Gobi Desert |
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The Gobi is the largest desert region in Asia and the fourth largest in the world. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Tibetan Plateau to the southwest, and by the North China Plain to the southeast. The Gobi is made up of several distinct ecological and geographic regions based on variations in climate and topography. It 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 is a rain shadow desert formed by the Himalaya range blocking rain-carrying clouds from reaching the Gobi. Much of the Gobi is not sandy but is covered with bare rock. The Nemegt Basin of the Gobi is famous for its fossil treasures, including early mammals, dinosaur eggs, and even prehistoric stone implements, some 100,000 years old. The climate of the Gobi is one of great extremes, combined with rapid changes of temperature, not only through the year but even within a 24 hour period.
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