Between the moist periods came periods of dryness much like todays.The Sahara is not the only desert to have dramatic climate change. Cholistan desert hosts an annual Jeep rally, known asCholistan Desert Jeep Rallywhich is the biggest motor sports event in Pakistan. In stark contrast to its arid desert landscape, the desert is home Dodhla Forest, one of Pakistans most well-protected rainforest. Katpana desert is also known as The Cold desert. Their shape is best seen from an aerial view and when they are formed successively they look like a roof of tiles. It is the 16th largest desert on the planet and the third largest in Asia. Pakistan is a subtropical country spread over an area of 79.6 million hectares (mha) lying between 24 and 37 N and 61 and 75 E. Most of the area is semiarid to arid, extending . . The surface is made up of aeolian (wind-deposited) sand that has accumulated over 1.8 million years. Apart from the sample questions given above, candidates can check Previous Year Question Papers with solution PDF to understand the type of questions asked in the general awareness section of these examinations. Straw is poked partway into the sand, forming a pattern of small squares along the contours of the dunes. They include both shifting sandy soils and clayey floodplain soils. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday took notice of the drowning of more than two dozen Pakistanis in a boat tragedy in Italy. Cities like New York City, New York, and Atlanta, Georgia, can be 5 degrees warmer than the surrounding area. The Nile River ecosystem dominates the eastern part of the Sahara Desert, for instance. Long-sleeved, full-length, and often white, these robes shield all but the head and hands from the wind, sand, heat, and cold. Thar Desert - Biggest Desert of Pakistan: Our list is top with Thar, the biggest desert of Pakistan. The central region is known as Kalat. The descending air hinders the formation of clouds, so very little rain falls on the land below.The worlds largest hot desert, the Sahara, is a subtropical desert in northern Africa. Topography and Drainage. The deserts of Patagonia, the largest in South America, are expanding due to desertification. Deals with transport and accommodation issues. It is less pronounced in desert cities than cities built in heavily forested areas. Most groundwater cannot be utilized, because it lies deep underground and is often saline. Kaffiyehs are secured around the head with a cord called an agal. National Geographic Society is a 501 (c)(3) organization. Sheep and cattle have reduced the native vegetation in Patagonia, causing loss of valuable topsoil. Populations at resorts like Palm Springs, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada, have boomed. They are accumulations of abundant sand, null or dispersed vegetation and predominantly uniform winds that mold long crests separated by depressions and oriented at right angles obeying the strongest wind current. Besides, Thal, . In the southern part of the province of Punjab, the British attempted to harness the irrigation power of the water over 100 years ago when they established what came to be known as the Canal Colonies. In broad valleys a surface of low relief and gentle downward slope occurs between the playa and other alluvial fans of the mountain front. Perrine Juillion. Every year, about 6 million square kilometers (2.3 million square miles) of land become useless for cultivation due to desertification. Found in different regions across the country, the deserts of Pakistan are best-known for their unique features, which also differentiates them from each other. As it approaches the tropics, the air descends and warms up again. During a sudden storm, water scours the dry, hard-baked land, gathering sand, rocks, and other loose material as it flows. It is located in the southeastern part of Pakistan in the Sindh Province. The Northern and North-Western Mountains 2. Your time: 00:01:07. About 90 major, inhabited oases dot the Sahara. Rural Israeli communities called kibbutzim rely on aquifers to furnish water for crops and even fish farming in the dry Negev Desert. The range extends from the Jhelum River to the Indus, across the northern portion of the Punjab province. Dust storms and dust-raising winds, often blowing with velocities of 87 to 93 miles (140 to 150 km) per hour, are common in May and June. Thus there are three mountain ranges in northern Pakistan: Karakoram, Himalayas and Hindu Kush. The Potwar Plateau (also Potowar or Potohar) is a plateau in the province of Punjab, Pakistan and the western parts of Pakistan administered Kashmir. The resulting fences break the force of the wind at ground level, stopping dune movement by confining the sand within the squares of the grid.New technologies are also being developed to combat desertification. The third major desert in Pakistan is the Thal Desert. The Desert, and lastly. Topography of Pakistan: It means the study of surface features of land, both natural and artificial features. They have east to west in directionHimalayas, Karakoram. The roots of a mesquite tree, for example, can reach water more than 30 meters (100 feet) underground.Mesquites, saguaros, and many other desert plants also have thorns to protect them from grazing animals.Many desert plants are annuals, which means they only live for one season. The region surrounding Quetta is highly prone to earthquakes. With little vegetation to anchor it, the thin topsoil quickly eroded. In Arabia, Australia and North Africa reach altitudes of 100 meters and lengths greater than 100 kilometers (Araucania Geological Routes, 2017). It has height up to of 4712 metres. It is the largest desert of Pakistan and the only subtropical desert of Asia. These soils vary in texture, chemical composition, colour, and organic content from place to place. Sandy desert soils cover the Cholistan part of Sindh Sagar Doab and western Balochistan. Karakum desert. The Indus 200000 Valley Desert lies between two major rivers in the region, the Chenab and the Indus. Patagonia is a major agricultural region where non-native species such as cattle and sheep graze on grassland. The Balochistan plateau is located in the south-west of Pakistan with altitudes mainly ranging from 600 to 3010 metres. The desert is variously known as the Cholistan or Rohi Desert in Bahawalpur and the Pat or Thar Desert in Sindh. Seeking greater economic opportunities, farmers in Madagascar engaged in slash-and-burn agriculture. :z]1I, # mbQg[r)0d&ij?0)9eD VV%g`ehv-OvOq3Q[qK"Dj+~ Insects such as moths and flies are abundant in the desert. A cloudburst may bring as much as 25 centimeters (10 inches) of rain in a single hourthe only rain the desert gets all year.Desert humidity is usually so low that not enough water vapor exists to form clouds. It is believed that the Salt Range was founded by the horses of Alexander the Great's army.The average altitude of Potohar platue is 300m-600m. These soils vary in texture, chemical composition, colour, and organic content from place to place. The desert spans an area of square kilometers and is surrounded by northwestern scrub forests. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. The uniqueness of Pakistans topography is also backed by the fact that around 10% of its total land has been covered with different types of barren lands, commonly known as deserts. The Thars desert sands overlie Archean (early Precambrian) gneiss (metamorphic rocks formed between 4 billion and 2.5 billion years ago), Proterozoic (later Precambrian) sedimentary rocks (formed about 2.5 billion to 541 million years ago), and more-recent alluvium (material deposited by rivers). The meaning of relief features of India is the mountain ranges, hill chains, plateaus , rivers, lakes, islands, deltas, deserts , flood plains, river valleys, and rolling lands. an hour ago. However, the very mode of soil formation gives rise to their diversification even within small areas. The oil industry draws companies, migrant workers, engineers, geologists, and biologists to the Middle East.DesertificationDesertification is the process of productive cropland turning into non-productive, desert-like environments. You'll find plains, deserts, forests, hills, and plateaus. In M. Julivert. The canal begins at the Harike Barrageat the confluence of the Sutlej and Beas rivers in the Indian Punjaband continues in a southwesterly direction for some 290 miles (470 km). Most experts agree that a desert is an area of land that receives no more than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of precipitation a year. Throughout the Middle East, communities have dug artificial wadis, where freshwater can flow during rainy seasons. The Aswan Dam harnesses the power of the Nile for hydroelectricity used in industry. At the foot of these formations, water drops its burden of gravel, sand, and other sediment, forming deposits called alluvial fans.Many deserts have no drainage to a river, lake, or ocean. Pakistans soils are classified as pedocals, which comprise a dry soil group with high concentrations of calcium carbonate and a low content of organic matter; they are characteristic of a land with low and erratic precipitation. Thar desert is located northwest of the Aravali hills. These cliff dwellings, sometimes dozens of meters off the ground, were constructed with thick, earthen walls that provided insulation. List of 5 Famous Deserts of Pakistan: 1. The major soil groupings are Indus basin soils, mountain soils, and sandy desert soils. The Sindh . It can be folded and unfolded to cover the mouth, nose, and eyes. So, despite the presence of millions of liters of water, there is actually little available for plants and animals.The largest desert in the world is also the coldest. Almost the entire continent of Antarctica is a polar desert, experiencing little precipitation. In the summer, hot winds called loos blow across the plains during the day. The suns rays beat down through cloudless skies and bake the land. The booming Inland Empire of southeastern California is made up of deserts (the Mojave and the Sonoran) that rely on water for agriculture, industry, and residential development. (ii) It is an undulating sandy plain covered with sand dunes. Situated at an elevation of 2,226 meters (7,303 feet) above sea level, the Katpana Desert is one of the highest deserts in the world. Sheep are bred for both medium-fine and rough wool. The Muslim League and Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Political decline and bureaucratic ascendancy, The first administration of Benazir Bhutto, The second administration of Benazir Bhutto, The second administration of Nawaz Sharif, Continuing challenges: conflict, a stalled economy, and nuclear tests, Growing unrest, tension with the military, and Sharifs ouster, Relations with the United States, consolidation of Musharrafs rule, and meetings with India, U.S. drone strikes, floods of 2010, and religious tensions, Match the Country with Its Hemisphere Quiz. The prevailing languages are Sindhi in the southwest, Lahnda in the northwest, and Rajasthani languagesespecially Marwariin central and eastern portions of the Thar. Much of the province south of the Quetta region is sparse desert terrain with pockets of inhabitable land, mostly near rivers and streams. The Indus River, one of the great rivers of the world, rises in southwestern Tibet, only about 160 kilometers west of the source of the Sutlej River, which joins the Indus in Punjab, and the Brahmaputra, which runs eastward before turning southwest and flowing through Bangladesh. 2>zP]w$U6pIlb:t;XD>.$nZ2$sGWc(rm&@ Q[At 3L'z a`10+B. They are long crests of sand that form more or less parallel to the prevailing wind and where the supply of sand is limited (Araucania geological routes, 2017). Tremors continue in the vicinity of Quetta; the most recent major earthquake occurred in October 2008. This can reduce the already limited plant life in deserts.Climate change also affects rainfall patterns. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Among the migratory birds, sand grouse, ducks, and geese are common. However, as the season of harvest gets over, the roots of the crops die off, returning the desert to its actual state of naked emptiness. Roads and buildings were washed away, and more than 100 people died.Even in a desert, water and wind eventually wear away softer rock. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Topography_of_Pakistan&oldid=1117077755, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 19 October 2022, at 20:30. Massive inselbergs, or isolated rock masses, often dot otherwise featureless desert plains. A jackrabbits long ears contain blood vessels that release heat. Most of the Balochistan plateau, especially in the west and south, is exceptionally dry. They are important in forming the monsoon type of climate in India. The local people speak the Potwari language. Jacobabad, in Sindh, has recorded the highest temperature in Pakistan, 127 F (53 C). People often use the adjectives hot, dry, and empty to describe deserts, but these words do not tell the whole story. The need to find food and water has led many desert civilizations to become nomadic. Whatever seasonal rain falls is collected in tanks and reservoirs and is used for drinking and domestic purposes. The population density is very low due to the mountainous terrain and scarcity of water. White reflects sunlight, and the loose fit allows cooling air to flow across the skin.These robes of loose cloth can be adjusted (folded) for length, sleeves, and pockets, depending on the wearer and the climate. It is the largest desert of Pakistan and the onlysubtropicaldesert of Asia. In the 1930s, parts of the Great Plains of North America became the Dust Bowl through a combination of drought and poor farming practices. In the submontane areas under subhumid conditions these soils are noncalcareous and have slightly higher organic content. The reason is inadequate management and inappropriate consumption. A severe quake in 1931 was followed by an even more destructive one in 1935. Wind builds dunes that rise as high as 180 meters (590 feet). In the Pakistani part of the desert, a railway line runs between Bahawalpur and Hyderabad. Many escape the heat in cool burrows they dig in the ground. Unfortunately, at the time farmers were investing in slash-and-burn agriculture, Madagascar experienced long-term droughts. Sand lizards, native to the deserts of Europe and Asia, are nicknamed dancing lizards because of the way they quickly lift one leg at a time off the hot desert sand. All the rivers of Pakistan, i.e. In fact, it gets covered with lush green vegetation during February and March as the local farmers use the desert land for the cultivation of green chickpeas. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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