desert
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...
zone in the
Aktobe
Aktobe ( kz, Ақтөбе, Aqtöbe; russian: Актобе, Aktobe) is a city on the Ilek River in Kazakhstan. It is the administrative center of Aktobe Region. In 2020, it had a population of 500,757 people.
Aktobe is located in the west of K ...
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
. It has two parts, the Greater Barsuki ( kk, Үлкен Борсық; russian: Большие Барсуки) in the west and the Lesser Barsuki ( kk, Кіші Борсық; russian: Малые Барсуки) in the east. They are elongated strips of sand desert parallel to each other and separated by a roughly wide stretch of non-desert terrain.Барсуки Большие и Малые ''
Great Soviet Encyclopedia
The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...
'' in 30 vols. — Ch. ed.
A.M. Prokhorov
Alexander Mikhailovich Prokhorov (born Alexander Michael Prochoroff, russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Про́хоров; 11 July 1916 – 8 January 2002) was an Australian-born Soviet-Russian physicist known ...
. - 3rd ed. - M. Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978. (in Russian)
The sands of the deserts are the result of the weathering of
Paleogene
The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period, geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million yea ...
rocks; only the northern section of the Greater Barsuki was formed from more recent alluvial deposits.
Geography
The Barsuki are roughly aligned in a SSW - NNE direction. They are located at the southern end of the Turgay Depression, stretching from the northern coast of the
Aral Sea
The Aral Sea ( ; kk, Арал теңізі, Aral teñızı; uz, Орол денгизи, Orol dengizi; kaa, Арал теңизи, Aral teńizi; russian: Аральское море, Aral'skoye more) was an endorheic basin, endorheic lake lyi ...
in the Kyzylorda Region to the southeastern sector of the Aktobe Region. The area is sandy and receives very little rainfall. The sands are subject to eolic action, forming mounds, ridges and
dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...
s.
Google Earth
Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...
Full text of "Natural regions of the U.S.S.R" /ref>
Greater Barsuki
The Greater Barsuki, also known as "Major Barsuki",The Aral Sea /ref> has a length of , an average width of and an area of . It stretches from the area southeast of Begimbet in the south to a little to the northeast of
Shalkar
Shalkar ( kk, , ''Şalqar'') is a town and the administrative center of Shalkar District in Aktobe Region of western Kazakhstan. Population:
Geography
The town is located in the southeastern sector of the Aktobe Region near the northern end ...
town.
Lesser Barsuki
The Lesser Barsuki, also known as "Minor Barsuki", lies to the east of its greater neighbor and stretches for from
Butakov Bay
Grigory Ivanovich Butakov (russian: Григорий Иванович Бутаков) (9 October 1820 – 31 May 1882) was a Russian admiral who fought in the Crimean War. Butakov is widely credited as being the father of steam-powered ship tacti ...
Akespe
Akespe ( kk, Ақеспе) is a village in the Aral District, Kyzylorda Region, Kazakhstan. It is part of the Kosaman Rural District (KATO code - 433246200). Population:
In 1925 a large site containing numerous fossils of the Oligocene was di ...
, to a little to the northwest of
Karashokat
Karashokat ( kk, Карашокат) is a village in the Shalkar District, Aktobe Region, Kazakhstan. It is part of the Kishikum Rural District (KATO code - 156442300). Population:
Geography
The village is located near the northern end of the ...
in the Kyzylorda Region. Its width is between and . The average height is to the highest elevation is , located roughly in the middle.
Flora
The vegetation of the flat areas consists mainly of xerophytic
shrub
A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
s, including
wormwood
Wormwood may refer to:
Biology
* Several plants of the genus ''Artemisia'':
** ''Artemisia abrotanum'', southern wormwood
** '' Artemisia absinthium'', common wormwood, grande wormwood or absinthe wormwood
** ''Artemisia annua'', sweet wormwood o ...
sand acacia
''Ammodendron'' is a genus of flowering plants, called the sand acacias, in the family Fabaceae. It contains five species, which range from Iran through Central Asia to Xinjiang.astragalus, kandym and chingil.
See also
*
Geography of Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is located in Central Asia (with 14% of the country in Eastern Europe). With an area of about Kazakhstan is more than twice the combined size of the other four Central Asian states and 60% larger than Alaska. The country borders Turkmen ...