Editing Karakum Desert

{{Short description|Desert in Central Asia}}
{{For|the desert in Kazakhstan|Aral Karakum}}
{{Distinguish|Karakorum|Karakoram}}
{{Infobox valley
| name            = Karakum (Desert)
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| photo           = Karakum Desert, Turkmenistan.jpg
| photo_caption   = Sand dunes in the Karakum Desert
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| map_image       = Karakum.png
| map_caption     = The Karakum Desert by [[NASA World Wind]]
| country         = [[Turkmenistan]]
| region          = [[Central Asia]]
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| coordinates     = {{coord|40|30|N|60|00|E|scale:5000000_source:GNS|display=inline,title}}
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| area_km2        =350,000
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The '''Karakum Desert''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ær|ə|k|ʌ|m}} {{respell|KARR-ə-kum}}; {{lang-rus|Каракумы|p=kərɐˈkumɨ}}), also spelt '''{{lang|az|Qaraqum|italic=no}}''' and '''{{lang|tk|Garagum|italic=no}}''' ({{IPA|tk|ɢɑɾɑˈʁʊm|lang}}; {{lit|Black Sand}}), is a [[desert]] in [[Central Asia]]. The name refers to the shale-rich sand beneath the surface.<ref name="readersnatural">{{Cite book|title=Natural Wonders of the World|url=https://archive.org/details/naturalwondersof00sche|url-access=registration|publisher=Reader's Digest Association, Inc|year=1980|isbn=0-89577-087-3|editor-last=Scheffel|editor-first=Richard L.|location=United States of America|pages=[https://archive.org/details/naturalwondersof00sche/page/199 199]|editor-last2=Wernet|editor-first2=Susan J.}}</ref> It occupies about 70 percent, or roughly {{Convert|350,000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sp=us}}, of [[Turkmenistan]].

The population is sparse, with an average of one person per {{Convert|6.5|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sp=us}}. Rainfall is also rare, ranging from {{Convert|70 to 150|mm|in|abbr=on|sp=us|sigfig=1}} per year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9110529/Karakum-Desert|title=Karakum Desert -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia|publisher=www.britannica.com|access-date=2008-02-22}}</ref>

==Geography==
The desert covers roughly seventy percent of [[Turkmenistan]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Karakum Desert {{!}} Map & Facts {{!}} Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Karakum-Desert|access-date=2022-01-28|website=www.britannica.com|language=en}}</ref> a long east–west swath. It sits east of the [[Caspian Sea]] which has a steep east bank. It adjoins, to the north, the long delta feeding the [[South Aral Sea]] further north, another [[endorheic lake]], about {{Convert|58|m|ft|abbr=on|sp=us}} higher than the Caspian Sea. The delta is that of the [[Amu Dar'ya|Amu Darya]] river to the northeast, demarcating the long border with the [[Kyzyl Kum|Kyzylkum Desert]] of [[Uzbekistan]]. The desert is divided into three regions, the elevated northern Trans-Unguz Karakum, the low-lying Central Karakum, and the southeastern Karakum, home to a chain of [[Salt marsh|salt marshes]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Karakum Desert {{!}} Map & Facts {{!}} Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Karakum-Desert|access-date=2022-01-28|website=www.britannica.com|language=en}}</ref> Since the early 1980s, the relatively small desert extension, the [[Aralkum]], has come to occupy most of the former [[seabed]] of the [[Aral Sea]], about {{Convert|15,440|sqmi|km2|abbr=on|sp=us}}. The sea has fluctuated over millennia, but its majority loss during the [[Soviet Union]]'s existence coincided with great irrigation projects.  The [[North Aral Sea]] was partly restored, but the South Aral Sea ebbed to a small-size stasis at its river mouth,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://enrin.grida.no/aral/aralsea/english/arsea/arsea.htm |title=Aral Sea|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090316062917/http://enrin.grida.no/aral/aralsea/english/arsea/arsea.htm |archive-date=16 March 2009|publisher=International Fund on the Aral Sea|website=State of Environment of the Aral Sea Basin: Regional Report of the Central Asian States|year=2000}}</ref> which itself dried up by 2014,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/world-of-change/AralSea|title=World of Change: Shrinking Aral Sea|website=The Earth Observatory|publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration|access-date=3 November 2022}}</ref> leaving only fragments of the former sea behind, such as [[Barsakelmes Lake]].[[File:Karakum Desert.png|thumb|A map of [[Central Asia]]. The Karakum Desert is highlighted at the bottom.]] 

Within the north-west edge of the desert used to be a river. In the late [[Pleistocene]], the Amu Darya used to flow beyond the Aral Basin to [[Sarykamysh Lake]] then to the Caspian Sea. Sedimentation and floods during a pluvial period led to overflow to the [[Zeravshan (river)|Zeravshan River]] valley to the east. The two flows merged and formed or expanded Horezm Lake, which had been formed by the earlier Khvalinian period, and as it overflowed northwards it carved its link with the Aral Sea along the Akcha Dar'ya population corridor of that low, gentle valley (a remote community of Western Uzbekistan and north-east Turkmenistan).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Razakov |first1=RM |title=The Aral Sea Basin |date=1996 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-642-64736-9 |url=https://www.springer.com/us/book/9783642647369 |access-date=27 March 2019}}</ref>

==Environment==
The sands of the Aral Karakum are made of finely-dispersed [[evaporite]]s and remnants of alkaline mineral deposits, washed into the basin from irrigated fields.

==Wildlife==
[[Wildlife]] in this area is not very diverse and includes insects and arachnids such as [[Ant|ants]], [[Termite|termites]], [[Tick|ticks]], [[Spider|spiders]], [[Dung beetle|dung beetles]], and [[Darkling beetle|darkling beetles.]] [[Lizard|Lizards]], [[Turtle|turtles]] and [[Snake|snakes]] also live in the Karakum. Bird species include ''[[Alauda]]'', [[Desert sparrow|desert sparrows]], and other species, while rodents include [[Jerboa|jerboas]] and [[Gopher|gophers]]. The [[tolai hare]], [[goitered gazelle]], and [[corsac fox]] are examples of [[mammal|mammal species]] in the Karakum Desert.<ref>{{Citation|last=Rustamov|first=Anver K.|title=Biogeography and Ecology of Turkmenistan|chapter=Ecology of Birds in the Karakum Desert|date=1994|chapter-url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1116-4_15|series=Monographiae Biologicae|volume=72|pages=247–263|place=Dordrecht|publisher=Springer Netherlands|doi=10.1007/978-94-011-1116-4_15|isbn=978-94-010-4487-5|access-date=2021-07-31}}</ref>

==Geology==
[[File:Darvasa gas crater panorama crop.jpg|thumb|The [[Darvaza gas crater]], also known as the Door to Hell, at night in the Karakum Desert]]
The Karakum is home to the [[Darvaza Gas Crater|Darvaza gas crater]]. Also called the "Door to Hell" or the "Gates of Hell" by locals, it is a crater of natural gas that has been burning since 1971. The crater is a major tourist attraction, with hundreds of visitors arriving each year.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/giant-hole-ground-has-been-fire-more-40-years-180951247/|title=This Hellish Desert Pit Has Been On Fire for More Than 40 Years|last=Geiling|first=Natasha|work=Smithsonian|access-date=2017-06-19|language=en}}</ref>

The area has significant [[Petroleum|oil]] and [[natural gas]] deposits.{{Citation needed|date=March 2017}}

==Hydrography==
To the south the [[Murghab River (Afghanistan)|Murghab]] and [[Hari River, Afghanistan|Tejen]] rivers flow out of the [[Hindu Kush]] mountains, flow west, and empty into the desert, providing water for irrigation.

The desert is crossed by the second-largest irrigation canal in the world, the [[Karakum Canal]], which brings water from the Amu Darya to southern regions of the desert.<ref name="readersnatural" /> Construction on the canal was started in 1954 and completed in 1958.<ref name="readersnatural" /> It is {{Convert|1,375|km|mi|abbr=on|sp=us|sigfig=1}} in length, and carries 13 to 20 km<sup>3</sup> of water annually.<ref name="readersnatural" />

==Archaeology==
Within the Karakum are the [[Uly Balkan]], a mountain range in which archaeologists have found human remains dating back to the [[Stone Age]].

==Economy and resources==
The [[oasis|oases]] of [[Mary, Turkmenistan|Mary]] and [[Tejen]] are noted for [[cotton]] growing.

==Transport==
The desert is crossed by the [[Trans-Caspian Railway]].

== Golden Age Lake ==
[[Golden Age Lake]], locally known as Altyn Asyr köli<ref>[http://www.turkmenistan.ru/?page_id=3&lang_id=en&elem_id=15259&type=event&sort=date_desc President inaugurates Turkmen lake]</ref> or alternatively as Karakum Lake, is a man-made lake under construction in the [[Karashor Depression]] in the Karakum Desert.

Upon completion, the lake will span {{convert|770|sqmi|km2|order=flip|sigfig=2}} with a maximum depth of {{convert|230|ft|m|order=flip|sigfig=2}}, and hold more than 130 cubic kilometers (4600 billion cubic feet) of water. Filling the lake could take 15 years and cost up to $4.5 billion.<ref name="google">[https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jSh8Y_lzNfDVqEJknZE8b4-uqcIQD99FJJF81 Turkmenistan creates vast lake in the desert]{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> According to government plans, it is intended to be filled by a {{convert|2,650|km|mi|sp=us|adj=on}} network of tributary canals. The Dashoguz Collector, spanning a distance of 432 kilometers, traces approximately half of its course along the historic path of the [[Uzboy River]]. The Great Turkmen Collector starts in [[Lebap Province]] and is {{convert|720|km|mi|abbr=on}} long.<ref>[http://aquadoc.typepad.com/waterwired/files/turkmenistan_lake.pdf A New Great Lake—or Dead Sea?]</ref> They are used for pumping run-off water from irrigated cotton fields<ref>[http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2009/world/turkmenistan-vows-to-water-its-desert-write-new-tale-of-glory/ Turkmenistan Vows to Water its Desert]</ref> towards the lake.

== See also ==
* [[List of deserts by area]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Karakum}}
{{wikivoyage|Karakum}}
*[https://www.youtube.com/user/anastasis03#p/a/u/0/0LMvFI8gPAU Gonur Depe site in the Karakum Desert]
*[http://blacksandsfilm.wordpress.com/the-karakum-desert/ photos and about the Karakum Desert]
*[http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Turkmenistan/Dashoguz/blog-153046.html TravelBlog Darvasa Craters: Entrance to Hell]
* [https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/where-is-the-karakum-desert.html Where Is the Karakum Desert? at WorldAtlas]
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Kara-Kum | volume= 15 |last1= Kropotkin |first1= Peter Alexeivitch |author1-link= Peter Kropotkin| last2= Bealby |first2= John Thomas| pages = 675&ndash;676 |short= 1}}

{{Deserts}}

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Deserts of Central Asia]]
[[Category:Deserts of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Deserts of Turkmenistan]]
[[Category:Deserts of Uzbekistan]]
[[Category:Ergs]]
[[Category:Amu Darya]]