TheGurbantünggüt Desert (Kazakh:Құрбантұңғыт шөлі قۇربانتۇڭعىت ءشولى;Uyghur:قۇربانتۈڭغۈت قۇملۇقى, Qurbantüngghüt Qumluqi;simplified Chinese:古尔班通古特沙漠;traditional Chinese:古爾班通古特沙漠;pinyin:Gǔ'ěrbāntōnggǔtè Shāmò) occupies a large part of theDzungarian Basin in NorthernXinjiang, in the northwest of thePeople's Republic of China. It is also called by some sourcesDzoosotoyn Elisen Desert, from the Mongolian language (means "rich desert").[1][2]
It is about 50,000 square kilometers (19,000 mi2) and around 300 to 600 meters above sea level. It is Xinjiang's second largest desert, after theTaklamakan Desert, which is in theTarim Basin.
A remote rugged area, the Gurbantünggüt Desert is separated by theTian Shan mountains from theIli River Basin,Turfan Depression andTarim Basin of southernXinjiang. A chain of cities, the largest of which isÜrümqi, are within a populated strip (the route of theLanxin Railway) south of the desert, which is irrigated by glacier-fed streams flowing from the Tian Shan. TheIrtysh–Karamay Canal, constructed during the first decade of the 21st century, skirts the desert's northwestern edge; theIrtysh–Ürümqi Canal crosses the desert's central part.
Several salt lakes are in the western part of the Gurbantünggüt Desert. This includes theManas Lake (45°48′00″N85°56′00″E / 45.80000°N 85.93333°E /45.80000; 85.93333), which was in the past fed by theManas River, but now has mostly dried out,[3] and theAilik Lake (45°56′00″N85°47′00″E / 45.93333°N 85.78333°E /45.93333; 85.78333), which receives water from theBaiyang River (which is replenished by the Irtysh–Karamay Canal).
China National Highway 216 crosses the desert in north–south, fromAltay City toÜrümqi.China National Highway 217 and theKuytun–Beitun Railway skirt it from the west and northwest. TheÜrümqi–Dzungaria Railway reaches into the desert's southeastern corner, known locally asJiangjun Gobi (将军戈壁, "General's Desert").
The climate of the area is temperate, but very continental. The desert's ecological environment is very fragile and the impact of human activities on the environment, including the building of a trans-desert highway, has been increasingly significant.[4]
Theremotest point of land from any sea is in this desert. According to some calculations, the precise point is at46°16.8′N86°40.2′E / 46.2800°N 86.6700°E /46.2800; 86.6700. It was pinpointed and reached on 27 June 1986 by British explorersNicholas Crane and Richard Crane; the location was described as being in the Dzoosotoyn Elisen Desert. This position is over 2,600 kilometers (1,600 mi) from the nearest coastline.[5]
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