The Aralkum Desert is a desert that has appeared since 1960 on the seabed once occupied by 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 lake lying between Kazakh ...

. It lies to the south and east of what remains of the Eastern Basin Aral Sea in

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

and

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental coun ...

. It is currently the youngest desert in the world.

History

While the level of the Aral Sea has fluctuated over its existence, the most recent level drop since the 1960s was caused by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

building massive irrigation projects in the region. The severely reduced inflow caused the water level in the Aral Sea to drop. While the

North Aral Sea The North Aral Sea ( kk, Солтүстік Арал теңізі, russian: Северное Аральское море) is the portion of the former Aral Sea that is fed by the Syr Darya River. It split from the South Aral Sea in 1987–1988 as ...

rose due to the

Dike Kokaral Dike Kokaral is a 12 km long dam across a narrow stretch of the former Aral Sea, splitting off the North Aral Sea (also called "The Small Sea") from the area that once contained the much larger South Aral Sea ("The Large Sea"). The dike is c ...

, the

South Aral Sea The South Aral Sea was a lake in the basin of the former Aral Sea which formed in 1987 when that body divided in two, due to diversion of river inflow for agriculture. In 2003, the South Aral Sea itself split into eastern and western basins, th ...

kept dropping, thus expanding the size of the desert, until 2010, when the South Aral Sea was partly reflooded. The water level of the South Aral Sea then began to drop again, this time more severely. In August 2021, British polar athlete Rosie Stancer led the first expedition on foot across the Aralkum desert.

Stranded boats

Before its

desertification Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused b ...

, the

sustained a large fishing industry that provided up to one-sixth of the Soviet Union's fish. As the water receded, many fishing vessels and other boats were left behind in the desert. In the former port of the city of Moʻynoq, rusting vessels have become a tourist attraction and the site of the Stihia Festival, Central Asia's largest electronic music festival.

Airborne contaminants

The sands of the Aralkum and the dust that originates from it contain pollutants. The desert's location is on a powerful west–east airstream that carries its polluted dust around the globe. Aral dust has been found in the fields of

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

, the forests of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, and in the glaciers of

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is ...

. Pesticides in the dust have been found in the blood of penguins in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest co ...

References

External links

Siegmar-W. Breckle: ''Combating desertification and rehabilitation of the salt deserts in the region at the Aral Sea''Walter Wucherer: ''Primary succession on the dry sea floor of the Aral Sea''
Deserts of Central Asia Deserts of Kazakhstan Deserts of Uzbekistan Desertification Aral Sea {{Uzbekistan-geo-stub

History

Stranded boats

Airborne contaminants

See also

References

External links