desert is growing larger through a process called desertification. This is happening fastest along its southern edge in China. About 3,600 square kilometers (1,400 square miles) of grassland are turning into desert each year.
Between 1996 and 2016, dust storms became more frequent. These storms caused damage to China's farms. However, in some places, people have managed to slow down or even reverse desertification.
The edges between the desert and grasslands are always changing. This depends a lot on the weather before plants start to grow. Human activities are a big reason for the Gobi's expansion. These include cutting down trees (deforestation), too much animal grazing (overgrazing), and using up water resources. Climate change also plays a role.
China's Green Great Wall Project
China has started different projects to stop the desert from growing. One big project is the Three-North Shelter Forest Program. It is also known as the "Green Great Wall." This tree-planting project began in 1978 and is planned to continue until 2050.
The goal is to plant many trees, like aspens, across a huge area of northern China. This will help turn the desert back into green land.
Different Parts of the Gobi
The Gobi is a vast area, so it's divided into different dry ecoregions. These regions have slightly different climates and landscapes.
- Eastern Gobi desert steppe: This is the eastern part, stretching from China into Mongolia. It has low mountains, salt flats, and small ponds.
- Alashan Plateau semi-desert: Located west of the Eastern Gobi, this area has desert basins and low mountains.
- Gobi Lakes Valley desert steppe: This region lies north of the Alashan Plateau semi-desert, between mountain ranges.
- Dzungarian Basin semi-desert: This basin is found between the Altai mountains and the Tian Shan range. It extends into China's Xinjiang province and Mongolia.
- Tian Shan range: This mountain range separates the Dzungarian Basin from the Taklamakan Desert. The Taklamakan is a sandy desert basin surrounded by high mountains.
Eastern Gobi's Unique Features
The eastern Gobi has a very varied surface. It has wide, flat areas and basins. These are separated by groups of flat-topped mountains. The lowest parts of these basins are about 900 to 1,000 meters (2,950 to 3,280 feet) above sea level.
Further south, near the Yellow River, you find broad flat lands and plains. In some parts, streams are common, and grass grows well. But in the central areas, there are no trees or shrubs at all. Clay and sand are the main types of ground.
The Gobi has been a path for trade for thousands of years. Important trade routes cross the desert. These routes connect cities like Kalgan to Ulaanbaatar, and Hami to Beijing.
Alashan Plateau: A Dry Landscape
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The southwestern Gobi is also called the "Little Gobi." It lies between the Yellow River to the east and the Ejin River to the west. The Qilian Mountains are to its southwest.
This area is mostly a flat plain. Scientists believe it was once a huge lake or inland sea. You can see bare sands for hundreds of kilometers. Some parts are so vast that Mongols call them Tengger, meaning "sky." These areas are completely dry, with no oases.
The plants here are tough and adapted to the desert. They include saxaul trees and various grasses and herbs. Animals like antelopes, wolves, foxes, and many lizards live here. Birds like the sandgrouse and lark are also found.
Dzungarian Basin: A Land of Herbage
The Tian Shan mountains run from west to east, dividing this region. Rivers from the snowy mountains flow into a large, flat plain. These rivers create marshes with thick reed beds.
Westerners call this the Dzungarian desert. But Mongols call it a 'gobi,' meaning a land with thin grass. This land is better for camels than cows. However, it can support horses, sheep, and goats if herds are small and moved often. The plants here are often woody and fragrant.
Gobi's Ancient History
Early Human Life in the Gobi
We have some information about people living in the Gobi Desert long ago. Scientists have named different periods of early life based on how people used the desert's oases.
- Oasis I (Mesolithic Era, 13,500 to 8,000 years ago): People started using oases. They used small tools and simple pottery.
- Oasis II (Neolithic Era, 8,000 to 5,000 years ago): People used oases a lot more. They had better tools like adzes and axes. Pottery was also more advanced. Around 8,000 years ago, the Gobi had a warm and wet period. Lakes were full, and meadows grew around them.
- Oasis III (Bronze Age, 5,000 to 3,000 years ago): People used even more advanced tools, including copper items. They made different kinds of pottery and bone beads.
During the Bronze Age, herder burials were found in the Gobi. There were also bronze knives and Mongolian deer stones. Between 5,000 and 4,500 years ago, the desert started to expand. This led to fewer people living in the Gobi between 3,500 and 3,000 years ago. Ancient rock carvings, called petroglyphs, were found in southern Mongolia in 1997.
Exploring the Gobi: Past and Present
For a long time, the Gobi Desert was mostly known by its nomadic people. These included Mongols, Uyghurs, and Kazakhs. Outsiders knew little about the Gobi. Information came from travelers who crossed the desert.
Many European and American explorers helped us learn more about the Gobi. One famous explorer was Roy Chapman Andrews from the American Museum of Natural History. He led several trips in the 1920s to find fossils, including the dinosaur eggs. Later, Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska led Polish-Mongolian expeditions in the 1960s.
See also
In Spanish: Desierto de Gobi para niños
- Asian Dust
- Geography of Mongolia
- Geography of China
- Green Wall of China
- List of deserts by area
- Mongolian death worm (olgoi khorkhoi), said to inhabit the Gobi in Mongolia
