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TheTuran Depression,Turan Lowland orTuranian Basin is alow-lyingdesertbasin region stretching from southernTurkmenistan throughUzbekistan toKazakhstan.[1]
Thelowland region lies to the east of theCaspian Sea and southeast of theAral Sea in the vastAral–Caspian Depression but extends to parts above sea level as well. It is one of the largest expanses of sand in the world,[2] covering an area of around 3 million km2.[3][failed verification] On average, the region receives less than 15 inches (380 mm) ofrainfall per year. TheKarakum desert lies at the southern portion of the Turan Lowlands.
The part of the depression adjacent to the Aral Sea is drainless. It includes a network of temporary streams usually ending insorsalt flats, which seasonally becomesalt lakes.[4]
Three of the largest cities in the Turan Depression areDaşoguz inTurkmenistan,Nukus inUzbekistan, andUrganch, also in Uzbekistan.Vpadina Akchanaya in Turkmenistan is 267 feet (81 meters) belowsea level. TheAmu Darya River runs in a southeast–north-westerly direction through the lowlands.[5]
In thePliocene andPleistocene, the territory of the modern Turan depression was the bottom of the vast Turan Sea, which was divided into the modernCaspian andAral seas about ten thousand years ago.[6]
41°50′00″N59°58′00″E / 41.8333°N 59.9667°E /41.8333; 59.9667
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