Editing Kyzylkum Desert

{{Short description|Desert in Central Asia between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya}}
{{Infobox valley
| name = Kyzylkum Desert
| other_name = kyzyl-kum
| photo = Region of Kyzyl Kum.png
| photo_caption = Map of Kyzyl Kum
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The '''Kyzylkum Desert''' ({{langx|uz|Qizilqum, Қизилқум}}, قِیزِیل‌قُوم; {{langx|kk|Қызылқұм|Qyzylqūm}}, قىزىلقۇم) is the [[List of deserts by area|15th largest]] [[desert]] in the world. Its name means ''Red Sand'' in [[Turkic languages]]. It is located in [[Central Asia]], in the land between the confluent rivers [[Amu Darya]] and [[Syr Darya]], a region historically known as [[Transoxania]].<ref>Mapping Mongolia: Situating Mongolia in the World from Geologic Time to the Present, Paula L.W. Sabloff, P.62</ref> Today it is divided among [[Kazakhstan]], [[Turkmenistan]] and [[Uzbekistan]]. It covers about {{cvt|298000|km2}}.

==Geography==
{{Unreferenced section|date=March 2019}}
[[File:Kyzylkum Desert in Uzbekistan.jpg|thumb|Kyzylkum Desert near Ayaz-Kala, Uzbekistan]]
[[File:Qizilqum Xorazm.JPG|thumb|Kyzylkum Desert in Xorazm province, Uzbekistan]]
Kyzylkum is mainly located in Uzbekistan. Its territory consists mainly of an extensive plain at an altitude up to {{convert|300|m|ft|abbr=on}} above [[sea level]], with a number of depressions and highlands (Sultanuizdag, Bukantau). Most of the area is covered with dunes ([[barchan]]s); in the northwest large areas are covered with [[takir]]s (clay coatings); there are also some oases. There are [[agriculture|agricultural]] settlements along the [[river]]s and in the [[oasis|oases]]. Temperatures can be very high during the summer months, from mid-May to mid-September. [[Kerki]], one extreme inland city located on the banks of the [[Amu Darya River]], recorded {{convert|52|C|F|abbr=on}} in July 1983.

==Fauna==
{{Unreferenced section|date=March 2019}}
Desert fauna include the [[Russian tortoise]] (''Testudo horsfieldii'') and a large lizard known as the Transcaspian or [[desert monitor]] (''Varanus griseus''), which can reach lengths of {{convert|1.6|m|ft|abbr=on}}. The [[saiga antelope]] (''Saiga tatarica'') also occasionally migrates through the northern part of the desert.

Kyzylkum Nature Reserve in [[Bukhara Region]] was established in 1971. The area of the reserve amounts to {{convert|101000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} and it is located on flood-land ([[tugai]]) drained by the [[Amudarya]] close to the settlement [[Dargan Ata]]. Fauna include: [[Bactrian deer]] (''Cervus elaphus bactrianus''), [[wild boar]] (''Sus scrofa''), common pheasant (''Phasianus colchicus''), [[golden eagle]] (''Aquila chrysaetus'').

Djeyran Reserve is located {{convert|40|km|mi|abbr=on}} south of [[Bukhara]]. The total area of this reserve is {{convert|51450|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}. It is a breeding centre for rare species such as [[goitered gazelle]] (''Gazella subgutturosa''), [[Przewalski's horse]] (''Equus ferus przewalskii''), [[Turkmenian kulan]] (''Equus hemionus kulan'') and [[MacQueen's bustard]] (''Chlamydotis macqueenii''). The reserve was founded in 1977 on the enclosed area in {{convert|5131|ha|sqmi|abbr=on}}.

==Paleontology==
[[File:Aral map.png|thumb|right|The Kyzylkum is between the Syr-Darya and Amu-Darya Rivers]]

The Kyzylkum Desert has exposed [[geologic formation|rock formations]] that have yielded a number of [[fossil]]s.  Of particular interest is the [[Bissekty Formation]] of Uzbekistan, from the early [[Late Cretaceous]], which has produced several species of early [[bird]]s: ''[[Incolornis]] martini'', ''[[Explorornis]] walkeri'', ''[[Kizylkumavis]] cretacea'', ''[[Kuszholia]] mengi'', ''[[Lenesornis]] kaskarovi'', ''[[Sazavis]] prisca'', ''[[Zhyraornis]] kaskarovi'' and ''Z. logunovi'' are recognized as valid species. [[Tyrannosauridae|Tyrannosaurid]], [[therizinosaur]]id, [[ornithomimosaur]], [[oviraptorosauria]]n, [[troodontidae|troodontid]], [[ankylosaur]], [[hadrosaur]], and [[ceratopsian]] [[dinosaur]]s are also known from this rock unit.<ref name=WETAL04>{{cite book |last1=Weishampel |first1=David B. |author2=Paul M. Barrett |author3=Rodolfo A. Coria |author4=Jean Le Loeuff |author5=Zhao Xijin Xu Xing |author6=Ashok Sahni |author7=Elizabeth M.P. Gomani |author8=Christopher R. Noto |chapter=Dinosaur Distribution |editor1=David B. Weishampel |editor2=Peter Dodson |editor3=Halszka Osmólska|title=The Dinosauria |edition=2nd |year=2004|publisher=[[University of California Press]] |location=Berkeley |isbn=0-520-24209-2 |pages=517–606 }}</ref> Other fossils from the Cretaceous rocks of the Kyzylkum include tree trunks, [[bivalvia|pelecypods]], [[beetle]]s, [[shark]]s, [[batoidea|rays]], [[bony fish]],<ref name=LAN92>{{cite book|last=Nesov|first=Lev A.|title=Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring Pierce Brodkorb|editor=Campbell Kenneth E. Jr.|publisher=[[Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County]]|location=Los Angeles, CA|series=Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Science Series 36|pages=465–478|chapter=Mesozoic and Paleogene birds of the USSR and their paleoenvironments}}</ref> [[frog]]s, [[salamander]]s,<ref name=MAS00>{{cite book |last=Shishkin |first=Mikhail A.  |editor=Benton, Michael J.  |editor-link=Benton, Michael J.  |editor2=Shishkin, Mikhail A. |editor3=Unwin, David M. |editor4=Kurochkin Evgenii N.|title=The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia |year=2000 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-55476-4 |pages=297–308 |chapter=Mesozoic amphibians from Mongolia and the Central Asiatic republics }}</ref> [[turtle]]s,<ref name=VBS00>{{cite book |last=Sukhanov |first=Vladimir B. |editor=Benton, Michael J. |editor2=Shishkin, Mikhail A. |editor3=Unwin, David M. |editor4=Kurochkin Evgenii N.|title=The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia |year=2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-55476-4 |pages=309–367 |chapter=Mesozoic turtles of Middle and Central Asia }}</ref> [[crocodylomorpha|crocodylomorphs]],<ref name=LAN92/> [[pterosaur]]s,<ref name=DUNB00>{{cite book |last=Unwin |first=David M. |author2=Bakhurina, Natasha N.  |editor=Benton, Michael J. |editor2=Shishkin, Mikhail A. |editor3=Unwin, David M. |editor4=Kurochkin Evgenii N.|title=The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia |year=2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-55476-4 |pages=420–433 |chapter=Pterosaurs from Russia, Middle Asia and Mongolia }}</ref> and a varied fauna of small early [[mammal]]s.<ref name=AOA00>{{cite book |last=Averianov |first=Alexander O. |editor=Benton, Michael J. |editor2=Shishkin, Mikhail A. |editor3=Unwin, David M. |editor4=Kurochkin Evgenii N.|title=The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia |year=2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-55476-4 |pages=627–652 |chapter=Mammals from the Mesozoic of Kirgizstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tadzhikistan }}</ref> Paleontologists that have worked in this area include [[J. David Archibald]], [[Alexander Averianov]], [[Sergei Kurzanov]], [[Lev Nesov]], [[Anatoly Riabinin]], [[Anatoly Konstantinovich Rozhdestvensky|Anatoly Rozhdestvensky]], and [[Hans-Dieter Sues]].<ref name=WETAL04/>

==Economy==
{{Unreferenced section|date=March 2019}}
[[File:Dromadery and camel.jpg|thumb|[[Dromedary]] and [[Bactrian camel]] in the Kyzylkum Desert]]
The local population uses the large spaces of the Kyzylkum Desert as a pasture for livestock (mostly [[sheep]], [[Bactrian camel]]s and [[dromedary|dromedaries]]).

The desert is well known for its deposits of [[gold]], [[uranium]], [[copper]], [[aluminium]] and [[silver]], [[natural gas]] and oil. The development of the most famous [[Muruntau gold deposit|gold-field]] at [[Muruntau]] began in the early 1970s. The centres for the mining and smelting industry at the region are [[Navoi]], [[Zarafshan]], [[Uchkuduk]]. The major industrial enterprises are: НГМК (Navoi Mining and Smelting Complex) and the Uzbek U.S.A. Joint Venture "Zarafshan-Newmont". The centres of the gas-production industry are [[Gazli, Uzbekistan|Gazli]] and [[Mubarek]].

==See also==
*[[Andronovo culture]]
*[[Aydar Lake]], large artificial lake
*[[Central Asian northern desert]], an ecoregion largely corresponding with the Kyzylkum Desert
*[[Karakum Desert]], another desert of Central Asia
*[[List of deserts by area]]
*[[Sarmishsay]], ancient monuments of anthropogenic activity

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/out-of-eden-walk/articles/2017-01-slideshow-crossing-kyzyl-kum Slideshow: Across Central Asia’s Empty Core] – Walking the caravan routes of the Kyzyl Kum desert

{{Deserts}}
{{Kazakhstan topics}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Deserts of Central Asia]]
[[Category:Deserts of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Deserts of Turkmenistan]]
[[Category:Deserts of Uzbekistan]]
[[Category:Ergs]]