Today, many tourists and travelers prefer holidays in India, which is understandable. Indeed, one of the most popular natural attractions is considered to be the magnificent Thar Desert, which occupies the territory of northwestern India (Rajasthan and others) and southeast Pakistan. She is one of the most densely populated living beings of similar natural systems around the globe.
You can find out where the Thar desert is, about its unique features, its diverse animal and plant world, by reading this article.
general information
The Great Desert got its name, according to one version, from the word Tahl, which means in the local dialect "ridges of sand dunes." Tar is a man-made unique corner of the Earth. It is not the result of natural phenomena.
The Thar desert arose as a consequence of the centuries-old, unfortunately, irrational and improper conduct of agricultural activities by people, from the time of the existence of the ancient Indus civilizations to the present day.
Desert Tar: photo, location, description
Tar is also called the Great Indian Desert. In the states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Punjab, most of it extends. The inhabitants of Pakistan call the desert in their own way - "Cholistan."
The total area of the desert is more than 300 thousand square meters. kilometers, length - 800 kilometers, width - 485. Between several ridges in these places there are even small lakes. Sometimes sandstorms occur in this arid region. Thar is the only large desert in India.
On the north-west side it is limited by the Sutledge River, on the east - by the Arawalli Mountains, on the south - by the Kachsky Runn salt marshes, and from the west - by the famous Indus river.
About half of the surface of these places is rocky, the rest is sandstones with dunes and dunes. The Thar desert is romantic and attractive for its unusualness.
Animal world
This amazing place has a not very mild climate. But, despite this, there is a rather dynamic and vibrant nature. This is one of the most densely populated deserts.
A great many species of plants and animals live here, able to adapt to rather harsh environmental and climatic conditions of residence.
The Thar Desert is located in a peculiar and unique place where the most diverse and hardy living creatures are able to survive.
Among the numerous mammals, the following animal species live here: Indian gazelle, fox, jackals, desert cats, nilgau antelope and reed cat. These species are widespread in the national park of the same name. This natural corner provides excellent natural conditions for living and survival of various species of lizards, desert rats, snakes and other living creatures.
In many areas of the park, the presence of a rather unusual animal has become quite normal and familiar. The Thar Desert is the habitat of the most ancient lizards with spiky tails unprecedented today. The most common reptiles here are vipers, sand boas and rat snakes.
Vegetable world
Just like animals, desert plants survive perfectly in the Indian desert, adapting to rather difficult natural conditions. The leaves of these plants are able to decrease in size in order to minimize the evaporation of moisture from the surface.
Most of the representatives of the local flora have no leaves at all - only stems with very small leaves grow, which helps to save life-giving water. Such tricks allow perennial plants to withstand fairly long dry periods.
Climate
The Thar Desert has a subtropical continental climate. Most of the rainfall in these places falls from July to September (during the summer monsoon), and from May to June dust storms very often fly here.
Survival mechanisms
Most desert creatures have developed their own ways of survival in such conditions.
They reduce activity in the hot period: they hide in the sand or in the liquid shade of small plants. In addition, in these places, despite the transcendental temperature of the air and the hot surface of the earth, an animal buried in the sand for only a few centimeters feels quite comfortable even on the hottest day.
Many of the inhabitants of the national park (foxes, lizards, cats, snakes, etc.) live in burrows. Moreover, the peak of their activity falls on the earliest hours or during a decrease in temperature, when the sun begins to set.
There are animals, such as the gazelle, which, due to their size, are not able to hide from the scorching heat neither in the hole nor in the shade. But they are able to withstand an increase in body temperature above normal to seven degrees, without any health complications. These animals can live without water for several days, eating only green plants and getting the missing moisture from the leaves.
Geological aspects of origin
The Thar Desert is also interesting and curious from a geological point of view. There are suggestions that the geographical feature is located in the place where the sea of the Triassic period was once located. It disappeared, having existed for 25 million years, and instead there were only fossilized fragments of fauna and flora, which were found in rocky deposits of many areas of the desert.
After several million years, this area again became the sea. In the sandstones and limestones in the Jaisalmer region, ammonite fossils have been found that have been preserved since those ancient times. In the Cretaceous period (lower), lush forests grew in this area. At the very end of the Cretaceous and at the beginning of the Cenozoic period (63 million years ago), the sea again captured these areas. The remains of living creatures accumulated at the bottom of the oldest natural reservoir and their subsequent slow decomposition is the basis for the formation of hydrocarbons (in particular oil) and gas in this region.
There is a very curious village in the Thar-Akal desert. The petrified trees preserved in its vicinity and near Jaisalmer are fragments of ferns and forests that flourished here at the beginning of the Jurassic period (approximately 180 million years ago) as the main vegetation. Today, approximately 25 petrified tree trunks are represented in the most ancient fossil park in Akala. The largest tree here, judging by the finds, had a height of about 7 meters.
