Oleshky Sands ( ua, Олешківські піски, Oleshkivsʹki pisky) is a desert in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. It is situated inland from the

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

coast of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

and consists of sand dunes or ''kuchuhury'' (locally), which reach a height up to five meters. A sparse vegetation can be located across the sands.

Origin

The sands are thought to be formed during the most recent

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

aeolian processes Aeolian processes, also spelled eolian, pertain to wind activity in the study of geology and weather and specifically to the wind's ability to shape the surface of the Earth (or other planets). Winds may erode, transport, and deposit mate ...

accumulating and forming cliffs of lower parts of nearby River

Dnieper } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and ...

. It is speculated that the amount of vegetation was reduced by herds of sheep who were introduced there by Friedrich-Jacob Eduardovych Falz-Fein who used the sands, formerly populated by weeds, as a

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or sw ...

Geography

The Oleshky Desert is located in

Kherson Raion Kherson Raion ( uk, Херсонський район, russian: Херсонский район) is a raion (district) of Kherson Oblast, Ukraine. It was created in July 2020 as part of the reform of administrative divisions of Ukraine. The cente ...

, Kherson Oblast, 30 km (~20 mi) east of Kherson. Before the

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

annexation of the

Crimean Khanate The Crimean Khanate ( crh, , or ), officially the Great Horde and Desht-i Kipchak () and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary ( la, Tartaria Minor), was a Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the long ...

at the end of the 18th century, the territory belonged to the nomad Nogai Hordes, particularly the Djambuilut Horde. No detailed historical information about the region has survived. The closest populated settlement is seven kilometers away (~4.5 mi). In

Soviet times The history of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union (USSR) reflects a period of change for both Russia and the world. Though the terms "Soviet Russia" and "Soviet Union" often are synonymous in everyday speech (either acknowledging the dominance ...

the sands were used as an

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

bombing range for pilots of the

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist repub ...

alliance. To this day there is a possibility of finding some unexploded ordnance.

Environment

Due to its temperature and the amount of precipitation these sands sometimes are qualified as a semi- desert. Oleshky Sands are 15 km across (~10 mi) and they are surrounded by a very dense forest planted to prevent dunes moving. Due to its density, the forest often catches fire. Although a relatively small sandy steppe, the Oleshky Sands have

sandstorms A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transporte ...

.Blogsite
/ref> They occur due to the type of the sand in the area as it is very fine and is easily picked up by a wind. The intensity of the sandstorms is rather weak. In the Oleshky sands at the depth of 30–40 m (~100 ft) there is an underground lake, which forms an essential part of the local environment.

References

External links

Oleshky Sands overview
— Seven Wonders of Ukraine.
Video footage of the desert
a video footage of the desert is provided by a blog-site of the local adventurers to familiarize the world with Ukraine.

an excellent blog-site of Anna Stepankova with plenty of pictures and explanations. The problem might be with a language barrier as the site is in Russian, but the amount of pictures presented defeats that issue.
Odessa Club of the extreme automobile touring
all pictures with vehicles driving across country areas.

more pictures of sand dunes.
Three days through a forest, two - across fields
a travel story through the Oleshky Sands with pictures.

, a reflection story about the desert. Interviews with local scientists, historical research, other.
An informational site about underground waters in the area
* {{Deserts Geography of Kherson Oblast Landforms of Ukraine Deserts Deserts of Europe Dunes of Europe Deserts of Ukraine

Origin

Geography

Environment

See also

References

External links